MelissaBeckoff

What is the best way to handle the arrival day in London
we are a family of 5 - two teens and 3 adults.


thanks

Melissa

Kate_W

There have been several long discussion threads discussing jet lag strategies. Try searching the topic of jet lag on this board and on the airlines board, and then follow up if you have any questions not answered by those discussions.

richardab

The best way is to do as much on the first day and don't give into the time or take a nap. Try to get on London time and schedule immediately. Eat a light dinner and get to sleep at 9 or 10. A sleeping aid wouldn't hurt. On day 2 get up at a normal time and nourish yourself properly. If you feel a lag during the day, try drinking the energy drink called Lucozade. I found it to really pick me up!

http://www.lucozade.com

rex

Every one has a different answer. The best answers seems to be based on a focused effort to sleep on the plane.

See my further elaboration on http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34648663

Best wishes,

Rex

suze

There is no consensus but much discussion on this topic...

For me I take a nap for a couple hours when I get to my hotel. Others swear "no nap" and to keep moving. Everyone agrees walking, fresh air and sunlight are good remedies. Some people go with caffine, me I prefer a few glasses of wine.

If you put 'jet lag' into the search box you will find endless discussions on the topic.

marilee12

If you go to a travel store, they have a natural product that really helps with jet lag going to europe. We have found that it helps less coming back. But, after 22 hours of traveling, we got to Copenhagen and stayed up for 6-7 more hours. It also helps to arrive near evening, so you can go to bed soon.

J62

NY to London, best way to avoid jet lag is take the early am depature from NY, arriving London late the same day.

Stay awake on the plane, and get a good night sleep when you arrive.

mickrory

I concur with J62. I always suffer from jetlag whatever remedy I try. Last time I caught a 9.00am flight back from Boston, stayed awake on the plane, then went to bed at the normal time.

Result no jet lag next day.

Cicerone

Having lived in Europe and Asia for the past 17 years and flying between continents on a monthly basis, I can tell you that the best way to avoid jet lag is to TAKE A DAY FLIGHT, not a night flight. Traveling with the daylight will immediately help you reset your circadian rhythms, i.e. your internal clock. Then, you can stay awake for a few hours in the evening, have dinner, and get to bed.

Unfortunately, many people are not willing to "waste" a day flying during the day and choose to fly "overnight", i.e. take a 5-6 hour plane flight on which sleep is virtually impossible, even in business or first class. (Said with only slight exaggeration.)

The "night flight" is really a misnomer, because coming from NYC, the flight time is only 6.5 hours, hardly a full night. You just think it is more because it is evening when you leave, the sun sets while you are on the plane, and it is morning in London when you arrive (although it if course only about 3 am NYC time.) Given this, even if you went to sleep as soon as you got on board (which is of course impossible as you aren't even allowed to recline for like the first 30 minutes and you have to sit up again for the last 30 minutes or so once you begin the descent) you would only get 6.5 hours sleep. In reality, most people may have dinner, and then try to sleep, so by the time dinner service is over, etc. they are really getting about 3 hours sleep. I often think it is the lack of sleep, not the "jet lag" that makes most people sleepy on the first day of these flights, as 3 hours sleep is really tough to function on.

So, if you can, take a day flight. Both BA and Virgin Atlantic offer them from JFK and Newark. If you have to take the "overnight" flight, then I agree with the above posters that you (i) don't stress too much about sleeping on the actual flight and (ii) stay awake all day if you can, have an early dinner and get to bed at a good, but not too early hour.

Faux

I always fly to London from Sydney and it takes 22 to 24 hours, like marilee, who may be a compatriot. I try to stop over for a night in Asia after an 8 to 9 hours flight just to be able to stretch out on a bed, shower, change clothes and walk around a bit before tackling the 13 to 14 hours of the flight to London.

Most flights from Australia seem to arrive in London in the early morning but, coming back, I can usually manage to find a flight that arrives in Sydney in the early evening, then stay up as late as I can (midnight if possible but otherwise at least 10 pm). I find I then manage to sleep all night and get back in the routine and suffer little jet lag. I agree with those who say to try to get a daytime flight and then stay up until your normal bedtime and get up at your usual hour back home. As Rex says, it is definitely an individual thing but I believe that makes it far easier to cope the next day.

My own experience is that the hardest time to stay awake at your destination is around dawn where you live. If that happens to be the daytime at your destination, have a cup of coffee and make sure you are walking around at that time to help stay awake. My experience is that I then get a second wind and can stay up until it is my normal bedtime (at the destination).

I can manage to sleep a bit on the flight but I find that fretting about whether you are asleep just makes things stressful. Put on eye shades and one of those horseshoe neck pillows to help avoid a sore neck the next day - I wear one even when reading or watching movies - and then just aim to relax - pretend you are doing yoga - and the likelihood is that you will sleep at some points and at least arrive feeling rested.

In my opinion, sleeping aids like sleeping pills and melatonin do not make me sleep longer or better on the flight. When I used to fly non-stop economy to London from Sydney, I tried sleeping pills, melatonin and no assistance and found that I got one period of about 5 hours sleep on the 22-24 hour flight regardless of what I did. One thing I did find was that I felt lousy when I woke up after taking sleeping pills and I believe the airlines discourage taking them. I did not have that after effect from melatonin - or from taking nothing to assist - so my own experience is not to bother taking anything.

leonberger

I'm in the "take a day flight" if possible, crowd.

If you can't take the day flight, then my strategy is a short nap (no more than 2 hours) shortly after arrival, then up until normal time (local time), and up at the usual time the next morning. It works really well for me. The "no nap" route just makes me cranky and I don't enjoy ANYTHING that I see or do that day - I plod through activities in a fog.

Do check the archives for a bunch of posts related to this - many ideas and suggestions.

Gayle