Arriving in London at 9pm at night from the USA...how do I handle jet lag?

JW <BR>It is true that you may get some jet lag symptoms, but arriving London in the night wouldn't be that bad, and much better than you leave us in the evening and arrive London in the morning. Try to remain awake as best as you can, buy some books/magazines, movies or games to kill your time so that you can sleep very well on the first night of your trip.

Of the hundreds of trans-atlantic flights per day (night), there must be only 1 or 2% that operate during daytime hours, like yours. I have never been in the situation to use one of them, and I suppose that not many other Fodorites have either. <BR> <BR>Your biggest problem may be to make yourself go to bed at the "right" time, on Europe time, that is - - since after all, when you get to your hotel at 10 or 11 p.m., your body will feel like 5 or 6 p.m. (assuming you reside in the Eastern time zone of the U.S.) It might be even worse, if you are from the west and are flying to the east coast the day before your trans-atlantic flight. <BR> <BR>I think that it will still apply to you to use the "earlier and earlier" strategy in the 1-3 days before your trip. <BR> <BR>Get up at 5 a.m. at T-2 days, then 4 a.m. on T-1 day then 3 a.m. on your day of travel. Remember plenty of fluids, little or no alcohol or caffeine during the flight (though modest caffeine might be okay at the begginning of the flight) and interesting, but not tiring diversions for the flight. Unlike overnight passengers, you do NOT want to sleep on the trans-atlantic flight. I would think that a brandy or two when you get to your hotel would not be harmful, and might help you go to sleep at the "unnatural" hour of 11 p.m. (GMT). All depends on how you view a little drink. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex

Hi, JW, <BR>The only times I've arrived at night after a transatlantic flight were the results of flight delays (a memorable one resulting from British Airways having to send a replacement 747 all the way from London to Vancouver because ours was on the fritz.) It's a weird feeling, but very similar to what we west coasters feel when arriving on the east coast - where did that day go? <BR>A couple of wuss-friendly suggestions (me, not you): (1) stay up the night before, so you'll be gassed on arrival, and (2) melatonin when you do go to bed. My spouse swears by it and I've had good luck too. Slept through "charming" church bells on the other side of the "charming" hotel walls once. <BR>The other advice about water and no booze in flight is also right on. Also do the stroll in the aisles to the annoyance of the other pax. <BR>Or go into Soho after you've checked into the hotel and see what's hopping.

An evening arrival only happened once to us and was the result of a bomb threat on our British Airways flight from LA to London, delaying takeoff for what seemed like forever. Normally on that particular flight we got in about 1:00 p.m. but it was like 8 hours later that time. We had no trouble staying awake on the flight as we were scared to death through most of it despite their assuring us everything was OK. After getting into the city, unpacking, having a snack we were ready for bed - at some point exhaustion sets in. I would not recommend this incident to anyone but I'd say stay awake through the flight and realize you may be a bit "off" the next day so don't plan on much in the way of sightseeing. A light day of down time - take a walk, go to a park, ride the double decker bus, that sort of thing may help adjust your body.

J, <BR> <BR>Have also found through the advice of others on this site, if you will do a search of "jet lag" you will get (most often) several pages of advice, this also works very well with "hotels", "restaurants", or just about any other topic or city you could think of. I do think, though, that most of the jet lag advice will be from folkes arriving early AM from the East Coast. Good luck, and have a great trip!

On the planetay hydrated (ask for water every chance you get and/or bring your own litre with you); try not to sleep; eat light (order fruit plates or seafood plates or the like); keep the shades up (unless they ask you to close them for the movie); get up and walk as much as possible; do inflight exercises (I found a copy in a woman's magazine; I bet if you do a search on the internet you can find them); do anything that will keep you from sleeping (don't read if it normally puts you to sleep, etc.). <BR>On land: arrange for a car/driver to meet you (you will be in no shape to negotiate the train or get a taxi); have your toothbrush, pajamas, etc. right on top of the suitcase so you can grab them as soon as you are in your room; take a sleep inducer (like Tylenol PM or the like, or melatonin - we found an herb tea with melatonin in it which we swear by); avoid caffeine on the flight and before bed; set your alarm for 8 hours (or whatever your normal night sleep) of sleep and DON'T get up until the 8 hours are up (even if wide awake, just lay there; you want your body to not start the day until it's London time to start the day). <BR>First day: eat a big ol' breakfast and plan a full day (museum, tower of london sort of stuff in the first part of the day) with something easy in the evening (boat cruise, bus tour). You should be all set from then on. <BR>

What a load of whimps! Jetlag from a transatlantic flight! How about flying from Sydney, Australia via the States to London with stops only along the way to change planes?

