Sleeping on planes......

[justcallmeryan]

Have done plenty of TPAC flights in J, Y+ and Y. Eastbound very difficult to sleep, (although much better in J) as the departure time from SYD just doesn't lend itself to it. Westbound is much much easier as by the time you get through take off and dinner I am absolutely exhausted.

The key for me in all classes is comfortable clothing (PJs), a heavy dinner, some red wine and ear plug. If in Y and I want to sleep, then a window seat is better as that little bit of extra space and nobody climbing over makes a huge difference. If in J then I sleep when I'm tired and less likely to be disturbed by meal services or people wandering around.

Regardless of the class of travel crossing time zones wrecks quite a bit of havoc on me. I do my very best to stay awake the full day of arrival, no matter how tired and will only allow myself to go to sleep once the sun goes down. This seems to assist in not carrying jet lag for many days.

 

[RozInAus]

Flat bed = sleep for me. IF I'm not that lucky I watch lots of movies to while away the time.

 

[Bindibuys]

Have pillow - will sleep.
Yes, a bed in J & F has made the sleep more comfortable, and have many times completely missed take-off.
I usually sleep 8 - 9 hours at home every night, head hits the pillow - next thing alarm is going off (and damm it sure is not beauty sleep)
In Y, so long as I have a window seat, I expect to get at least 75% of the journey in shut-eye mode.
Hubby thinks it's a waste my travelling in J & F - I sleep too much, but I have never had jet-lag.

 

[horseman]

Normally get 5-6 a night, in the air I may as well be in a tumble drier. If I do, it's from total exhaustion

 

[Hvr]

On Monday I flew SYD-BKK and having obtained PJs in the F lounge went to sleep as soon as the seat belt sign was off. I had worked until 02.00am and needed my handsome sleep.

The FA taking meal orders was very surprised I didn't want to eat but understood when I told him why I needed to sleep.

Got about 6-7 hours sleep and was very refreshed upon landing.

 

[Jungking]

I find bringing along ear plugs and eye mask helps immensely to take a nap, even better when I can lay down with the entire row to myself.

 

[rioter]

Stilnox affects people differently.

For me it keeps me awake. I can not sleep on it.
I take melatonin. Works a treat. Usually take 3mg an hour before i want to sleep on the plane. Then another the day I land and jetlag has been a thing of the past for me.

I started out with a prescription from a compounding chemist but just picked up a bottle of 240 in the states for 10$ and has lasted me a while now. So far no ill side effects at all.

Even in F i still struggle to stay asleep. I am fairly tall and i have yet to find a plane bed where my hips/shoulders don't dig in and cause me to wake up with pins and needles every 2-3 hours.

 

[get me outta here]

I take half a still knocks (that's what the microphone thinks I said for Stilnox). I take half a tab and get about four hours sleep, then wake up and do a few things and then take the 2nd half tab, and hopefully that all adds up to about 6 to 8 hours sleep on a 14 hour flight. I have a high tolerance to Stilnox.


I've just been given 300 X 3 mg 'Melatonin and More' tablets from the USA made by Schiff, which I feel quite wary of. Would it be a good idea to try one at say 6 PM one evening when there's not much going on the next morning to see how they affect me?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I've just been given 300 X 3 mg 'Melatonin and More' tablets from the USA made by Schiff, which I feel quite wary of. Would it be a good idea to try one at say 6 PM one evening when there's not much going on the next morning to see how they affect me?

That's a way to test it. Leave the curtains open to allow the light to come in in the morning. The light is important to reset your body clock.Theoretically you should sleep from about 30 minutes after you take the tablet until it becomes light and you wake naturally.

 

[Travelqueen]

Just home from NYC to MEL, via LAX with Qantas J class.

Stayed awake NYC to LAX

LAX to MEL, had glass of champers, light meal, and waited till the lights dimmed.

PJ's, ear plugs, one night time cold and flu tab, and two temazepam, and I slept solidly for 7 hours.

