Long Haul jet lag - how bad will this be ?

alwaysskint96

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

cheers


You sound like you enjoy the positioning flight "game" as well !

Yes lol Enables the business class flights I couldnt afford otherwise

Murphy_The_Cat

stevie11 wrote: »

Murph, you are fortunate you turn left and can sleep if you wish. As stated jet leg affects peeps differently. I have travelled east and west. Furthest east Man -Hkg-Bne. We only had 5 hours connection in Hkg so couldnt really go into the city, you have plenty of time in Sin to either do a city tour or will the airline give you a complementary room?

Anyway we arrived at our Brisbane hotel at about 1am, straigjt to sleep and forced my self to get up at 4pm I could have have slept longer but may not have slept later that night. I have spoke to people who have arrived early like you and have just pushed through until they cant go longer and need sleep.

On return to UK the jetlag wasnt as bad, whereas returning from North America I am wacked out that day.

Stockholm is a nice city if you are able to visit.

Have a great trip.

There was an inordinate amount of work went into the planning to make sure that "turning left" fitted into the budget !
Thank you for the jet lag suggestions, the more thgoughts/opinions/ideas I have the better.
Sadly we arrive from NCL/AMS late evening on the Sunday, stay in an airport hotel and leave Mon morning, so a Stockholm trip won't work this time (plus we don't need to pack clothes for cold and hot climates), but I do fancy Stockholm for a trip away in the future.

ariba10 wrote: »

When we went to N Z . We flew via L A (with the sun) and had no problems.

Came back the same way and it took about a week to get over the Jet Lag.

Enjoy your trip. ——Wonderful Country and people.—-

Relatedish, I quite fancied a round the world ticket to NZ, but it looked like the timing wouldn't work for us if we flew West.

Toucan_toucan

I have also done a similar trip. As others have said, I didn't find the jet lag too bad on the way to NZ. Yes, I was tired, but I didn't find myself waking up at odd times of day like I do when we go to the US.

One thing I might suggest that I don't think has been is to get ALL your travelling done in your first day. So, rather than hang around in Auckland you could get a flight to Wellington/Christchurch/Queenstown...wherever your itinerary takes you. There are loads of Air NZ flights to all of these destinations and they offer a fare that you can change on the day if you need to for no extra charge (the ticket itself costs a bit more to begin with).

I would absolutely second the advice about suncream - we got burned to a crisp on our first day and the sun hardly shone at all!

DUKE

I've done NZ, which I was dreading but it was one of the easiest long hauls I ever did. Although I had good flights (think it was a 24 hour & 26 hour) from LHR-BKK-AKL, with just a 2 hour stop in BKK. No lag on the way there, but anything longer than a 10 hour flight & I get bad lag that goes on for a few months on the return.


Although I've been to Singapore & could recommend staying at Changi Beach Hotel, they do a free transfer from the airport which is just 15 minutes away. You could see the beach & get a few hours sleep. Or there's always the Botanical Gardens, it's free, & well worth a visit.

danandjens_worldtravels

I would suggest a swim, sleep and shower in the airport at Singapore. There is a rooftop pool (near the airside hotel I think it was located) so you’ll see some natural light (watch out for the sunburn if you have a dose on the lounger). I seem to remember a drink was included in the entrance price and a nice cup of tea was appreciated. We also managed the free city tour (there is a desk in the airport), it’s short but will get you out.

I’ve done the trip to NZ a few times and found I’m ok until about 6 or 7pm. And then the main effects are the waking up at 3am and a dosy feeling for a few days.

You’ll probably be fine to drive out of Auckland so long as you don’t plan to go too far (Wellington would be too far )

pelirocco

HogMan wrote: »

My personal experience is that as I get older recovering from flying west gets easier whilst going east it gets tougher.

A few years ago I flew Business Class London to Sydney return. In both directions, got off the plane and couple hours later went into an office for a full day's work.

Not sure I could do that now.

I am finding recovering from any flight is harder these days ( and 'I'm under 60) I have just returned from a week in greece and am shattered whats that all about !
We used to fly back from the US and straight into work, and thats even after flying economy

Murphy_The_Cat

alwaysskint96 wrote: »

Yes lol Enables the business class flights I couldnt afford otherwise

Likewise !

Toucan_toucan wrote: »

One thing I might suggest that I don't think has been is to get ALL your travelling done in your first day. So, rather than hang around in Auckland you could get a flight to Wellington/Christchurch/Queenstown...wherever your itinerary takes you. There are loads of Air NZ flights to all of these destinations and they offer a fare that you can change on the day if you need to for no extra charge (the ticket itself costs a bit more to begin with).

