pinkcat

UK-US.. doze on the plane to make sure you can still stay up the extra 5-8hours when you get there, not a real problem adjusting, but you do find your self up at 4 the first couple of days, if its just for a week I try to keep half way between the 2 times and go to bed early and get up early, even missed new years once!
US-UK, Overnight flight so there is some concept of dark when you left and light when you arrive, I find I am just as tired going back to work after a week whether or not I have been away, 2 weeks away and I am up with the cats at 4am and trying to survive on 3 hours sleep for a few days

redbeard911

I need to get some sleep going eastbound. For whatever reason, I've always had trouble going east at anything more than two time zones. My LHR trips usually arrive around noon. If I can get 4-5 hours sleep on the plane, then I stay up until at least 9pm, and wake up at 4-5am. I've got a little hangover effect the first afternoon but otherwise okay. Coming home I stay up the whole time and go to bed like normal.

Taiwaned

We do a lot of KIX-YVR runs.

We found that going to Japan was relatively painless but coming back to YVR is killer.

Thus far when we sleep as much as possible on the plane, drink lots of water and eat very little on the plane helps. Japan to Vancouver flights generally arrive in the early afternoon which gives us the temptation to take a nap but if we take that nap it kills us for at least a week. It is cruicial for us to stay awake when we arrive back home to Vancouver.

RI2KH2SU

Travel constantly so your body is not set to any particular time zone. That way you'll always feels bad and barely notice feeling much worse from jet lag.

Steph3n

I am still up since my last post in this thread saying no sleep, I literally meant that, never get jet lag if you don't sleep.

fokker50

I am normally very much a "night person", but I always enjoy flying to West, especially from Europe to US East Coast. Reason: in Europe I tend to go to sleep around 3 am or 4 am and then I wake up around next noon. During my first days in US I always get drowsy around 10 pm and wake up at 6 am, completely refreshed. Jetlag gives me opportunity to enjoy mornings for a few days.

If I need to sleep on the plane, nothing beats quality eyemask and earplugs, window seat on the right side of the plane, preferably in exit row (if in Y) + either 1 mg melatonin or few glasses of red wine.

Fornebufox

I always have a much harder time traveling eastbound. The tips that help me are 1) to choose a later flight. Leaving closer to my natural bedtime makes it easier for me to sleep on the plane, and landing later in the day gives me a shorter time to stay awake before crashing for the night. 2) save an Ambien to take when I inevitably wake up after a sleep cycle, i.e. 2 or 3 am in the new time zone. Instead of tossing and turning for hours -- drugs!

phedre

After my recent experiences in France and Argentina, I think my answer has to be:

sleep away the first day. While it's a bit of a waste of time in countries you really want to see, I do depend on my sleep, and if I can sleep til 7ish local time the morning after my flight, I'm good to go.

mrio

just stay awake, it sucks, but don't sleep until you arrive and force yourself to go to bed at local time and set the alarm to wake you up at local time. just hang in there. this works for me every time.

777-100SP

My advice is similar to many.

Careful with the alcohol and caffeine. Other than that, sleep when tired and try to adjust your body clock to the new time zone.

If you are in New York and traveling to Europe, try to get up as early as possible in NY prior to the trip. Getting up at 4 am in NY is like getting up at 9 am in London. When in London, sleep as late as possible in the morning (up at 8 am is like 3 am in NY)

Before the trip, I try to adjust to the new time zone as much as possible. Many times, this is not completely possible.

For example, in the summer, New Yorkers are on GMT-4 and Singapore is GMT+8 so 12 hours different so you can either adjust your sleeping time to earlier or later.

ikura

My strategy is to enjoy the flight as best as possible, I don't care too much about the sleep. If I get any, I take it as a nice bonus.

Pincus

A combination of the above, but I try to spend as much time outside in the sunshine the first day. Helps to reset the body's day clock!

Rejuvenated

I'm the opposite and I prefer day flights that gets me into my destination in the evening. Call it a night upon arrival and get a fresh new day the following day.

Finite Elephant

I fly ORD-ICN at least once a year. I try to sleep on the plane (difficult for me) when appropriate for ICN time, then ramp up the caffiene when I'm supposed to be awake there. I don't sleep much in general (usually 4 hours a night), so it's easier for me to force myself to stay awake when I'm supposed to than to force myself to sleep.

I also prefer flying KE or UA rather than OZ as the former get into ICN in the evening, so I just need to stay awake for 4-5 hours after landing. OZ's flight gets in at 5 AM, so I'm faced with having to stay awake for 16 hours after landing. That and the 1:30 AM departure from ORD. Admittedly, that would be a great redeye flight if I could sleep on a plane and wasn't usually flying with a toddler.

phieaglefan

Short answer: Ambien. I'm shocked at the number of people who have trouble going east. It's always going west that kills me.