Can you sleep on a red-eye flight?
 

Our plane leaves at 1am, arrives at 8:30am with one plane change after three hours of flying. Do you have any ideas on how to feel rested? I'm a light sleeper, and besides having wine, which is dehydrating(but so what huh?), I'm wondering how to make this trip bearable. Thanks.

Yes I can sleep on a redeye but still feel like crap afterward.

Don't worry about not being able to sleep. All the lights will be out on the plane, no beverage service, and everyone else will be sleeping.

Get yourself one of those donut pillows that wrap around your neck.

Try to get a window seat and take a small pillow (or get a pillow and blankie as soon as you get on the plane, because they go fast on a redeye flight). Prop yourself up against the window and try your best to sleep. By being on the window side, you won't have someone trying to get past you to go to the restroom.

If you don't have a window seat, take a donut pillow as suggested above.

Good luck... I had a redeye like that from LAX to Orlando with an aisle seat and got very little sleep. However, I find it very difficult to sleep unless I'm in a bed or very comfy chair.

My fisrt choise has always been night flights because whether or not I sleep, it is more restful, low light, quieter, and if a long flight, I have better luck re setting my internal clock on arrival= less jet lag.

I'm completely opposite. I find that redeye flights (from West to East) make my jetlag much worse.

After the replies about germs on pillows and blankets, I'm bringing my own. I have a lightweight throw which can go in my carryon, and I'll find a Bucky pillow for hubby and myself. I know warm feet help too, so warm booties will be a must. Ladies, here's a question- what moisturizer works well for you? I'd like to forgo the makeup and do something nice for my skin while we slumber. I know some will think this is irrelevant, but if you have good advice, thanks in advance!

Drink plenty of water for the two days before and it'll fight the dehydration. Dehydration is the reason lots of people can't sleep in Las Vegas, too.

I find it's best to crash on the morning of arrival, but just for an hour or two. Don't sleep longer or you'll never adjust that night. Force yourself to wake up, you'll be kinda wiped out all day but good and tired at night and ready for bed. If you sleep all day of arrival, you'll be up all night for days.

I can't sleep on a plane at all - I flew direct from NY to Tokyo - and still didn't sleep. I take plenty of books - and just read. We went to New Zealand over Christmas last year (stopped in Hawaii). From Hawaii to NZ is about an 8-9 hour flight. I read a book or 2, we arrived in the morning - and our friends kept us outside and walking through Auckland. I was exhausted, but we didn't go to bed until 10ish. I slept like a baby -and actually didn't have jet lag....

Good advice on reading and water intake. The only tricky part is stretching one's legs. With the security measures and being on a late flight, anyone up may concern the crew. I'll try to dop those sitting stretches. Also, my cd player, I'll bring some good music. Thanks to all who replied, and happy travels!

I get very little sleep unless I'm in business or first. Tried one of those 'donut' pillows on a flight from LAX to Papeete and never found it comfortable. I always bring my own bottle of water as they never give you enough and this way I don't need to keep asking. I also bring facial moisturizer and lip balm. I have a bunch of small sample size tubes of Origins Urgent Moisture that I carry in my purse. As much as I dislike red-eyes, it's an efficient and sometimes the only way to go from west to east.

www.sageskincare.com has excellent moisturizers for dry airplane air. Their products really work and only an extremely small amount is needed, so perfect for traveling lite.

I try to fly in larger planes and upgrade into first. Not to hard to sleep in first class on a 757 or 767.
If I am in a small plane or in coach, I will not fly redeyes.
My travel agency keeps me stocked with free upgrade passes. See if you can figure ut a way to get upgraded.

Txtravelpro - Do you work in the travel agency business, therefore the upgrade perk, or do you just use the same travel agency for every trip and the upgrades are a perk they pass along to you for being a good customer?

Aveda moisturizers are the best!!!!
Of course I love all of their products.

Yuck...you don't have much to work with here with changing planes after 3 hours, but...all I can suggest is 1.) get up early on the morning of your flight so you willbe good and tired by the time you take off. 2.) a U-shaped thingie or whatever you call them for your neck while trying to rest. I have been so tired on some flights and convinced that I will sleep only to be kept awake by my neck absolutely killing me from lack of support. This is crucial. 3.) ear plugs. I am a very good sleeper and can sleep in most any situation or location (including an extremely noisy, crowded nightclub once but I won't go into that) but it always seems that the noise from the engines on a plane keeps me up. Also, stay warm. I can't fall asleep if I'm freezing. Good luck and hope this helps!

Take a Xanax

No matter how sleepy I am, I cannot sleep on a plane. Never have. Not even on a 24-hour flight to Thailand, or the flight back. Nyquil, ear plugs, sleeping mask, NOTHING works. Probably because my whole life I've only been able to sleep on my stomach. Oh well. So I just take a nice long 4-hour nap when I reach my destination, then I'm good to go.

Can you sleep with a little music? I use the neck-donut pillow and eyeshade but I also use earphones/earbuds with very low music to counter some of the random noises in the cabin -- puts me in my own world a bit. Otherise, condolences on a trip that will make you treasure a real bed once you're on the ground again.

If you can afford the Bose noise-filter earphones, they're wonderful, but the various knock-offs (including the one you can get at Sharper Image or Brookstone) don't do nearly as well -- they filter some of the middle ranges of your music as well as the sound of the plane's engines, which kind of defeats the purpose.

I recently took a redeye from SF to NY. I used a really nice eyeshade (with lavender sachet inside) and Sennheiser noise cancellation headphones - cheaper, lighter and a little more comfortable than the Bose. I also had a terrific inflatable pillow - not a donut shape, more of a hot dog that flared at the ends. It was great for supporting my head when it flopped to the side or front. I also wore a windbreaker jacket with an oversized hood which I pulled up over my head and around my face. I must have looked pretty strange (if anyone was looking) but I slept like a baby and arrived feeling pretty good. I also kept some baby wipes handy so I could wash my hands and face without having to wait in the growing line for the toilets when we were getting ready to land. Sweet dreams.

Sorry but . . . what the hell is a red eye flight ? west - east, meaning the sun in your face ? You can close the window curtain . . . sorry, may be an amercian expresion, but just . . . don't get it ! I'll land in LAX next month at 8 p.m. local, after a 3 flight trip, and being awake for 26 hours . . this supposing I can sleep the night before leaving home, well at 5 a.m. ... God help me !

Yes, I am in the travel industry... but on the hotel side. I use the same agency (and always AA) for all my travel and the upgrades are perk of being loyal to both.
I earn upgrades as a Platinum level traveler but they go quick. The agency gives me handfuls of certifs which can be used on most domestic flights and the combination allows me to upgrade 99% of the time.
:)

Mote: red-eye means overnight flight that deprives you of normal night's sleep, therefore eyes look red when you arrive.

Mote:
I feel for you! My little trip won't be as long as yours, only 6.5 hours, start to finish. However, back in my early twenties, I traveled from Anchorage,Alaska to Johannesburg S.A.- now that trip was more like the one you are doing. We did have a 12 hour layover in London, but still, we were zombies during part of the journey! Hope your trip goes well:) I've decided that warm feet and a soft blanket from home will make the flying easier for me, and perhaps some good wine!