Woke for a groggy walk to the bathroom, then back to my bed for another 2 hours sleep.

Best flight ever, and felt very refreshed on arrival.

FA did mention that they noticed I was sleeping well ( I wondered if that meant I was snoring... )

TQ

 

[emef]

I do 2 x Advil PM and a melatonin and get 7 hours every long haul. Being in J or F helps.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

b) see if it's possible to arrange immediate access to a hotel room on arrival

If the intent is to sleep as in your post above, then my advice is do not if it is "daylight hours"..

Personally unless you physically cannot operate at all on arrival, my advice is to adopt immediately the local time zone. If it is morning there then stay up till after dinner time.

Preferably get outside early for a dose of sunshine/daylight as it will help reset the body clock.

You might feel tired on that first day but my experience is that this greatly speeds the time it takes to adjust to your new time zone.

I also find that do active things like walking and/or cycling on that first day helps me to adjust and to sleep better when I do at last go to bed.

 

[ICUDr]

Depends on the sleeping tablet. And the person. Something like tempzepam you can be snapped out of in about 3 seconds. Valium or xanax maybe not so much. For safety reasons I wouldn't take sleeping pills before take-off.

You are right on your observations..
Although both Temazepam and Diazepam (Valium) are from the same family, Diazepam is a better anxiolytic and muscle relaxant while Temazepam is a better hypnotic (sleep inducer)

You just need to be careful because they are potentially addictive

 

[Bodie]

Unfortunately despite 20 years 3 shift roster, cant sleep on planes. I have nil issues sleeping after nightwork at home, or after week of getting up 4.15am and going to bed normally at 10.30pm. Nil tablets or anything - maybe aircon if hot. Due to previously been driving on the 3 shift roster at all hours, often required to drive fast,, dont know if its the background noise of engines or just cant get comfortable in seats. Got too exited in business class and sat at bar for hours. Best sleep was like 3-4 hours after having migraine and taking tablets and couple of scotch and dry in lounge. Often arrive at destination without sleep for 24hrs or more, generally like first nigh of nightwork.

 

[wanderer_au]

Last week I flew QF8 in J and got a pleasing amount of sleep - around 7-8 hours, and incredibly, had no jet lag. I use the PJs, ear buds, grog but no eye mask.

Straingely I sleep better in J when I have a gentle incline, rather than a fully flat bed. The T2 tea they give out before bedtime when you fly to/from LAX is also pretty helpful with sleep but I didn't get it offered this time from DFW.

 

[24601]

Almost never sleep on any flight, Y J or F, and if I do will doze for maybe half an hour. I don't know why, and wish I could. I love to sleep and it seems the perfect time. I'll usually just work instead, at least a flight offers a long uninterrupted opportunity. Or if holidaying IFE and drink. Starting to think that AUS-Asia flights I should try to book only daytime flights so it doesn't matter.

 

[JohnK]

It's been a while. I can sleep even better now on short domestic flights. I manage to fall asleep just before take-off and wake up just as they are about to start meal/drink service.

It's good to be relaxed.

 

[cove]

On long hauls I tend to go champagne then a great red wine and after the meal I can go lights out. I use a Resmed sleep apnea machine and the white noise is helpful.

 

[Foreigner]

On longhaul flights (J) I would sleep after meal service. Seldom watch movies. Default screen is flight path showing position and times.
Short domestic flights (Y) i tend to snooze before takeoff and keep eyes shut but generally being aware of what's happening around me. Aisle seating on domestic sometimes is liability in having to get up for others wanting to get off their seats.

 

[pippen_2k]

I think the key is not to stress about sleep. When travelling to opposite time zones I just lay off the caffeine and alcohol and just close my eyes. Watching movies makes me tired so I tend to nod off a fair bit. It's not deep sleep but good enough to function at my new location. The more you try to make yourself sleep, the harder it will be.
At the end of the day you are sitting down doing next to nothing. Your body is still kind of resting so just close your eyes and relax.