Surviving an 11 hour flight?
Discussion
Longest I have done was Vegas for 9 hrs last year. Like you, I can't sleep on a plane. I decided that I would go as long as possible without looking at my watch and managed to get to about 4 hours before caving in. I read newspapers, magazines, a book and watched some films. They feed you a fair bit on the long haul flights so that takes up time as well.
if i'm flying long haul i tend not to sleep the night before. arrive to airport already tired, board and crash out for as much of the flight as possible. bulkhead seat for extra legroom to get comfortable and so the people next to you don't have to wake you up to get past.
if the flight time's don't work out for the above, then valium solves the problem.
business class makes it just bearable, in economy there is no escape. try doing DXB>LA, that's 16hrs stuck in one position, bloody murder.
if the flight time's don't work out for the above, then valium solves the problem.
business class makes it just bearable, in economy there is no escape. try doing DXB>LA, that's 16hrs stuck in one position, bloody murder.
It's not that good but it's not that bad either. Just think of the fun when you get to where your going!
I always fly economy, mainly because I can't afford to upgrade, even if I could id rather spend more on my destination, that and when ever I look at better seats they seem to be substantially a lot more, never in the hundreds put it that way.
Last year we went to fiji for our honeymoon. What a journey that was.
Heathrow to lax 11 hrs
Hour and a half off the plane then 11 hrs to fiji.
Then a six hour wait at the airport (that was fun)
Then a short car ride, then a plane (about 40 mins over fiji). Then a 30 min boat ride.
All in was about 36 hrs from door to door. Would I do it again? Possibly not, it was a bit much, I think to go South Pacific way, you need to be travelling iykwim, breaking journeys up into segments.
That said we just went to the maldives and the flights were for some reason horrible. The first leg heathrow to Doha was great on the a380. It was empty too so I was laying down across 3 seats
the second leg was on an a320. It was just about 4.5 hrs but it was the worst flight I've ever had, it must have been 30 degrees, we were stuffed in like sardines. It was horrible. The return was similar, we flew on the Dreamliner for the second return leg and I was disappointed, it was cramped and felt like some old Chinese dog, cheaply made crap, no where near as good as the 380.
I can never really sleep on the things either,I just wish I could go buisness or first
this time next year Rodney 
I always fly economy, mainly because I can't afford to upgrade, even if I could id rather spend more on my destination, that and when ever I look at better seats they seem to be substantially a lot more, never in the hundreds put it that way.
Last year we went to fiji for our honeymoon. What a journey that was.
Heathrow to lax 11 hrs
Hour and a half off the plane then 11 hrs to fiji.
Then a six hour wait at the airport (that was fun)
Then a short car ride, then a plane (about 40 mins over fiji). Then a 30 min boat ride.
All in was about 36 hrs from door to door. Would I do it again? Possibly not, it was a bit much, I think to go South Pacific way, you need to be travelling iykwim, breaking journeys up into segments.
That said we just went to the maldives and the flights were for some reason horrible. The first leg heathrow to Doha was great on the a380. It was empty too so I was laying down across 3 seats
the second leg was on an a320. It was just about 4.5 hrs but it was the worst flight I've ever had, it must have been 30 degrees, we were stuffed in like sardines. It was horrible. The return was similar, we flew on the Dreamliner for the second return leg and I was disappointed, it was cramped and felt like some old Chinese dog, cheaply made crap, no where near as good as the 380. I can never really sleep on the things either,I just wish I could go buisness or first
this time next year Rodney m3jappa said:
That said we just went to the maldives and the flights were for some reason horrible. The first leg heathrow to Doha was great on the a380. It was empty too so I was laying down across 3 seats the second leg was on an a320. It was just about 4.5 hrs but it was the worst flight I've ever had, it must have been 30 degrees, we were stuffed in like sardines. It was horrible. The return was similar, we flew on the Dreamliner for the second return leg and I was disappointed, it was cramped and felt like some old Chinese dog, cheaply made crap, no where near as good as the 380.
How come you had to do 2 legs? We flew direct from London and its about 10 hours from what I remember. the second leg was on an a320. It was just about 4.5 hrs but it was the worst flight I've ever had, it must have been 30 degrees, we were stuffed in like sardines. It was horrible. The return was similar, we flew on the Dreamliner for the second return leg and I was disappointed, it was cramped and felt like some old Chinese dog, cheaply made crap, no where near as good as the 380. p1stonhead said:
How come you had to do 2 legs? We flew direct from London and its about 10 hours from what I remember.
I'm not sure tbh, my mrs dealt with it all, probably cheaper I think, that and I'm sure one of the major airlines has stopped maldives flights, it may be ba or thompson? We went with Qatar.Mitch, I'm going to approach this topic slightly differently and convince you to go for it as Sedona is fantastic.
There is so much to see and do around that part of Arizona. We've been loads of times.
