Long Haul issues

[Rwy in Sight]

Well the conversation the other day landed on the topic of long haul flights from a SLF perspective.


A someone said that on flights over 3 hours boredom is a serious issue. So the question is what are you concerend about on a long haul flight. What to you dislike the most and what do you enjoy on such a flight. Which airline do you think offer in the long haul and (possibly) why?

I have not travelled any long haul recently and I would welcome your fresh input.

Rwy in Sight

[redsnail]

A bit of a veteran regarding the ol' long haul flights. (SY-LHR)
I take a really thick book or two. Ones I know will keep me entertained for hours. I also take a Minidisc along with spare batteries. A couple of magazines help too.
Pick an airline that has the little screens in the seat backs. You can pick your channel. I wear little sony noise cancelling headsets. Perfect for reducing the ambient noise.
Other essentials include ear plugs and a bottle of water. I wear compression socks (essential) with loose cotton clothing. Wear shoes that are easy to get on/off. Walk around every 30-60 min.
You can't get enough sleep on a long haul flight.
I can't call it the most enjoyable experience, esp now flight deck visits are banned :( I just put up with it and make the most of it. I pick aisle seats if possible. Allows me the most chance to move around.
Most enjoyable bit? Getting there in one piece and the luggage arriving too. The flight attendants can make or break a flight though. Pleasant thoughtfull FA's are great. Surly ones aren't.

[Globaliser]

If you can get sleep, that is the best way to get rid of a long-haul flight. I am quite lucky in having "learnt" how to do it, although it's not really something that can be taught to anyone because 75% of the knack is to feel mentally comfortable, safe and "at home" in the small amount of personal space allotted to you, and remembering that the cabin service is there for you to pick and choose from - you don't have to eat or drink every time they come through the cabin.

The rest is made up of good ear plugs (noise is a great thing for keeping you awake), slipper socks (cold feet will wake you up) and comfortable eye shades. If your airline's seats doesn't have headrest wings to keep your head up, an inflatable neck pillow. And some chemical assistance - I use Sominex (promethazine) which you can get over the counter at Boots.

When you can get it to work, there is nothing like going to sleep after dinner on departure from London, and waking up at top of descent into Singapore, or wherever.

[Wot No Engines]

Rule 1 - Avoid Cattle Class

Rule 2 - See rule 1

Rule 3 - Sleep as much as you can - if it's the red-eye fron NE USA to UK, don't have a meal and make sure the Cabin Crew are aware - some give stickers to say don't wake me up.

Seriously, if you are thinking of "cheap", and BA or Virgin go there, fly upper economy - it is not that much more and is well worth it for the extra space.

I also try and drink as much water and juice as my bladder can stand - it helps with the jetlag.

If its a daytime flight (going to US), then I prefer an aisle seat as it gives me more room (slightly larger than average build). If I am trying to sleap, I go for Window - no one will wake me to make use of the facilities.

[PAXboy]

As always - differing views!

I try to sleep as little as possible! I enjoy the time that long haul gives me to think and write. My regular long haul is LHR ~ JNB which is about ten and a half hours 'wheels-to-wheels'. These are always overnights so I do usually snooze for an hour ot two. BUT, I always make sure that I see the dawn over Africa at FL360. It is never less than special.

I also have Sony Noise Cancelling headphones and do not travel without them. I use it in the armrest socket for listening to movies or music. That said, VS Upper supply N/C headsets! Mini-disk is good, I agree.

For reading, I usually take a magazine - New Scientist being my favourite. It has a very wide choice of articles of varying length and complexity for whatever mood I am in.

Ear plugs - Yes. Socks? I wear large soft sided boots, these keep me warmer than just socks. I unlace them, so as to allow the foot to expand. Although I only unlace once we are in the first phase of cruise, say 30/40 mins out. I don't want to be making an evac from the cabin onto a runway wearing only airline socks! Equally, once we start the drop, I lace up.

Wot No Engines advice about Econo is priceless! As I normally pay my own tickets, I have a seven hour rule. I am fortunate that I am of average height and build, so I can tolerate seven hours in 'Y'. After that, I am moving forward!

Premium Economy (VS) and World Traveller Plus (BA copy) are both fine. I use FFMs to upgrade with as it is the cheapest way of getting there (or Biz/Upper of course).

When returning from NYC or similar, I try and get the daylight flight. Main carriers have a direct that leaves JFK around 09:00 and gets you in at 20:00 or so. This means an early start but
you can then have a day reading/working. Get home and go to bed. This is best for jet lag, I find.

However, one flight was different ...
I had just finished a contract in HKG in January 1995 and climbed into VS A340 for an expected 14 hours in 'Y'. Client would not pay more and I had no spare cash or FFMs. :{

I was holding a free upgrade voucher to Premium Economy but the flight was 100% full and it was a space available voucher. :(

I was very tired and wanted to sleep but could only get an aisle, it was the exit row but the 'C' and nothing to lean on.

