USAir Envoy suite

Never done the sleepaids either for US East to Europe or any other flight. I got to bed late the night before my flight and wake up very early the next day, then take the last flight of the day I can (or basically not the god awful 6pm departures). Couple that with a decent, flat bed seat and Robert's your mother's brother.

 

 

My perfected practice is as such:

 

1) sleep 4-5 hours the night before

2) have a good run or other exercise the day you leave (I'm a runner and bike commuter so it's pretty easy to fulfill this one, but it may be harder for others)

3) have a couple glasses of your drink of preference at the lounge and/or onboard

4) try to sleep right after the meal, if you choose to eat. At this point I've trained my body to eat and immediately start getting sleepy. Seriously, it's trained.

5) put in a full day when you arrive - meaning stay up until 8pm or so, whether it be via work, sightseeing, whatever

6) have a good dinner and a couple drinks that night you arrive

7) sleep like a baby

 

 

Works every time. I can adjust to any location on any continent with that routine. Coming back is a different story...

 

And also, I like taking the latest flight possible so my body is as tired as possible.

OMG! You people are really rough. To Ducklite thank you, thank you, thank you! The time you took to walk me through the process is priceless!

 

To those with the unkind remarks, let me clarify. We are taking this flight for a transatlantic cruise on Celebrity Silhouette on November 1 , so I do believe this is topical. We've been through a rough year. I lost my Dad and DH lost both his parents within an 8 week period. We are living with and caring for my mom who has Alzheimer's. I upgraded us as a special treat for my DH, who is the most caring person I know. I knew we were flying on an A330-300, so I already knew the seats were fully reclining. I did check out seat guru and the like, but I was simply looking for other's experience. Shoot me if I was out of line.

 

Being a seasoned Celebrity cruiser (albeit not a European traveler) I would have expected more civilized responses.

 

Again thank you to those who didn't chastise me for my question.

 

 

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A note of caution on using a sleep aid -- don't do it. Flight attendant friends of mine have horror stories to tell about people waking up disoriented etc..And what if there was an emergency and you are in a drugged sleep? Far better instead to have a glass of wine and Melatonin.

 

 

Thanks for the warning but I've taken zquill before. It's NyQuil without the acetaminophen. I usually have no problem taking it and getting a decent 6 hours of sleep. I wake up pretty refreshed.

 

 

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OMG! You people are really rough.

 

I have said it before and will say it again, the Cruise Air forum is extremely rough. Some feel people should "expect" it. It is very easy to be condescending on an anonymous forum and that goes to an extreme here, though recently someone said it was tougher on Flyer Talk (I seriously thought that was a joke but they were serious - but then when you are in the thick of things, you don't notice the surroundings, as in being involved in the Cruise Air forum so you don't really see how tough it can be).

 

So sorry for all the things you have been through.

Edited October 21, 2014 by frugaltravel

jerseygirl3 - glad you got the information you needed. Enjoy your flight; sounds as if you really need the break.

Edited October 21, 2014 by 6rugrats

Hmm. For a minute I thought my post had disappeared.

 

 

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Let me just say that how medication ( such as the active ingredients in zquil) effects you at low altitude on the ground versus up at 30,000 feet are not always one and the same. Melatonin is a natural hormone that your body already produces and it works by letting you adjust to time changes and different light patterns. The active ingredient in zquil can produce hallucinations -- one of the behaviors my flight attendant friends have seen too often and had to deal with when a passenger took a "harmless " over the counter sleep aid while flying. And yes, just a glass of wine or two is another option many choose in lieu of anything else.

 

 

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I never do sleep pills either! Just make sure you have a comfy bed on board, 2 bottles of red wine and a hopefully long flight! US has a very OK product! I would say it is better then British Club World! Service wise even better then British First Class!

 

Two bottles of wine? yes on Air France where they give you those small plastic bottles. No in Envoy where they pour you a glass directly from a standard 750ml bottles and top up as needed.

Two bottles of wine? yes on Air France where they give you those small plastic bottles. No in Envoy where they pour you a glass directly from a standard 750ml bottles and top up as needed.