Rather than posting it all again, have a look at this thread and my comments about ideas for that neck of the woods in my reply 1/3 way down the page. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
You MUST overcome the boredom of the flight to see Sedona!!
There is so much to see and do around that part of Arizona. We've been loads of times.
Rather than posting it all again, have a look at this thread and my comments about ideas for that neck of the woods in my reply 1/3 way down the page. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
You MUST overcome the boredom of the flight to see Sedona!!
Last month I did my longest non- stop at 13.5 hours from London Heathrow to Buenos Aires- Fortuantly it was in Business so not really a hardship.
Howver longest economy I did was 3 years ago London to Shanghai which was a shade over 11 hours. It wouldnt have been so bad as I had booked an exit row seat until BA decided to subsitute the oridginal plane with an old 777- 200 - I ended up near the back of the plane in the middle set of seats in the middle seat sandwiched between 2 chinese people who clearly knew each other but didnt want to swap seats.. So for 11 hours they talked accross me and even started passing food accross me . Worse flight of my life...
Since then have been averaging about 4 - 6 long haul flights per month.
When I dont get to fly business I find the follwing three items make economy much more pleasant and would not leave without them
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Earplanes-Adult-Years-Pack...
(use these regardless what cabin I am flying - these are NOT earplugs but rather relieve the sensation of change of air pressure)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pillow-Travel-Winner-Briti...
( Have tried about 4 different travel cushions - this one is head and shoulders above the rest)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Revolutionary-Sleep-effect...
(yes you look like a knob but who cares)
Howver longest economy I did was 3 years ago London to Shanghai which was a shade over 11 hours. It wouldnt have been so bad as I had booked an exit row seat until BA decided to subsitute the oridginal plane with an old 777- 200 - I ended up near the back of the plane in the middle set of seats in the middle seat sandwiched between 2 chinese people who clearly knew each other but didnt want to swap seats.. So for 11 hours they talked accross me and even started passing food accross me . Worse flight of my life...
Since then have been averaging about 4 - 6 long haul flights per month.
When I dont get to fly business I find the follwing three items make economy much more pleasant and would not leave without them
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Earplanes-Adult-Years-Pack...
(use these regardless what cabin I am flying - these are NOT earplugs but rather relieve the sensation of change of air pressure)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pillow-Travel-Winner-Briti...
( Have tried about 4 different travel cushions - this one is head and shoulders above the rest)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Revolutionary-Sleep-effect...
(yes you look like a knob but who cares)
I'm now about to board the second flight of the day which is an 11 hour stretch from Paris to Rio. Essentials for me are noise cancelling headphones, iPad loaded with magazines and a couple of games/movies, i've seen the majority of the one's on the plane system, and a large bag of Haribo. It will no doubt still be misery though.
I went from doing short haul flights around Europe to my first long haul flight to Sydney, basically 24 hours in Economy.
I was dreading it as I hate flying long haul - uncomfortable. In the end it was a bit of a doddle., 24 hours of catching up on me time. Split it into segments - movies (kill a lot of time), books, eating, but if sleep.
Take: noise cancelling headphones, eye mask and neck pillow, buy a decent size bottle of water air side or you'll forever be asking for the tiny bottles they give you (BA), and just sit back and relax.
Oh and don't get a middle seat!
I was dreading it as I hate flying long haul - uncomfortable. In the end it was a bit of a doddle., 24 hours of catching up on me time. Split it into segments - movies (kill a lot of time), books, eating, but if sleep.
Take: noise cancelling headphones, eye mask and neck pillow, buy a decent size bottle of water air side or you'll forever be asking for the tiny bottles they give you (BA), and just sit back and relax.
Oh and don't get a middle seat!
Could be worse.....several times I've had the joy of flying to the Falklands with Grey Fin Airlines.
No inflight ents, no bar, cattle class only over two legs of 8.5 hours each.
The holding lounge at Ascension consisted of a fenced-in patio with a few picnic tables, a drinks vending machine and toilets.
No inflight ents, no bar, cattle class only over two legs of 8.5 hours each.
The holding lounge at Ascension consisted of a fenced-in patio with a few picnic tables, a drinks vending machine and toilets.
Crossflow Kid said:
Could be worse.....several times I've had the joy of flying to the Falklands with Grey Fin Airlines.
No inflight ents, no bar, cattle class only over two legs of 8.5 hours each.
The holding lounge at Ascension consisted of a fenced-in patio with a few picnic tables, a drinks vending machine and toilets.
But they did give you enough time to neck a six pack.No inflight ents, no bar, cattle class only over two legs of 8.5 hours each.
The holding lounge at Ascension consisted of a fenced-in patio with a few picnic tables, a drinks vending machine and toilets.
shirt said:
XFDreamer said:
LAX is a dump!
understatement of the year. i was surprised just how bad it was. Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff