Originally Posted by
Narrow Seat
On a previous trip to Europe, I arrived at 6:00 AM after a long overnight flight. I arrived early because the flight left around supper time. I did not get tired until the last few hours of the flight. The trouble is I arrived at the hotel at 8 AM and they told me I could not check in until 3 PM (7 hours later) so I had to wander the empty rainy streets for hours completely exhausted.
If you must arrive early in the morning, book your hotel room for the previous night and advise the hotel ahead of time that you will be arriving early morning so they don't no-show you.
A few years earlier I took a flight to Europe that left at 10 PM so I did not arrive at my European destination until about 11 AM. By the time I got to the hotel I only had to walk the streets for about two hours before I could check into my hotel and nap. The trouble with that option was I could not sleep on the plane and was sick/tired for most of the flight because when I arrived onboard at 10 PM I wanted to go to bed.
Business or First class was not an option.
What is the best time for you to leave for Europe by plane?
Depart in the morning to arrive in the evening. Especially if not in business or first. Overnight at the ORD Hilton followed by the daytime ORD-LHR flight is my top choice. Failing that, whatever red-eye arrives the latest in the afternoon. That could even mean backtracking to the West Coast. It's too hard to even try to sleep on short transatlantic flights from the Northeast to destinations that are far west in Europe. Red-eyes are categorically bad. But short red-eyes are the worst of all.
I miss the days when both NZ and QF had daytime flights from LAX to Australia or New Zealand.
If you told me I had to take Y across the Atlantic, I would only do it on a daytime flight.