Flying across the pond....during the day? Or overnight?
 

What's your preference. I know the majority of flights start in the evening and arrive dawn or thereabouts (at least in England, which is where we're headed next summer). But I can't sleep on board and, curiously, am even less likely to the more tired I am. But is there a downside to taking an a.m. flight and getting there that evening? I mean - why isn't it easier (less jet lag) to just stay up a bit late that day and start fresh the next morning? Or am I missing something here?

We always liked flying at night because we could sleep and so could te kids! However,the jet lag being such a time difference it would depend on YOU. If you arrive in the evening/late afternoon would you be okay with staying up until bedtime and getting right into the swing of things the next day? Or would you rather arrive there (no sleep and still jetlagged) and try and squeeze the most out of the day? Collapsing into bed that evening? How do your travel companions fare? Its whatever suits YOU guys!

For me, the downside of a day flight would be losing an entire day in my destination. If you leave the US in the morning, you won't get to Europe until night, so you'll be paying for a hotel night even tho you've spent all day on a plane. When you arrive after an overnight, you have the whole day.

I've done both and definitely prefer to leave early in the morning and get there late at night...that way you can just go to bed (you're tired from waking up early and flying all day anyway) and start fresh the next day. Too bad my next trip in March only has night flights :(

Hi tuck,

You get up at 6:00 for a 9:00 AM flight and arrive, say, 10:00 PM local time.

But it is only 5:00 PM your time.

Are you ready for bed?

I think that arriving in the evening upsets your internal clock more than arriving in the morning and staying up as long as possible.

((I))

Since I can't sleep on planes either and my flight is west coast US to Europe, I'd just as soon go overnight. I'm screwed either way, so like the convenience of getting on a British Air evening flight and arriving Heathrow the next AM with time to connect and arrive my final city by afternoon.

What I don't like about day flights is (on my available routes) I have to do an airport change somewhere like JKF, an airport I abhor.

I've done both, both are equally painful to me for lack of sleep, jet lag, and time change adjustments.

I can never sleep on the plane, either. But for me, it's not about that anyway. It's all about resetting your body clock to euro time as quickly as possible.

That means arriving in the morning, hitting the ground running, and pushing through till bedtime. Then, sleeping like a baby through the night and revving back up the next day with that industrial-strength coffee!

After having several generators fail during an extremely hot and humid afternoon at Dulles Airport, our Air France flight took off. It also took several hours to cool off the unbelievably hot aircraft. A unique event, thank God, never occurred again.
However, due to this possibility, we started flying to Paris on the late night flight. A tremendous side benefit is that once dinner is served, the staff goes down the aisle and beckons passengers to close their window shades, due to the sun that may disturb others that will be shining in the windows within a few hours en route to France. This action, coupled with the perceived late hour (no matter what one's inner clock reads), calms down whatever anxiety is being shown by newbies to Europe. Read:we had many, many teenage girls on one flight we had taken in the earlier part of the day years ago, and it was nonstop talk the entire trip. There is a calmness to late night flights in addition to the arrival time of around eleven. In addition, most hotel rooms do not allow check in or are not ready for your check in if you arrive very early in the a.m.

I so prefer flying during the day, no question about it. Worth giving up a vacation day for, as I find the flight relaxing and a good start and end a vacation anyway. Studies show that flying during daylight actually resets your clock faster; as your body will adjust to the diminishing or increasing day light and when you arrive, you actually will start to get tired on the local schedule, as your body has started to adjust and is more in tune with the actual time. That is the problem with flying at night, you travel in darkness and your body clock cannot adjust.

I have never had a problem with a late nigth or 1 - 2 am check-in. It is trying to check in between 9 - 11 am that is the probelm, as that in when housekeeping is making up rooms.

After experimenting with various flights when I had to travel to Europe for business, I found that it was easiest for me to adjust when taking a late evening flight (a 9pm flight from ORD-LHR, for example). Easier to fall sleep, and as the previous poster said, usually a little quieter crowd.