Arriving at London at 900 PM at night? <BR>London is just 5 hours ahead of New York, 6 ahead of Chicago, 7 ahead of Denver, or 8 hours ahead of cities on the westcoast of the USA. <BR> <BR>So if you think about this...when you get to London just subtract 5,6, or 7 hours. Simply put there is no way to completely avoid jet lag. <BR> <BR>I just returned from Dublin yesterday. It was a six and half trip. I have flown NY to Paris in six and half hours as well. and the Flight from New York to Shannon, Ireland last week was just 5 hours and 23 minutes. <BR> <BR>The best way to deal with this is to try and go to sleep in England at a normal time for England...1100Pm 1200Am or 100AM, to get your body onto the local time. <BR> <BR>Last week when I flew to Shannon...I did not sleep on the plane...how could I? Plane left at 800PM and arrived in Shannon 5 hrs 23 minutes later...local time was 630AM...by the time I got to the hotel it was only about 800AM...was I tired? Of course. Did I go to sleep? No...but that night in Ireland I did go to sleep at about 10PM... <BR> <BR>I was somewaht tired for a few days but your body will adjust to the difference in a few days...or longer. <BR> <BR>Michael

I disagree with most of the responsis. I traveled to Hungary last year and Greece the year before. I left LA in the evening one year and NY in the evening the other. I slept through the dark and arrived in the morning refreshed both times and was able to move along with my trip. My worst was the return when you leave Europe in the Morning and arrive in LA in the afternoon. I was out of it for a couple of days. <BR>

Have done the Boston to London daytime flight and it is the best! Heathrow is nice and quiet in the evening - you'll get your luggage and be on your way lickety split. We checked in to our hotel, found a nearby cozy restaurant, had a leisurely dinner, returned to the hotel to unpack, unwind and turn in. Got up next morning at a "normal" time ( 7 or 8 am) and never really felt jet lagged. This is far preferable to arriving at dawn and staggering around in a fog. I also found the flight itself to be surprisingly enjoyable. I am never able to sleep on an overnight flight - but there really is no need to do so when travelling during daytime hours. Watch the movie, read your People magazine, enjoy the fabulous airline foor and arrive raring to go!

I agree with John and Elivra about the melatonin. It is great! Take it when it's time to go to bed local time and it will help you get your full nights sleep. You will get a good nights sleep and feel rested in the a.m. We did this on a trip to Egypt. Arrived at 10:30 p.m, went to hotel, unpacked took melatonin and went to sleep. We take it each night while on a trip. Take it the same way when you come back to the U.S. Good Luck and have fun!

We have kicked this one around a lot! What works for one, is not for someone else. Just returned from a 15 hour flight(two together, actually) from Lisbon, to Amsterdam, to home, in one day). It takes me about 4 days to fully recover, but I try to stay with the time zone I am in, with a short nap, if I must. Build in a little extra time to accustom yourself to the loss of sleep and the confusion your body feels when it thinks it is still in Portugal. Take it easy the first few days.

Frankly, I don't think there is any way to combat this problem. We just flew to Budapest, a night flight, and actually fell asleep at the hotel at night and woke up the next morning. Who knows, but for the next three nights we woke up. Just turn the TV on, or get a good book, and forget trying to fight it. It's three days a poor sleep for us flying East. Coming West....no problems.

I agree with the other responses about melatonin. Take it about an hour before you want to sleep. Another remedy to try: there is a homeopathic remedy on the market called No Jet Lag (available from Magellan's). I took that and melatonin during a night flight to Iceland last year (and put on eye shades to get some sleep). I arrived in Iceland at 6:30 a.m., checked into my hotel, and headed out for an 8-hour bus tour for my lone day there. I was very pleased with my ability to stay awake and not be miserable. I

My own advice would be not to drink alcohol on the flight, try to sleep <BR>or at least cat-nap during the flight, live as much as possible in the time zone of the place you are visiting, wake yourself up/tire yourself out with a visit to the hotel gym or with a run round the block, stay away from heavy food that might make you feel sleepy and don't bother with caffeine in any form. When I suffer from jet lag I get a really strange feeling that my body is still moving! It feels as if my molecules are jigging around, Flash-style (but I don't get to walk through solid matter.) Also, a quick wash and a clean of the teeth on arrival is a sure fire way to pep you up. Finally, if you really are dog-tired and really want to sleep, just do it. There is no point in having a miserable time when you are on holiday.

There was a lead article about jet lag remedies in the April 7 issue of the Wall St. Journal. See it at a library?

J., from reading the comments it seems that Ellie was one of few that really understood the flight. We too are booked on this new daytime flight and I figure it will be wonderful compared to the flights "overnight". I think the strategy is just to stay awake (easy since it is daytime) on the plane and try to go to sleep on London time when you arrive (it will be 11:00pm by the time you get settled, I think) You may need a sleep aid (like Tylenol PM) but get up at a normal time in the morning. the advice about getting up earlier on flight day sounds helpful too. The advice about water and no alcohol is always good on long flights. Have fun ! <BR>

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