pinniped

I have learned over time that I simply cannot sleep in Y. At most I'll get a few 30 minute stretches of dozing.

I had a job a few years back where I managed my own travel budget and had a client in Europe. I *could* have flown J and just blown the budget in 2-3 trips per year. But since I also had a whole work team over there, I wanted to be there more often, so I chose to fly Y.

The way I made it less-awful:
(1) Fly a whole day early. One extra hotel night is TOTALLY worth it in terms of showing up to the office well-rested. I'd fly overnight Sunday night, stumble around like a zombie on Monday, and set my first important meetings for Tuesday.
(2) From the U.S., I'd make my connection point as far into the Northeast as possible and the TATL flight as late as possible. That kept the awful segment at 7-8 hours instead of 9-10.
(3) If possible, I'd eat dinner on the ground and not take the dinner on the plane. I found that my best shot at *maybe* dozing a little was right after the plane took off. Eating bad food at 11PM local time isn't that appealing anyway...
(4) I never dabbled in sleep drugs. I'd sometimes booze a little, but always with a water chaser. If you booze too hard you pass out and wake up totally dehydrated...that's a worse feeling than not sleeping.

lwildernorva

You may find sleeping on a plane, much less in long-haul Y, difficult. Think about the differences between your bed and your plane seat: multiple sleep mates, lighting, even when reduced, that's still more than in your bedroom, and the sound of several jet engines. I mention these factors because I eventually came to understand that no matter your ability to sleep, don't stress too much on the plane as I think that only adds to the ill effects of poor sleep.

In addition to loose clothing, a sleep mask, a good pair of noise cancelling headphones (Bose QC20 for me: worth the extra money), white noise or sleep apps, and some sort of workable pillow, I've become more of a believer in proper hydration when I'm onboard. For the first time in seven years, I flew a TATL Y from the East Coast to Europe in late September--a $330 RT Y ticket was way too tempting to pass on. Before boarding, I drank a large bottle of water with a Nuun hydration tablet. You can buy them through Amazon or an outdoor retailer, like REI, and I'm sure there are competitor tablets that work as well. I noticed from comments on Amazon that for many, Nuun has worked well as a hangover cure. I had one glass of wine with dinner--nothing more as more alcohol only increases the dehydration natural to flying. I then drank another bottle of water with another tablet upon landing.

Don't get me wrong. This regimen did not help me sleep better. But it definitely lessened the effects of jet lag upon arrival, especially since I could compare the experience with the last time I flew Y overnight on a 2010 trip to Dublin when I arrived an absolute wreck. A similar regimen on the return trip had similar effects. I felt better than I have after many of my J trips to Europe. Although this was my first opportunity to try this approach, I'm going to test it again on flights to Paris in November and to Rome in February. Of course, my results could have been a one-off, but I think this is going into my regular rotation of strategies to overcome the effects of overnight flying.

Artpen100

When I did it, I took melatonin, and was very careful to get a good seat. If anything happens with another passenger (belligerent drunk, do-not-recline), ring immediately for the FA and let them handle it. Don't even bother talking to the other passenger. However, nothing works like getting an upgrade, and I basically try to get one whatever it takes, including cash. If you can't afford it, play the CC miles game and use miles for it (though there will still often be a co-pay). Credit cards with lounge access are also a big help if you can get a shower on arrival.

Redhead

Tylenol PM, neck pillow, and exit row. Plus comfy clothes - then a lounge membership to shower and change at landing

pinniped

These days, I might try to look at an in-between option like Aer Lingus or Icelandair premium seats. See if those fit into the budget: they price well below a true J cabin on a major carrier but somewhat above Y. EI has decent service and I'd trust their IROPS support enough to use them for a business trip. (I'd still go a full day early.)

WOW and Norwegian also have some "premium" options, but I would not trust those on a business trip. They cancel a flight, and now you're buying walk-up back-of-the-bus coach on a real airline.

