Optimal eat/drink/sleep strategy for 10pm IAD-LHR in J
Apr 5, 2016, 6:21 am
#31
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: NYC, LON
Programs: *
Posts: 2,771
Well, the scheduling doesn't really have anything to do with my employer (or me). I'm giving invited talks at two scientific conferences on different continents that actually overlap (one is M-W, the other is W-F). Both conferences involve 40+ people, so they weren't scheduled for my convenience. The organizers were considerate enough to put my slots on Monday and Friday (respectively), so if I really needed to I could probably crash on Wednesday, but then I'd miss out on the other speakers' talks.
So, no blame here, I think. The circumstances are what they are, and my goal is to maximize my utility within those constraints. I suppose in a fantasy world I could be in paid J, but that's more or less nonexistent in academia. The conference budget can't even fully reimburse my $1600 TATL coach ticket.
So, no blame here, I think. The circumstances are what they are, and my goal is to maximize my utility within those constraints. I suppose in a fantasy world I could be in paid J, but that's more or less nonexistent in academia. The conference budget can't even fully reimburse my $1600 TATL coach ticket.
Apr 5, 2016, 6:51 am
#32
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: fwp blood diamond, dykwia uranium
Posts: 7,251
b
I'm thinking that my best use of available resources here is:
1. Get to IAD early, head to the LH lounge, pig out on food and booze, shower.
2. Return to C/D terminal, board UA flight, take a sleeping pill as soon as the doors close.
3. Skip the meal service, crank my seat down and conk out (earplugs and eyeshades) as soon as wheels are up. Ask not to be woken up for breakfast.
4. Hit the LHR Arrivals Lounge for breakfast, coffee, and a shower before getting on the train in London.
i'm down with this. especially the drinking and pigging out in the lounge. but with small outstation lounges be aware that food options diminish significantly at and after flight departures so make sure you time your visit with whatever lh departure
for me benedryl or advil night take 90 minutes to set in
i dunno about you but unless i'm exhausted i fall asleep best when winding down
so i pop them during pre-drink (boarding)
enjoy first service and watch some stories
ask for express dinner (all on one plate)
and i'll be barely able to hold my fork by the end of it
i always ask them to wake me for breakfast, that way i get the option and i can tell em to f-off if i want to sleep more
but skipping that for the ua arrivals lounge is smart, i like that.
---
edit:
oh i see you're in Y
obviously you can't get an express meal in y, but if you order a special meal you'll definitely get it first. maybe just order a veg or vegan meal, it's fresher than anything meaty anyways.
and all you get is boxed wine and beer, so yeah, during us-eu flights in y i just get wasted in the lounge
skip all meals and pop your advil night in the lounge (and hope for no delay). but you will be hungry for breakfast
but food in the lhr united club is great
mimosas and eggs baby
dunno how you'll get into arrivals lounge if in y and not global service
I'm thinking that my best use of available resources here is:
1. Get to IAD early, head to the LH lounge, pig out on food and booze, shower.
2. Return to C/D terminal, board UA flight, take a sleeping pill as soon as the doors close.
3. Skip the meal service, crank my seat down and conk out (earplugs and eyeshades) as soon as wheels are up. Ask not to be woken up for breakfast.
4. Hit the LHR Arrivals Lounge for breakfast, coffee, and a shower before getting on the train in London.
for me benedryl or advil night take 90 minutes to set in
i dunno about you but unless i'm exhausted i fall asleep best when winding down
so i pop them during pre-drink (boarding)
enjoy first service and watch some stories
ask for express dinner (all on one plate)
and i'll be barely able to hold my fork by the end of it
i always ask them to wake me for breakfast, that way i get the option and i can tell em to f-off if i want to sleep more
but skipping that for the ua arrivals lounge is smart, i like that.
