Red Eye Essentials?
 

I'm new at this, so please forgive me if this thread is repetitive.

I'm flying to London next week and have to be coherent enough upon landing to drive on the opposite side of the road for the first time. I've taken four or five shorter red-eyes (mainly Calif to NYC area) in the past few months and have barely slept. I see other people sleeping, so I'm sure that there's some secret plan that i haven't figured out just yet.

What essentials do you bring on red eye flights to help you sleep? Do you have a favorite pillow/eyemask/headphones/blanket?

thanks!

Ambien.
Eyemask, ear plugs, & a sweater don't hurt either, but for me are not sufficient. Lots of threads on Ambien if you want the informed discussion.

Ambien, a cocktail in the departure lounge and hope for a smooth flight!

I always carry my melantonin (a type of sleeping pill).

Ambien or Valium. Search Google for "flyertalk" "ambien" and you'll find plenty of information. If you can't or won't get a prescription then a couple of extra drinks and perhaps some diphenhydramine will substitute in a pinch.

Even if you aren't much of a "druggie" -- this is a good time to bend the rules.

• Ambien
• Eyeshield
• Earplugs
• Inflatable neck pillow
• Socks
• Loose fitting clothing, with a cotton t-shirt for on the plane
• Aisle seat, preferably at bulkhead so no one can recline into me, and I can stretch out my legs. If there is space, I use my rollaboard as a foot rest.

I eat dinner very quickly - or skip it altogether - so that I have time to sleep. I wait to take the Ambien until wheels are up, or until I'm eating my main course (if I eat the meal).

First things first!!
 

A seat in First or Business will be the most important thing you'll need! :p

For me, I'd bring DVD's and reading materials as I'd be wide awake during redeyes since my bedtime is during the morning hours. Now, on those daybreak flights, I find myself completely exhausted upon arrival at my destination.

SD1K nailed the list of essentials, though I personally would go for a window seat so I have control of the shades and a wall to lean against.

All I would add is, get up as early as possible the day of your flight, I'm talking like 3AM if you can do it. That way you'll be as tired as possible when you get on the flight. EWR-LON is only going to be in the neighborhood of 5-6 hours in cruise flight (the part where you can hope for undisturbed sleep), so eat before the flight, pop the Ambien as soon as they reach cruise altitude (don't take it before departure, you want to be fully conscious if there's any type of emergency on the ground or right after takeoff), and zzz out for 4-5 hours.

And don't sweat driving on the other side of the road. It becomes second nature very quickly. Where you'll have the most trouble is simply entering the vehicle from the correct side. :)

That said, stay out of London proper unless a native is driving . . . it's abso-frickin-lutely nuts. Getting in and out of Heathrow isn't a big deal, but take public transportation if you need to enter the city.

PS. If you're renting a car, SatNav is a godsend and worth every penny. One less stressful thing to worry about.

Modafinil . Incredible.

I've tried them all, and this beats them all.

Welcome to FT!

I'm personally not a big fan of the sleeping aids for the first time on an overseas flight without a serious discussion with your doctor. Are you somebody that can normally sleep anywhere? Or somebody that can't sleep unless everything is just so? And what time is your flight?

If you can normally sleep anywhere, then the trick is to wake up earlier and earlier during the week before your trip so that your body gradually thinks that you're in London. That way, you want to time it so that you can get on the airplane at what your body thinks is 'midnight,' hit your window seat, and crash out.

If you can't sleep on airplanes (that's my dad), you need to get as much sleep as possible before the flight - take a 3-4 hour nap before you leave for the airport.

Either way:
- Eat an hour or two before you get on the plane, enough so that your body will have done most of the serious digestion before you board;
- Eat foods that will normally make you sleepier (for example, drink some milk) and avoid anything that day that will might you an upset stomach;
- A couple of shots of Bailey's or something similar is good if you like that stuff. Personally I'd avoid beer because of the volume;
- IPod or a full 256MB MP3 player with music geared towards sleeping;
- Good noise-cancellling headphones (Bose QC2, Sony NC20) - I prefer the old-style over the ear instead of the earbud;
- Eyeshades if they don't annoy you (personally, I can't wear them); and
- Two 1L bottles of water for the flight - even if you don't drink it all on the flight, it's really annoying to be stuck in the immigration line and realize that you're ridiculously thirsty.

That'll sure help alot.

The window seat is a must if you do not have to go to the lavatory and can sleep all the way. Otherwise, your seatmates will wake you up when they have to go.

Listening to whats been said you should be full of booze and drugs so driving on the wrong side of the road should be no problem for you. However if this is your first time driving in UK be aware if you cause an accident and they figure out you are tired you will be in deep ****. If there is a hint of booze in your sytem and the test yu they will find and yes you will be in deep ****.