I would absolutely second the advice about suncream - we got burned to a crisp on our first day and the sun hardly shone at all!

We'll be collecting the rental from Auckland, doing a circular trip and returning it to Auckland 15 or so days later on.
Thnak you for the headsup about sunscreen

danandjens_worldtravels wrote: »

I would suggest a swim, sleep and shower in the airport at Singapore. There is a rooftop pool (near the airside hotel I think it was located) so you’ll see some natural light (watch out for the sunburn if you have a dose on the lounger). I seem to remember a drink was included in the entrance price and a nice cup of tea was appreciated. We also managed the free city tour (there is a desk in the airport), it’s short but will get you out.



You’ll probably be fine to drive out of Auckland so long as you don’t plan to go too far (Wellington would be too far )

Your suggestion is sounding like the basis of a good plan.

Murphy_The_Cat

zagfles wrote: »

We went to NZ with very similar timings & layover and found jetlag not bad at all - as said above flying west is usually better for jetlag so we pretended we were flying west, by booking the transit hotel in Singpore for a daytime kip. You book it by the hour not the night so a daytime booking is no problem. Quiet, private and dark room with no windows so you can pretend it's night! Nobody snoring around you. Quite cheap as well - under £100 for 4 of us, and SIA paid most of that with the transit vouchers they give you (not sure if they still do).

We were in the hotel room about 10am Singapore time, 3am UK time, so it was like a late night, to bed about 4 hours later than usual, had a good 8-9 hours kip before getting up for the NZ flight - didn't need to sleep on either leg.

Feeling tired about 7pm first day in NZ, early night and earlyish the next night but then we were right into the timezone. So basically like having 3 extended days in a row.

If you want to see Singapore I think it'll be harder - you're unlikely to sleep much if at all on the first leg as you'll arrive before midnight UK time. The airport do a free city tour for transit passengers, could do that as you arrive then the transit hotel?

I'll keep an eye out for the transit vouchers, but I haven't come across any so far.

stevie11 wrote: »

Re airport hotels, there was a thread on here a week or 2 ago about complimentary hotel rooms from the airline. Is it Singapore airlines you fly with? Plus considering you fly business it may be worth checking with them.

Also perk of business you should have access to the lounges to relax in.

No "free" transit hotel for travelling Biz as far as I can tell, but we'll definitely be utilising the Biz longues

PompeyPete wrote: »

Had a few days unwinding and readjusting our body-clocks in Sydney on the way to NZ.....then hit the tarmac running at Auckland for a month in a camper van.

Originally we were fancying a Camper/motorhome, but we now don't think that it would work with our family dynamic. Maybe next time when its just Mrs Cat and I to South Island !

greenbee

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

I should have said that we're turning left when we get on the planes, so getting several hours of quality sleep on each leg shouldn't be an issue.

I haven't yet managed any decent quality sleep on any flight regardless of airline and how far towards the front of the plane I've been. Given how much I fly, being able to sleep on planes would be a huge bonus - my jet lag is secondary to my exhaustion regardless of where I'm flying.

knightstyle wrote: »

Totally agree that with so long in Singapore you need to get out and walk around, maybe look for a swimming pool?
Singapore airport has airside hotels where you an book a room or shower plus there is a good reasonably priced massage parlour there.

As danandjen mentions, there's a pool on the roof of (I think) T3 at Changi. It's only a dollar more for a swim than for a shower, so well worth it. And last time I was there, I had it to myself as the sun rose over the airport. As it's outside you get actual air, albeit scented with aircraft fuel

I do a similar trip a couple of times a year - usually via Singapore one way and Hong Kong and Manila the other. If I can't arrange meetings to break the journey in each direction, then the Cathay Pacific lounges on the Hong Kong leg are fabulous, and the pool in Changi makes a huge difference to the quality of the next leg. Sadly, these days I'm only ever travelling business class if I get an upgrade, but that's the trade off with having moved to a better job.

foomanchu

I used to travel between UK & US for work, often had to be in the office the day after travelling. What worked for most staff was to stay awake normal hours when you arrive at your destination, at least to 9-10pm, rather than say landing mid-afternoon and going straight to bed Keeping normal patterns at the destination was key, sleeping when you can in transit can help but don’t sweat it if you can’t.