Daytime Flights to London

Has anyone taken a daytime flight to London? One of the things we disliked last year was flying overnight. Are there advantages and disadvantages to getting there in the evening?

I personally would prefer to arrive mid morning. I find arriving in the evening (with a time change) makes it hard to go to sleep at the right time and get proper sleep.

I hardly see daytime flights overseas from the states....I like the early am arrivals

I took a daytime flight left around 9:30am Toronto, Canada and arrived around 10:30pm LHR time with Air Canada.

We picked up a car, drove to our hotel on Bath St near LHR, had some food we felt like our Toronto schedule.

We did not have any jet lag.

I much prefer a daytime flight to London than what is essentially a red eye. One advantage about arriving at night is that you can check into your hotel, which you usually can't if you are on an overnight flight that arrives early in the morning. A disadvantage (for some, I don't view it that way given the positives) is paying for the hotel for that night, when you could be on a plane flying over. I don't like to fly and hence I don't sleep well on planes, so the overnight flight has that disadvantage for me as well. I also prefer to fly out in the morning when airports are typically less of a zoo than they are later in the day; my stress level is less when things are calmer. YMMV of course.

Thanks. Last year, we got lucky and were able to check in at our hotel when we arrived a little after noon. In Southampton, though, they held our large pieces of luggage when we arrived before check-in time.

I'm another who doesn't sleep much on planes. DH is out like a light. I thought getting to London at 9 p.m. local time would help me not have jetlag as bad. Surprisingly, the cost of the flights is the same (and a bargain through Princess).

It's worked for us leaving around 7:30pm from LAX nonstop to LHR arriving around 2:30pm. Easy checkin to the hotel then..dinner and off to bed.

It's worked for us leaving around 7:30pm from LAX nonstop to LHR arriving around 2:30pm. Easy checkin to the hotel then..dinner and off to bed.

Yes, but for overnight flights leaving from the east coast of North America (the OP is in Raleigh, NC), the arrival times are often around 7am (or earlier). Pretty much no hotel check in then.

some hotels will offer early check in for a fee some they just give you a room straight away

Once in Amsterdam we arrived at the hotel at 8:30 am we got our room right then

That said I did not mind the overnight flights going

coming home I struggle for days with jetlag

The alternative to the same day flight is an overnight that gets in at 10:30 a.m., which I figure would put us at a hotel around noon like last year. We could drop off our large bags and go to lunch if our room is not ready yet.

I went ahead and booked the same-day flights that will get us to London around 8:40 p.m. I think we'll like it better than flying overnight. I still have a hard time believing what a great deal Princess was offering. We're paying less for the flights to London and our return home from New York City than we've paid in the past to fly to and from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

I went ahead and booked the same-day flights that will get us to London around 8:40 p.m. I think we'll like it better than flying overnight. I still have a hard time believing what a great deal Princess was offering. We're paying less for the flights to London and our return home from New York City than we've paid in the past to fly to and from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Enjoy whatever will work out for you...hard to pass up a good deal. Safe, happy & healthy travels.

I went ahead and booked the same-day flights that will get us to London around 8:40 p.m. I think we'll like it better than flying overnight. I still have a hard time believing what a great deal Princess was offering. We're paying less for the flights to London and our return home from New York City than we've paid in the past to fly to and from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Now you can compare for the next overseas flight what works best for you

Enjoy the trip

Excellent idea if you can get a daytime flight. We always get terrible jet lag when returning from the US after an overnight flight. I'm always amazed to read of those of you that can hit the ground running and manage a days sightseeing!

What we often do if we have an early morning arrival in the UK, is to book a day room at an airport hotel. Have a quick breakfast on landing, then off to sleep until mid afternoon. After waking relatively refreshed, we then drive home, have an evening to unpack and have a meal, then off to sleep until the next morning, when we are pretty much back on UK time.

Might work for those of you who don't adapt very quickly to the new time zone. the day room is a lot cheaper than an overnight stay, you could then transfer to a Southampton hotel or central London hotel for the night and be pretty well good to go the next day.

We don't get jet lag on the way over to the States! It's a daytime flight, and we usually arrive late afternoon, have a meal straightaway, then bed very early. By the next morning, we are pretty well on US time and ready to start our holiday. However, I do have to make sure I have snacks ready for when I wake up in the small hours with my tummy grumbling for breakfast!

Has anyone taken a daytime flight to London? One of the things we disliked last year was flying overnight. Are there advantages and disadvantages to getting there in the evening?

But it does avoid the very short night which an overnight flight entails. I often wish that the eastbound flights were slower, so that there would be more chance of getting a decent night's sleep. With maximum focus on sleeping, I still only got about 5½ hours on a recent New York - London overnight.