How to get through a long flight?

[RobertvdBoom]

Hi All,

We all love traveling and probably aren't new to really long flights. In about a week I'm leaving for a holiday in the beautiful Australia, traveling from Amsterdam that means it will take me a little over 22 hours to get there. Nowadays in airplanes it's easy to entertain yourself with the on flight entertainment systems or just sleeping for the most of the flight. Though I can imagine everyone has their own little trick to get through the flight.

I'm very interested to know how you make a long flight as comfortable as possible. Share your advice here!

[AlexdreOliveira]

Hello, RobertV.

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Regards,

[TraciC]

My longest flight has been ~10 hours from NYC to São Paulo. I recommend wearing the most comfortable clothes you possibly can and in you case, maybe even bringing a change of clothes so you feel fresh. Once that's done, I load up my backpack with everything I could possibly need as I don't sleep well/at all on planes:

• A fully-charged reading device  
• A back-up printed book of considerable length (what if my Nexus 7 dies?!)
• A notebook to take notes or doodles (or to pass notes with traveling companions, which is rare with business travel)

On a flight back to NYC from Munich, I got a little bored and wound up walking around a bit, but I'm not sure that's usually acceptable, though if the bathroom is downstairs on a plane, it works out. 

I know @PaulPavlinovich has traveled a lot anad he's loads more creative than I am, so I pass the torch to him. Oh and @Anonymous as he travels often from Europe to Japan. 

[JamesO]

I love your city! I sleep reasonably well on planes, so it's not too much of a drama for me. That said, if I can, I always try to have an overnight stop between Australia and Europe. Even if it's not an overnight stop, it's great to break up the trip with a shower or even a swim at an airport pool along the way. Singapore airport, for example, has a great swimming pool where you can relax, take time out. In Beijing, for example, you can rent a hotel room for only a couple of hours, have a brief nap, and a shower, and the trip will be so much better. You will feel so much more refreshed if you can plan for the trip to be a series of short flights, rather than one long flight. Oh, and I hope you enjoy Australia. We're complaining about the winter right now, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Where are you headed?

[Giacomo_M]

My longest flight was the same as yours: Rome-Melbourne (22 hours). I admit i am really scared of planes so i never sleep. Usually i wear sweat pants and a jumper with a hood cause i hate the air conditioned on my neck. I also use that kind of pillow for flights.

In my hand bag i always have a towel, soap and a deodorant so i can have a quick wash (just in case i need it).

Relax and movie all the time.

I'm so jelous, take me with you!!!!

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@RobertV wrote:

Hi All,

We all love traveling and probably aren't new to really long flights. In about a week I'm leaving for a holiday in the beautiful Australia, traveling from Amsterdam that means it will take me a little over 22 hours to get there. Nowadays in airplanes it's easy to entertain yourself with the on flight entertainment systems or just sleeping for the most of the flight. Though I can imagine everyone has their own little trick to get through the flight.

I'm very interested to know how you make a long flight as comfortable as possible. Share your advice here!

---

[iyudhi]

I've beef flying long haul for around 15 years now. In fact, I will have a 11 hour flight in two days. Honestly it doesn't really bother me anymore. I'm a light sleeper and rarely sleep on the plane, so I've been trying to get creative entertaining myself on the flight. Here are some of what I usually do:

1. Load movies/ TV series on your phone or tablet. Most flights these days will have power outlet under the seats. It's much better than relying what's provided by the airline.

2. Get internet access. With united it's USD $20 for long haul flights. I heard some airlines even give it for free. It's not cheap, but I usually happily pay for it so I can get access to outside world.

3. Get melatonin or sleeping pill if you really need to rest. I don't recommend this of course, but it's an option

4. Try to haggle your way to business class. The only time I can sleep on the plane was when I got free upgrades to first/business class. Hey, no harm in asking right?

That's all I got so far. Hope that helps 🙂

[LuisRG]

As @iyudhi said, I've been flying long haul for quite some years now. But being 1,94m tall (that's about 6'3" if I did the math right), and taking into account that seat pitch is decreasing as airlines try to squeeze more people into every aircraft, I rarely sleep.

So my only chance to be at least comfortable enough is paying Premium Economy. When flying from Europe to Japan with my family that amounts to a lot of money, but well, any other way and I'll die 🙂

I also carry my Nexus 9 with several books but, to be honest, it's difficult for me to concentrate on my reading (maybe it's because I've been reading academic works about Japanese culture), so I watch a couple of movies (sometimes maybe 3, but afterwards my eyes are so dry that it's not worth it) and that's it.

So in my case, having lots of music in my phone it's the best option to relax, and that's my advice: load your phone with your favorite music 🙂

[Corrie]

@RobertvdBoom I've been on quite a few long haul flights. My big advice is not to drink alcohol. You already get relaly dehydrated on planes and drinking merely amplifies that. There is nothing worse than getting off a 20+ hour flight and being hungover.

I can't sleep on planes either, but if I can fly business class, I try to fake-sleep and zen out in order to nudge my body towards to the new timezone. This often means skipping the meal as I put on a mask, earplugs, etc. 

If there are movies and I'm flying durirng the day, I watch a ton of them. I always wear glasses instead of contacts and use eyedrops and chapstick to avoid some of the dryness from the plane. 

You may want to look up some simple strteches or yoga poses you can employ in cramped spaces to get the blood back in your legs and move around a bit. 

[GregW]

I can confirm your maths LuisR, we are exactly the same height. I can also confirm that seats seem to be getting smaller and the person who insists on reclining their seat the moment it's allowed and leaving it that way for the entire flight,  regardless of what they are doing,  is always given the seat in front of me. 

I remember one flight when I was given the middle seat of three. When I got there the other two seats were already occupied by two guys who were about the same size as me. I looked at them,  they looked at me and we were all thinking the same thing. The flight attendant came up,  looked at me, looked at the other two guys,  looked at the seat and then moved me to another seat that had no one next to it. The plane was half empty so I had to question the wisdom of seating the three of us together. 

[GregW]

I always travel with two tablets. A 10" for watching movies and general online work and a 7" that is fully loaded with books. Together they probably only weigh a little more than a good sized paperback book but provide so many more entertainment options while you're on a plane.