Longhaul morning flights vs overnight (South Asia to Europe)
Feb 19, 2019, 4:24 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 427
Longhaul morning flights vs overnight (South Asia to Europe)
Hi there and apologies in advance if posted to the wrong forum.
I'm planning on travelling from London to Bangkok.
It will not be a direct flight for various reasons (which are not relevant to this discussion).
Depending on the airline, the flights will total between fifteen and seventeen hours , and the destination is six hours ahead.
This means I will land at a local time that is twenty one to twenty three hours after my departure time.
The flights are either morning departures that arrive between six am and midday, or night departures that land from six pm onwards.
I don't travel longhaul much so not sure what is the better time to get there.
As I see it the benefits of arriving in the morning are you get a full day at the destination but the downside is that it will feel like it's just gone midnight and I will probably feel tired from not having slept much (if at all) and unable to check into a hotel so early in the day.
Benefits of the evening arrival would be that I could probably sleep on the planes (or at least on the second flight anyway) but the downsides would be two days wasted by travel
Can anyone please advise any other pros and cons.
Could you also advise which would be your preferred arrival time and why?
By the way, this is in business class and likely to be with a middle east carrier or Turkish Airlines (but only if they implement their new business class seats in time as I don't like the look of their current 232 layout ).
Thanks in advance.
By the way, the question should be treated as destination agnostic and focused more on longhaul overnight versus daytime with particular attention given to the destination arrival time being upwards of twenty one hours ahead of departure.
I'm planning on travelling from London to Bangkok.
It will not be a direct flight for various reasons (which are not relevant to this discussion).
Depending on the airline, the flights will total between fifteen and seventeen hours , and the destination is six hours ahead.
This means I will land at a local time that is twenty one to twenty three hours after my departure time.
The flights are either morning departures that arrive between six am and midday, or night departures that land from six pm onwards.
I don't travel longhaul much so not sure what is the better time to get there.
As I see it the benefits of arriving in the morning are you get a full day at the destination but the downside is that it will feel like it's just gone midnight and I will probably feel tired from not having slept much (if at all) and unable to check into a hotel so early in the day.
Benefits of the evening arrival would be that I could probably sleep on the planes (or at least on the second flight anyway) but the downsides would be two days wasted by travel
Can anyone please advise any other pros and cons.
Could you also advise which would be your preferred arrival time and why?
By the way, this is in business class and likely to be with a middle east carrier or Turkish Airlines (but only if they implement their new business class seats in time as I don't like the look of their current 232 layout ).
Thanks in advance.
By the way, the question should be treated as destination agnostic and focused more on longhaul overnight versus daytime with particular attention given to the destination arrival time being upwards of twenty one hours ahead of departure.
Feb 19, 2019, 7:53 pm
#2
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New York, NY
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Outbound my preference is sleep and ease of getting access. For NYC-LON I would take the often past midnight BA option.
Inbound I focus on impact of adapting back to my standard time zone. ICN-JFK was a day flight where I landed and was back home and into the office by noon or able to push through the day after just a little napping on the 14 hour flight and then crashing for some solid sleep.
Another deciding factor is the airline & plane. I would not want to be in a generally poorer J hard product product (such as BA) with poor entertainment and a poor soft product/food service (something I found BA can do well) for a long daytime flight. If the product is lacking at least I can just sleep as much as possible.
Inbound I focus on impact of adapting back to my standard time zone. ICN-JFK was a day flight where I landed and was back home and into the office by noon or able to push through the day after just a little napping on the 14 hour flight and then crashing for some solid sleep.
Another deciding factor is the airline & plane. I would not want to be in a generally poorer J hard product product (such as BA) with poor entertainment and a poor soft product/food service (something I found BA can do well) for a long daytime flight. If the product is lacking at least I can just sleep as much as possible.
Feb 20, 2019, 10:56 am
#4
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Location: Denmark
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I myself hate these noon/early afternoon flights from Europe to BKK / Asia because it is too early for sleeping and when you land in BKK in the early morning you feel very tired (like a zombie!) and most likely you can't check into your hotel before in the afternoon. I promise you, it will feel like a looong first day in BKK; absolutely dreadful IMO. I prefer to depart on one of the evening flights from Europe and arriving in the afternoon the following day in BKK. You are able to sleep much better onboard and there is still plenty of time left on the first day for dinner and going out (no time for sightseeing though). I feel it much easier to adapt to the new time zone when do it this way.
Feb 20, 2019, 11:28 am
#5
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: OSL
Posts: 2,645
I myself hate these noon/early afternoon flights from Europe to BKK / Asia because it is too early for sleeping and when you land in BKK in the early morning you feel very tired (like a zombie!) and most likely you can't check into your hotel before in the afternoon. I promise you, it will feel like a looong first day in BKK; absolutely dreadful IMO. I prefer to depart on one of the evening flights from Europe and arriving in the afternoon the following day in BKK. You are able to sleep much better onboard and there is still plenty of time left on the first day for dinner and going out (no time for sightseeing though). I feel it much easier to adapt to the new time zone when do it this way.
Feb 22, 2019, 8:32 pm
#6
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines
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Looks like a good candidate for TravelBuzz. Please follow the redirect and happy travels!
~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk
~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk
Feb 22, 2019, 8:49 pm
#7
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no direct experience on trips of this nature, but intuitively a sunrise arrival generally makes it difficult to check into a hotel — regardless of whether you’re going to shower and change clothes and head out to do something or just crash
Feb 23, 2019, 7:16 am
#8
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 916
I try to sleep as much as I can on all flights ,
but the trick is to get to the airport tired ,
I never take sleeping pills as you never know if your flight will leave on time , or the pills will work as planned.
Bring your own pillow if you are not upfront , even if you leave it on the plane , plus earplugs , eye shades etc
but the trick is to get to the airport tired ,
I never take sleeping pills as you never know if your flight will leave on time , or the pills will work as planned.
Bring your own pillow if you are not upfront , even if you leave it on the plane , plus earplugs , eye shades etc
Feb 23, 2019, 2:35 pm
#9
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 312
Take off at nightime, arrive at bedtime. That's my holy grail. Take off around 11PM local time. Sleep fitfully for 5-6 hours on the plane. You'll still be tired on the other end, but you'll go to bed at the right time, and the timezone adjustment will be much faster.
Feb 23, 2019, 3:16 pm
#10
Join Date: Dec 2011
Programs: UA 1P
Posts: 545
Also want to say I really admire/envy those of you who can land in the morning and head straight to work.
Feb 24, 2019, 2:01 am
#11
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: California
Posts: 463
Combination of business class/empty seats next to you, coffee, and adrenaline. I find that if I get a couple of hours of shuteye, then I can function quite well the first day.
Last edited by Agneisse; Feb 24, 2019 at 2:57 pm