Usually I'm able to occupy myself with sleeping and reading for the majority of it. If I have a particularly long layover I'll find a nice cafe or restaurant, which are obviously overpriced like crazy, order one beer or one coffee, and sip on that beer of coffee for like 6 hours. It's nicer than sitting on the hard floor or in the uncomfortable seats you can find scattered about the airport.


Scout out different departure gates for outlets so you can plug in your laptop. And make sure you have the correct adapter if you're going somewhere with different outlets. Some airports have free WiFi, some don't. If not, it might be worth it to pony up the cash for internet access. I spent $8 on a 24-hour WiFi pass during a 9 hour layover in Istanbul and it made everything a lot better.