I've been through three air mattresses in the past ten years and have slept on a few others. They're just the ticket when you've got more guests than beds or you will be one of those guests that outnumber the beds somewhere else. Or if you're going camping and don't feel like sleeping on roots and rocks, an air mattress can be a godsend - if it's made well.
Of course blowing them up is no joy and neither is carrying along some extra machine just for that purpose. So the AeroBed Premier Classic is worth the small step up from the cheapie models. You just plug it in and let it rip. The thing inflates itself in "less than 60 seconds," but in my test the twin version was ready to lie on in half a minute. It's not all or nothing either: the inflate and deflate controls are surprisingly precise, and on a device you can mess with while you're still laying down. When you're done, no pinching a little tube to let the air out. You press a button and "whoosh" it's done.
It has an "official Seal of Approval from the Orthopaedic Research Institute," for supporting your back well. All I know is, it's quite comfortable. So if you've got some people crashing at your house from a free crash pad service or you're heading somewhere that requires an extra bed on the floor, one of these will ensure a good night's sleep in the process.
The AeroBed also scores points by including a carry bag for easy transport and storage. Once in the bag, it could potentially fit in the overhead compartment of a plane and won't take up much space in the trunk of a car. It comes with a fleece mattress cover too.
The Aerobed Comfort Zone is available in Twin ($99.99), Full ($159.99) and Queen ($199.99) sizes and you can sometimes find it on sale at the major big box retailers or at Amazon. For more info go to www.aerobed.com.
