Tips and Tricks for enjoying long flights, surviving air travel.

How To: Make Long Flights More Comfortable

Apr 12th, 2009 | By Chantelle | Category: Planes, Trains and Buses

To some people Air Travel is a real joy, to others it’s a very special form of torture. I personally adore flying. It may be because as a child I never traveled anywhere, and airplanes seemed fancy and exciting. However, the first time I flew as an adult (From Ottawa to Halifax in 2004) I quickly realized a few things. 1) Airplanes can be very uncomfortable 2) I get air sickness, sometimes.

Well, there are several remedies of all sorts for the latter, but we’re going to focus on providing you with some tips on how to make flights, and in particular long flights, much more enjoyable. Between myself and my co-author Angelina, we’ve taken 21 trips across the Pacific, including one fateful 11.5hr flight from Newark to Honolulu, so we’ve come up with a few tricks to make it more tolerable.

Book the Right Seats

Expedia now includes SeatGuru into each flight reservation process (via the “Preview Seat Availability” tool), but if you’re booking a flight via any other method you can visit SeatGuru.com to get a detailed map of the plane you’ll be on, and information about each seat. Not all airlines let you select your seat when you book, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. If you’re doing online check-in the day of your flight, often you can select your seat at that time.

My personal favorite seats are front row Bulkhead seats. Not everyone likes these seats though, as you have no under-seat storage and the armrests are often immobile. However, you have more leg room and most importantly no seat reclining into your space. Alternately, I like an aisle seat for leg room, and not having to disturb whomever you’re sitting beside when you have to get up to stretch and/or use the washroom.

Everyone has their own personal preference, but checking SeatGuru can help you avoid the really nasty seats, too.

Get As Much Information as Humanly Possible Ahead Of Time

do i have a choice? by emptyhighway

I don’t know if everyone is aware that you can look up lots of details about your flight before you go. Every major airline (from Air Canada, to Quantas) lists the “Onboard Services” on their website. Sometimes this can be under “Flying with Us” or “Your Flight”, search around the site.

This includes your Entertainment Options (specific to your actual flight), In-flight food (both included and for purchase), Electronics Capabilities (like iPod Docks or Laptop Charge Ports), and much more. I find this to be one of the most helpful tools when preparing for my trip, especially if it’s a long one.

Another part of getting more info before you travel is to think about your Stop-Over. It’s likely going to be in an Airport you’ve never been to. Although most airlines are easy to navigate, you can take initiative and look up the Airport Layout on their website.

Once you’ve checked in (either at the airport, or online in advance) you’ll usually be given your Gate Numbers, so you can figure out the distance you need to travel, if you need to change Terminals, and where the Food Court/Restaurants/Stores/Currency Exchange is located within the Airport, should you have time.

Plan Each Hour of Your Flight

This doesn’t take as much effort as you might think. If you’re on a 8hr flight, just find 8 things to do for one hour each. Obviously if you’ve checked what your in-flight Entertainment options are already you might have a couple of hours already planned. Download a few podcasts, bring a of couple video games, select a book to read, or take a notebook to write in. I find that if I have lots to do, the flight goes by quicker when I realize I don’t have time left to watch that third episode of House I’d planned to.

Gadgets ready for Barcelona by nechbi

Most people do this already, but a lot of people also Plan on Sleeping. I never schedule nap time for my flight, because you never know if you’ll actually be able to fall asleep. If it happens, it happens, if not, you’re prepared.

Be Comfortable, Bring Supplies

These might seem like two different rules, but I assure you, they go hand-in-hand. I always wear super comfortable clothes while traveling, including bringing a pair of slippers. A lot of people take their shoes off on flights, but have to put them back on to get up for a stretch, or use the facilities. Not me, comfy slippers does the trick, and don’t worry you won’t be judged - those curious looks you’re getting are people thinking “why didn’t I think of that?”.

Bringing a basic travel kit that includes earplugs, eye mask, neck pillow & thin blanket can go a long way on a long flight. Luckily usually these items can be bought inexpensively at a drug store or Wal-Mart, of course, nothing beats bringing your favorite couch-blanket from home.

Stay Healthy

Medicine by Donna Grayson

I’m not going to start dishing out medical advice, but a big part of being comfortable is making sure you’re not ill when you travel, or worse, get ill while on vacation. Bring hand sanitizer, if you’re into that sort of thing, take Vitamin C and drink lots of water pre-flight. On my flight to Hawaii last year I felt myself coming down with a cold, my entire trip I took cold meds, but it was too late, and just got worse for my flight back. If I had just thought about preventing it a couple weeks prior to my trip I’m sure I could have avoided the whole problem.

Worst case scenario, you’ve got a cold, the flu, or allergies and you still absolutely need to fly. Bring medication, cough syrup (in very small quantities, of course, as it is a liquid), cold pills and painkillers are essential. Not only will you be much more comfortable (and likely asleep) you won’t risk infecting the other passengers (or worse, disturbing their sleep!).

Stay Informed

Mobile TXT by smig44_uk

It’s so important to know the rules. You should always check with your Federal Government (Link for USA | Link for Canada) to check on the rules about traveling, even domestically. Know what documents you’ll need at the airport, double and triple-check you have them, and ensure you have no hazardous or banned items. This will make your trip through Security a breeze, and make others hate you less. I recently saw a guy try to bring a jar of peanut butter onto a plane. Not only was this confusing and entertaining, it was also very, very annoying.

Most airlines also allow you to have mobile alerts sent to your phone should your flight information change. This is particularly helpful to let friends and family to know if you’ll be arriving late, or getting in early. It’s also a comfort knowing that someone is paying attention to your flight while you’re on it — my mother always stalks me on a Flight Tracker. Peace of mind can go a long way.

Extra Advice

Try not to stress about packing - I find it’s often the biggest worry, and ends up being No Big Deal, if you forgot your favorite pair of Flip-Flops or only packed one set of pants, most people will be able to make due — besides they have stores where you are going, don’t they? I’m sure you’ll remember the important things like medications and chargers.

If you have a long stop-over, or want to arrive at the airport early, I seriously suggest utilizing the Airport Lounges. Your airline will have a list of available lounges on their website and most day passes are usually not too expensive (from $25-$45), often times you can use your frequent flier miles to book Lounge Passes. It might be worth it to have a comfortable, relaxing place to either have a bite to eat or watch some tv, not to mention charge your Laptop and check your email.

Speaking of which, some airports have free wifi service, but most have a paid service which runs around $9.99/day. Practically every time I’ve flown I’ve bought the time in advance (the click starts ticking once you log in). This means you don’t have to worry about signing up and fussing with billing once you’re there - you can spend your stopover time, or time before boarding, to check emails and read The Roaming Life.

If you’re a smoker (which I am), you should consider getting a pack of Nicotine Gum, or even better, Nicotine Inhalers. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

Of course, the #1 Best way to make your flight experience the most comfortable it can be, is to get Bumped to First-Class.