Long Haul Flying

[caitaintdead]

As I have mentioned in other threads I have just booked myself a return flight to New York for February next year. This is obviously going to be an amazing experience for me as I am travelling internationally for the first time without the security of my parents, boyfriend, or work.

The catch, of course, is that I live in Perth. This means that to get to NYC I have a 4 hour flight to Sydney, a 6 hour transit in Sydney, a 14 hour flight to Los Angeles and a 5 hour flight to NYC.

This means that I will be travelling for THIRTY hours.

I'm already thinking about how I am going to survive such a long haul flight from Sydney to Los Angeles, and just in general. I have flown Perth to London in the past which difficult enough at only 20 hours!

Anyone have any hints or advice?

Any funny stories you would like to share about your experiences with long haul flying?

Do you have children? Do you travel with them? Does this make it even more difficult?

 

[kittenpoker]

Never been on a flight that long - I haven't really been that many distant places sadly...but um.... think of the destination 🙂 eyes on the prize?

and good books and a laptop to watch stuff on and stuff?

🙂

 

[nightshade]

Take an aisle seat if you can for the long part, as then you can easily get up stretch your legs without having to disturb the person sleeping next to you!

Take puzzle books or an actual book with you as well, as gadgets may run out.


and my not so fun story of long haul flying is when I did Cordoba, Argentina, Santiago de Chile, Madrid, and Heathrow, with a nose bleed the whole way 🙁

 

[Ripper666]

Mhm this is going to be a hard fly isn't it? 😀 Well I would listen to music, read some books and watch some BTVS on my laptop. If you have one, you could find out wether the plane has free Wifi, sometimes they offer this. Then you could write us here and share your experiences! 🙂

 

[brinkster130]

I hate flying long distances, I can never seem to get comfortable and have a hard time being able to concentrate enough so that I can read or watch a movie. Perhaps an audiobook would be nice?

The last couple times I've been on long flights I've taken a sleeping pill and/or Xanax to help me relax and sleep through the bulk of the flight. For me, the more time I'm able to sleep during the flight the better.

Also, if you have room in your carry on perhaps a change of clothing; fresh socks, underwear, shirt etc. I know you probably won't need a whole new outfit but if your traveling for 30 hours straight you'll probably want to freshen up at some point.

 

[dexeded]

There's no direct flight to NYC from Sydney? Which airline are you taking?

I usually try to sleep on long flights after I'm done watching the movies and TV shows. Laptops are good for passing time.

 

[caitaintdead]

There's no direct flight to NYC from Sydney? Which airline are you taking?

I'm flying with Qantas and they don't have a direct flight from Sydney to New York. The only way you can really do the only one stop kind of deal is with Emirates at about $2400. I managed to get a great deal with Qantas so it was definitely worth it!

I hate flying long distances, I can never seem to get comfortable and have a hard time being able to concentrate enough so that I can read or watch a movie. Perhaps an audiobook would be nice?

The last couple times I've been on long flights I've taken a sleeping pill and/or Xanax to help me relax and sleep through the bulk of the flight. For me, the more time I'm able to sleep during the flight the better.

Also, if you have room in your carry on perhaps a change of clothing; fresh socks, underwear, shirt etc. I know you probably won't need a whole new outfit but if your traveling for 30 hours straight you'll probably want to freshen up at some point.

I was thinking about a spare change of underwear and stockings. I'm also travelling from the roasting oven of Perth in February (110ish weather) and when I get off the plane in New York I suspect that a summer dress isn't going to cut it 😛

I'm thinking I will wear a summery dress and bring a couple of pairs of thick woolen stockings to pop on during the flight and pack a long sleeve shirt to slip under my dress and then a coat and cute woolen hat to cover up greasy hair!

Mhm this is going to be a hard fly isn't it? 😀 Well I would listen to music, read some books and watch some BTVS on my laptop. If you have one, you could find out wether the plane has free Wifi, sometimes they offer this. Then you could write us here and share your experiences! 🙂

It's definitely going to be a tough flight. If I can get wifi on the flight I'll be very very happy but I doubt I will unfortunately. I have a feeling it's only for business and first class on the Qantas flights.

I do however have a charging point on the flights so I may take it as a good opportunity to try out some new photoshop techniques. Have a huge bunch of pictures pre saved and ready to go and just photoshop away.

Take an aisle seat if you can for the long part, as then you can easily get up stretch your legs without having to disturb the person sleeping next to you!

I've already popped on over to seatguru to get some advice on what seats I want. I found one that apparently has some extra room. I always choose the window seat over the aisle seat for flights because it means I have somewhere to wedge a pillow and I can lean.

Never been on a flight that long - I haven't really been that many distant places sadly...but um.... think of the destination 🙂 eyes on the prize?

and good books and a laptop to watch stuff on and stuff?

🙂

YOU'RE my prize 😛

 

[scoobygang]

If i can give you an advice that will be this: don't forget your parachute ! no i'm joking!
i have never flight for a long time. I took once the plane and i travelled during half an hour! If i must travelled 30 hours i'll be nervous i think!

 

[Black Eye Guy]

I enjoy long flights, the only problem I have is power!

Laptops and stuff run out of power which is such a pain in the ass!

I always stock up my laptop with movies/tv shows. If you have a smartphone also stock that up with music/tv/movies.

Make sure to turn the brightness down on both so they last longer!

Since you have time in Airports, make sure to recharge your stuff, in my experience the sockets will be in inconvenient places, I've sat on the floor in airports to charge my laptop and stuff while between flights.

Bring chewing gum and/or sweets to stop ears popping.

