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My short amount of experience has had me sleeping as much as possible on the plane because you'll be tired no matter what you do. I've done the no sleep, syncing, etc. And as others have mentioned, coming into the airport having to clear customs, possibly wait for baggage, grabbing a taxi or transit into the city, all adds time and stress to the end of the trip. So having some rest onboard can help you out.
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It is very personal, just as it should be.
It really depends on your body's tolerance. I can fall asleep on the westbound #77 Belmont bus, and that is a 25-minute ride from where I board to where I alight. Yet, sometimes at late night, I fall asleep and do not awake until miles away from where I should have alighted. :( I generally have to wait for that bus to make its return run. :p
I have made a TPAC flight from Chicago to Tokyo numerous times. In 2011 {the trip when I did not bring enough U.S. money}, I landed at HND at 5:30 am. I could not go to my hostel in Yokohama for another five hours or so. I somehow managed to sit in HND for awhile, changing my laptop's setting to Japan time, tweeting, etc..., purchasing the special train 'open tickets' only available there, until I was finally ready to head there. Then, in April 2017, a non-stop flight from ORD to HND (NH111) was delayed for 90 minutes on the tarmac @ ORD due to rain. It arrived @ HND @ 10:10 pm. When I got through Customs and Immigration, it was approaching the time of the last train on many Tokyo subway lines. I dare say it was due to my previous visits (and stored money) to Japan that I got to my hostel in Shinjuku just after 24:00 hours ~ oh, and I did use HND's wi-fi network to e-mail the hostel that I was just now exiting Haneda - would it please await me? I think the largest snag for me is that, on these TPAC flights, the meal times come at the wrong moments for a lengthy sleep. I really do not need two meals from Chicago to Tokyo. But I get them. And, since my FF profile specifies the Kosher meal {I'm not Jewish - but back in the 20th Century, when I set up my profile on most major airlines, and having had the episode of one too many ham, egg, & cheese sandwiches on a morning flight [the straw that broke the camel's back was an ORD-MCI flight {for indoor soccer} on American], I put down my special meal preference as Kosher.}, the crew wants to serve me my out-of-the-ordinary meal. :eek: I surmise many of you are more frequent flyers than I (for the interim), so I would suggest you communicate with your carriers as to how you want to dine. |
On long flights I sleep no matter what. If you sleep 8hrs on a 14hr flight you only have to find things to do for 6hrs. I find no matter what I do jet lag seems about the same and gave up on having any real strategy.
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My rule of thumb is when I get on a plane I'm immediately in the time zone of the place I'm going. It has worked well for me. If I need to sleep, take an ambien and night night.
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Most of my flying experience is UK to West Coast USA and back. I don't sleep going west but, I try to get as much sleep as possible going east.
I find if I sleep going east, I'm able to stay up from when I land (midday or whatever) to a decent bed time around 9pm. It's easier to get over the jet lag and get into time zone. |
I sleep as much as I can independent of time. I think travel is exhausting in any case so I will always be tired at my destination anyway meaning rather more than little sleep is best.
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I find that "sleep whenever and as long as I can" works best for me, regardless of the time zones I'm crossing.
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If I were doing this, I'd go to sleep immediately after takeoff with a zopiclone, and get up in 8-9 hours.
Then i'd shower and go to bed in the hotel, after you arrive from the short segment, and not worry about what time it is when you get up. |
I envy those who can sleep on a plane. I just factor in the first day as a lost day.
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