How I survive 12 hour flights
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How I survive 12 hour flights
1–10 of 43 posts
Re: How I survive 12 hour flights
#2OK, this got funnier the longer I read.
> Buy a Big Mac before boarding the plane, and eat it whenever you want. Bring chocolate and other snacks.
If I ever end up sitting next to somebody who brought along a Big Mac...well, the plane better have empty seats somewhere else...
(I was touring NSW, Australia via rail some years ago and sat across from another tourist who was calmly consuming a large chocolate bunny. It's become such a strange memory that I have to wonder if he just did it to mess with people or what. By the time I got off the train I wanted my own bunny)
Re: How I survive 12 hour flights
#3I do the same except for the random toilet visits. There's a limited number of them on a flight and especially when the flight is full waiting to use the toilet because someone is taking personal time is rude.
Instead of that will go to the galley or lav area and stretch or pace. As long as the crew isn't serving people they don't care and totally understand if you need to pace or stretch.
Re: How I survive 12 hour flights
#4Random toilet visits?
Damn, I hate airplane toilets. There is this realisation that I just cannot get rid of, every time I am on long flights and walking down to the toilets I just can’t stop thinking; everyone on this plane has used the toilet. Everyone.
Re: How I survive 12 hour flights
#5I used to do a regular 15h flight (MEL-LAX or LAX-MEL, I forget which was the longer one).
I'd add:
Get on board tired. Stay up late a few nights before you leave, get up early, do a bunch of exercise, whatever it takes. Be ready to sleep.
Book a window seat. You've got a decent chance of having only two people in the 3 seats for a start, which means extra leg room, and a blanket/pillow/headphones/etc dumping area on the spare seat. But most importantly, you don't get woken up when someone else needs to get up. The downside is you get to be the person disturbing the others, but ... that's better than being disturbed.
Follow the pattern of the flight. There'll be a "night" portion of the flight, when it's dark and you don't get fed. That's the best time to sleep, so take advantage of it.
Wear a hoodie. And get a pillow and a blanket. If you're on an airline that doesn't do them, consider bringing your own. You will likely need the blanket at night, because the plane will be cold, especially in the window seat.
Wear an eye mask. Yes, it's dorky, but so what? It really cuts out the disturbance from the person in front with their reading light or video on all "night".
Wear noise-cancelling earbuds with nothing playing to sleep. I find the background roar of the engines makes it difficult to sleep well, but the noise-cancelling drops it to a level that's heaps better.
Get up and walk around when you can. You can do a decent lap around the economy section of a B747/A380. Flex your ankles as you walk, bouncing up and down. Do some stretching down near the rear escape slide doors. You'll still get swollen feet and ankles, but nowhere near as bad.
Bring a book. It doesn't need working WiFi, battery, etc. If you ever get a seat with a broken entertainment system, you'll appreciate having the fallback once your phone battery is dead, laptop is drained, and the in-flight magazine is read cover to cover.
Don't watch the map. It'll just feel like it takes longer. After you've had the final meal, you've got about 2h left. Final descent takes about 30 mins of that, so you've only got about 90 minutes of frustration between finishing the meal and making actual tangible progress towards your destination. The remainder of the flight is an alternative universe, outside of time and space. Disconnect, and just go with it. Otherwise you'll drive yourself mad.
Re: How I survive 12 hour flights
#6>Bring snacks
>Buy a Big Mac before boarding the plane, and eat it whenever you want
How long do big macs stay "fresh"? I'd imagine after a few hours they'll be cold and soggy from the sauces/veggies. You'd have to eat it in one or two hours before it degrades to a state that's worse than the food that they provide. The first hour or so after take off is also the time they serve the first in-flight meal (at least on long haul flights), so the utility of a big mac is questionable imo.
Re: How I survive 12 hour flights
#7(I see I’m not the only one triggered by the Big Mac comment. PLEASE do not do this.)
Anyway, as the veteran of a bunch of 15hr flights, many of them part of longer 25-30hr hauls, here is my one tip....
1. Accept that you are on a plane for a lengthy period of time.
That’s it. Most of the unpleasantness comes from resisting the reality. Stop resisting it. You will be in a plane for a length of time. Accept it.
Re: How I survive 12 hour flights
#8OK, this got funnier the longer I read. > Buy a Big Mac before boarding the plane, and eat it whenever you want. Bring chocolate and other snacks. If I ever end up sitting next to somebody who brought along a Big Mac...well, the plane better have empty seats somewhere else... (I was touring NSW, Australia via rail some years ago and sat across from another tourist who was calmly consuming a large chocolate bunny. It'…
For clarification, was this near easter time or was the bunny completely random?
Re: How I survive 12 hour flights
#9This is a lot like how I made my first long distance train ride tolerable, and if your 12h flights are this spacious and relaxed... bring a deck of cards or a guitar or something recreational you enjoy. Yeah it’s a hassle to get more stuff through security and lug around but you might make ”survive” into fun memories.
Re: How I survive 12 hour flights
#10Random toilet visits? Damn, I hate airplane toilets. There is this realisation that I just cannot get rid of, every time I am on long flights and walking down to the toilets I just can’t stop thinking; everyone on this plane has used the toilet. Everyone.
I've got some bad news for you about every toilet you encounter outside of your house...