---
edit:
oh i see you're in Y
obviously you can't get an express meal in y, but if you order a special meal you'll definitely get it first. maybe just order a veg or vegan meal, it's fresher than anything meaty anyways.
and all you get is boxed wine and beer, so yeah, during us-eu flights in y i just get wasted in the lounge
skip all meals and pop your advil night in the lounge (and hope for no delay). but you will be hungry for breakfast
but food in the lhr united club is great
mimosas and eggs baby
dunno how you'll get into arrivals lounge if in y and not global service
Last edited by cur; Apr 5, 2016 at 6:57 am
Apr 5, 2016, 7:36 am
#33
Join Date: Jul 2013
Programs: DYKWIA, But I'm a "Diamond Guest" UA 1K/2MM
Posts: 2,257
You face the distinct possibility of a sub-6 hour flight. That's not enough time to bother with sleep. Isn't FT for people who enjoy flying? So enjoy it. It is only United, but it's still J class.
I recommend:
1) Pre-departure bubbly
2) Switch your AVOD to the James Bond section and watch the movies in order, starting with "Dr. No"
3) Each time you hear "Oh James!" or "Shaken not stirred," order yourself another drink
4) See if you can make it to the Roger Moore movies
I flew LHR->SFO last weekend. They had a surprisingly good red wine (for United). See if you can find out which one it is, if necessary by sampling all the J wines and then politely hinting to the FA that you might like to try the F wines too.
Anyhow, do this and you'll be fine.
I recommend:
1) Pre-departure bubbly
2) Switch your AVOD to the James Bond section and watch the movies in order, starting with "Dr. No"
3) Each time you hear "Oh James!" or "Shaken not stirred," order yourself another drink
4) See if you can make it to the Roger Moore movies
I flew LHR->SFO last weekend. They had a surprisingly good red wine (for United). See if you can find out which one it is, if necessary by sampling all the J wines and then politely hinting to the FA that you might like to try the F wines too.
Anyhow, do this and you'll be fine.
Apr 5, 2016, 8:26 am
#35
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: LAX
Programs: UA:1k; MR: PLT; Hilton: Gold
Posts: 1,324
You face the distinct possibility of a sub-6 hour flight. That's not enough time to bother with sleep. Isn't FT for people who enjoy flying? So enjoy it. It is only United, but it's still J class.
I recommend:
1) Pre-departure bubbly
2) Switch your AVOD to the James Bond section and watch the movies in order, starting with "Dr. No"
3) Each time you hear "Oh James!" or "Shaken not stirred," order yourself another drink
4) See if you can make it to the Roger Moore movies
I flew LHR->SFO last weekend. They had a surprisingly good red wine (for United). See if you can find out which one it is, if necessary by sampling all the J wines and then politely hinting to the FA that you might like to try the F wines too.
Anyhow, do this and you'll be fine.
I recommend:
1) Pre-departure bubbly
2) Switch your AVOD to the James Bond section and watch the movies in order, starting with "Dr. No"
3) Each time you hear "Oh James!" or "Shaken not stirred," order yourself another drink
4) See if you can make it to the Roger Moore movies
I flew LHR->SFO last weekend. They had a surprisingly good red wine (for United). See if you can find out which one it is, if necessary by sampling all the J wines and then politely hinting to the FA that you might like to try the F wines too.
Anyhow, do this and you'll be fine.
Apr 5, 2016, 8:34 am
#36
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Denver, CO, USA
Programs: Former 1KMM now free as UA Gold MM, former HH D, Marriott Lifetime Plat
Posts: 1,121
I was a one-time regular on this flight. Lots of suggestions here to skip the meal and get to sleep. Many people definitely did this on the flight but I always found it a struggle: first, because I came from the mountain time zone it was still only 8 pm at take-off and second, because all of the lights and noise from the meal service tended to make it hard to actually sleep. If you are able to overcome those, I'd highly recommend the extra sleep, but I always found myself enjoying the meal and then sleeping once service was complete.