Thanks for all the good tips. Not sure about the drugs though... ElmherstNick and Steve Fenton kind of nailed my concerns - mainly that if i don't get enough sleep, i might be too groggy to concentrate on the whole staying on the right side of the road thing.

In regards to pillows/eyemasks - does anyone have a favorite brand? I bought a pillow from Brookstone a few months back, and am not all that impressed. It's one of those squishy ones that looks like an average airplane pillow. Wasn't sure if the U-shaped one would be comfortable enough to be worth the strange looks I'd get. But after the red eye i took last week, I don't care about the stares - I just want to sleep!

Also, I'm flying into Gatwick and heading to Wiltshire. Does anyone happen to know of good places to grab a cup of coffee along the way? Even with the new pillow, eyemask, books, sweater and iPod, i think i might need it.

Thanks again!

That's where the Modafinal comes in. It is not a drug to make you sleep, but to "re-set" your physiological clock when you arrive. It revives you. I have tried it twice now. Once it was particularly that I be sharp. I had to over-see installation of a new sound system in a lecture hall just while dealing with a technophobic partner and tech who did not speak English. This a few hours after SFO- ZRH by plane, and another 90 minutes on a train.

It is a prescription drug, so your doctor can tell you the details. I will use it again.

You definitely want one of the U-shaped ones. I doubt you'll get many strange looks, as they're a pretty common sight on aircraft. You need one of these because one of the things that wakes people up is their heads falling over when they fall asleep. This is exactly what the U-shaped pillow is designed to prevent.

Better still, of course, is to fly on a carrier whose economy class seats have headrest "wings" that make the U-shaped pillows unnecessary. It's now been many years since I last used my pillow.

I don't see any comments above that support that. A few posters have suggested taking an Ambien, and one a Modafinal. I'm not familiar with the latter, but I have taken the former for numerous flights and I can assure you that after 6-8 hours there are no lingering side effects whatsoever. As for booze, no one is suggesting boozing it up especially with sleep drugs. One cocktail and an Ambien will knock most people out for the duration of a TATL flight, which is the point.

Having done the US-LON red eye more times than I care to count, I'll bet on a combo of business/first class seat, sensory deprivation devices (earplugs+NC headphones+eyemask) and Ambien every time on my ability to function/drive/stay awake on arrival. If someone stays up or gets 1-2 hours of poor quality sleep on that flight, that person, IMHO, is a hazard behind the wheel on arrival, because they will be in a mental state not very different than a severe booze hangover regardless they drank no alcohol.

Put your eyemask on early - even while you are waiting in the gate area...even if you don't sleep soundly you will be helping your system with avoiding exposure to light.

I had a long layover AFTER a redeye and did the same after the flight - it was a 6 am arrival - so I sat down and relaxed for about an hour with the eyemask on.

I see that after my last post, Modafinal is still but in the same class as Ambien. I don't mean to be evangelical about Modafinal, but it is an option worth knowing about.

Modafinal is the opposite of a sleeping pill. It is taken upon arrival not as a sleep aid. It was developed first to aid those with narcolepsy - a neurological disorder whose victims fall asleep unpredictably and uncontrollably. It supresses the sleep mechanisms. It is said to re-set the biological rhythms that travel accross multiple time zones disturb.

The next use of Modafinal has been for the military. It enables troops to "hit the ground" after transport from far away and to be efficient in their duties - i.e. without the effect of jet-lag.

My wife's doctor recommended it for travel to reduce the time it takes for jet-lag recovery.

You take one dose upon arrival before 10:30 local time. It will see you through. Some recommend a second dose the second day. I have not found this to be needed in the two times I have tried it.

There is no feeling of being "speedy" as one might get by drinking too much coffee or using other stimulants that work on other parts of the nervous system.

It is not cheap. Something like $11.00 per dose.

After many transatlantic trips to visit family in England, I've developed my own anti-jetlag routine. I'm not a big fan of using drugs for sleeping, so I don't take any -- they put me too soundly asleep for good functioning on arrival. (Ambien instructions suggest that you only use when you know you will have 7 -8 full hours to sleep. JFK to LHR is more like 7 hours total, so that's a problem for me right there, especially if I need to drive right away. If I did decide to try Rx sleep meds, I would test them at home first for a couple of nights, just to see how I reacted. YMMV...). And of course, a seat in Biz or First would be the very best remedy! ;)

1. Select the latest flight possible leaving from, say, JFK. If my bodyclock thinks it is 6 pm my chance of sleep is just about zero. Much better with a 9 pm departure (plus you arrive at a more civilized hour, also.)

