Long airline flights

[post-op lover]

When you're looking forward to a flight or trip that's 5+ hours, such as any trip to LOS (12-20+ hours for many members), what do you do to prepare for the flight itself?

That's a lot of time to be sitting in one place or dealing with airports. Some people can sleep through the whole thing.

What are your best tips? Not just "grab a pillow, get a mag, read, drink, sleep, wash, rinse, repeat."

I feel one can hardly spend time catching up on email anymore, what with the nosy people all around. Is the best option just to watch a movie? How lame is that.

POL

[hardpaolo]

I can never sleep, I just end up watching the shite movies provided over and over again. I do not move very much at all I am not one of those people who stands in the aisle and does stretching etc. Couple of pisses and thats me done.

[kahuna]

I ain't gonna be much help POL...but I sleep...I can sleep anywhere, any time...

The 3rd trip this year on the same flight (wheels up Sept 4)...it's about 13 hrs from SFO to Taipei...and another 3:30 hrs to BKK...

The flight leaves SFO at 1:30 in the am...What I do is get a window seat...I book them online...deprive myself of sleep the night before...by the time they serve some shit food...which is as soon as they can because the flight attendants want to sleep as well...the lights go off in the cabin and I'm snoring...I can usually get a good 8 hrs before I wake...then it's a movie or a book and maybe some more napping and I'm there...

The layover in Taipei is about 3 hrs...time for food and a little laptop browsing and you're off to BKK...

The 3:30 hr flight from Taipei to BKK is a snap...some food a movie and you are there...it lands about 11:00 am...usually arrive at the hotel no later than 12:30 pm...a shower and a nap and I'm ready to party...or at least I think I am...

I usually have to pay a little more for the red-eye out of SFO...this time I didn't...they had it on promo when I booked...

Flight home is about the same...leaves BKK about 5:00 pm and depart Taipei at about 11:30 pm...same routine in reverse...

It's kinda like living on the coming and going planet...

[Snick]

Don't sleep the night before
Bring an inflatable pillow
Bring two books, in case you get bored of one.
Laptop with a variety of movies (including one XXX, in case u need to piss of guy sitting next to you )
Take a Nyquil Nighttime cold tablet at the start of the flight
Sleep

[jaime24]

i like your style Snick,
yeah just read, and watch movies, though not looking forward to my flight in 2 weeks, as its with Jetstar, so ive been warned it will be pretty basic!!
Not sure if i will even have a film to watch!!!! so looks like i may be investing in some Nyquil!!

[stogie bear]

Book, media player and sleep...

I used to get drunk as a skunk on these long hauls and smoke in the toilets before banning fun was introduced.

If I'm flying on 'American' I snooze and dream about the covens of hostesses burning in hell.

[post-op lover]

(kahuna @ Aug. 23 2007,11:46) I ain't gonna be much help POL...but I sleep...I can sleep anywhere, any time...

deprive myself of sleep the night before...

That's precisely what I do, unless someone prevents me from it. I can then be productive and sleep because I need to sleep, at a time when I can't do anything else.

Staying awake and doing anything on a plane is agony, especially when I start thinking of deep vein thrombosis.

I guess nobody else has any good ideas on what to do while awake. I once read that it's a good time to get through mail and paperwork, but I ended up carrying that shit with me everywhere and never touching it till I got home.

If only it was socially acceptable to just buy Playboy and read it on the plane. Then I'd think of flying as an indulgence.

POL

[Guest]

Drink, eat then sleep for 7-8 hours

[Looker]

Since I suffer of blood-clotting syndrome, unless I can get really horizontal to sleep, which means getting 3 seats in a row (VERY RARE!!!) I have no chances than keep moving..unless I want to be another fourth page headline in some newspaper.

[batman4ever]

iam so lucky that my plane leaves CPH just before midnight...so i show up the airport about 4 hours before...after check-in and security...ill find a bar with some food,drink 5-6 beers....and then its normally 5-7 hours sleep in the plane
the rest of the time...watch the movies or close my eyes listining to some music....and dream about the LB`s...

[katoeylover]

2 flights, each of about 7 hours.

First flight, eat and watch movies, second flight - sleep.

Helps if your in Biz class as well... mmmm....flat beds!!

[Guest]

i allways ask for a seat at back of plane ... then check out empty seating area,s ..... move once up in the air ... failing that standing up back of plane, chatting with other blokes that cant kip like me on a flight. am more often then not swearing at yself for putting me throught the shit 11 hour flight , wich seems to disappear soon as i,m out side bangkok airport having a smoke, then the worlds a great place to be ............

[Guest]

Hi,
Like Kahuna, third trip for me too since January. But for me, it's 26 hours minimum......

Portland, Maine to Chicago - 5 Hours
Chicago to Tokyo - 14 Hours
Tokyo to Bankok - 5 Hours
Layovers - 7.5 Hours

Total Hours Portland, Maine to Bangkok, Thailand - 31.5 Hours (Lord,, give me strength....haha)

My layovers are longer this trip than usual, but the average and shortest trip is 26 hours though.

What do I do on the trip, I usually hope I get a cool person to sit next to me on the Chicago-Tokyo leg of the trip so we can talk and pass the time. I have met some amazing people on airplane flights over the years.

The Tokyo to Bangkok part always has some cool people openly talking about LOS in general anyway and even on my first trip a long time ago, I was taking everything in, now I listen to some of the comments. Usually there is one arrogant guy that he is Mr. P2P and knows EVERYTHING about Pattaya/BKK and bargirls......usually he has previously spent a week there and knows shit about nothing....haha.

Sometimes I can sleep, but usually I am sooooo glad to be going home to LOS, I can't sleep anyway and on the Tokyo - BKK part, I'm so siked about seeing my fiancee sleeping isn't even an option.

I always get the usual magazines and word searches, but United Airlines (what I always fly) is always shoving food in our faces and with the 10 movies the have running the entire trip, you can keep yourself occupied. I think in May I watched "The Queen" something like 4 or 5 times......lol

It's a long ass ride to LOS but once I walk off the plane, across the tarmac and up into the terminal I'm so glad to be here, but once I get my bag(s) and walk out to where all the people are waiting and get my first hug and kiss from my GF, I am truly home!

Nhscotsman

18 days till wheels up for me! (My final time too...I'm moving to BKK this time)

[Guest]

(nhscotsman @ Aug. 23 2007,11:59) It's a long ass ride to LOS but once I walk off the plane, across the tarmac and up into the terminal I'm so glad to be here, but once I get my bag(s) and walk out to where all the people are waiting and get my first hug and kiss from my GF, I am truly home!  

Nhscotsman

I thought all planes disembarked at Bangkok using the air bridge  

[thaimeup]

Unless you HAVE to fly United, you can do the Chicago->Bangkok leg on Japan Airlines (JAL)
and that is 100000000x better then United.