BigOrangeTerp

Hi all,

I'm flying DFW-PEK and PEK-DFW in a few days. The outbound flight leaves at 1035 CST and is about 14 hours long; the inbound flight leaves at 1725 Beijing time and arrives in DFW at 1655 the same day.

I've never done a flight across so many time zones. Do y'all have any tips for minimizing jet lag on these routes? It's going to be strange departing DFW at what's technically nighttime in China and arriving in the early afternoon. And I've read that going Eastward is even worse.

Duke787

Traveling in Y or J?

The strategy is still the same IMO but obviously if in J it's a lot easier to achieve since the sleeping part is more likely to happen. I swear by the method where you change your watch to your arrival destination as soon as you get on the plane and eat and sleep accordingly though admittedly this is harder to accomplish going eastbound. I've never had a problem with this method for TPAC, the only time I was seriously jetlagged was when I went eastbound to get to SIN which was a mistake (RDU - IAH - DXB - SIN), the back to back redeyes on IAH - DXB and DXB - SIN screw your body up.

On the outbound, eat whatever they serve and then try and sleep straight away. Once you wake up stay up for the remainder of the flight so that your afternoon arrival feels like that, an afternoon arrival. That should position you well to sleep at a normal hour that night in PEK because you'll be tired. As long as you get at least a couple hours of sleep, the westbound jetlag shouldn't be of significant concern.

On the return back to the US it's basically the same strategy, I would aim to eat the lunch / dinner meal on PEK - DFW and then try your best to sleep for as long as possible but once you wake up stay up until landing so that you are tired and it feels like 5pm when you land and you are able to go straight to sleep.

Some good advice here though caveat, BKK is much longer and requires an additional leg so the advice is a bit different:

Jetlag Advice Needed

BigOrangeTerp

I'm scheduled for Y right now. We're trying to get upgraded to J but I'm not keeping my fingers crossed. Those sound like good tips, thank you!

ajGoes

It would be impossible for me to go to sleep immediately after lunch and sleep more than a few minutes. When I faced a similar flight -- ORD to NRT -- I stayed awake for the whole flight except for a brief nap. I dozed a bit in the shuttle into Tokyo, met my host and walked to her home, visited for a bit, and went to bed around 10:00 PM Japan time. I was sufficiently exhausted by staying awake all night according to my body clock that I slept the whole night and woke up at a normal time. I was in rather a daze for my first day in Tokyo, but I was able to function and sight-see.

Research repeatedly finds that it takes one day to fully adjust to each hour of a change in time zones. I certainly never adjusted completely in the week I was there; I was dazed, but more or less functional.

I can't see why an eastbound change of about twelve hours would be harder than a westbound one.

Proudelitist

If you can, get out of Y. Even an in-cabin premium seat will be better.

For me, the longer hauls are actually a bit easier to take than the 3 hour flights. When you expect it to be long, you are less bored. Anyhow, plenty of things can pass the time. Firstly, drugs.

Yes, a benzodiazepine will knock several hours off the flight from a subjective viewpoint. It knocks you out for a few hours, and also induces a kind of amnesia. So when you get off it doesn't feel like you have been flying for 14 hours. You will feel alot fresher. I am not the sort who advocates regular benzo use, but I will say that a long haul flight is an unsual circumstance and they should be in your aresenal for those and those only.

You can also down a few dramamine and a stiff drink. This is my quick and dirty approach when I am out of benzos. It doesn't feel as nice, but it works. Shave 7 hours off that 15 hour flight.

Bring your ipod, watch a few movies, read a book. Get up every so often..but whatever you do, don't sit there staring at the seatback for hours and hours. That will make it agonizing, and I see too many people doing this.

Efrem

Lots of people confuse fatigue (lack of sleep) and jet lag (time zone changes). They're separate things. You can hope for upgrades and/or take a pill to sleep better (I do both), so you won't be sleep-deprived when you arrive, but your body will still be out of sync with local time. To help with that you can move your schedule a bit in the days before you leave, but it will still take a day per hour of time change (the rule of thumb, as already posted) or whatever it is for your bod. This strategy just gets some some of those days out of the way early. Also, some people say melatonin helps adjust to a new time zone. I've never tried it, but you can read about it.

Ber2dca

The main strategy should be to get out of Y, everything else is the kind of thing where different things work for different people.

krazykanuck

My usual long haul Y survival pack is a bunch of alcohol and food served on board, some OTC sleep aid, and an eye mask so you can go to sleep when you want.

CelloYellow

Melatonin is what helps me survive several Asia to North America trips - sometimes for as short as 2 days. I don't manage to sleep easily on flights. So my advice is - sleep when you can. When you get to PEK try and stay awake till 7 or 8 pm local time. Pop a melatonin and you should manage to sleep 5-6 hours. If you're tired enough - you might sleep longer.

Tchiowa

I have flown TPAC over 100 times. Answer is simple. There is no answer. It's different for everyone. I am blessed that I sleep very easily on planes. I have a hard time staying awake. But it doesn't help.

Plan on arriving with 2 days to spare before you have to be "up and at 'em". You'll recover by then.

Vaucluse

Sleep on the plane, bring book or your own entertainment. When you arrived, stayed up until it's 9.00 - 10.00 pm local time. If you're awake early, try to sleep again.

DavidVenuto

Sleep. Alcohol is your friend.

Flaflyer

Buy/bring noise cancelling headphones and spare batteries. They really help me sleep on TPACs.

If in Y, check the seat maps as flight day approaches. See if there is an aisle seat toward the back with one or two or three empty seats next to it. Change your reserved seat. If lucky, you get a lie down row to yourself.

sbm12

Earplugs are far cheaper and at least as effective if not more.

BenA

Others have covered strategies for being comfortable onboard, but the biggest key to hitting the ground running across so many timezones is getting yourself onto the destination time zone as soon as possible. Set your watch as soon as the plane takes off, and start thinking about sleep as if you're already in your destination.

Most flights are timed well for that, and yours is no exception. You want to create two "mini days" that as closely match the target city's time as possible, and you want to do your best to sleep when appropriate for those mini days (even if it's just closing your eyes and listening to music for a few hours - resist the temptation of the movies!)

On your outbound flight, you depart at 10:30 Dallas time and arrive at 3PM Beijing time. On a 14 hour flight, that means morning in Beijing is about the midpoint of the flight; your goal should be roughly to enjoy the onboard meal, which will be served post-departure, and then sleep until the midflight snack or so. The exact times aren't super important - your goal is mainly to get enough sleep to make it through your arrival day, and to not oversleep so that you're (very) tired at a normal bedtime at your destination.

If you enjoy alcohol, a glass or two of wine or a favorite cocktail may help encourage you to sleep; you may also want to get up earlier than you ordinarily would in Dallas to go to the airport to be extra tired for the flight. I don't recommend sleep pills, but if you are interested, be responsible and try them NOW for the first time on the ground before discovering you have an adverse reaction while inflight, and don't mix them with lots of booze.

The return appears to be timed from 5:30 pm Beijing time to 4:45 PM Dallas time - another good time pairing. Again, go to sleep right after the meal service and sleep a few hours until the midflight meal, and you'll wake up around midmorning Dallas time - ideal for adjusting back to home.