The worst of all worlds, for me, is that 2:30 pm flight from Chicago to Frankfurt that lands in Frankfurt at 5:30 am, which just about equates to bedtime at home. I find that one very difficult to sleep on because I'm just not ready to. And since it arrives so early in the morning, there is a WHOLE day to get through upon arrival.

Thanks for all the comments. I'd just wondered if there was some particular downside, but doesn't seem like it. I'm the sort of person who gets almost nauseous when I"m overtired...and then the restless legs start...and the squirmies...and the late flight becomes unbearable. So maybe we'll try a daytime one this time....start out fresh and not worry about arriving there late (their time). Though with an 845 p.m. local time arrival, it will put us at the hotel at 11 or later...but so it goes. Will just think of it as a new kind of adventure, I guess.

I like to leave as late in the evening as possible, thereby arriving mid-afternoon (travelling from West Coast). This is much easier than arriving early in the morning - less of the day to force myself to keep awake for, and much easier to sleep on the plane for at least a couple of hours than if it's only "evening" my time during the flight.

I perfer to take a pm flt around 11 and arrive @11am this way i can check right in to my hotel-check in is usually 12noon, shower freshen up and maybe take a nap then hit the vibrant active streets of london in daytime. jjblack/paradise trvl-st thomas vi

Even if you can't sleep, good thing is that most others can..the night flight vibe seems IMO to be much calmer and more quiet...I enjoyed it much better anyway....flight home was in the daytime and it seemed so much longer, more kids and people were awake, etc...

Well, I guess that's why there is chocolate AND vanilla. I like the day flight and it's my first choice if schedule allows a whole day for flying. Jetlag is definitely diminished for me.

A couple years ago we finally did the daytime (8:00 AM to 8:00 PM) American flight from JFK to London Heathrow.
I thought it sounded like a good idea, until we had to get up at 4 AM to do it, and then we were asking ourselves why? By the time we got to our flat in London (about 9:30 PM, but 4:30 PM New York time), we weren't that tired. By midnight, after some walking and a light snack, we were (still only 7PM back in NYC, so we went to bed and slept soundly). And at 7 AM the next morning we were raring to go and never had a bit of jet lag.
Compared to the usual arrival in the morning and spending all day in a state of semi-tired and dazed, I think that daytime flight is a great idea.

I'm one can't sleep on board, but I also prefer overnight flights. I am so pumped when I arrive at my destination that adrenalin and nerves carry me through the first day. I will usually go to bed early that first night--9 PM or so and sleep soundly for 10 or 11 hours. Wake up and no jet lag at all.

This only works for me flying west to east. Not to Asia.

I'm with Rufus, though I have managed on overnight flights over the years to "teach" myself to think sleep (earplugs, eyemask, no onboard supper or movie -- be in sleep mode, even if I don't drop off totally.) Adrenaline, and a good English breakfast from (ironically) the Caffe Italia in Terminal 4 with plenty of coffee, and I'm good to go on arrival, for most of the day.

I don't mind a daytime flight as long as I am staying close to the arrival airport. For us, departure timing is the problem. We're about a 2-hour drive from JFK or BOS, so for an 8a.m. flight with 6a.m. checkin time, we have to be on the road from home by 3:30 at the latest, or stay at an airport hotel stateside. I'd rather save the $$ for hotels at my destination... But YMMV. It's worth trying both to find out what works best for you.

Well, we bit the bullet and booked that 9 a.m. AA flight out of Boston. We will stay at an aiport hotel the nite before, so hopefully won't have to get started before the crack of dawn.

Patrick - you're such a veteran traveler/poster here that your endorsement is encouraging. As are the others from daytime fliers. Thanks all!

Now to just get that tranq from the doc....

Sorry, but I just don't see how this makes sense unless neither time or money is particular important to you. You are spending extra dollars on a night of hotel at BOS, and you arrive in London 12 hours later than you could have, basically wasting a whole day of possible sightseeing. And can you actually go to bed in London that night at, say, midnight which is 6pm East Coast time?