United MileagePlus (Consolidated) - IAD to LHR: Is 1 Flight Preferrable To Minimize Jet Lag?

Of the three available UA IAD-LHR flights, is there a preference to minimize jet lag? The 3 flights are:
1. Dep 09:38 - Arr 21:55
2. Dep 18:05 - Arr 06:20 +1 day
3. Dep 22:00 - Arr 10:10 +1 day

I don't fly internationally that often. It would seem to me that option #1 or #3 would be best to minimize jet lag.
#1 - I would probably be getting up at 4am, so figure I would be ready for bed by the time I get to sleep around midnight London time (7pm east coast)
#3 - Would be going to sleep maybe around midnight (eastern) and waking up around 4am (eastern), landing at 5am (eastern). Maybe 5 hours sleep on the flight, so ready for bed after a relatively short day in England.
#2 - This seems like the worst option. Going to sleep at 8 or 9pm (eastern) and then 5 hours sleep, waking up at 1:00am (eastern) and then a full day ahead of me.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

#1 or #3 depending on whether you're able to sleep on redeyes. You're right that #2 is worst.

#1 for sure.

I prefer the later arrivals.... #3.

My reasoning would be that I usually go to bed around midnight so after takeoff, a meal and some drinks and then bedtime.

In coach definitely #1. If first or business, and you can sleep, #3. But I've always found arriving in the evening on transpacs, even though they are longer flights than yours, I felt 100% better the next day because I went to bed after arriving and having a light meal and maybe a little evening walk.

Personally I prefer the overnight flights, arriving in the morning. I hate to waste a entire day on a plane. On the overnight I can get a few hours sleep, and arrive early enough so that I don't feel like the day was lost.

I would lean towards number three, but have done the second one many many times too.

I hate the first option, wake up early, spend all day on a plane, just to make it in time to go back to sleep.

I love the 922 (day flight) and alway take it when possible. Definitely reduces jet lag. Plus I love F & C on the 767.

If it has to be overnight then the 924, for me, makes sleep easier.

I love the 922 (day flight) and alway take it when possible. Definitely reduces jet lag. Plus I love F & C on the 767.

If it has to be overnight then the 924, for me, makes sleep easier.

I love 922 as well. Day time flights are the best way to get over the pond!

Worst case, you get there, have a late dinner and a few drinks and you are ready to bed by ~1am local time, sleep a decent amount in a real bed, and you are on your way to beating jetlag.

For a flight that short, #1.

If the flight was a few hours longer, then #3, leave as late as possible, get a few hours sleep, arrive as late as possible the next day, keep moving around to avoid feeling lethargic and stay up to a reasonable hour, then fall asleep lile a baby!

#3 for me. I prefer the late flights and usually pass out before take off and wake up right before breakfast. 5 or 6 hours is enough to wake up feeling relatively refreshed, and the late arrival means the day is short. An early bedtime and everything is back to normal by the next day.

#1 with no doubt for me.

Get up early (I always have to get up early anyway for a crack-o-dawn flight to first connect to IAD) so you're good and tired when you get to LHR.

Do NOT allow yourself any sleep on the flight over.

I get excited when I have this flight and start a folder on my desktop of all the things I'm going to do (usually write reports or edit those of others) with 7 or so undisturbed (no phone or email or interruptions) hours to just focus and be productive.

I love this flight so much that people in my office give me things and say "this is for your flight to London." They all know they'll get email responses when I land.

I wish there were more daytime destinations to Europe.

Daytime flight for me, too. It's hugely productive with the work that can be done, I don't miss a night's sleep and my jet lag is minimised or, sometimes, eliminated altogether.

Also, I prefer UA's 767s to the 777s nowadays. 2-3-2 seating is great, the E+ section seems to be a good one, with enough room to use my laptop. On the 777s, there is the seating lottery through equipment swaps and if you get the new configuration, it's 3-3-3, which I don't like, and there's less leg room in E+, making it difficult for me to use my existing laptop.

#3 only because you get to LHR and when you get to your final dest. You probably can check in get a shower head out to see the sights and hit the sack by 10 pm. This way you get full use of your hotel. I hate those midnight arrivals and wasting a hotel room.

No question, number one. Even in C or F I never get enough sleep to start the day well and get through it all. Arriving late allows you to sleep upon arrival and awake in the morning ready to face a full day. A day on a plane may be a day wasted, but I find that if I arrive in the morning I am always unable to avoid falling asleep midday. Once that happens, my clock is entirely off and it can take several days for me to adjust to local time.

