15 hour flight

[magwun]

How do people deal with a 15 hour flight from LA to Sydney? Should I take a strong sleeping pill and sleep most of the way? We have premium economy seats on AirNZ, but I doubt that will make up for the longest flight I have ever taken in my life. Usually, 8 hours to Europe is barely tolerable.

[TedC]

It's worth it for us to take advantage of Regent's upgrades to Biz Class. Check how much biz class is on your own and see which is best deal. Perhaps your TA can get you a better rate.

 

In Biz class you can also use airline's lounge to wait for next flight in comfort.

[magwun]

The upgrade to biz class from LA-SYD was way out of our budget, so we did the premium economy for $1600 pp.

[Caroldoll]

The flights out from LAX are usually late and if you take sleeping pills you should take them and maybe an Advil PM and try to sleep at least six hours. Bring eye covering if light bothers you and ear plugs. Then after you wake up, you will still have a long time and this will be the hard part. Try to hydrate yourselves as much as possible and move around when you can. It is a shame you could not upgrade, but when we were young we had to do coach and we made it, all the way to Australia too!

[Travelcat2]

We will be flying Sydney to Vancouver next month (although we did upgrade to Business Class). We had our doctor prescribe Ambien which is good for about 4 hours of sleep. On long flights, no matter what time we leave, we have a meal, either read or play computer games for a while and then take an Ambien. Usually when we wake up there is more food. After eating we'll walk around a bit -- do the exercises that you can do in your seat to keep the blood flowing -- back to reading and computer. After that it is up to you whether you want to sleep, watch a movie or ???

 

Getting a few hours of sleep makes the journey easier for us. Hope it works for you.

[GNALUZU]

I hear ya. I can't sleep on airplanes and, since I tend to sleep walk occasionally, I don't like to take sleeping pills on a plane.

 

My wife and I honeymooned in Thailand. We took the 18.5 hour nonstop from LAX to Singapore in executive economy. I'm pretty sure it is the longest flight possible. One the way home I was awake for 30 straight hours. It was not enjoyable, but you do what you have to do.

[magwun]

I guess I'll ask the doc for Ambien. But I wonder when to take it, i.e. I don't know when they will come through the cabin with meals, etc. Also, we will be in the air on New Year's Eve, lol. Don't know if there will be a special toast.

[BBWC]

AirNZ premium economy is great. You get business class service and the legroom is substantially more than in regular economy, about the same as in a first class U.S. domestic flight. Highly recommend AirNZ.

[magwun]

BBWC, I am so relieved to hear that we made the right decision on premium economy!

[Travelcat2]

I guess I'll ask the doc for Ambien. But I wonder when to take it, i.e. I don't know when they will come through the cabin with meals, etc. Also, we will be in the air on New Year's Eve, lol. Don't know if there will be a special toast.

 

Ambien is a very light sleep -- it isn't like you are drugged. The maximum I have slept is 4 hours. I always take it after I've eaten. I would try to stay awake for New Year's -- even if we just did our own toast. So far we haven't missed a meal:-)

 

Suggest you try a half an Ambien while you're still home so you know what to expect on the plane. Most of the time we only take a half of a tablet.

[nana541]

We also take ambien, a whole one for me and a half for DH. We wait until after the meal has been served and enjoy the initial excitement of the beginning of our journey.... Then off to sleep!!

[DaveFr]

Be careful about taking Ambien if you take blood pressure medication. The additive effect of the two drugs may lower your blood pressure enough to cause some problems. Be sure to discuss all drugs you take, both prescription and over-the-counter, with your doctor when requesting a prescription for Ambien.

[nana541]

That's why my DH only takes half :)

[JPR]

Ambien knocks me out for 6-7 hours. But never take unless ready to go to sleep and avoid alcohol beforehand. Some people sleep walk, so belt yourself in!

[Emdee]

I too take a sleeping tablet on the long flights or even on 8 hour overnight flights. However I dont drink any alcohol before or during the flight. Just plenty of water.

I once had a glass of wine and that really knocked me out and kept me woozy for hours after.

[Travelcat2]

It must affect everyone differently. Of course you should talk to your doctor. For me, I have dinner and wine, a half an Ambien and sleep for up to 4 hours. Don't know anyone who has sleepwalked but did hear about it on the news a couple of years ago. It must be extremely rare or the product would have been taken off the market.

