Kellye

I am now officially a fan and believer in daytime flights to Europe. I really struggled through jet lag last summer on my first trip to Europe. I managed to find a Skymiles option this summer that would leave Newark at 9AM for London. Wow--no jet lag at all! It probably helped that I had a short night's sleep on Friday night (around 10PM-2AM), took a shower and then got on a shuttle in DC for BWI for a 6AM flight to Newark. I connected and MADE myself stay awake the entire way across the Atlantic, arriving in London around 9PM. I stayed up until just past midnight London time last night and then got a full night's sleep, followed by a hearty and healthy breakfast and I feel great. I continued on to my first several-day destination today (Serbia) and am still up at almost 1AM local time (midnight London) and I still feel good. I don't think I'll willingly take an overnighter again. Just thought I'd share this experience since I recall seeing discussion before about whether it was a good idea or not. I think it's a terrific idea if you can manage it.

Gardyloo

Yep.

zeppole

Yep.

zeppole

PS: The killer is the London hotel bill.

Luisah

What I like even better than daytime flights to Europe are night flights from South America. Buenos Aires to Miami 10:30 pm with a late hotel check out leaves all day for fun.

I don't know if there are any night flights from Europe but I like the late afternoon flights out of Paris so I can have a leisurely breakfast and a last long walk.

Gardyloo

<i>PS: The killer is the London hotel bill.</i>

4 stars, Heathrow, Priceline, seventy bucks.

janisj

Unfortunately I can't take a day flight since I'm on the west coast

So unless I break the trip w/ an overnight in NY or Boston or somewhere -- or horrors, take a red eye from the west coast to the east coast - I'm out of luck.

I agree w/ Gardyloo - priceline is brilliant for London. LHR hotels for less than $60, and city centre 4 stars for under $100.

zeppole

I fear such a vast descrepancies in quality in Heathrow hotels, I'm afraid to bid blind on them.

And the flight I need flies out of Gatwick (same quality problem),

For LHR, I usually just go with Premiere Travel Inn.

Kellye

I followed the advice on here for priceline and a LHR hotel. I got the Marriott for $75. When I arrived, they let me credit my marriott rewards number and upgraded me to the executive rooms and lounge. Can't beat that...especially since I bid blind!

Of course, the price to have internet access and breakfast was steep, but I got such a deal on the room that I sucked it up!

smrt2

Janisj-it is harder to find daytime flights from the west coast, however we did an early afternoon departure from SFO getting us to Paris mid-afternoon. We found this option much better than the 6 am arrivals and fighting jet lag all day rather than just a few hours before an early dinner and early bedtime...

amp322

That is great, Kellye! I've always wondered why flights to Europe leave at 10 PM! Makes no sense to me, but there must be a good reason. I am tired of arriving and having legs that feel like rubberbands at the end of a 40 hour travel adventure. I often try to get early check in, or even pay extra to get a hotel room, when my plane gets in early in the day. I need a 30 minute nap, or else I cannot function at all that first day in Europe.

Gardyloo

The reason for overnight flights is to allow passengers (a) to conduct business the next day; and (b) to allow passengers to connect to other flights to onward destinations. Arriving at London at 9 PM means you wouldn't connect into, say, Rome until way after midnight.

kayd

Another reason for so many overnight flights is not the convenience of the passengers, but to get best use out of the planes. One leaves the eastern US in the evening, arriving in Europe in the am, where it spends several hours on the ground for cleaning and catering, then leaves around noon and reaches North America to arrive in the afternoon. Repeat cycle every day -- a round trip for the plane every 24 hours.
For flights arriving in London or Paris at 9 pm, there's no way to turn that plane around because a flight leaving there at midnight would have to land in the US at 3 am. Not a schedule many travelers would select. Airlines do a few daytime flights for whatever reasons, but the bulk of them need to take advantage of the 24-hour turnaround.

janisj

smrt2: &quot;<i>it is harder to find daytime flights from the west coast, </i>&quot; - not &quot;harder&quot; - impossible. Because of the times zones and length of the flight, there are no daytime flights from the west coast.

I've flown just about every sort of schedule from the west coast - morning, afternoon, early evening. They are all overnight. What is so great about a day flight from the east coast - you take off and land the same day w/o having to sleep on the plane at all.

Dukey

I was sorry to see the discopntinuation of the BA day flight to London from Dulles which we took a year or so ago and were glad we did so.

Fortunately, United began offering one.

Only &quot;problem&quot; for some is that when you arrive it is &quot;bedtime&quot; and getting to sleep right away isn't always so easy.

azzure

I am of the opposite opinion...I like a flight that takes off at 8 to 10 PM Pacific time and lands across the pond in the mid-afternoon. I'm getting better at sleeping on airplanes, and boarding and getting settled in at my normal bedtime helps me get four or five hours sleep during the flight. Then I've generally got enough energy to stay up till 10 or 11 pm at my European destination.

For that matter, I love JetBlue's red eye from Seattle to JFK; I like getting into Manhattan mid-morning with the whole day to explore before having to pay for a hotel.