If your seat is reclined into my lap, I will brace myself on it to get up.

What irks me are those who recline all of the way but do not raise the seat when they are out of it. Even worse are those who refuse to put the seat upright during meal service.

Sometime around age 40 I went from totally bored flyer to terrified. My doctor prescribed Ativan which worked wonders for me--I was relaxed and able to read through the flight again. We usually fly non-stop because my worst fear is take off (don't ask, it's not logical) however in 2003 got such an amazing deal to London that I agreed to a change of planes at JFK. After an emotional experience going through security in JFK I took another Ativan and slept from NY to LA. DH was very concerned for me because the flight suffered a lot of turbulence--I snoozed right through it.

I dont feel bad pushing the seat of the person in front of me when I must get up especially when that person reclines the seat all the way the minute that he/she board the planes.

Actually, call me mean, but I feel a certain satisfaction doing it.

That person does not care how uncomfortable is to have the reclined seat in front at me almost to my face for 11 hours.

Yes the flight attendants should really enforce keeping seats upright during meal service--some do at least make mention of it. However, if it is an overnight flight, everyone has the right to put their seat back.
Please use arm rests to push yourself up and not the seat back--I hate having my hair pulled too!

My partner LOVED that inflatable body pillow on our last flight to Italy. Me, I just can't sleep on a flight, except for the one time I flew first class, and I woke up with terrible motion sickness for some reason! Which was embarrassing, because I was a flight attendant at the time(not on that flight though, LOL!)

Ohhh, one other time I fell asleep. I had mild hives for some reason, so I took a benadryl. Fell asleep, and woke up feeling like I was sufffocating!! Dry nose, dry mouth...absolutely terrible! Wouldn't recommend for sleep LOL

curious about the inflatable pillow - what makes them better than the donut shaped ones?

laurmasgarden, all I know is what makes the donut shaped ones uncomfortable is that it's pushes my neck in weird places. Maybe because I'm a side sleeper the one in the link appeals to me.

Besides they seem a little cuddlier. Silly, I know.

Am I the only one who flies east to west with no jet lag?? We fly from Europe to San Francisco, I never get sleep on that plane ride, get home, unpack, take my magazines to bed and read and sleep till the next morning, I feel just fine. I never have jet lag coming home..just the opposite of most people.

As to it's not the worst thing in the world to not get any sleep on the plane, I disagree. It feels like I pulled an all nighter, I feel terribly "hung over" and can't really function to go out and walk around and enjoy anything. I'm probably one of the few that gets to Europe and crashes until the next day, doesn't really matter what time I arrive, I'm in bed in the afternoon and can sleep through till the next morning, then I feel great.

I was on a plane recently that the seats didn't recline, either new or broken, don't know which, it was HEAVEN...
If someone puts their seat back immediately in my face I do the tray slam enough to irritate them, like you K, it gives me some satisfaction. I always ask the stew to ask them to put it up during meals, I think they need to hear it from the crew, not me!

LSky, I have the body pillow as well as the "first class sleeper"---anything to get a little sleep on a transatlantic flight. http://tinyurl.com/4xdbj7s

I've used the body pillow flying to Europe and have gotten a fair amount of sleep on three trips out of four. I take the window seat and try to prop myself against the window. I'm a stomach sleeper usually so if I can get any sleep on a plane I consider that a good flight.

The first class sleeper is bulkier and I was too warm using it on the one international trip but I like it for long driving trips. I just got back from Asheville, 9 hours in a non reclining back seat and I managed to not go stir crazy thanks in part to the "first class sleeper". ;;)

I'm going to use the body pillow again when we go to Barcelona in May, but I might try Tylenol PM for the first time on this trip. I take it at home but have been reluctant to use it during a long flight. Hope you can find something that works for you, Deborah

Drugs only mask the issue. You need to get your body on the "right time" BEFORE going. So...you go to bed 1 hr early, get up 1 hr early...then 2 hrs..etc..in the week before going.
When you get on the plane, your body will be telling you "it's time to go to bed". Drugs cannot do this, and your body will still need to adjust its internal clock if you did take something

Sacrifice now...for less suffering later.

On the plane..no coffee, alcohol, sweets...or movies :)

Thanks Deborah Ann. I don't really sleep on planes but I can "zone out" pretty well. I think I'll give the body pillow a try.

