LtKernelPanic

It depends on the person. I cannot sleep on a plane for more than maybe 15-20 minutes at a time and recently took my first trip to Europe starting in London. My flight was AA 90 which left Chicago at 10 am CDT and arrived at LHR at 10:30 pm BST. I usually go to be around 1 am so staying up a couple more hours until 3 wasn't that big of a deal. After a quick nap I got up at 4 to grab a shower and left for the airport a little after 5 to catch my 6:10 am flight to Chicago. (Sometimes flying out of a small airport has its perks!) Collecting my bag in Chicago, rechecking it, and clearing security took all of 25 minutes after landing but provided a bit of exercise before grabbing some breakfast and catching my flight to London.

To make a long story short since it was my first time in London by the time I cleared passport control and customs, switched to my UK SIM, figured out how to get to the tube station, bought an oyster card and got to my hotel it was about 1:30 am. After getting unpacked and settled in I finally went to bed a little before 3 which was 10 pm to me. Set my phone for 9 and after grabbing breakfast at the hotel and a shower I was good to go and I never really had any issues adjusting to the time change in Europe. Even when I went to Paris the morning after DST started in Europe, which made it a two hour change instead of one, I didn't have any issues which surprised me since DST kicked my butt a couple weeks earlier in the US.

Staying up late so I was ready to go to sleep once I got settled in the hotel worked really well for me mainly because the five hours between home and London made it feel like I was just going to bed a little early. Obviously it's clearly a YMMV situation but on my next trip to Europe if my destination is in the same time zone as London I'll probably try to do the same again.

USA_flyer

There are no daytime flights from the west coast USA to Europe. The OP has a choice of a direct flight with an overnight or a transcon overnight to get a daytime flight from the east coast.

s0ssos

No, don't sleep deprive yourself.

Some people get jetlag, some don't. There is the European counterpart of Tom Stuker (flew 9 million or something) and he never has jetlag. He flies more than any of us here.

Only real way to reduce jetlag is to break it up, because then you aren't going over so many time zones all at once in a short, non-physiologic method.

k_hush

This is exactly what happened to me on my first real long haul (AUH-JFK) when I thought depriving myself of sleep would help.

So, guess it differs by person then.

mrcool1122

To be contrarian, doing what the OP suggests works very well for me. I don't sleep the night before the longhaul flight. Even if I don't then sleep on the flight itself, which is difficult even in lie-flats, by the time nighttime in the new destination rolls around I am ready for 8 hours. The next day I feel fine. Try it.

Kiwi Flyer

Me too.

ughunter

Contrary to popular belief, jet-lag is less of a sleep problem and more of a light problem.

Your pitutiary gland responds to daylight. When you wake up in the morning and take some daylight in through your eyes, it activates the gland to release the "wake" hormones. This not only regulates sleep, but most of your metabolism such as appetite, blood pressure, digestion etc. This is circadian rythm.

Sleep deprivation will certainly make you tired and MAY get you through the first night in the new time zone, but it won't really impact appetite changes or the other effects. Taking melatonin, the sleep hormone, is more effective at keeping the wake portion of the cycle at bay during the night hours.

COEWR2587

Kacee

People handle this differently, but I generally don't sleep well at all following the evening Asia arrival. Will tend to wake up very early the next morning (3 am, or earlier), then hit the wall mid-afternoon the next day. If you're going to be outside in Singapore, the heat and humidity are likely to exacerbate that.

I find the best cures are exercise early in the morning Day 1 (I run), and try to stay up late as I can that night. I also try not to sleep more than a couple hours on the flight, in the hope I will arrive tired.

WineCountryUA

Do you plan to sleep on the flight?

What will be your routine on the plane?

What are your previous experiences with jet lag going west?

Lori_Q

I flew that route in January in Polaris. Your experience will vary, of course, but here's what I noticed.

I did the usual things I do on long flights -- naps, movies, knitting, reading, not drinking alcohol after the main lunch service. I thought the early-evening arrival would be a good thing, but unwinding from the 17-hour flight took several hours, significantly longer than the 1-2 hours I usually experienced with the late-night United arrivals in previous years. I ended up taking a delightful long rainy walk to Gluttons Bay for late-evening satay. After my return to the JW Marriott I was able to sleep until mid-morning and power through the rest of the day.

AsiaTravel2019

I fly to Southeast Asia and India regularly for work, including some 16+ hour flights. This is person-dependent, but I think I finally solved it for me on my last TPE to JFK run:

-No caffeine a few days before leaving on the flight

-Sleep a normal 8 hours on the plane, still no caffeine

Arrive back to the US whenever, in my case 10pm at night. Sleep a few more hours and wake up the normal time, then fight the sleep all day the next day and I'm good as new.

That works for me. Some people ration their sleep differently, but like WineCountry pointed out the key is to have a routine for you.

BlueZebra

Curious to know why you think there is one standard set of feelings on this...everyone is different. We tend to sleep ( as we fly Business class) 4-7 hours on long flights like this, then stay awake until as close to bed time in the local time zone. Then may take a sleep aide to encourage 7 or 8 hours of sleep, to set us to something that resembles the local day time schedules. Works pretty well for us, but no idea if it works for you, or what others do.

Repooc17

For me, most Asia destinations I frequent is GMT+8, including SIN. My home base is GMT-4. So, with a 12 hour difference in time zone, and 12-18 hour flight time for most destinations in the time zone, no jet lag for me, ever, to/from Asia. Europe is an entirely different story.

Aussienarelle

I took this flight last week.

As with all my flights I try and nap on the flight. Only one glass of wine and lots of water. Try and get up and walk around.

Upon arriving I try and get out in the sunshine to help my body adjust and go to sleep at a normal time and set my alarm to wake up the next morning.

The 6.30pm arrival time will actually help you adjust to the time zone.