Australia- morning arrival or evening arrival??

miken

I have been recommended to arrange my flight so that we arrive in Oz in the evening. Reason being that you go to bed shortly after and then hopefully have a good nights catch up sleep.
Another friend suggested the opposite, arrive in the morning, push yourself during the day and so loose less time.
What are your thoughts.

As for flights, who to fly with (Economy)
For every positive you read about a particular airline, there will be another negative, same with the the type of aircraft.
Any recent experiences you wish to share?

Thanks in advance

Doshwaster

I've never been to Oz but when flying long haul to the US or Asia I always prefer to arrive early evening so that you have chance to stretch your legs, have some dinner and then get to bed at a normal time by local clocks. However, arriving very late at night can be a problem if your stomach says it is time for food and there is nowhere left open.

If you arrive in the morning you often cannot check into the hotel so are left wandering around like a zombie for hours and fighting off the urge to sleep.

As for an airline, it depends on whether you want to get there (and back) as quickly as possible or fancy an stopover for a night or two en-route. Dubai, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore are all interesting places to break up the journey.

PeacefulWaters

As for flights, who to fly with (Economy)

Price up using Oslo and other Scandinavian destinations as your starting point.

No promises, but you might find a better class of seat for not much more than a UK departure economy seat.

Skyscanner can help give you an idea, although direct booking after verifying the price with the airline is usually advisable.

chicacherrycola

I arrived early AM and it wasn't too bad. I set my clock to Aus time on the flight and tried to sleep accordingly. It seemed to work.


We flew economy with Emirates/Qantas via Dubai. No complaints on either flight. The outbound to Dubai was on an A380 which was better than the inbound (I cant remember what plane that was).

peachyprice

I think it depends on how good you are at sleeping on the plane and which class you're planning to travel in.

If you planning on economy the chances of getting much comfortable sleep are slim, if you're planning on travelling in bussiness/1st with bed seats you'll be well away.

My parents always aim for an evening arrival when they visit my brother, morning arrivals kill them and they find it takes days to adjust, whereas if they arrive around 6-7pm they have something to eat and hit the hay, getting a decent nights sleep.

johnmcga

Not sure it makes an enormous amount of difference to be honest.

(Note: I am not an expert / scientist / doctor or anything!)

If you land in the evening after a long flight then it's good to be able to go to bed soon after arrival, but you may find you find yourself up and about at 3am or 4am anyway.

If you land in the early morning you'll be getting off an overnight flight, which gives your body some semblance of having had a 'night time'. Then you spend a day in the bright sunshine of Oz (potentially helping your body clock get back on track?) before you go to sleep again.

Of course, the second option hinges on you being able to stay awake all day. Not easy if you have a bad flight, although in December I landed in Brisbane around 7am and made it through just fine.

I think a lot of it's down to luck to be honest. If flight times are the same, I'd just go for the cheaper option!

Finally, I flew overnight from Singapore -> Heathrow on one of BA's new A380s recently. We were lucky enough to get economy seats upstairs and I got a good 6 - 7 hours sleep. I was genuinely astonished. Made me glad we'd chosen BA over a couple of cheaper options.

Gloomendoom

johnmcga wrote: »

Not sure it makes an enormous amount of difference to be honest.

It doesn't. Not to me anyway but then I usually sleep all the way there.

ibizafan_2

We chose a 7am arrival into Brisbane when we went in September. Apart from fighting to stay awake around lunchtime, we stayed awake all day and went to bed at the normal time. This worked well for us, and by the next day, we felt fine. It's best if you get out into the fresh air and keep on the go when you arrive. Not difficult when there's so much to see.

richardw

I find arriving in the evening much better, but not too late, forcing yourself to stay awake is hard work.

steve1500

We arrived in Sydney in the a.m..


By the time we had cleared customs, got hire car, got to Hotel had shower etc it was already 1ish then something to eat wander round. time for bed

SW17

It's a very personal thing, but how much you are able to sleep on the flight can be a big factor, especially the last sector into Aus. If you can't sleep at all on that, a morning arrival would be a bit of a strain to stay up all day (particularly if you fly via the Gulf). I usually arrive in the morning, but I always sleep on the flight.

I would generally recommend sleeping on flights at the right times for your destination as far as possible, but what works for me may not work for others.