I take #1 all the time and sometimes use it to connect to flights in London the next day. I have the kind of work where time on a plane isn't "wasted" its productive. What's wasted for me is the next day on an overnight flight where I spend 8 - 10 hours wandering around a city trying to stay awake and can't get any real work done.

I love the daytime flight.

I always take a daytime flight if available. I am one of those who find it difficult to sleep, even in C. Shame there are no direct daytime flights from the US to MAN :(

You forgot option 4. UA flight 130 6:49PM-7:30AM. I am on this flight tonight, but not by choice. I had booked #3 UA924, but then after a 777 swap I moved to UA130.

Luckily since its UA, it will be delayed so it will end up being closer to option 3 anyway. On a guaranteed lie flat.

#1 or #3 depending on whether you're able to sleep on redeyes. You're right that #2 is worst.

+1. #2 I think is designed for business people who want to get in a full day of work when they arrive. Not sure how it's possible on only a few hours sleep, but there it is. The added problem is that when you arrive, there's very little chance of getting into your hotel room early. With #3, there's some chance an early check in will allow a snooze right away.

Flying with the family later this month - wife + 2 kids. We're on #3...i like the later flight as the kids pretty much fall right asleep. They don't sleep so much on the earlier flights - but I will say that I have never done the daytime flight over to Europe..so no experience with that one.

#1 for sure!

If you're traveling with kids, #1 for sure! You arrive in London at night, head to hotel and go to bed! Wake up the next morning you're back on track! I've done this and it work great! ^

And the correct answer in this day and age is "whichever flights aren't on the Continental 757s"

Personally, either of the overnight flights are good for me. I sleep/nap for a couple of hours on the plane, then take a short nap in the afternoon on the day of arrival, then a regular bedtime on the first night of arrival and all is good.

I appear to be in the minority, but I don't actually mind #2, but only if flying in F. I can hit the Arrivals Lounge, grab a shower which refreshes me, have some breakfast made to order, and use the WiFi to catch up on whatever rolled in overnight. 45 minutes later I'm on the HEX and last through meetings until mid-late afternoon at which point I do start to fade, but by then my hotel room is ready.

Of the three available UA IAD-LHR flights, is there a preference to minimize jet lag? The 3 flights are:
1. Dep 09:38 - Arr 21:55
2. Dep 18:05 - Arr 06:20 +1 day
3. Dep 22:00 - Arr 10:10 +1 day

Strictly to minimize jet lag I would choose option #3. It'd allow me to sleep on the plane at a natural time, get maybe 1/2 day of work done the following day (important it's only 1/2 day because 4 hours sleep is very little to support a full busy day), and finish adjusting that night.

Option #1 would be hard for me because I wouldn't be able to get to sleep upon landing in London. My body would be telling me, "It's only 17:00!" and I wouldn't get to sleep until at least 02:00 local time.

I've explained my reasoning rather than simply telling you my choice because ability to handle jet lag varies from one person to the next. You know your own needs better than I know them.

I prefer #2, but only when I'm staying in a flat where I can arrive in the morning, sleep a few hours, get up at noon and carry on. At many hotels in London (except maybe the most expensive), you may have to wait for your room until 1-2pm. I absolutely hate having to kill time while I wait for my room to be available.

The later flight (10am arrival) works better if you're staying at a hotel and have a C or F seat where you can sleep. If flying in economy, take the morning flight as you'll perhaps not get much sleep anyway and can just go to the hotel, get a meal and crash, fully and properly exhausted.

I would take #3 over #2 because I don't like departing so early (and arriving so early). I also don't like short overnight flights like this one because you can only get a few hours of sleep, but it's better than using up a full day flying (though some people are super productive in the air, so I suppose for them it's OK).

It's obviously personal preference, but for me, #3 is the best option. I have done a lot of flights US -Europe arriving in FRA at 6:00 AM due to work constraints (need to be in meetings Monday AM) and it is a tough adjustment. Arriving later in the day from an overnight flight is best.

I love the day flight try do it whenever I can. If in C it's a very productive flight and great time to arrive in LHR. I usually am connecting to Africa through LHR so won't go out until the next night anyway so get a proper night in a hotel vs. a day room. Only downside is more time away from home/family vs. going on the late evening flight...

And the correct answer in this day and age is "whichever flights aren't on the Continental 757s"


Why do you say that? Many people like the BF on the 757s. From a purely hard product perspective, I haven't seen an overly significant difference between the IPTE 777 and the pmCO international 757.

