What Steps to make long haul travel more comfortable?

[Sprucegoose]

I graduated from Fess Frequent Flyer to Vicks after I spoke to a Cathay pilot (retired).
Lubricating eye drops....got an over the counter brand and detail missafternoondelight ??
Cutting down the food and alcohol...hmmm you know how to hurt....I can easily drop the dessert ....Mrscove does zero alcohol so its only when I fly or entertain that I go for it.
Probably adjusting my watch to the final destination time would work ok.
It is much less of a problem going to London as the time difference is so much less.

As I get further down the track I think the trips will be longer than the 10 to 15 days so that may help.

We remain amazed at the business folks we meet who get out of their PJs ,don their suits and head straight off to a business meeting when they have travelled into Australia from New York on QF12 or an equivalent.
KRudd seems to be able to do it even though he has had at least 3 major operations.
Thanks for your thoughts so far....I am very glad I asked.

I would be interested to learn more about the Vicks and why. Retired flyers would indeed have a sound routine. Btw I do fess and it works for me, but if there is something better would love to hear about it.

 

[Hvr]

What else to avoid waking up at 1am for a week?

Drink less so you don't have to go to the loo as often?

Or did you mean caused by jet lag?

 

[Kangol]

I graduated from Fess Frequent Flyer to Vicks after I spoke to a Cathay pilot (retired)

Vicks nasal spray or Vaporub?

I personally do my best to NOT sleep when I get to my destination, however as much as I can pack into a day (early rise, late finish) for some reason I still wake up at 2 or 3am - this is both going west Aus to Europe, then to USA and also going east Aus to USA..

I had this idea of not having too much sleep the night before, so that you can sleep on the plane, can work. But then again I can sleep pretty easily on planes so that kinda goes out the window.

 

[cove]

The Vicks I have been using just before a flight is Vicks VapoRub but I am sure their nasal spray works fine.
Waking up at 1am from jet lag is what I meant. My normal wake up time is 4am or a bit later.
Two other products I am impressed with that I buy in the US are:
Kroger All-Day Allergy (original prescription strength) that will stop a runny nose and weepy eyes immediately.....It is an over the counter at Ralphs pharmac_ section (remember I am not giving medical advice for the obvious reason). I went looking after the Australian products were reformulated to stop drug labs making a bit of home bake whatever and stuff like Telfast ceased to work for me.
Biofreeze is the magic potion used by chiropractors....you can eliminate all sorts of aches and pains....I get this thru the web for our warehouse staff.

I can sleep on a plane for about 8 hours in two shots of 4+ hours so it has cut a 15 hour flight into movies,music eat,drink and sleep.
I still have Fess Frequent Fyer but Vicks has pipped it in the last 12 months.

Back to jet lag.....I would love to cure it without losing the enjoyment of the caviar treatment in J and F classes.

 

[missafternoondelight]

Eye drops:
Systane for lubricating only.
Cromulux for allergies (can be used long term with no ill effect, eg. I use these all Spring)
Clear Eyes or single use Abalon vials for red eyes.

Interesting about the Vicks vaporub.. do you rub it on your chest, or up your nose?

I graduated from Fess Frequent Flyer to Vicks after I spoke to a Cathay pilot (retired).
Lubricating eye drops....got an over the counter brand and detail missafternoondelight ??
Cutting down the food and alcohol...hmmm you know how to hurt....I can easily drop the dessert ....Mrscove does zero alcohol so its only when I fly or entertain that I go for it.
Probably adjusting my watch to the final destination time would work ok.
It is much less of a problem going to London as the time difference is so much less.

As I get further down the track I think the trips will be longer than the 10 to 15 days so that may help.

We remain amazed at the business folks we meet who get out of their PJs ,don their suits and head straight off to a business meeting when they have travelled into Australia from New York on QF12 or an equivalent.
KRudd seems to be able to do it even though he has had at least 3 major operations.
Thanks for your thoughts so far....I am very glad I asked.

 

[TiredOldFlyer]

Find that arriving late afternoon/early evening to help, not sleeping too much on the flight, not overeating and drinking (Hard call on SIA !) and lots of water to stop even partial dehydration.
We try to book flights that will allow, as much as possible, 16 hours awake 8 hours asleep and if necessary more awake time than normal then of to a nearby hotel for a nights sleep. Like SQ 2 arrives 19.00 in SFO and return SQ 211 to Sydney at about 20.30.
Sudafed is pretty good for nose eyes etc.

 

[addyoni]

Being at front of plane helps, most pure of the recirculated air with more oxygen.

Drink lots of water and eat the lighter foods. Tomato juice is nice too - due to cabin pressure it taste sweeter than at sea level.

Negative air ionizer by Elanra.

Clove or similar anti-everything essential oil by YLEO.

Hand sanitizer, a good gel one with denatured alcohol (by peppermint oil) and frankincense etc by YLEO also.

Good noise blocking headphones. If only earmuffs weren't so bulky and conspicuous. Not sitting near wings/engines is great bonus for being at front.

Use those 'Do not wake up, leave food on tray' stickers you get with Emirates. What everyone else said about sleep & clothing etc. If you find it hard to sleep, get Valerian oil.

Yep and moisterise lots too.