[Caroldoll]

But I don't drink on flights. I take a STRONG Ambien 10 mg, and I get 6 to 7 hours sleep. No alcohol though. I drink a lot of water on the plane and I can't stand salt, so I am careful what I eat...mostly fruit and bread. If they say ANZ is good in Premium Economy...then yeah. We fly first class, or on ANZ they are only a two class airline, so we are Business. I think you made a good decision! Have fun

[JMARINER]

I flew AZ premium economy once about 3 years ago LAX-ACK-SYD. The seats were located in the bubble on a 747 and they were not all that great. Seat width was 18.5 and pitch was 38. It was just a little better than economy, certainly not even close to international business. I just checked on SeatGuru and it appears that some newer AZ planes have better seats, 20w/41p. So check and find out which plane you are on. SeatGuru will tell you which plane is scheduled to be used and the seat map by inputting the flight number and date at the home screen.

 

If it were me, I would see about getting a deviation onto QANTAS and specially the A380 flight. To me, the A380 is the most comfortable plane I have ever flown. My last flight SYD-LAX [bus] 14.5 hour, went by so fast, I could have stayed on for another 5 hours. Aslo, I think the service is better on QANTAS than AZ.

 

j

31/425

[Wendy The Wanderer]

We're doing 15 hour flights in February/March to and from Bangkok/Singapore, from Ohare. We're on Cathay Premium Economy. Did the same on BA last month, and I did not sleep a wink, despite my usual muscle relaxant + wine (I know, not a great combo--I always say I won't drink any wine, but then I do.)

 

I'm thinking of trying Unisom, which I've tried once or twice. But I'm going to have to practice because even a half tablet makes me sleep soundly, but leaves me feeling very sleepy and listless the next day. By the time we get to Hong Kong on the way to Bangkok I will be willing to sleep on the floor of the food court, no doubt. Maybe I should save the Unisom for when we arrive!

[Suite Travels]

Please do not take Ambien if you like to drink adult beverages. A couple is fine with food. I am the poster child having a sleep walking incident and it happened at home. I did not remember a thing the next day.

 

I took the Ambien before bed after four glasses of wine and that did not bode well for me. I went to bed and later ended up sleep walking as my partner still watched me go in to the kitchen and pulling food out of the fridge and he told me I turned on the stove.

 

Dan guided me back to bed so I would not hurt myself and left all the evidence for me to see the next morning. That was a wake up call for me and the end of Ambien. Others that we know have had similar problems. The combination of alcohol and Ambien are not a good mix.

 

Just be careful.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Suite Travels

[magwun]

Well, that's certainly good advice. Meds and alcohol do not mix! Thank God you were OK.

[Suite Travels]

I wanted to mention we just returned from Sourh Africa which was a 17:45 flight to IAD with a five hour layover before going on to MIA. Our total time from the hotel to our door was 30 hours. AA also lost our bags and we had to deal with that on arrival.

 

We did take Advil PM which worked just fine and slept for about six hours. South African Airways is not the greatest but the BiZ Class seats were flat and comfy. The service and food were not so good. When we go back, I will break the trip up and stay a few days in Europe and then continue the journey.

 

We still do not have our missing bags after five days of being home. The last time we saw them was in customs in Dulles. Thank God we were not going on a cruise or we would be SOL.

[magwun]

What a nightmare! The airline lost our luggage once on a trip in the winter with two babies going to Germany. It was Christmas and nothing was open. I didn't have formula, diapers, etc. When the stores opened I had to buy all our clothing for the rest of the trip. Our luggage arrived back home three months later. Hope it doesn't happen for our cruise.

 

BTW, I had friends who want to fly from DTW to South Africa and are trying to decide how to break up that long trip with a stopover. What would you recommend?

[Suite Travels]

This was our fourth trip to Africa without staying somewhere for a few days. Never again.

 

I would recommend a short stay in London, Paris or Zurich. Zurich is wonderful to catch your breath and Swiss Air is a great airline.

 

Are your friends going on Safari? We love Africa and I am sure they will as well.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Suite Travels

[magwun]

Yes, they purchased a safari at an fund raising event. They are very excited about it. Can you recommend the best time of year for them to schedule?