fgirard

And the Airport Express is conveniently close to HKG T1.

xzh445

NOTHING????
Obviously, you have never met my Mother-In-Law

oopl

Yea the snack is a small sandwich. Last month was turkey.

thejaredhuang

Tuna was the flavor of choice SIN-SFO, the veggie option was similar to a bahn mi something like pickled vegetables.

cnk

Thanks for all the responses. I'm booked in Y but waiting on an upgrade. Just 2 days to go, so maybe it won't clear.

For me, I tend to deprive myself of sleep and so that I'll crash at the hotel. But don't think that works well for the kids. So I think I'll encourage them to get some sleep as soon after the initial meal as possible to start them into HKG time.

ONe thing that I'm hoping will work well (although it could totally backfire) is sleep depriving them a bit the night before the flight. I'm thinking we have them stay up until 11, wake them up at 5, so then after meal service in the afternoon, they'll be ready for a nap.

The kids usually sleep from about 9 PM to 7 AM.

I think what will be tougher is the return flight. Taking UA 33, which departs NRT at 505p and arrives at LAX at 1115a. Should I assume the same on that flight? We're upgraded on that flight, so one meal about 1.5 hours into the flight and another a bit before landing?

CAPT Tee

In J, you can have your first (main) meal anytime executive style (everything served together). They'd need 20-30 minutes to prepare the meal.

eng3

I guess I should have asked, What is the goal? Just to get through through the flight or to reduce jetlag upon arrival. I've been assuming the later where in that case, sleeping on the plane isnt that big of a deal since its just one night. How long will you be in HK? Do you have a few rest days to adjust upon arrival? or is it a quick trip that you are trying to maximize your time?

In an ideal world, you'd have them goto bed and wake up one or two hours later every day a few days ahead of time shifting meal times as well and making sure they get good light exposure especially when they wake up. It's alot easier to go to bed later than earlier so you lucked out there. Are you able to start this a few days ahead of time? So if you do 3 days ahead, sleep 11-9, then 1-11, 3-13. If fully adjusted, you'd be going to bed at 5 or 6am, cutting that night short so you can get to the airport and catch your flight, trying to get some rest til the meal service starts, and, then staying up the whole flight (with maybe a short cat nap). You'll be super tired arriving at the hotel which should ensure a good night. Ofcourse this might not be practical or possible if you have to work or they have school the days prior. Having them stay up til 11pm and waking them at 5am is still 2pm - 8pm HK time. A 2hr adjustment. They are still waking up around the time they'll be trying to goto bed in HK.

As for the return, I usually don't care much because it is easy to adjust once at home so I just do what's most convenient.

cnk

Thanks. Yes, the objective is to minimize jet lag. We're there for about 12 days. Unfortunately I can't have them wake up later and later since if they wake up any later this week they'll be late for school. So the current plan is to keep them up a bit later at night so that they'll nap in the afternoon. We'll see how that works.

For the return I'm actually more concerned, since going East is tougher than West. On top of that we'll a day to recuperate before starting summer school.

Kacee

I've concluded it's pretty much impossible to plan out of jet lag on the westbound. No matter how much I sleep (or don't sleep) on the outbound flight, I always wake up between 2 and 4 am every morning my first week in Asia.

So I don't think it's worth stressing over a "plan" - you're pretty much at the mercy of the internal clock, regardless.

On the return it's much easier. Sleep as much as you can, since you'll be arriving back in the US in the morning.

eng3

I think "planning" jetlag can certainly work but it depends on the flexibility of your schedule. If you have strict work hours or school ofcourse that can be difficult or impossible. I've had times where I flew out on a Monday, so I got approx 3 days (friday is usually a half day) to adjust. If I fly out on a Tuesday (and take Monday off), I get 4 days. It makes a difference for me. Usually my trips are extremely short and busy so I do my best to reduce jet lag.

The OP has 12 days so depending how lax the schedule is, you might have a day or two to adjust in HK too. It is usually easier to adjust at the destination as well since you'll be in the environment (sunlight, meal times, etc)

I do agree, there is such thing as over planning, your body can only adjust so fast and everyone is different. The actual flight is not as important since its just one day/night though its best to not sleep the entire flight if you're arriving in the evening so you aren't wide awake. Your plan sounds fine. When they get home it might be tough fall asleep and get up in the morning but the adjustment should be pretty quick.

JDS747

That is pretty much exactly what I do with myself when going to/from Asia. I will stay up as late as possible the night before so that I can go to sleep after the meal service. When coming from HK sometimes I end up staying up all night since the flights are in the morning.

As to your question about the return flight's meal timing, as another posted said earlier pretty much ALL UA's long haul flights follow that schedule. It doesn't matter if you are going to/from the US, South America, Europe or Asia.