 

Psht, go ahead and still do the two bottles on US Airways ;)

Thanks for the warning but I've taken zquill before. It's NyQuil without the acetaminophen. I usually have no problem taking it and getting a decent 6 hours of sleep. I wake up pretty refreshed.

The problem is this: What happens if the aircraft lands back at the airport of origin 2½ hours later and everyone has to disembark (or worse, use the slides to get out)? There are plenty of stories of drugged-out passengers having to be literally carried off the aircraft, in a state in which nobody can know what they've brought with them and whether all of their belongings have been gathered up for them.

 

So make sure you know what state the drug would leave you in if that were to happen.

 

As for what to wear, if I'm on a lie-flat bed I will usually wear a T-shirt and a pair of shorts. In English.

The problem is this: What happens if the aircraft lands back at the airport of origin 2½ hours later and everyone has to disembark (or worse, use the slides to get out)? There are plenty of stories of drugged-out passengers having to be literally carried off the aircraft, in a state in which nobody can know what they've brought with them and whether all of their belongings have been gathered up for them.

 

So make sure you know what state the drug would leave you in if that were to happen.

 

As for what to wear, if I'm on a lie-flat bed I will usually wear a T-shirt and a pair of shorts. In English.

 

I saw this happen once. We didn't turn around, rather had to land in DFW on a red eye from LAX to PHL due to a mechanical issue. The guy in the seat behind me was so out of it that they ended up calling paramedics who met the plane on the tarmac. His wife kept insisting that he always gets like that when he takes a sleep aid and there was nothing wrong with him. Because they couldn't wake him up beyond a barely conscious state, they took him away in an ambulance.

I flew Envoy yesterday. PHL-BCN. I upgrade every chance I get, at the gate (I am getting extremely cheap upgrades however, would not be doing it otherwise). the experts are correct with the details. :)

You will enjoy the great Envoy seat.

 

My recommendation is that you do not eat or drink too much, in order to facilitate sleep and feeling better in the morning.

 

I try to eat before I get on the plane (and not on the plane on a night flight), because I cannot sleep well on a full stomach.

You will enjoy the great Envoy seat.

 

My recommendation is that you do not eat or drink too much, in order to facilitate sleep and feeling better in the morning.

 

I try to eat before I get on the plane (and not on the plane on a night flight), because I cannot sleep well on a full stomach.

 

Some of us sleep better on a full stomach. Everyone is different.

 

If you want to maximize sleep time on the plane, you can order your meal to be delivered "Express" and they will bring it all at once.

I recommend printing out the Contract of Carriage for the airline you're flying. Start reading it after departure. You will be asleep in no time and understand why almost nobody reads it ! :)

I recommend printing out the Contract of Carriage for the airline you're flying. Start reading it after departure. You will be asleep in no time and understand why almost nobody reads it ! :)

OTOH, you might find some things in there that are so startling that you don't get to sleep at all. ;)

 

YMMV.

Envoy class seats on the A330 were fantastic but I don't know that those on their other widebody aircraft compre. We used the A330 to fly between the U.S. and Brazil. Even better than biz class on Delta's 767-300s and 767-400s (and they were quite good). Both truly lie-flat. Better than United's lie-flat biz class. Angle-flat we had on AA in biz class not nearly as good.

 

Really important to verify the type of aircraft before traveling. Good you've done that.

Angle-flat we had on AA in biz class not nearly as good.

 

That's an outgoing product, being replaced by this:

I don't know of any American airline that offers a dedicated check in for their business class passengers at US airports. I would love to be proven wrong. I haven't seen it with UA, DL or US. They seem to just combine it with their domestic F check in line. Pretty typical for service from American airlines vs. foreign ones.

 

AA has a separate BC check-in at LAX. They also have separate windows in the same area at JFK, but if one line is backed up they'll take care of either.:)

 

That's an outgoing product, being replaced by this:

 

Those are very nice seats - we flew over LAX-LHR-FCO and scored them. I really hope that the aging 767 we flew FCO-ORD is replaced or refitted by the next time we fly.