In his welcome message, the Capt advised that, due to bad weather we were going to take a more northerly track and this meant that the flying time was going to be .... 15 hours and 15 minutes. :sad:

During dinner, I was debating this long flight with the man next to me in the 'B'. He offerred me a sleeping pill as he was taking one. Well, my mummy tought me not to take strange pills from strange men on aircraft!!! He told me that it was a barbiturate. I thought about it for another five seconds and accepted. I chugged it down with a brandy and coke. :}

After dinner, I settled down and woke up over Denmark with 90 minutes to go!!! So was out for about 12 hours.

It was a very silly thing to do, had we have had an emergency landing, I don't know how responsive I would have been and I don't plan to do it again.

The best way to handle long haul is to get as near the front of the place as you can! :ok:

[Globaliser]

PAXboy:
During dinner, I was debating this long flight with the man next to me in the 'B'. He offerred me a sleeping pill as he was taking one. Well, my mummy tought me not to take strange pills from strange men on aircraft!!! He told me that it was a barbiturate. I thought about it for another five seconds and accepted. I chugged it down with a brandy and coke.

After dinner, I settled down and woke up over Denmark with 90 minutes to go!!! So was out for about 12 hours.

It was a very silly thing to do, had we have had an emergency landing, I don't know how responsive I would have been and I don't plan to do it again.I've heard of people who've taken knock-out sleeping tablets being carried off the aircraft when it's returned to origin an hour or so into the flight. One story I was told involved the man's wife having to carry the baby plus the collected cabin baggage for all three of them.

To clarify - the Sominex I take isn't a "proper" sleeping tablet, which is why you can get them over the counter. It's an antihistamine, from that generation that makes you feel really drowsy. But a kick of adrenaline can and will wake you up from it, if you need to be awake. As an added bonus, it's also a motion sickness suppressant.

[PAXboy]

Globaliser - Yep, not to be reccomended!

I have tried Sominex and related products for land based sleep but find that none of them have any effect upon me.

If I do need to sleep on board and yet feel too restive, I take Syndol. This is a paracetmol based tablet but it has a muscle relaxant in it and that will usually push me off to sleep but I can still wake easily.

[norodnik]

Have taken more long haul flights than I care to remember.

I must admit that I do absolutely nothing on most of them. I have never managed to do any work (can't be bothered), have seen most of the films, so usually watch the moving map.

Many of my friends ask how I do it, but I guess I have managed to switch off and go into an awake kind of sleep ????

However, sleeping is the best way and BA NCW or First is the best by far.

For those of you wanting to take pills, you could try a tablet called "Dormicum".

They NEVER fail to work, 1/2 a tab is 4-6 hours, 1 tab is 10-12 hours. They were developed for the NASA shuttle crew and because they work so well are now used as a pre-op sedative. They are non-addictive and the doc says there is no problem at all with them. (you also wake up refreshed, no ill-effects)

Only 2 issues a) You cannot get them in the UK in tablets, so get them in South Africa (they are on prescription)

b) When you have taken them you WILL go to sleep and stay that way, so they are not good should there be an emergency.

DO NOT take them BEFORE getting on the plane

[Globaliser]

It may be worth knowing that the reason that Dormicum is not available over the counter in the UK is that it's a benzodiazepine-family drug, ie the same group as Valium.

[Gouabafla]

I work for an international charity and do lots of miles, always on the cheapest ticket. Never had an upgrade and never collected enough miles with any particular airline to get any favours from them. So, cattle class it is - moo!

For daytime flights I always take some work to do and a couple of good novels (I borrow them from the local library). Then I settle down to read the novels, feeling very virtuous that I have some work in my bag and that I could get down to doing some if I wanted to - I never seem to want to.

On night flights, I don't eat the meal they serve immediately on take off - it always keeps me awake.

On all flights, I take off my shoes (don't have any clever socks - but I should get some), take any glasses of soft drinks that are offered to me whether I feel thirsty or not, always have water alongside any booze with the meal and I get up and walk around every hour or so.

I always get aisle seats whenever possible. It's a personal thing, but I prefer being disturbed by others when they go to the lav, than to ask others to move when I go. As I get older, loo trips seem to be getting shorter, but more frequent!

I really haven't noticed much difference in the quality of service between different airlines. You have good flights and bad flights on all of them. What does make a difference is how friendly the cabin crew are. But, bear in mind that while the pax are all trying to sleep, the crew are working a long shift. I reckon that the crew will always find it easier to be nice to me, if I'm friendly and helpful to them. So, I try to greet the crew with a smile and a friendly hello (in their own language if I can manage it) and I watch the safety briefing. Don't know if it helps, but it doesn't take much of my time.

[norodnik]

Globaliser,

it is not available over the counter in SA either.

Dormicum in the UK is known as Midazolam and as far as I am aware is only available via injection or drip. It got some bad press a few years back as I think a nurse took advantage of some woman patients with it but got caught.

Either way, the doctor siad its quite safe for the one off flight, but obviously you should not take it over an extended period. As its a depressant, you should avoid tea/coffee wine/spirits etc (although I never found a problem!!)

I suppose I should put a disclaimer in here stating that this is my opinion and any one wanting to take the drug should consult a properly qualified doctor first.

