I’m so experienced at flying JFK-LHR overnight in economy I can do it practically on autopilot and I don’t find the short night’s sleep too debilitating, with a flight time of usually about 6hrs. It’s never been less than 5h30 eastbound.

However, this past week I took my first coast-to-coast USA domestic red eye and it was absolutely brutal. PHX-JFK flight time was less than four hours and I arrived feeling dreadful, even after traveling in domestic F (recliner, not flat bed). A leisurely breakfast in the SoHo lounge at JFK helped but it’s taken me days to recover.

What strategies do people use to make this doable?