Apr 5, 2016, 9:04 am
#37
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Crystal City, VA
Programs: United Mileage Plus 1K 2 MM, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 2,627
Were it me, I would get to IAD with enough time to enjoy dinner and wine at VinoVolo.
Once on board, sip a little champagne, and get everything arranged. Skip the dinner, and after wheels up, go brush your teeth, take the sleep aid, and hit the hay. Ask not to be awakened for breakfast.
At LHR, shower at the lounge.
Once on board, sip a little champagne, and get everything arranged. Skip the dinner, and after wheels up, go brush your teeth, take the sleep aid, and hit the hay. Ask not to be awakened for breakfast.
At LHR, shower at the lounge.
Apr 5, 2016, 9:37 am
#38
Join Date: Aug 2002
Programs: UA 1K & 1MM/AA Gold & 1MM/HH Gold/Marriott Titanium
Posts: 2,924
Were it me, I would get to IAD with enough time to enjoy dinner and wine at VinoVolo.
Once on board, sip a little champagne, and get everything arranged. Skip the dinner, and after wheels up, go brush your teeth, take the sleep aid, and hit the hay. Ask not to be awakened for breakfast.
At LHR, shower at the lounge.
Once on board, sip a little champagne, and get everything arranged. Skip the dinner, and after wheels up, go brush your teeth, take the sleep aid, and hit the hay. Ask not to be awakened for breakfast.
At LHR, shower at the lounge.
I appreciate all of the advice about waiting to pop a pill. Last time on this flight I took a pill after boarding with my PDB and passed out within 10 minutes of takeoff and woke up on approach to LHR.
Apr 5, 2016, 12:27 pm
#39
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, AA, DL
Posts: 7,418
I thought I was the only one who did that!
'tis a shame not to take full advantage of J, but in the circumstances you're either losing sleep or losing food. Sounds like the better way to go is to lose food (on the plane).
'tis a shame not to take full advantage of J, but in the circumstances you're either losing sleep or losing food. Sounds like the better way to go is to lose food (on the plane).
Apr 5, 2016, 12:44 pm
#40
Join Date: May 2006
Location: STL
Programs: UA Platinum, AA Platinum Pro, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,429
Apr 5, 2016, 2:12 pm
#41
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Washington, D.C.
Programs: UA Premier 1K: PlAAtinum; DL SM, MM; Marriott Gold; CO Plat Emeritus; NW Plat Emeritus
Posts: 4,776
Thanks for all the good suggestions! I haven't heard anybody suggest "Drink six double bourbons and a gallon of Freshpoo as soon as you get on board, then spend the entire flight watching kung fu movies and doing yoga in the aisles!" so at least I think I'm on the right track here. 
I said to friend "hell with that, let's drink as much champagne as possible."
We had a tough next day. But totally worth it.
Apr 10, 2016, 3:01 pm
#42
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: WAS-ish
Programs: UA 1K-MM + UC, Marriott Plat, National Exec
Posts: 1,341
Thought I'd close the loop on this, for posterity's sake if nothing else, now that it's done.
I hybridized a lot of the advice on here, including my own, with one creative twist.
Step 1: So, there was a conference dinner 24 hours before flight. With free and excellent wine. Of which I drank a lot, until about 1am. Which meant that on the day of the flight, I (1) was awfully tired, and (2) had absolutely no desire to drink very much alcohol.
Step 2: Had a pretty good dinner before going to the airport. No booze.
Step 3: Hit the LH lounge for a light snack, 3 gummy bears, and 1 shower beer. (Hey, they had a decent local IPA!)
Step 4: Boarded, changed immediately into sleep-enhancing clothes, accepted a glass of PDB wine, and told the FA I was going straight to sleep. From what I could tell, this was a great crew, and the purser personally came over to try and persuade me to order dinner anyway. I allowed that if they managed to serve me dinner before I could fall asleep, I'd eat it. Flight time, BTW, was announced as 6.5 hours.