Make sure you have lots of money for stuff in the airports, I went to turkey recently, and spent half as much money on stuff in the airports as the entire time I was in Turkey, paid like €6 for a packet of those small Pringles on a flight because the exchange rate was bad that day, and the airline operates their own exchange rate (Wonder I start doing that!)

Earplugs are also good for shutting out noise and stuff.

 

[PassionBecoming]

I've gone from Minnesota to Munich (stopped in Amsterdam) which is about 8 hours total. I get really claustrophic on airplanes, so it wasn't pleasant. I brought books, electronic games, and slept as much as I could.

I would definitely bring a change of undies, etc. and your toothbrush. That's a long one!

 

[Ianigsy]

I did a couple of long haul flights on Qantas eight years ago, probably a year or two before it became the thing for everybody to have laptops and gadgets. The one thing I really wasn't prepared for was the level of background noise on a 747- weirdly I found that I actually slept best listening to the spoken word radio channels, and the comedy channel on Qantas was quite an entertaining introduction to the politically incorrect Australian sense of humour! The other thing I remember was that on every Qantas flight I took (and I was doing London-Singapore-Perth then Sydney-Melbourne-Alice Springs-Cairns-Brisbane-Christchurch-Auckland-LA) they were using Dido's 'White Flag' as their ambience music, and I still can't hear that song without it taking me back!

From what I remember of the airport in Sydney, that six hours will be a bit more like four by the time you get from one terminal to the other, so what I tend to do when I'm changing planes and stuck for some time is just to have a wander, get as much fresh air as I can and stretch my legs a bit. I can honestly say that I learnt a new skill waiting for a flight at Singapore because I just spontaneously worked out how to eat with chopsticks after watching the locals for a couple of days. I think it might have been Melbourne, but some places also have people who will do a neck and shoulder massage and you pay them what you think it was worth.

 

[SlayerFest]

The most I have flown is 5 hours...haha so holy CRAP I can't even imagine. Wow. I listen to music/sleep on our flights. I visit family in Pennsylvania every year. I go with my mom and two sisters. I won't be sitting with them this year, because my youngest sister is big enough for her own seat, so I won't be as immersed in the drama 😉. Haha but the flight isn't so bad because I'm used to it, and it's kind of like a home away from home...as odd as that sounds.

If I had a 30 hour flight...oh man. I would probably bring books that I wouldn't even read, movies, my laptop, and my ipod. Music really does make time fly, but sometimes I get restless, so I just sleep. Sorry this isn't really helpful, heh.

 

[Black Eye Guy]

I think sleep is the main one.

I always think I'm gonna be really proactive on flights, like last time I brought The Hunger Games, my laptop with TV/Movies and iPhone with music, and I literately slept for the whole flight there

 

[white avenger]

My son, daughter-in-law, and my grandson will be returning this weekend from Indonesia, visiting her parents and family, and that's about a 25 to 30 hour flight that involves stopovers in Hong Kong, Moscow, Dallas, Texas, and finally back to Atlanta. It's the second time that they have made the trip since they've been married, and the biggest challenge is, of course, keeping a 2-year-old occupied for all of that time when he isn't asleep. That requires lots of books, videos on the laptop, and the kind of snacks that he can eat, and it keeps them both busy throughout the entire flight.

 

[Faith]

Whenever I travel i've always been on my own. I tend to use my Ebook and ipod and will have a spare paperback should batteries fail. When I did the Edinburgh to New York and Edinburgh to Bermuda flights I had to go through London which meant just strolling round the shops.

The stress factor for me is connecting flights, I hate that I have no control over the fact that I may miss a flight. I always seem to make friends at the airport, I seem to have one of those people that others just talk to - which don't get me wrong is great and all but sometimes I just want to read my book.

It is going to be an amazing trip for you and with such a long haul flight the inflight entertainment should be good.

I'm heading to Florida for New Years with a friend this year and it will be the first time I have ever travelled with someone, that may be interesting.

 

[SinisterPledge]

I'll be flying to LA, which will take me about 15h+ not including the fact I have to spend the night at Stansted. I'll be doing this trip 3 times until the next summer... :/

I'll bring music and books. Perhaps an audio book. Probably put some movies/buffy-episodes on my iphone.

 

[Taake]

Books and music is the best thing, IMO, (or podcasts!) it was a while since I was on a really long flight though but when I flew to China I remember making friends with the man in the seat next to mine so I had someone to chat with the entire trip. 🙂 Could be worth a try!

And aw, I'm so jealous at the trip your taking, sounds awesome, wish I could hide in your bag and tag along 😉

 

[Jules]

The longest flight I've been on is 10 hours and that was to Canada. I get quiet travel sick so sleeping works best for me. I always book my seat the row before the toilets (which might sound silly) but that way I can put my seat back as far as I want without feeling guilty about the person behind me 🙂

On the Canada flight I ended up watching 3 films back to back. It helped that the plane I was on let you start each film whenever I wanted. I've been on some flights were they just have them on a loop and once you've finished one and change over to another channel to watch another its either already started or its you end up watching the ending.

I always have terrible look with flights. I was stuck in Paris due to a strike, I was stuck in Barcelona due to the Ash cloud and I was stuck in Florida because of the snow in the UK 🙁

 

[Professor Walsh]

I've only travelled long haul once, when I flew from London to Jo'burg. Seeing as I always potter about and suck at getting to bed the day before travelling, I'm knackered by the time travel-day rises. That means I slept much of the way just as I do when I travel shorter stretches. Apart from that: Bring a really thick paperback. Give it away when you've read it, buy new paperback.