Dukey

One more possibility as to the day flight: when we took the flight last year there was hardly anyone on it so we each had three seats to ourselves.

Meanwhile, BA's "premium economy" section was completely full.

ripit

kenav - not really an apples to apples comparison since leaving in the AM you are paying for a hotel the same day but on the PM flight you are not. A truer comparison would be:

Leave Sun. 8:00 AM, arrve Sun. 9:00 PM. Crash. Wake up refreshed, start vacation on Mon.

Vs.

Leave Sat. 9:00 PM, arrive Sun. 10 AM. Walk around town, get oriented, early dinner, crash. Wake up refreshed, continue vacation on Mon.

The second way you are paying for the same number of hotels but are getting another day to do whatever you can handle after an overnight flight. In both cases you should be caught up on sleep by Monday.

NeoPatrick

Another thing to consider is where you are starting from. Those who live in New York or other major gateway cities can perhaps work a full day and then take an evening flight. But for many others, getting to whatever airport by 5 or 6 PM for an evening flight (and much, much earlier if the flight requires a connection) means a full day of vacation is wasted on waiting for or getting to that initial night time flight. On the other hand, many can fly to New York in the evening after a full day of work, spend the night in an airport hotel (where most of us can sleep far better than on an airplane), and then fly to Europe the next day. And yes, that does add a day to your actual vacation.