Merilee_Tucker

Hi,
Has anyone traveled on a daytime international flight and if so, what are the advantages and or disadvantges? In looking over flight options to London there's a morning flight that lands in London at 8:00PM. Is it easy to fall asleep at say 11 or 12 and wake up refreshed? A favorite thing on international flights for me is watching the horizon as it becomes light in front and dark behind. Anyway, thanks for any input.

Patrick

There was another recent thread about this. I've only done the day flight once and I loved it. Didn't actually go to bed until about midnight or even later, but at 7 AM next morning I was raring to go.
If you're in a hotel, it's nice that it will definitely be ready for you when you arrive. I always hated that arrival and waiting hours before the hotel room becomes available. They always say they'll try, but it always seems that the people in the room I'll have wait until the last minute to check out.

jlm_mi

I haven't done it, though may be tempted at some point. The main disadvantage for me is that it costs an extra vacation day from work. If I can get a 9pm flight I can still work that day and then travel while I'm sleeping (or at least trying to sleep). That also gets me in late enough (late morning, early afternoon) that the wait for a hotel room isn't generally too bad.

KandKsmom

Hi Merilee,

I posted the similiar question I think Patrick is referring to (see "Arriving early or late to London&quot I got a mixed response for preferences- some people liked the morning, others the night flight. I went ahead and added another night to our stay so that my kids and I could take the morning flight out and they could get a good night's sleep in when we arrived. Now... I am already wanting more time there and the thought has crossed my mind to leave the night before the new first day ressie-just what I was thinking wasn't the best thing to do- check in early morning and get an extra day! To heck with jet lag- they will be able to take it! Crazed commando travel moms unite!

Looking forward to hearing what you decide- and hope you have a great time in London!

suze

There's no one answer because travel effects everyone so differently. I suffer terribly from jet lag or any time change for that matter (even daylight savings time!). I've done it both ways and both are equally awful. Not to mention, I can never sleep on the plane. So to me, I'd rather waste a night on the overnight flight, then waste an entire vacation day on the daytime one.

martytravels

De acuerdo, suze. Taking the daytime flight means you're blowing a whole day and paying for a hotel night. I usually get quite a bit done my first day in Europe following the overnite flight.

rhkkmk

i've done it a couple of time from boston to london and am scheduled to do it again on dec 1...it is fantastic...you do loose one complete day which is not good for some people, but i think the advantages out weigh the negetives...

you leave the east coast about 9 in the morning and arrive in england before 8 PM...it is really only about 3PM to you,,,..you do not have jet lague....you can have a nice dinner and maybe walk around a bit or drive some where and then have a full nites' sleep and awake completely normally....

i don't know why more airlines don't offer it....B/A and A/A are currently offering it from boston...i'm sure that at least those are also offered from other places...there may be a paris flight too...

rj007

Since I have to come from CA I have to fly to JFK or O'Hare to change planes and then leave in early evening landing in London at 6:30 AM. I can't sleep on planes, but I have no problem going all day in London. I'm fortunate to not suffer from jet lag. And since I fly on one of my days off I don't lose any vacation time.

Ann41

I've only flown the daytime flight once because I usually have to connect and can't get my connection that late.

But I loved flying during the day. I can't sleep on planes anyway, so I loved it. No jet lag.

jez

The daytime flights are really worth going for. I always return to the UK on the early Virgin flight from Newark, which arrives at roughly 8pm local time, and for me it completely eliminates any jetlag. The overnight flights may seem like a better option to maximise your holiday time, but in my opinion that's a false economy; you'll arrive in London at around 7.30am still half asleep and hardly in the best frame of mind to start sightseeing. Also bear in mind that your hotel room probably won't be ready until early afternoon.

Ryan

If I was heading to Europe for business I'd be more tempted to use the daytime flight than I would be if traveling for pleasure. On vacation, I'd view leaving in the morning for Europe as wasting a vacation day. If I take the overnight flight, I can be at the office through the middle of the day and not use one additional day. I'd rather save that day for use when there, rather than as a day I'm in transit.

Patrick

Some of you are lucky to have the choice of "wasting" an extra day of vacation. To those of us who have to get to a local airport by 2 or 3 in the afternoon to catch a plane and make connections for those nighttime flights that leave at 7 or 8 in the evening from a US gateway city-- it seems the bulk of that day is wasted anyway.
I suppose if you lived in that "gateway" city, the problem wouldn't exist, but I never felt that working a half day and having to leave at noon was very productive either.

Ryan

Patrick, I sense an unpleasant tone and connotation in your last post. Are you expressing gateway envy?

BTW, if you're suggesting that you need to get to your local airport by 2 or 3 for the overnight flight, shouldn't you also recognize that you'd likely need to leave the night before to catch a daytime flight out of gateway city as those flights leave by 8:00 or 9:00?

Merilee_Tucker

Thanks so much for all the replies. I am going to take the AM flight because it won't be a matter of losing a day. I am trying to use up a lot of comp time before the end of the year. My daughter and I will have a late dinner, and maybe some wine will lull us to sleep!

Patrick

Not necessarily Ryan. It is possible to leave after work and get to the gateway city and spend the night before the day flight. This also enables one to take advantage of those cheaper flights from gateway cities and then pick up a cheap separate flight to there, without worrying about making those connections which several recent posts have focused on.

Now we're talking about leaving work after Friday let's say and arrive in Europe Saturday evening. The alternative is to leave on Saturday morning and not get there until Sunday morning. In either case you're completing a full work's week, but the dayflight enables you to get there a night earlier (and yes arriving to have dinner and a stroll before going to bed IS worth it in my opinion).