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Advice for flights to Europe


hrt4girls
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I just back from flying London-LAX, and we've "done the pond trip" several times. I cannot sleep on airplanes, so here's what I do to make it through in good shape:

 

YES, YES, YES get the noise cancelling headphones! These are great on any airplane, because you just never know when Noisy Nellie or Little Jeffrey will be in front or behind you. Get a good pair; we both have Bose, and they are worth every single penny we spent.

 

Take an MP3 or iPod with a "soothing" playlist. Whatever helps you relax and snooze or sleep. I have 32 songs that play continuously.

 

DEFINITELY take a sleep mask. I buy mine from the Dollar Store, and make sure the inside is black. The more light and sound you can eliminate, the lower your blood pressure and the easier it is to snooze or sleep.

 

Yes on loose comfy clothes, especially your feet. Mine tend to swell on airplanes, so I always have a pair of flipflops. If your feet tend to get cold, then take a pair of diabetic soft socks. These are non-binding and will keep your feet warm. I also do the ankle exercises every so often on the plane.

 

I always have a really good book to read, too, and now I have a Nook.

 

Buy a bottle of water before you get on the plane, and sip it until it's empty. Drink lots of fluids on the plane, and eat little snacks as you go along.

 

When I arrive at my destination on either end, I just stay up until it's dark outside.

 

The point I'm making here is I don't force myself to sleep. I make myself relaxed, drowsy, take naps, and just veg-out. Drugs and alcohol just make you dopey when you get there.

Edited by pcur
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Gone First Class, Business Class and Coach. If you are flying from the east coast, there is no way of getting around it.....if you land in Barcelona a 8:30 AM local time, , that's 2:30 AM body time. No matter what seat you were in, no matter what amenities were offered, your body is still saying, "it's 2:30 in the morning!!!" Yes, you might be able to fall asleep and stay asleep from right after dinner until landing, but have dinner some evening at home, go to bed and set your alarm for 2:30AM, get up and stay up and see how you feel come mid-day.

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Gone First Class, Business Class and Coach. If you are flying from the east coast, there is no way of getting around it.....if you land in Barcelona a 8:30 AM local time, , that's 2:30 AM body time. No matter what seat you were in, no matter what amenities were offered, your body is still saying, "it's 2:30 in the morning!!!" Yes, you might be able to fall asleep and stay asleep from right after dinner until landing, but have dinner some evening at home, go to bed and set your alarm for 2:30AM, get up and stay up and see how you feel come mid-day.

 

Welcome to my world. I'm often on 5:00 am flights which means I'm up at 2:30. Once I land it's non-stop business meetings, sometimes until well into the evening. Best thing to do is avoid carbs and try to eat proteins in small portions every couple of hours. A little caffeine boost through the day, but avoid things like Jolt, Red Bull, and espresso, just have a small cup of regular coffee when you're really starting to drag.

 

Lots of good advice above, I'd suggest bringing a neck pillow and store it in a plastic bag with some lavender soap for a week or so prior to your trip. When you pull it out to use it, you'll smell the calming, soothing lavender when it's up near your face. but those around you won't be able to smell it.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Depending on your perspective on safety, you might want to consider keeping your shoes on until after takeoff. Just in case there is some kind of issue on takeoff, you may need to walk (run) across ground that may not be "friendly" to bare/stocking feet. And no time to put them on.

 

Yes, it may be a bit paranoid, but I can wait those extra minutes to take off the shoes. And be sure that you have shoes that can be adjusted, as your feet will swell some after many hours airborne and you don't want to have to struggle to get back into your shoes before landing. It's why just about every business/first amenity kit has a shoehorn included.

 

Great advice from everyone. I fly across regularly too. I'd like to add a couple of things:

 

If you are going to check in a luggage, make sure to also have your essentials in your carry-on: toiletry, clothes for a 2-3 days, etc. Just in case your luggage doesn't make it to BCN, that way you are set with the bare minimum for a few days if you have to.

 

Another important thing is sleep management and jetlag, since you have never been there it is important. Unfortunately going across eastbound is the most fatiguing. Here's the technique I use every time I go, which is the same most flight crews follow as well for fatigue management:

 

As soon as you arrive to your hotel, take a nap no more than 4 hours. Then go outside and take as much sun as possible (the body's internal clock adjusts with sun light). Have some dinner, and go back to sleep at a normal around 10pm. You will wake early morning, and shouldn't feel too tired. Then follow a normal sleep schedule.

 

If you take too long of a nap, you will not sleep at night and never adapt. If you skip the nap, you could wake up at some odd times and not be able to go back to sleep.

 

Have fun! :D

 

Such great tips. I'm really enjoying reading all this information

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Lots of great information. Mine would be to leave contacts off while flying and wear eye glasses if possible. The air in the plane dry mine out terribly.

 

Hope this helps,

Sharon

 

 

Good point Sharon! The air inside airplane is always extremely dry in comparison to ground level; this goes beyond just contacts. Any sensitivity to dry air should be addressed, such as bringing lotion for dry skin, and chopstick from dry lips.

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Lots of great information. Mine would be to leave contacts off while flying and wear eye glasses if possible. The air in the plane dry mine out terribly.