Step 5: Took a sleepy pill at push-back. Cranked seat back immediately after takeoff. Watched about 25 minutes of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", during which some warm nuts and another glass of wine arrived. Got sleepy, cranked my seat down, and was out before anybody could inflict dinner on me.
Step 6: Slept for about 4 hours. Woke up to use the bathroom, and before I managed to lay down again, the FAs pounced and tried to serve me breakfast. I managed to get away with just a glass of orange juice, although when I said all I wanted to do was sleep, the FA went all sad kitten eyes and said "But you haven't had anything!" I thought she was maybe going to cry if I didn't at least have some juice, so I chugged the juice and went back to sleep for 45 minutes.
Step 7: Woke up, watched another 15 minutes of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", landed, went to Arrivals Lounge, had 7 double espressos, a shower, and eggs Benedict before catching the coach to my destination.
SUMMARY: Maximizing sleep is the right approach to this flight, but if you have a good crew it can be hard because they really want to serve you food and booze. Skipping the UA breakfast in favor of the Arrivals Lounge is 100% the correct choice -- the Arrivals Lounge has a cook-to-order menu and good coffee. However, eating a real dinner before takeoff was also a good choice (the LH spread was underwhelming, and while it made a good snack, it wouldn't have been a satisfying dinner).
OBSERVATION: Both J and Y were only about 50% full -- not only on this flight, but on my return (LHR-EWR). I don't think I've ever seen J that empty! It was fantastic for me, since I got a window/aisle pair all to myself both directions, but I'm still sort of shocked.
I hybridized a lot of the advice on here, including my own, with one creative twist.
Step 1: So, there was a conference dinner 24 hours before flight. With free and excellent wine. Of which I drank a lot, until about 1am. Which meant that on the day of the flight, I (1) was awfully tired, and (2) had absolutely no desire to drink very much alcohol.
Step 2: Had a pretty good dinner before going to the airport. No booze.
Step 3: Hit the LH lounge for a light snack, 3 gummy bears, and 1 shower beer. (Hey, they had a decent local IPA!)
Step 4: Boarded, changed immediately into sleep-enhancing clothes, accepted a glass of PDB wine, and told the FA I was going straight to sleep. From what I could tell, this was a great crew, and the purser personally came over to try and persuade me to order dinner anyway. I allowed that if they managed to serve me dinner before I could fall asleep, I'd eat it. Flight time, BTW, was announced as 6.5 hours.
Step 5: Took a sleepy pill at push-back. Cranked seat back immediately after takeoff. Watched about 25 minutes of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", during which some warm nuts and another glass of wine arrived. Got sleepy, cranked my seat down, and was out before anybody could inflict dinner on me.
Step 6: Slept for about 4 hours. Woke up to use the bathroom, and before I managed to lay down again, the FAs pounced and tried to serve me breakfast. I managed to get away with just a glass of orange juice, although when I said all I wanted to do was sleep, the FA went all sad kitten eyes and said "But you haven't had anything!" I thought she was maybe going to cry if I didn't at least have some juice, so I chugged the juice and went back to sleep for 45 minutes.
Step 7: Woke up, watched another 15 minutes of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", landed, went to Arrivals Lounge, had 7 double espressos, a shower, and eggs Benedict before catching the coach to my destination.
SUMMARY: Maximizing sleep is the right approach to this flight, but if you have a good crew it can be hard because they really want to serve you food and booze. Skipping the UA breakfast in favor of the Arrivals Lounge is 100% the correct choice -- the Arrivals Lounge has a cook-to-order menu and good coffee. However, eating a real dinner before takeoff was also a good choice (the LH spread was underwhelming, and while it made a good snack, it wouldn't have been a satisfying dinner).
OBSERVATION: Both J and Y were only about 50% full -- not only on this flight, but on my return (LHR-EWR). I don't think I've ever seen J that empty! It was fantastic for me, since I got a window/aisle pair all to myself both directions, but I'm still sort of shocked.