Michel_Paris, that sounds like a really good plan. I usually try to get up a couple of hours early on flight day but conditioning ahead of time makes sense. Thanks

If I ever start adding up discomforts on an airplane, I like to remember that my great,great grandparents came to America on a boat that took about 3 weeks. They didn't look back. It didn't matter how much they missed their families or way of life. They weren't going to go back to Germany, ever. I have the luxury of returning again and again to where ever I want. Jet lag is nothing :)

<I>Drugs only mask the issue. You need to get your body on the "right time" BEFORE going. So...you go to bed 1 hr early, get up 1 hr early...then 2 hrs..etc..in the week before going.
When you get on the plane, your body will be telling you "it's time to go to bed". Drugs cannot do this, and your body will still need to adjust its internal clock if you did take something</I>

Actually drugs are quite practical, assuming they help you sleep. The long-haul traveler faces two issues. The first is the possibility of losing a night's sleep. Drugs can help that.

The second issue is jet lag, which results from disruptions to the circadian rhythm. Fixing this is not nearly as simple as waking up earlier, as it depends upon light cycles. This is similar to the challenges one faces in adjusting their body's clock in extreme latitudes during summer. One really needs to employ a light box and blackout mask, if they want to effectively combat jet lag. Frankly, the effort doesn't seem worthwhile.

Susanna, I get very little to no jet lag on the way east to Europe, and none on the way back. Like Michel says, the best plan is to go to sleep earlier each night before you go to train your body to the right sleeping time. I usually try to get to bad around 7-8pm the night before a flight. Don't know if I can do that this time, as we will be driving up to the airport the night before, after a full day at work, but I'm going to try. Certainly I will do so the nights before. AND we have a very full and tiring travel day (with a long layover in Newark) to tucker me out :)

I can't possible fall asleep at 7 or 8 PM..I wished that I was able to do it....Perhaps around Midnight but not before..

If you don't get a drug "hangover", drugs are fine but I just feel worse if I take something.

<I> I can't possible fall asleep at 7 or 8 PM..I wished that I was able to do it....Perhaps around Midnight but not before..</I>

Were combatting jet lag as easy as going to bed early the night before, then we wouldn't be having these discussions.

GreenDragon, Not everyone can just fall asleep whenever they want to. There's no way on earth I could just go to bed "around 7-8pm" and actually fall asleep at that time the night before a flight (or any other night).

Some people can sleep more easily than others. Some people have never slept on a plane and probably never will (me).

Not sure if anybody's mentioned it, or if it's applicable to the OP at all, but our answer to "How do you sleep on the plane going to Europe?" is the same as our answer for "How can I reduce/eliminate jetlag?"

Fly during the daytime. Take a morning departure from Chicago, Boston, New York, Newark or Washington that arrives (in London) in the evening. Get a cheap hotel near Heathrow, sleep in a real bed, and get up the next morning as if you spent the night there. Oh wait. You did.

If you're going on to the continent, there are plenty of flights leaving in the morning or mid-day, and usually airfares involving a connection in London are virtually the same price as nonstops to some other destination (Paris, for instance.) However, if you're going to a second-tier city - say Lyon, or Provence, or somewhere like Strasbourg or Brittany, you can fly straight there from London, in essence swapping your Paris connection (or Zurich or Amsterdam or...) for a London one.

It doesn't work terribly well if you're starting on the west coast, since you can't get to Chicago or the east coast in time for the morning departures (without taking a red-eye, which sort of defeats the purpose) however if you can take the time to fly on day 1 to, say, NYC, then day 2 to London, I suspect you'll find as we do that it knocks jetlag way, way down. That leads to more productive (i.e. awake) time spent visiting, rather than wandering around the first day like a zombie waiting for your hotel to let you collapse onto the bed.

YMMV but it works for us, big time.

So far all my flights to Europe are late in the afternoon..I dont have a morning flight choice.. my city is not a airline hub city..

I wished that it was because after flying 11 hours, as for example CDG to Dallas or ORD,I then must take another plane to reach my final destination.

BTW, sleeping on a plane is Mission Impossible for me..and I have been traveling since I was a teen.

You want to hear something tragic?

I have to plan a strategy for sleeping on a plane and then right next to me is my husband, drops off right after dinner and I have to shake him so he doesn't snore.