Disclaimer: I've never actually flown EI's premium cabin - they just send me ads for it since I've flown them a couple times on Avios awards. It's a recliner-style seat that seems like a comfy option at the $2k R/T level they sometimes advertise.

LoveHateRelationship

I've tried a few neck pillows and found that they don't work for me. I always feel like I'm in a neck brace and I get too warm after a while. I will try some other ones though, maybe eventually one will work.

I've got the QC20s and they have made a HUGE difference in flying. I haven't really tried a white noise app, I will definitely try that next week on my next hop to LHR.

Great tip, I'm terrible at avoiding distractions. I can only doze off on planes 30 minutes at a time. I definitely need more discipline when it comes to sleeping on planes.

I too can't sleep no matter what. I do eat dinner before hand but I'm guilty of eating on the plane sometimes. It's just a way to kill time!

I've found melatonin helps to some extent. It seems to be more effective for me in getting adjusted to the time difference though.

Thankfully I've never had to deal with a bad passenger. Fingers crossed I won't have to anytime soon!

Stewie Mac

I used to be unable to sleep on planes - I was the person standing around by the exit doors/galley, chatting to the crew. And then I changed jobs, and now I do 25-30 overnights at year, all in Y - so I learnt how to sleep on planes.

In Y, it's all about avoiding distractions and forcing yourself to sit there, not moving, not reading, not eating, not watching the movie, with the eyemask on and the plugs in, and waiting. I actually have a 'get into a deep sleep' self-hypnosis track on the phone which I find really good at getting me to sleep, but then when you wake up every now and again - don't get distracted.

In your own bed, at home, you cycle through deep and shallow sleep, but generally stay asleep - on the plane, all those disturbances around wake you from shallow sleep, so you *have* to stay in the sleep zone, keep the mask on, keep the plugs in, wait to drift off again. You can do it.

PS - good point lwildernorva about hydration, although I don't see how a pill can hydrate you . I always take 2-3 litres of water on the plane and have a couple of bottles squeezed down the sides of the chair (I'm not too wide), tops pre-loosened - if I wake up thirsty I can grab them by feel and drink without taking the mask off.

pinniped

Guessing the pill supplements the minerals lost during dehydration? Sort of like popping thermotabs during a long workout...while you continue to drink water and ingest gels/blocks/whatever...

(I'm unfamiliar with the specific pill in question.)

Proudelitist

My company recently implemented such a policy. Luckily I have enough status that I can still UG or buy up.

But in cases where I cannot on airlines I don't have status on, I have no problem shelling out my own money over the base fare paid by the company to at least get E+ or book the exit row aisle. If I have to face the chummy horror of WN, I pay out of pocket to upgrade to BS or at least buy EBCI.

At the very least, book the aisle seats or window if you prefer. I suggest exit row seats. Ride is better in the middle and worse in the back in terms of maneuvers and turbulence.

Stay away from seats near the lavs.

Use drugs to wipe out a good part of the flight. I recommend short acting benzos..their tendency to cause amnesia make an 11 hour flight seem like a 3 hour flight. Just don't drink alcohol with them. Sleep is a good way to escape.

Without benzos, try Dramamine..the drowsy kind not the non-drowsy kind. Reduces airsickness, prevents sinus issues due to it's decongestant properties, and puts you to sleep as well. Better with booze too! Although it will make you pee more.

I tend not to watch IFE, except for on REALLY long flights over 6 hours. I use my ipod instead and just trance out to music. Eyes closed, ear buds in..helps me forget the filthy, stinking hoi polli surrounding me in Y. A bit of perfume or vicks vapo rub under the nose nicely covers the stink of vomit, b.o., and gas they emit.

khlay

I found it's really hard to sleep again if I was waked. So I pick window seat for long haul even I prefer aisle seat in general. Also as a side sleeper, I can fix my head in the corner area between wall and seat.

lwildernorva

That would appear to be the theory. Think of it as Gatorade in a tablet form. Nuun seems expensive at $7 for a tube of 10 tablets, but an equivalent amount of Gatorade would be more expensive. By the way, that's one of the reasons I noted that there are competitors that probably would work just as well. Nuun came recommended to me by friends so that's the brand I tried.

