This is United Airlines Red Carpet Club at San Francisco International. Sure is better than a concourse bench seat and you may not need to be a member to gain access. Photo courtesy www.thestreet.com

Sooner or later, you will arrive at an airport on a plane, hop off planning on catching a connecting flight.

Lo and behold, your connecting flight is delayed, cancelled, overbooked and you now have hours to kill.

You could join all the people gathered around one of the few electrical outlets on a concourse waiting to charge their laptop/cellphone/hand-held game

You can suffer through expensive fast food, sprawl on an uncomfortable chair and read day old newspapers while the clock seems to move ever slower.

Or, you can head to a members only lounge or even an in-airport hotel.

You are thinking, “but I am not an elite level frequent flyer.” Not to worry.

Check with your airline first. Many airlines now sell day passes to their semi-private lounges. Yes, it may mean spending $25 to $50, but it is a quiet, clean respite from concourse living. There are often computers, ample electrical outlets and even complimentary food and beverages.

Another way to gain entrance is to join a group like Priority Class.com. For an annual fee at one of three levels, you can gain access to airport lounges around the world.

Also, when airlines have offered me something like a voucher at the airport Burger King for my inconvenience, I have been known to sweet talk a customer service agent into a lounge pass. Better than a Whopper any day.

Then there are airports with hotels inside them. Some are standard business hotels built with meeting facilities and suites and sky-high prices.

But I discovered another kind of airport hotel one time.

I was flying from Berlin to Seattle via Amsterdam. I had gotten out of bed about 4 a.m. in Berlin and arrived in Amsterdam about 9 a.m. My connecting flight was due to depart about 1 p.m. An inconvenient wait, but not horrid.

When I got to Amsterdam,I was told my plane was still in Mumbai, India and not expected for another 9 hours. That is a long time in a concourse chair guarding my luggage and trying to stay alert.

But I knew from a prior trip to Amsterdam that there was a hotel in the terminal. With a bit of searching (this is one monster-sized airport) I found it.

The price was about $30 an hour, four-hour minimum. I paid for six hours and went to my room. It was a small sound and light-proof room with a shower and bath. It had a queen bed and clean sheet and towels. It also had ample cable television.

I grabbed a bite to eat, took another shower and napped. It was great. I awoke feeling clean and refreshed. My plane was due in shortly and I checked out and headed for the lengthy security process.

That 10 hour flight home was actually quite relaxing since I had avoided the noisy terminal all day.

Either way, lounge or hotel, this is an investment that may seem like a luxury. It is. But it beats feeling like you have been in a grand version of a bus terminal for hours on end.

I have never felt like I had wasted my coins–I just made my vacation better.