 

Hope this helps,

Sharon

On overnight flights, I'll leave my contacts in through dinner, and then take them out...my body seems to read this as "sleepy time", and I get increasingly tired very quickly. I then put my contacts in just before breakfast. Depending on the length of the flight, that can mean I am without my contacts for 4 hours or 12 hours.

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It's not easy, but do your best to avoid high sodium foods for a couple of days before flying. I wear surgical stockings to help with swelling too. Like another poster said, don't stress about sleeping. With noise cancelling headphones and a good book I can usually drift off for a while, and I'm greatful for every nap I get.

I also bring snack that are high in protein and low in sodium like unsalted nuts. The salted ones in the airport shops are instant ankle swellers for me.

Unless you're in first class it's never fun flying on a transatlantic flight which is another reason we love transatlantic cruises--only one long flight.

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If you can, try to get as late a crossing as possible (though this will cut down your safety margin if boarding the same day). For example, BA has flights leaving Vancouver for London at 8p so arrival into London is ~5a Pacific time next day. Air France, KLM and Lufthansa have/had flights that leave for Europe around 2-4p which puts one into Europe at midnight local time. Pretty brutal as you imagine. I am tentatively on one such leaving Calgary in October. Not much fun even in business class.

 

 

For those of you who live near Toronto, Boston, New York, Chicago and possibly Washington who have a little bit more time, money and patience to spare, there is always the option of a daytime flight (usually all leave before 9 or 10a local time) to London. Arrival time is too late for a connecting flight so you'll have to spend a night in a hotel before your ongoing flight the next day.

Edited by cruising cockroach
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  • 1 month later...

I happened across this board and have to thank everyone for the helpful advice! My Hubby and I are cruising out of Rome this fall and have never flown across the pond before. You all have offered tips that I never would've even considered. Thank you!

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One of the things I did was to reset my body clock BEFORE we left. I began about two weeks before we flew getting up 10-15 minutes earlier every day. The day of my flight to FCO I woke up at 3:00 am. By the time we finished dinner, it was bedtime. I fell asleep and slept about 5.5 hours.

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  • 1 year later...

I'm one of the lucky ones, I suppose. Whether the flight is long or short, I fall asleep before the plane ever takes off. I wake for the meals, but when they dim the lights, I'm asleep. I buy a bottle of water, and in my tote bag (not the carry-on), I have my meds, a neck pillow, some snacks (trail mix, granola bars or rice crispie treats), a crossword book and/or word search and all my documents. I carry the snacks in case I don't like the food or we have a delay with the plane. I wear yoga pants, a loose fitting cotton t-shirt and a jacket. It's usually summer so I wear a pair of slip on sandals. I carry a pashmina-type scarf and a pair of loose fitting socks. Once on the plan, I slip the socks on which still leaves me with the ability to slip my feet out of socks and into the sandals for the bathroom. I take a stretch and a walk when I wake from my naps and I do the little feet/hee/toe exercises. When I get on the plane, I have my antiseptic wipe handy and run it over the tray and anything possible. I carry facial wipes too. Once we are about an hour from our destination, I wash my face with the facial wipes, apply lotion, make-up and if I haven't already gone to the restroom, I go then (no later). I wash my hands with one of my wipes, stash the socks in a zip lock that is in the tote (oh, and my tote serves as my "foot rest"). You can't imagine how much better you feel after using the wipes over your face and neck. It's my "morning routine" on the plane. I get my tote bag packed back up, get my documents out and I'm ready to go. When we get to the hotel, we stash the bags, go have a nice leisurely walk around the area, eat something, drink lots of liquids to re-hydrate and by that time if our room wasn't ready early, it's ready by then. We've tried the "stay awake" method and it doesn't work for us..exhaustion and fatigue have found us. We set the alarm or ask for a wake up call in 2 to 2-1/2 hours. When we wake up, we freshen up and we're ready to enjoy the late afternoon and evening. We go to bed early and we have actually found that we are acclimated and adjusted to the new time by the next morning.

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I thank everyone who has posted - some great tips.

I guess I'm different from many posters, but I disagree about having a nap when you get to Europe. When we flew to Rome in April, we got to our hotel in the afternoon, checked in, showered, changed and went sight seeing. It's Rome! So much to see, and only a day and a half until our cruise.

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Just a quick couple of points to add to all the good stuff already posted.

Even if your ankles have never swollen it is worth getting and wearing travel compression socks on such long flights.

As well as feet exercises, I do the spell the alphabet with my feet, rotate shoulders and neck frequently and try to get up and walk the aisles when you are awake.

As well as taking sanitizer baby wipes are the best for refreshing the face and body.

I tend to do a good freshen up in the first restroom after leaving the plane, the water is better for teeth cleaning and there is room to change etc. Doing this I also find I miss the big line up at passport controls as most have rushed to get there and are now waiting for the luggage.

Most important take vitamin C and zinc every few hours. These long flights are full of germs so be pro active - a multi vitamin would be good too.

Happy 1st long haul...... I quite enjoy them.

Cheers, h

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  • 2 weeks later...

Guess it would have been relevant for me to mention that our flight arrives in the morning in Europe, so an after lunch nap, even for an hour, refreshes us. If we arrived late in the afternoon, a nap would be out of the question, and yes baby wipes for the face and neck, antiseptic wipes for the tray, seat and arm rests. I use my tote for my footrest, since I'm 5'3.

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