Originally Posted by
CirrusDesAigles
Have done LA twice on early flights and I was completely goosed for the first few days and waking up at 2-3am for hours on end.
Did you sleep at all on the way out? If not then I'm not surprised you suffered. The last time I flew this route I chose the 11.30am departure (pre-Covid) on American. I decided to wake up at 04:30am (8.30pm in the evening Los Angeles time) for two reasons, one of which was to minimise jetlag; I wanted to maximise Terminal 3 lounge time and enjoy a good brekkie before boarding. I also wanted to be sufficiently tired to be able to sleep on the flight, having had about 4hrs sleep before waking up at 04:30am.
After lunch onboard, followed by a movie and washed down with a few G&Ts I managed a good snooze. When the window shades are down, and it resembles night time it's good to snooze. I always slip a couple of melatonin tablets to help me doze off. 2/3 hrs is good for me.
Arrived as scheduled at around 3pm local time, checked into an airport hotel, picked up the car and was sufficiently well rested to drive in the madness that is LA traffic during rush hour. Went to bed at around 11pm and woke up at 5am, ideally could have slept 2hrs more, we were flying onto Hawaii at 11am same morning. There is a 10hr time difference in November between UK and Hawaii. Did I beat jetlag? Absolutely not. Jetlag in Hawaii was brutal, I was waking up at 3am almost every day for the week I was there.