And no doubt, the water itself probably provides at least half the benefit, but I've had a fair amount of water before, during, and after other flights without the same benefits. That's why I'll use it on other flights--at least until I determine that it has nothing more than a placebo effect.

Redhead

oh, and an eyeshade!

The_Bouncer

I can't offer any tips on sleeping, because despite many long-haul and ultra-long-haul flights in Y, I have never been able to do it. I have tried everything. It just doesn't happen.

Anyway, if you are a non-sleeper like me:

1. Choose your flight times carefully.

The arrival time is most important. My preference is late afternoon, so I can shovel down a meal, tip some booze down my neck and crash out for 12 hours.

Overnight westbounds are to be avoided at all costs, as they maximise the time awake before and after the flight. Such flights result in me being awake for up to 48 hours straight. I then spend the next 24 hours as a zombie that does nothing but smoke, drink coffee and snore, and has a vocabulary consisting entirely of 4-letter monosyllables.

2. Break up the flight if you can.

Book a stopover. Preferably somewhere interesting, where you can spend a night or two recharging the batteries and a day getting some fresh air. However, just a night in a hotel will do.

The longer a flight goes on, the more the discomfort exponentially increases. Hours #1-5 of a sector in Y are fine. Hours #6-9 are bearable. Hours #10-14+ are hell on earth. Even 2-3 hours of not being on a plane can go some way towards resetting this clock.

3. Get lounge access. Somehow. Whether it's through status, Priority Pass, or just paying to enter. Get into a lounge by fair means or foul.

The biggest single factor to improving your general sense of well-being during a sardine-can marathon is a shower. Yes, it really does make a huge difference. There is no better way to spend an airport layover than fully cleaning up, getting a nice fresh set of clothes on and zoning out on a couch with a coffee or a beer.

4. Choose your seat carefully and make sure you get the seat you want.

If you are a non-sleeper, choose an aisle seat (or an exit seat that you can easily get out of). There is nothing worse than sitting wide awake, couped up in a window or middle, while someone snores away for hours, blocking your exit from the row.

5. Find a way to deal with the boredom.

Watch a movie. Read a book. Play some mindless game on your cellphone. These seriously are about the only things you can do on a plane - and trust me - these three things will get old very quickly.

There really is no getting away from it. Long-haul flying - especially solo, and especially in Y - is seriously tedious. I have even been known to get up and go for a pee, just to break the monotony for a minute or two.

6. Above all, focus on the reason for the flight. Tell yourself it's worth it.

This is much easier if it's a vacation flight. Remind yourself that 12-24 hours of discomfort and boredom is all it takes to enjoy those weeks of road-trips, beach-bumming, night-clubbing, or whatever you want to do.

If it's a work flight however, focus on how it will get you closer to the next promotion, or help feather your retirement nest, or contribute to your kids' college fees.

The bottom line is, you are in the cramped, smelly, airless metal tube for a reason. Remember what that reason is and remember, in a few hours the flight will be over. But that reason will still be there.

freecia

I pack a thermarest seat cushion when flying long haul or red eye Y on newer/redone planes. I don't know if it is the slimline seats, my mostly sedentary job, or aging, but the cushion helps me stay/fall asleep instead of shifting around trying to avoid rear end soreness.

I can't fall asleep if I'm too cold. Blankets help if they're available (mostly international or BoB) and I pack a few hand warmer packets in my personal item.

KDS777

If it's 8+ hours at night I take one Zopiclone.......

Then take off your shoes........open your top pants button, or loosen the belt if you're wearing one.

Put on your sleeping mask, earplugs, and using a blanket helps you feel like you are in bed.

Using Zopiclone is key for me, you feel refreshed and awake when you get up. There is no sluggishness or lightly hungover feeling, like with many other sleeping aids/pills. YMMV.