Trans-Atlantic Jetlag
 

I regularly fly trans-Atlantic and found that the best way to avoid so-called jet lag is to use the daytime US to UK flights.
I know that for some people on tight schedules a day spent travelling that could be done overnight may seem like a waste of a day, but for me, getting into the UK in the evening and then having a full night's sleep means that the body clock is properly reset and I can do that trip several times a month without any problems.

My normal route is LHR - IAD so the UA922 is perfect. Last month I was in south Florida and was pleased to find that I could link up with the 922 by using UA1404 MIA - IAD. My next trip will be to PDX where unfortunately there seems to be no non-stop flight directly to/from London but I did note that the 922 in fact starts in ORD at 06:00.
I've searched for all the possible daytime flights from the US to UK and thought it might be helpful to share the list for anyone else that may be interested. If anyone knows of any other flights or connections perhaps they'd like to add them to the list.

There only appears to be seven airports that have direct non-stop daytime flights to the UK. They are JFK,EWR,BOS,IAD,ORD,YYZ and YYT. In addition I found six airports that have listed connecting flights that leave after 06.00 on the same day, they are : DCA,LGA,ATL,MIA,MCO, and BWI.
The direct flights are as follows :

JFK - LHR
VS26/CO8220 - 07.30 / 19.10
BA172 - 07.50 / 19.35
VS18 - 08.20 / 20.00
AA142 - 08.30 / 20.25
BA178 - 08.45 / 20.30

EWR - LHR
BA186 - 08.00 / 20.10
CO8238 - 08.20 / 20.00

BOS - LHR
BA238 - 08.20 / 19.50
AA156 - 09.00 / 20.30

IAD - LHR
UA922 - 09.45 / 21.55

ORD - LHR
AA90 - 09.10 / 22.40

YYZ - LHR
SK3872/AC368/BD4868 - 09.00 / 21.15

YYT - LHR
AC830/DB4830 - 09.00 / 21.25

Connecting flights are:

DCA - JFK
AA4748 - 06.00 ~ AA142 - 08.30 / 20.25
DCA - BOS
AA4777 - 06.10 ~ AA156 - 09.00 / 20.30

ATL - IAD
UA7134 - 06.00 ~ UA922 - 09.45 / 21.55
DA1044 - 07.00 ~ UA922 - 09.45 / 21.55
ATL - ORD
UA7419 - 06.18 ~ AA90 - 09.10 / 22.40

BWI - ORD
AA1189 - 06.50 ~ AA90 - 09.10 / 22.40

MCO - IAD
UA1358 - 06.00 ~ UA922 - 09.45 / 21.55

MIA - IAD
UA1404 - 06.21 ~ UA922 - 09.45 / 21.55

LGA - IAD
UA7371 - 07.00 ~ UA922 - 09.45 / 21.55
LGA - BOS
AA4803 - 06.59 ~ AA156 - 09.00 / 20.30

Useful info to have in one place, thanks. ^ And I agree that sometimes a daytime flight is very convenient.

I also seem to recall that AF is doing a daytime JFK-CDG, though I'm feeling a bit lazy to go digging.

Also, it would seem to me that these:

Are pretty useless, given these:

Probably the same could be said for the DCA and BWI's given the IADs

The only reason you might want to consider using those connecting flights from LGA rather than JFK or the BWI & DCA rather than IAD is if the direct flights were fully booked or you wanted to flight with a particular airline for their miles program.;)

I've found a somewhat opposite solution that works well for me. We have, out of SFO, a late SFO-Munich flight (LH459) that leaves at 10pm and gets to Munich around 6pm, allowing evening connections to the rest of Europe. I've found that if I stay up for all or most of the flight, and then head for bed at my final European destination, I am in better circadian reset shape than the early afternoon departures out of SFO to LHR/CDG/AMS/etc.

Include France into the fray...

AF 005 (JFK-CDG) A330 0750 AM - 2100 PM.

Now if only LH would get some day flights to Germany...

Oh, from the above list, the EWR-LHR CO flight is, if I'm not mistaken, a Virgin A340.

Well, FRA (via SQ) has the only daytime connection from Australia to Europe, SQ224/326 leaves PER at 07.45 arrives in FRA at 20.30, a very satisfying way to dodge jetlag.

You can also do a JFK-CDG daytime run on BA if you are so inclined. The earliest flight from JFK-LHR gets in about an hour before the last LHR-CDG flight departs. BA allows the booking on their website, although you would be hauling butt through the airport trying to catch the CDG flight. This would be one of those booking where the stars would have to be in line. I can't imagine that the transfer point at T4 would be that much of a zoo at this time of night.

Knowingly bumping an older thread since I didn't spot a more recent one on point. . . As far as I can tell at the moment, the only eastbound trans-Atlantic flights from the US to the EU are to LHR. Am I missing some?

My dream is a flight ORD-FRA that leaves at 0600, arriving approx 2045, if I did the math correctly. Unfortunately, lack of connecting traffic would negate it from the get-go.

I've done the BA172 from JFK to LHR and you dont get jetlag, as you are back in your own bed for a decent nights sleep.

The only issue I has was that I should have eaten before getting on the place, as IIRC they did a breakfast then a snack before landing - I was famished and needed to go via Chippie on way home for some food.

I have my own strategy. Upon arrival at 7am or so in LHR or CDG, I go to my hotel and take a nap until noon. Then I stay out that night until 4am or thereabouts. I wake up the next day between noon and 2pm and I am back on track. I could see how this would not work for business travelers though.

Maybe I am missing something but one gets jet-lag from having to adjust ones body clock from its normal time to the new location time. Its gonna happen to you quite soon on daytime flights or nighttime flights.

MisterNice

Yes, but most flights to Europe from North America fly through North America's "night." So you have a relatively sleepless night on the plane, arriving at let's say 3am on your body's clock, then you stay up all day upon arrival.

Whereas a daytime flight would feel like a long day to you, with a very late bedtime.

But it's a short day, with an early bedtime. :confused:

I look at a daytime flight as feeling like a short day with an early bedtime (since I usually find myself falling asleep at about 2 am GMT, which is 8 pm CST).

My strategy for these daytime trans-Atlantic flights is to try to go to bed earlier and get up earlier for a couple days prior to my trip. Ideally, on the night prior to my flight I go to bed at 6 or 7 pm and get up at 3 am CST.

I do find that I tend to be fine my first morning in London after a daytime flight, but have a tougher time getting out of bed my second morning in London.