Originally Posted by
QRC3288
I will add, I don't think these are really red-eyes! I always saw that as a US term, for the short west to east night flights in the generally utterly dreadful hard products in J and F. Fortunately these have improved lately, but anyway you'll have a flat bed for 14 hours! You'll be crossing a nighttime somewhere with a flight that long no matter what. For example, if you took cx885 departing at 1pm, even though it's light the whole time you still arrive at 3am LA time. You could easily end up with more actual red-eye on cx885 (or any longhaul flights) than cx881 or 883.
The "red-eye" term for longhaul and ultra longhaul, particularly with a bed to sleep when you're tired, is a little deceptive. It's basically just a late night depsrture.
Ditto
I don't see why anyone should worry too much about sitting in a lie-flat seat for a long-haul flight. Sure, the food is quite mediocre, but it is still edible (even if it is just the junk snacks), and if you can't sleep, the IFE is one of the best in the industry. The only issue may be the late departure time relative to what your body is used to, but I found a late departure from JFK to be ideal for fighting jet lag.