I like option #1. I have taken that flight a number of times and it's so much better than the overnight flights.

And the correct answer in this day and age is "whichever flights aren't on the Continental 757s"



I think the E+ on the CO752's have the best legroom available. If you can score a new config PMUA 777 then that's a good score but with E+ on the 752 I'm OK with option #1!

OP here...Thanks for all the great advice. I haven't actually tallied votes, but seems somewhat split between Option #1 and Option #3...with Option #2 (the early overnight flight) a distant third.

For this particular trip, it is for vacation with family, so no worries about needing to "be productive" as some pointed out.

As far as sleeping for me...anywhere...anytime! Many, many times I have slept on the short 20-minute early morning hop to IAD and then 2 more naps on each additional leg heading west.

Cheers!

I always take a daytime flight if available. I am one of those who find it difficult to sleep, even in C. Shame there are no direct daytime flights from the US to MAN :(

US Airways PHL-MAN :D

It's a great redemption option in Business because their business class is 1-2-1 with Cathay Pacific style full-flats. Much nicer than 2-4-2 ;)

US Airways PHL-MAN :D

It's a great redemption option in Business because their business class is 1-2-1 with Cathay Pacific style full-flats. Much nicer than 2-4-2 ;)

If only it was a daytime flight....

Never tried the Envoy on US, but UA fly the 752 to MAN, so Business is a very pleasant 2-2 all lie flat, and the service tends to be very good. Having said that I am usually in Y, and UA beats US hands down because of E+.

Of the three available UA IAD-LHR flights, is there a preference to minimize jet lag? The 3 flights are:
1. Dep 09:38 - Arr 21:55
2. Dep 18:05 - Arr 06:20 +1 day
3. Dep 22:00 - Arr 10:10 +1 day

I've done flights to Europe similar to #2. I would not recommend it. I go to bed around midnight EST, so I would normally go to sleep when the plane is supposed to be landing in Europe.

I've done #3 personally. If I had to repeat, I would eat at IAD, skip the meal service, and get to sleep as quickly as possible. Last time, I did the dinner service, got a little bit of sleep, then skipped breakfast (opt'd for the *A arrivals lounge) on the plane to sleep longer.

Why do you say that? Many people like the BF on the 757s. From a purely hard product perspective, I haven't seen an overly significant difference between the IPTE 777 and the pmCO international 757.

I prefer the PMUA J over PMCO J in terms of hard product. There seems to be a smallish vocal group of people on FT who feel similarly. I've always been able to avoid the middle seats in J, so the advantage to me is being able to get a backward facing seat and having a better footwell.

As someone who can never sleep on planes (in Economy at least) I definitely prefer #1. I've taken that flight before and found it was great to be able to actually get a decent night of sleep once I arrived and be able to wake up the next day refreshed, not having to slog through the day on no sleep.

Most certainly #1 as well.

I have a 100 mile drive once I arrive in Heathrow to get home (because you can't fly from the English capitol to the Welsh capitol). By arriving at 10 in the evening my body is still telling me it's early evening. Makes the drive a lot easier than arriving in the morning, normally without any sleep.

As someone who can never sleep on planes (in Economy at least) I definitely prefer #1. I've taken that flight before and found it was great to be able to actually get a decent night of sleep once I arrived and be able to wake up the next day refreshed, not having to slog through the day on no sleep.+1. Have never managed to sleep on planes, even in C. Heck, I didn't even sleep in F when UA had the non-stop SFO-CDG back in the day! But that was because I thinking I didn't want to lose out on all the cool benefits of flying in F by sleeping through them. Dumb!

I've found I can push through jetlag very effectively if I get out on a good bike ride the morning after arrival. In both directions. Curiously, jetlag is rarely an issue for me on the trip out, but often hits me two days after I get back. Seriously. First day is fine, second day I'm all tweaked. Go figure.

Curiously, jetlag is rarely an issue for me on the trip out, but often hits me two days after I get back. Seriously. First day is fine, second day I'm all tweaked. Go figure.

Exactly the same here. I put this down to adrenaline. I am pumped up on the way ou, and that helps fend off the jet lag. When I get home, I relax. Once I am home, the first night I sleep really well, I think due to tiredness. Once I've slept it off, then the jet lag kicks in.

I would take #3 over #2 because I don't like departing so early (and arriving so early). I also don't like short overnight flights like this one because you can only get a few hours of sleep, but it's better than using up a full day flying (though some people are super productive in the air, so I suppose for them it's OK).

+1. Exactly matches my opinion.