BA214 BOS-LHR departing at 9.30pm - how should I plan my meals?
 

So I will be taking BA214 from BOS-LHR with my family which departs at 9.30pm. It's a 6.5 hour flight. Given the lateness of the flight, and short duration, what do folks recommend in terms of meal planning? We will be in economy. Dinner will likely be served around 10.30pm.

Do most people recommend eating a regular meal before the flight? Light meal and then plane meal then sleep? Or wait and eat the plane meal since it helps to better adjust you to UK time? I hear that the snack prior to landing is mediocre at best, so perhaps eating the plane meal is the better of a poor option?

Thanks.

My plan on ORD flights is to eat well beforehand so that I have time to digest and can at least try to go to sleep asap. I don't bother with breakfast on board unless I have a tight connection and probably won't be able to eat after landing. If you can't sleep on aircraft then you might as well eat the dinner at least.

Eat in the airport before departure. As soon as you can after takeoff, go straight to sleep for as long as you can. Eat in the airport after arrival (or even later). This applies to every cabin.

This is why I'm taking the day flight back (in CW) for the first time week after next. I just can't do the 3 hours sleep overnight then into the office any more.

There will be a full bar and meal service after take off, which will take at least 2 hours, then "breakfast" will start around 90 mins before landing. Actual flight time is actually around 5h45m. If you take the meal times off that (when the lights are on full, and you can't really recline) you're left with around 2 hours of cabin darkness. Which ever way you swing it, it's going to be tiring, and you won't get a good nights sleep.

Personally I'd try and wake up early that day, eat before the flight, have a drink only to try and send me to sleep, then don an eyemask and ear plugs and try and sleep til landing. As to travelling with family, I guess that means kids, and I don't know what would work best for them.

Breakfast will certainly be worth skipping though - try and get an extra bit of sleep instead, and get a proper breakfast in London.

Eat when you are hungry. If you are hungry at the airport eat at the airport, if you are hungry during meal service eat during meal service. if you are hungry at the airport and during meal service have two meals.

It's not like you can get any sleep during meal service in economy anyway.

I actually tend to eat dinner in the city when flying from the East Coast to the UK, then skip food in the lounge (which is average at best) and on the plane, and just try to maximize sleep. The actual flight time will be closer to 5h30.

Except in the BOS lounge where the food is fairly decent.

In Club, it's the Goodnight Service with low-level lighting and fast service. Given most people choose to sleep, the service can be quite quick. Lighting is brighter during service in the Traveller cabins, particularly on older configs which don't have the softer mood lighting.

BA238 is the saviour for those who can't sleep, or BA212 (earlier overnight) and then hit the hay at home!

Well, do you usually eat dinner at 10pm? If no, I would not be staying up for a mediocre late night dinner on board. Instead I would eat earlier and try to get some sleep asap.

OP is in economy, not Club.

In Economy, I would eat in the Boston lounge. Then on board, get a drink or two and watch some entertainment or read while the noise and lights of the economy meal service goes on, trying to relax. When the lights go out, or if tired before then, recline seat, put on eye masks and earplugs, and attempt to rest. Good sleep will be impossible of course, but a light snooze might happen.

Wake up as close to arrival as possible, and get some portable breakfast in the landside M&S or the upstairs (departure landside) food places depending on timing and whether you got breakfast on the aircraft (and if you wanted to eat it!).