2. Arrive at airport and check in early enough to have time to eat supper before takeoff (and keep the supper light and easy to digest).

3. While still on the ground, set my watch to arrival zone time.

4. Once on the plane, assuming I'm in the back of the bus, get as settled as possible, with earplugs and eyemask, blanket, water bottle on hand. BA cheap seats have those headrest wings, so I don't need a pillow. No movie, no in-flight meal (not a huge sacrifice!) Even if I only feel as if I'm dozing and not sleeping, I stay in "sleeping" mode, and usually manage to drop off pretty soundly.

5. On arrival in the UK, freshen up as much as possible (washing face and brushing teeth makes it feel like morning). If time allows, I'll get a good breakfast (in LHR Terminal 4, Caffe Italia on the mezzanine: breakfast is fresh cooked, and coffee is good.)

6. Stay outside as much as my schedule will allow. If it's a sunny day, that's even better. If you MUST nap by the afternoon, set the alarm and only sleep for an hour -- more will just throw you further off track. Get an early night, and by the next day you should be all set.

And to your question about driving to Wiltshire. If you're taking the motorway, you'll find "service areas" with plenty of food and coffee -- cell phone services, too. If you print off a trip planner from the AA website <http://www.theaa.com/> that will show you where the services are.

Have a good flight!

>What essentials do you bring on red eye flights to help you sleep?

Earplugs!

I swear by them.

However, what's crucial for them to be effective is correct insertion. For example, when I'm on a flight I see a lot of people just "cramming" the foam plugs in their ears. That's next to useless.

You need to roll them between your thumb and forefingers for 10-15 seconds into a compressed cylinder, then reach over your head, pull on the ear to straighten the ear canal, then slide them deep down into the ear canal and wait about sixty seconds for the plugs to 'expand'. Makes a HUGE difference.

There's a thread on ear plugs here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ight=ear+plugs

I need a seat upfront - I cant do it in coach. I don't sleep on red eye flights, but usualy have to go into work sometimes after the flight lands.

Thank goodness for the showers and Sara Lee donuts at the Ewr President's Club; I dont have to go home or stop anywhere. I can go straight to a clients office fromt he airport.

-Vincent

Any tip for removing them?

I've seen comments from folks about how the headrest wings have made pillows obsolete onboard. Am I the only one who finds these wings annoying? They never seem to stay put and support my head in the manner intended. Maybe I just have a fat head, but I find that a pillow crammed between the seat and the interior wall, plus maybe an airline blanket for extra padding is the ideal place to rest my head. Those wings are for the birds...so to speak.

As for other essentials, ear plugs, eye mask, and 1 - 2 baileys on the rocks in the lounge before departure. :D

Very essential indeed especially if a crying baby is seated besides me.

Tell me about it. I would consider myself to have been spared by luck if I ever get any sleep onboard.

In a sense, my eyes do become red after the completion of a red eye flight! :rolleyes: Coincidence? I don't think so.

ANother point that no when has mentioned is, if your schedule allows it, to take the latest flight out as possible. As has been mentioned, NYC-London is a hair over 6 hours flying time and about 5 hours in cruise. If you take the standard early evening departure out of NYC, you will be landing about midnight-1 AM NYC time. This is the time I usually go to sleep. In contrast, if I take an 11 PM flight, I am ready for bed as soon as I step on the plane. I find sleep much easier in those circumstances. Luckily, the NYC-London market is the busiest international market in the world with dozens of flights. I know that AA, BA and VS all operate late-night deaprtures to LHR from JFK. I'd guess CO and VS have similar flights from EWR.

>Any tip for removing them?

Even once you follow those instructions earplugs are still very easy to remove - Just grab the edge and yank them out :)

Cheers,
Geoff Glave
Vancouver, Canada

Fingernails!True, some are better designed and maintained than others. But a good one should stay in place even under the weight of your head and should need a very hard shove to push it back into place.

The cleverest design that I've seen is the one on BA's economy seats (but alas not fitted to World Traveller Plus). These wings fold down rather than in, as their hinge runs horizontally at the bottom of the wing. This way, there is virtually no chance of them stowing by accident under the weight of your head while you're asleep.

Blue Eye Drops available in France.

Another essential that I often pack with me for these flights are a pair of slippers.

OK no jibes about the space between my ears, but I think my ears are deeper than my nails are long, because that never is as easy for me as you make it sound. . :( (I often wish I had tweezers - except security would probably confiscate them.)

Thanks
 

Thanks to everyone. I'll be leaving tomorrow night and will definitely be putting some of your advice to use.