Aside from the many apt complaints in the article, my big annoyance with air mattresses is that they are cold in the winter, because you are sleeping right on top of cold air, which doesn't warm up from your body like a mattress. The cold factor interrupted my sleep even more than the comfort or squeaky factors.

I bought an inexpensive puffy-topped mattress cover for may air mattress and that helped some. Depending on how much available extra bedding I have for my guests, I'm inclined to put a comforter or (ideally) wool blanket on top of the mattress & under the fitted sheet for extra warmth.

I've found that it's actually most comfortable to put our sofa cushions on the ground and sleep on them. But if we have two guests at once, someone still has to use the air mattress :(

squeaky factors. haha!

Coleman makes a bedding solution for air mattresses that has two layers, zipped together at one end (and therefore, separable). One layer is like a sheet, and the other is fleece. At each of the four corners are drawstrings, so you can have the option of using either of them as fully fitted or not. In the winter, e.g., you might want to use them together, as fitted, which would insulate you against the cold of the air mattress. In the summer, you might want to use one or the other of the layers as fitted and the other as a blanket.

I purchased an inexpensive (under $30) bed for visiting my daughter in AZ in the winter and it was quite chilly sleeping at night and I woke up stiff. I picked up a sheepskin bed pad at a tag sale and put it on the bed and what a difference.! Slept so well and was very warm and cozy. It made a cheap bed into something I could let a guest sleep on.

You know what? I have just given up on air mattresses at this stage! I recently bought two fold-up metal beds instead (check them out: <link> They do take up a bit more room but I find that air beds never really fold up properly anyway. I just keep these ones under the stairs and they're much easier to set up.

The best air mattress that I have ever purchased was a cheap $39.00 air bed from Kmart many years ago. Although it was only a twin (what I needed at the time), it was quite comfortable. I currently have a Aerobed (queen) which loses air at times and requires refilling, and I might add, it sometimes difficult to exit from. The bed from Kmart had a pillow adjustment for the head and you put it on a stand, so that you were not on the floor. You would fill the mattress with air (it came with a pump), open the stand (which opened the same height and almost width of a regulation size bed) slide the mattress into its cover that was attached to the stand and zip it to stay in place. The stand had several reclining positions so that you could sit in the bed in a upright sitting position and watch television or read a book. It was the most comfortable air mattress you just could not believe. And since you were not on the floor, the issue of being cold was mute and you could exit the bed without any difficulty. For some reason, Kmart stopped selling the mattress and I have never found another one like it.

An electric pad placed between your mattress cover and your sheet would seem to me to be the answer.

Air mattresses are best only used for camping. They beat sleeping directly on the ground, but they are cold in the winter.