If your flight leaves before about 7am, the night before gets expensive in one of two ways. You pay for a room, or you pay with a very early alarm and a long drive in the dark. We built a calculator to put numbers on the trade, and this post shows what it says for four parts of Sydney.
How we worked it out
We start at take-off and work backwards.
- At the terminal: 90 minutes before a domestic flight (3 hours for international).
- Journey: the drive to the airport, or a 15-minute hotel shuttle.
- Getting ready: 45 minutes from alarm to out the door.
- Bedtime: 10:30pm at home, 11pm at the hotel. The hotel is a little later because you travel, check in and settle in first.
The room is A$180, the shuttle is free, and the flight is at 6:30am. These are all things you can change in the calculator.
Four suburbs, one 6:30am flight
| Where you live | Drive | Alarm from home | Alarm from hotel | Sleep: home vs hotel | Extra cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mascot | 15 min | 4:00am | 4:00am | 5 hr 30 vs 5 hr | A$180 |
| Parramatta | 45 min | 3:30am | 4:00am | 5 hr vs 5 hr | A$180 |
| Penrith | 1 hr | 3:15am | 4:00am | 4 hr 45 vs 5 hr | A$180 |
| Mona Vale | 1 hr 15 min | 3:00am | 4:00am | 4 hr 30 vs 5 hr | A$180 |
The extra cost is the same in every row because it is just the room. You pay to get to the airport area whether you sleep at home or at the hotel, and the shuttle is free.
What the table says
If you live close, a hotel mostly doesn't pay. From Mascot your alarm is the same either way, and you'd sleep half an hour less because of the later hotel bedtime. You would be spending A$180 for a shorter morning that you don't need.
In the middle, you gain a later start rather than more sleep. From Parramatta the hotel moves your alarm half an hour later, but the later bedtime uses it up. The benefit is the shorter, calmer morning, not extra rest.
Far out, the gap opens up. From Penrith the hotel gives you an alarm at 4:00am instead of 3:15am. From Mona Vale it's 4:00am instead of 3:00am. That is 30 minutes more sleep from Mona Vale and a morning with no long drive in the dark.
Even then, the price per hour of extra sleep is high. At A$180, 30 extra minutes works out at A$360 an hour. That is why we show the price next to the sleep instead of calling a hotel good or bad.
Six reasons that tip it
The calculator checks your numbers against six rules of thumb. A hotel tends to be worth it if:
- You live an hour or more from the airport.
- Your alarm from home would be before 3:30am.
- The night adds an hour or more of sleep.
And a few more reasons count for it:
- A short shuttle replaces a long drive, leaving room for a delay.
- You can leave much later than you would from home.
- Your morning transfer is free.
In the table, Mascot meets one of the six, Parramatta three, and Penrith and Mona Vale five each. These are rules we chose, not research findings. They are there so you can see which parts of your trip point which way.
When it isn't worth it
- You live within half an hour of the airport.
- The later hotel bedtime cancels most of the extra sleep. If you would go to bed at the same time either way, the gain grows by half an hour.
- The shuttle doesn't run when you need it. A hotel shuttle that starts at 5am is no use for a 6:30am domestic flight. See airport hotel shuttles: what to check.
Try it with your own numbers
Enter your suburb or postcode, your flight time and the room price you'd pay. The calculator shows both mornings side by side and what the difference costs you.
If you decide to stay, our early flight short lists pick hotels with transfer time in mind, and the Sydney Airport guide lists where to stay. For how early to turn up, see how early should you arrive at the airport.