Countries like Australia and parts of South East Asia are far. It just is and as a result you’re likely to be on a plane for quite a long time, perhaps longer than you ever have in your life. To some, this may be fun; to others it may just be pure torture. Regardless of what your thoughts are on these incredibly long haul flights, there are a few ways you can make the trip at painless as possible and get you to the other end in one piece—or at the very least without pulling your hair out.
Get A Good Seat
Seating is a big deal when it comes to being on a plane because certain ones are going to be better than others. And no I don’t mean business vs. economy because that isn’t even a question.
When choosing your seat, try and pick one near the front of the plane. This is good for a couple of reasons. If you get cold on planes, the front tends to be marginally warmer, you’re one of the first people off (you’ll zip right through immigration) and generally who wants to sit all the way in the back of the plane? No one.
Also, don’t pick a seat near the bathroom because you will regret that choice. Some planes aren’t so bad, but this isn’t something you really should want to risk.
If you want more legroom, be sure to choose a bulkhead (those are the ones in the front of each section) or an exit row. However, you should note that in either of these aisles you must put everything in the overhead bins for taxi, take off and landing—but you can have it down during the flight.
Wear Comfortable Clothes
There is nothing worse than sitting on a plane in restricting jeans or a top that doesn’t allow you to move freely. If you want to go to the airport in style, fine, but bring something else to wear on the plane. This could be sweats, leggings for women (or heck, men too, wear what you like guys) and a loose-fitting shirt.
Walk Around
Apart from the fact that you can get blood clots on planes (called deep vein thrombosis), you should just walk around for your own sanity. As humans, we’re not meant to sit in a metal tube for 15 hours without moving and getting up and moving around can make you feel a lot better and help you rest and sleep during the flight.
Bring an Eye Mask
Even though they turn off the cabin lights after mealtime, it will never be fully dark because the cabin crew still has stuff they need to do. Bringing an eye mask will give you that leg up to get a well-rested sleep for when you arrive.
Your long haul flight doesn’t have to be the biggest pain of your life and it should never put you off visiting. By implementing these few ideas into your travels, you’ll find the flight will go by much quicker. And if it doesn’t—well, that’s what in-flight entertainment is for.
Having recently been on a long-haul flight, I definitely agree with this article. One of the worst effects of long-haul flights is the Jet Lag when you’re trying to get accustomed to the new time zone. I’ll be keeping this article in mind the next time I go on a long-haul flight.
Good points but too little. I have found limiting caffeine, excluding alcohol and drinking lots of water helps recovery. Setting your watch to the time at the destination gets you mentally ready to join the day and not going to bed at your destination until the evening really helps with jet lag and getting your body into the right rhythm. Taking Melatonin supplements also helps getting some sleep on the plane. Better than taking sleeping tablets which also interfere with other processes in your body. Booking an evening departure flight capitalises on your body’s normal desire to sleep. If you have a stop over, no matter how small, make sure you get plenty of exercise to tire you for the next leg of the journey and also help with your circulation. Booking an aisle seat allows you to get up and move frequently if you get numb or your feet swell. I also use flight socks to combat that. As for getting the right seat, the website Seat Guru is invaluable.