Jet Lag

[SWFJOE]

Don’t travel from Europe too often so need some advise. Traveling from Barcelona with short stop in AMS then a 2 hour layover at JFK then on to ft. Lauderdale.travel will start about noon in Barcelona and arrive at 11:pm in ft Lauderdale. Will I feel like driving another 2 hours home upon arrival or just spend the night in ft Lauderdale and drive home the next day?

[CruiserBruce]

Not sure how we can speak for you as we don't know you and how you handlethese situations. That many time zones is tiring even if you "gain time"...its still 10 or more hours in a plane. Plus Immigration,  Customs and collecting your luggage.

 

If I  knew I could just walk into my house and plop into bed...not have to "turn on" my house, and sleep as long as needed the next morning,  I would drive home. But that is just me.

[Kristal Blade]

Which part of the plane are you flying in? If you are near the front and have a lay flat bed then you will have had a good sleep on board so driving home would be fine.

We have had flights from west coast USA to U.K. where we have flown business and driven home, which is a 4 hour drive.

Other times, flying standard class, arriving home in darkness, plus not being in our home time zone we have booked a cheap hotel room so we can crash out before we wake early then drive home.

11pm Florida, will be 4am Barcelona time, I think. Would you want to drive at that time of day normally?

[Langoustine]

IMO, driving after the series of flights you have described will be the most dangerous part of your trip.

[Sir PMP]

45 minutes ago, SWFJOE said:

Don’t travel from Europe too often so need some advise. Traveling from Barcelona with short stop in AMS then a 2 hour layover at JFK then on to ft. Lauderdale.travel will start about noon in Barcelona and arrive at 11:pm in ft Lauderdale. Will I feel like driving another 2 hours home upon arrival or just spend the night in ft Lauderdale and drive home the next day?

Get a hotel, you won't be in a good shape to drive

[HAL Sailer]

26 minutes ago, SWFJOE said:

Traveling from Barcelona with short stop in AMS then a 2 hour layover at JFK then on to ft. Lauderdale

 

@SWFJOE  You don't mention how soon you are traveling but with the frequent air travel delays that are currently happening your AMS short stop and JFK 2 hour layover may result in missed connections if any of your flights don't leave on time. So, you may or may not reach FLL as currently scheduled.

 

Would it be wiser to decide about a FLL hotel stay once you know whether you will reach FLL as scheduled? If you get to JFK on time, you should have a good sense of whether your final flight is leaving on time and whether you are feeling up to a two hour drive after.

 

From JFK, you can then make a FLL hotel reservation or not. You may not find same day availability at every FLL hotel, but you'd likely find someplace suitable for an overnight stay.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Having just flown home from Amsterdam last Sunday and we did have the lay flat seats to sleep but trust me at best you only get a couple of hours of sleep. I took at least three days to start to feel normal. Therewould havebeen no way I could have driven  one hour let alone 2 hours once we got home. We are fortunately live live a 10 minutes drive from the airport and our son picked us up.

[Mary229]

That you are asking indicates to me you should hotel it.  Long travel is tiring whether there are time changes or not.  I would use the extra day to go see a site or restaurant in Fort Lauderdale you keep passing by then head home.  

[SilvertoGold]

Some (a lot of) melatonin might help, but driving for 2 hours sounds like a bad idea.

[ontheweb]

Having done the 2+ hour drive home after flying back from Europe, I would ask the following question. Will you have someone with you to talk to and to make sure you stay awake.

 

Again, I have done this, but without the layover, and neither DW or I ever seem to be able to sleep on planes.

[BermudaBound2014]

3 hours ago, SWFJOE said:

Don’t travel from Europe too often so need some advise. Traveling from Barcelona with short stop in AMS then a 2 hour layover at JFK then on to ft. Lauderdale.travel will start about noon in Barcelona and arrive at 11:pm in ft Lauderdale. Will I feel like driving another 2 hours home upon arrival or just spend the night in ft Lauderdale and drive home the next day?

 

You mention 'short layover in AMS" and a two hour layover in JFK. I'd be concerned.

 

Amsterdam recently asked their own military for help managing crowds at the airport due to overcrowding. It's a mess. https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/terminal-inside-europes-summer-airport-chaos/

 

I am assuming you need to go thru customs in JRK? With only 2 hours that is also problematic on a good day.

 

If anything, keep informed of the problems in each of those airports. Maybe things will clean up by the time you fly, but IMO if can afford a trip overseas, just spend another $100 on a no frills (but clean) hotel room to make the return less anxiety ridden. 

 

[iancal]

When we travel to Europe the jet lag does not bother us.  Assuming it is 6-9 hours.

 

Coming back....absolutely.  We feel it for days.  Same experience when we fly to Bangkok. Arrive at midnight, to to bed.  Next morning all is well. Coming back it takes a week.  Perhaps because we are 70.

 

I made the mistake of flying from Malaysia to Gold Coast, Australia, and renting a car to drive drive for several hours to meet friends.   Only 10 hours.   BIG mistake.  I realized in hindsight that I was not attentive enough to be behind the wheel of a car.  And is was RHD of course.    I was lucky...no accidents.  But I did take note of the lesson and never did it again.

 

Keep in mind that that travel plans change.  If your plane is 3 hours late will you still be up for a drive and have full faculties.  Why take a chance???

Edited July 23, 2022 by iancal

[Loreto]

I agree with those who say get a hotel!  When we have a late arrival, and it is always a long drive home, we stay overnight at the airport.  As one poster said, the drive home can be the most dangerous part of the trip.  When we arrived in Las Vegas last October on our flat bed business class flight from AMS to SLC, clearing customs...which was exhausting and then on to LAS, the heat was incredible in Vegas.  We had already booked a hotel for that night and headed for home the next day.