[MrSydney]

I have flown Long Haul quite frequently and done SYD LHR more times than I care to remember.

Always take something good to read as the quality of IFE can vary enormously. Try and and go for a quality airlnes
and if you can afford it, go business class.

Sometimes I sleep on planes, other times I don't. Depends on how tired I am. I have tried a variety of sleeping pills with varying degrees of sucess. There is nothing worse than taking a pill and arrriving at your destination totallly washed out and tired.

I have a few drinks on board as there is nothing nicer than reading a booking and having a drink.

As for the food in Y....mmmmhhh...it can either be nice or plain bloody awful. If say, my neighbour - I always sit in the window - orders the fish choice and so I have I. I watch him/her open the foil and see what it looks like. If is looks dicey I ask to change it.

It's also important to get a seat u like and not the dreaded middle seat in the middle aislie

[knobbygb]

A few of my tips, other than the good ones already mentioned:

Be comfortable. My wife is forever getting up and down to mess with her hand luggage, get a book/drink, put away a magazine. She has coats and cardigans and shoes and books and makeup all over her 'personal space' (and mine :*). Needless to say she is never happy. Make sure you get rid of everything you possibly can and arrange everything else where it is near to hand. Ideally my hand luggage consists of a book and a bottle of water in a carrier bag I can discard after boarding. Nothing else.

DO NOT, under any circumstance watch the moving-map for more than a few minutes every couple of hours. The 'watched pot boils slowly' theory applies tenfold on longhaul!

If there's a book by your favourite aurthor you're REALLY desperate to read, save it for your next longhaul trip. There's nothing worse than being trapped for 12 hours with a book you really aren't enjoying and put down after every 10 pages. It kinda sits in the seat pocket next to the crappy inflight mag and gloats.

If there's a film you really want to watch, save it until about 8 hours into the flight. On a 12 hour stretch you'll be able to watch 3 or maybe even 4 films. If you watch the best one first you'll regret it later.

Eastbound jetlag is typically much worse than westbound. There are scientific reasons for this as well as practical ones, but just believe me, it is! Westbound flights are usually longer than eastbound due to the high altitude winds which kind of evens it out a bit.

I find that my body adjusts better after an 11 hour flight across 8 time zones (LHR-LAX) than it does after an 8hr trip across 5 (LHR-JFK). I think that after about 10 hours the body clock just gives up and resets itself. Never had jet lag after trips this long (westbound, at least). Perhaps I'm just lucky.

Think carefully about the seating configuration for your trip. If travelling alone I go for an aisle seat in somthing with only 1 other seat between me and the windows (A330/340 or some 777's - an L1011 would be even better (good old days)). If with the family, 3 is best (747 or some 777's) - use www.seatmap.com (http://www.seatmap.com) to check if you're not sure.

The main thing is don't fight it. You ARE going to be there for 8/10/12 hours, whatever, and there's nothing you can do about it. Relax!

[Memetic]

Check in 4 to 5 hours early, get exit row seating. (If connecting to your long haul get checked in exit row all the way through.) then brows for good boooks and relax.

To sleep in economy try expanding the seat belt as much as possible, fold up your legs and use it as a sling to keep you from sliding off of the seat, and sleep. (I know - not much use if things get bumpy but sleep calls more strongly than common sense sometimes, its also probably not that good for circulation!

If you miss the bulkhead or exit row, get two small bottles of wine, extend the seatback table, position the bottles on either side of the table at an angle betwent the table edge and the seat infront to prevent the seat infront reclining too far - do it as early as possible and they will never know - rest head on table - sleep.

Don't try to sleep on the floor. It's not safe. Easy to get bruised if there is turbulence and if there is a pressure problem the masks will not reach you.

Hmm talking of sleeeeeep....

[PAXboy]

Memetic: Your wine bottle trick is a classic. I particularly like the style that you suggest wine bottles and not mere water bottles. Upon waking, you do not have far to reach.

knobbygb: Very good advice about getting comfortable. I have a small pack that holds Mini-disk player and discs, Sony Noise Cancelling headphones, headache pills, water, notebook, paperback and so forth. I take this out of my carry-on, placing the big bag in the locker. Then sit down with the 'flight bag'. This allows me to have two different kinds of pack with me, rather than just the one. I have a couple of these small packs depending upon length of flight and if I am going to be working on the PC or not.

I realise that another name for this small pack is ... a hand bag. :uhoh:

[answer=42]

Avoid eating before/during flight if possible

Eliminate stress - try not to rush to plane. If carrying heavy bags, attempt to relax neck and shoulder muscles before flight.

Lots of water before and during flight.

Avoid sinus headache in cabin pressure by taking nose-drops before flight, especially in winter.

Herbal sleeping tablets (not essential)

Eye-mask (no longer handed out in most cattle class).

Clever socks.

Avoid minor infections (and thus problems on return flight) by taking Echinacea.

1 alcoholic drink max.

B-class does not really help much to sleep. But if you have to work during flight, economy is difficult, except on some enlightened lines like MRats that give you enough space.

answer=42