 

[cove]

Hand sanitizer is a really good idea.
The Vicks is just for the nose.
Gettng woken up to land is fine but woken up to eat is really good to avoid.
Thanks for the eye drops and oils....you think you are the only one with dry eyes but now I realize it is the super low humidity on the plane that stops me ever wanting to read books.
I rarely run the humidifier part of my Resmed sleep machine if I am running off the lithium batteries as it cuts the battery life in half to just 4 or 5 hours per battery. Unless the plane has an approved power supply to plug into I use up both batteries on a very long flight.
There sure is no prize given out for ending up with a chest infection from a flight so I try to keep to myself on the very long flights.

 

[AVC]

A bit off topic, but we have been told to use Vicks for our daughters coughing.
But get this, they say rub the Vicks into their feet and put socks on them and they will sleep soundly (and stop coughing).

Now, I thought this was a load of cough, but damn me, it actually works!

So there might be some good use for it to assist sleeping on an aircraft.

Not sure about the other passengers having to put up with the smell in the cabin though..

 

[ozmille]

Have never done the LAX or SFO flights from SYD but have done the Asia and Europe flights a couple of times in the last 4,5 years. Leaving from SYD I always stay awake the first leg to SIN or BKK, then on the next flight I try to sleep as much as possible. If necessary I take half a restavit on that flight. My routine when arriving in Europe is to do as much as possible the day of arrival to stay awake and I usually amn back to normal the second day.
When coming back to SYD I try not to sleep too long on the LHR BKK/SIN leg and as much as possible on the next one. When getting back to SYD I go home to take a shower and straight back into the office. I usually stop functioning mentally around 4PM though
On our last trip we did a couple of days in BKK on the way and this time we are going to do just 1 night in BKK. Breaks the trip up a bit. Don't think I'll ever be able to not drink on a flight :shock: but I do drink a lot of water and some tomato juice as well.

 

[GeeZed]

Yeah I've heard that's a Great flight. What do you normally pay for a sector? It's out of Newark ?

PER-SIN-LAX-SIN-PER discounted business SQ is $7200 + fees/taxes ($1080 aprox)

 

[Nicholas Bignell]

I know that avoiding alcohol makes sense, but as wine is one of the pleasures that gets me through the long flight, I'm prepared to put up with the jet lag at my destination!

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

I dont like this thread ! 'Only drink water' ...... ' dont drink wine ' ....... 'dont eat anything' ..........'stay awake' ....

When our son lived in NYC for 5 years, I was flying BNE-NRT-JFK twice, sometimes 3 times a year, all in J ( occasionally F ) I always ate everything in sight, drank copious glasses of wine, had some sleep, and arrived in NYC at 8pm, straight to bed on arrival at the hotel, and the next morning up, breakfast, and ready to hit the shops at 10am. There is nothing like a serious shopping day and starbucks coffee to clear jetlag IMO.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I dont like this thread ! 'Only drink water' ...... ' dont drink wine ' ....... 'dont eat anything' ..........'stay awake' ....

When our son lived in NYC for 5 years, I was flying BNE-NRT-JFK twice, sometimes 3 times a year, all in J ( occasionally F ) I always ate everything in sight, drank copious glasses of wine, had some sleep, and arrived in NYC at 8pm, straight to bed on arrival at the hotel, and the next morning up, breakfast, and ready to hit the shops at 10am. There is nothing like a serious shopping day and starbucks coffee to clear jetlag IMO.

I think you've just written the winning post :mrgreen:

 

[Nicholas Bignell]

I think you've just written the winning post :mrgreen:

Couldn't agree more! Not so sure about the Starbucks coffee, on the other hand!

 

[smit0847]

Couldn't agree more! Not so sure about the Starbucks coffee, on the other hand!

I became extremely partial to vanilla lattes over there!

 

[JohnMcC]

If I am going QF to LAX out of Sydney or Melbourne I don't go the red eye out of Perth. Horror flights are off my agenda.
The only overnight flight I do is the 1am or 2am SQ flight to SINGAPORE to get to London quickly and I use my sleep machine on battery power on the super wide seat.
I use the swimming pool after I get to the other end, wear eye shades when sleeping and drink a lot of water en route.
Will ask my cardiologist about Melatonin as I have not done that.
The swimming pool has been good.

I too have a heart condition (heart attack 20 years ago) but not only did my cardiologist approve Melatonin she said she also uses it when she does long distance flying and she has rheumatism problems! I follow the same procedure with my melatonin as you do except I only need it for 3 days, whether that be from here to London, NY or LA.

 

[drron]

i have tried all the reccomended cures for jetlag including melatonin and none work for me.The only thing is a good nights sleep at your destination.Thats why we loved going via NRT to JFK because you avoided LAX but also got to our hotel~8pm.time for a quich bite-usually the food carts outside the Hilton NY then off to bed.Often I will take a combination analgesic/antihistamine as the 2 things that can stop me sleeping are my knee or my allergic rhinitis.I buy a combination acetominophen/diphenhydramine from Walmart-$5 for 100.
And the next day I am up ready to hit the streets,have whatever funny flavoured frappucino that Starbucks is promoting that trip and then i am ready for carrying all those parcels.And those of you reading my TRs will know I devour all food put in front of me and wash it down with copious amounts of wine.

 

[cove]

Well here I am in London awake at 1am then 4am. Could not resist the champagne and red wine...and I tell myself the glasses are smaller on the plane. Better try melatonin!

 

[TonyHancock]

Know the feeling this week. Only got back from Brazil on Sunday night and I have been awake at 4:00 AM every morning this week. Not to worry though it's off to the UK tomorrow!