Great tips. I'm going to look for the neck brace. I take a lorazepam after dinner is served and do what suze does, head forward on the tray table. Not great, never fully asleep but I'm too cheap to buy a reclining seat.

Excitement must be an important factor for those who cannot sleep on overnight flights.
I thought I could never sleep in cattle class when I was just taking one overnight per year.
When I needed to take more and more (and not always in business), I suddenly started to sleep through 6-7 hours even in cattle class. The whole procedure of traveling long-distance just became normal.

What does help (at least for me) is to bring comfortable exercise pants, socks, hoodie..
Noise-cancelling headphones are a good idea, too..
I'd also stay away from movies.. if there are games on the IFE system, the most boring ones like Solitaire can also help to get sleepy..

Even if you are traveling in coach, I'd check your seat on seatguru. Coming back from Hawaii last time, I managed to snag a seat that had some permanent large metal box under the seat in front of me. I could only extend my right leg all the way under, my left foot was constantly banging into that box. It was a miserable flight; on top of the friggin A/C being cranked the whole time.

Don't sleep at all the night before....you'll sleep like a long during the flight.

<i>Excitement must be an important factor for those who cannot sleep on overnight flights.</i>

I am anything but excited about sitting in a coach seat for 8+ hours. If you are referring to trip excitement, that stopped happening for long haul flights a long time ago.

I'd go with some Nyquil if possible. I've never tried it on a flight but I take it on the rare chance I haven't been getting a good week of sleep and need to.

"I managed to snag a seat that had some permanent large metal box under the seat in front of me"

I feel your pain. I flew all the way to Japan in one of those seats. The metal boxes house part of the gadgets needed for the entertainment system. Evidently the airlines feel overhead bin space is more important than customer health. I disagree.

>>>on top of the friggin A/C being cranked the whole time.<<<

I freeze if I sit close to the exit doors.

Having "Gold Elite" status with American Airlines, I was able to get "Main Cabin Extra" seating for free. Don't know what that would have cost otherwise, but those extra made a big difference.

If you fly on a Friday the 13th then you may find a lot of spare empty seats where you can lay down. That's how I do it.

@mxr808: it depends where you are from, or where you are flying. Here in Italy the day is a Tuesday the 17th!

Don't any of you "sleep the whole flight" guys worry about DVT?
I thought we were all supposed to walk around a bit every hour.

<i>Don't any of you "sleep the whole flight" guys worry about DVT?</i>

No. The risk is too low for me and I have more pressing things to concern myself with.

VonVan
Imagine the isle havoc if everyone on an overseas flight got up and walked around every hour! Most people don't have a problem with DVT as long as they can extend their legs and stretch in their seats. OTOH, Maybe they are taking aspirin and wearing compression stockings?

I fell asleep sitting up watching the Lone Ranger...pissed me off. How does it end, all I saw was someone walking off in to the distance with a suitcase...Johny Depp/Tonto I think.

Just want to remind people that when you fall asleep for hours in the same position (read Ambien) on the airplane you are definitely going to be more prone to DVT's! It is extremely scary what I have seen in my years as an international flight attendant with people who take Ambien-please DON'T take it if you are sitting at a door or window exit!
I have had everything from a man pee all over the seat to another man needing to have the paramedics take him off as we couldn't wake him when we arrived after taking Ambien.
Seriously,Benedryl takes the edge off but you are still conscious to know what is going on if there is an emergency,etc.

Anyone that can sleep for hours on a plane is doing something right.

I don't sleep on planes well, period, and all my flights since 2008 have been on business class -- I've been able to build my farflung hols around business trips, which means I haven't been picking up the hefty price tag.

Next year, though, I might have to bite the bullet and pay my own way for a trip back to the U.S. I can't afford biz class on my own but happily Lufthansa will finally be offering a premium economy class on its long-haul flights. I've seen some images (promotional, but still) and the seats look pretty decent. I'll have to make sure my flights on are the A380 and heaven help me if there's a plane change!
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...next-year.html

Going to Italy in May, I flew on a Wed. I had four seats to myself. Sweetest flight ever. We are flying to Munich in two weeks on Delta. We paid 89.00 each way for the economy extra. Hope it makes a little difference. I do like to have a suitcase under my feet to raise them. I take ambien every night so take it on the plane but still don't sleep that well sitting up. I hate carrying a pillow but am taking my down jacket that folds into the pocket so am using that this trip. Interesting about the seat pocket. Once in exit row I put the blanket over myself and propped my legs on the tray table.

I support Toucan's suggestion.

For sleeping on airplanes or busses, Bose QC 15 noise cancelling headphones are a must. They do not remove 100% of the noise, but make it much easier to sleep.

I find soft/semi-rigid neck braces superior to travel pillows as they support/imobilize neck better. You can buy Embrace Sleep Collar or something like Push Med Neck Brace in medical store. Be warned that not only circumference but also height is very important. Get the highest you can tolerate. I have an anatomic one with 10cm height at chin. They can feel strangulating at first (as they must be worn snug or don't work!) but this feeling soon goes away and they can be very comfortable so that you don't want to take it off. Keep in mind that some pacients wear them for weeks.

The more rigid brace the better it works for travelling. The rigid plastic ones seen in hospitals (after car accident etc) would be actually superior to everything else as they fully imobilize your neck, they allow muscles to rest, but giving you the looks of a runaway hospital patient!