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Long Haul jet lag - how bad will this be ?

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  • dickydonkin
    dickydonkin Posts: 3,055 Forumite
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    edited 10 June 2019 at 11:26PM
    I did a similar trip last autumn MAN-DOH-AUK, the DOH-AUK sector at the time was the longest scheduled flight in the world (around 17.5 hours). I paid the amazing return price of £1,350 for business class with Qatar Airways which from the UK, was an exceptional price.

    I too was a little concerned how it would affect my body clock (being on the wrong side of 60), however, I slept surprisingly well (over 12 hours on both of the very long sectors) and to be honest, there was very little impact with regards of jet lag at the destination or on my return.

    We were only in NZ for ten days as this was an unscheduled trip which we took between two other planned trips, but due to the offer, felt it was an opportunity not to turn down.

    I tend to suffer more travelling West, but for sure, having the ability to lie in a bed and sleep for a significant part of the flight and having exceptional on board service without doubt helped.

    The most frustrating part of the trip were the hideous ordeals on Transpennine Express trains travelling between Durham/Manchester Airport and back.....never in my life have I experienced a more dysfunctional rail carrier.

    Just to add.....if you are taking internal flights on Air New Zealand, book through their NZ site as the fares are cheaper than their international sites.
  • Murphy_The_Cat
    Murphy_The_Cat Posts: 20,968 Forumite
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    Ballard wrote: »
    As many have said, there's no point in asking the question as everyone suffers jetlag differently. When I flew to Auckland I had 36 hours in Singapore to ease the jet lag. This didn't work. Singapore was lovely but I simply couldn't sleep. When I arrived in Auckland (via Sydney) I was exhausted for two days.


    I respectfully disagree as I was looking for a general "feel" of what to expect for such a long trip going east (which I've never done before)


    richardw wrote: »
    Btw Newer planes such as A350, A380 and B787 have lower pressure air and of a better quality, so picking these will make you feel less tired.


    I'm doing a clean sweep of all 3 of them on this trip :beer:


    I did a similar trip last autumn MAN-DOH-AUK, the DOH-AUK sector at the time was the longest scheduled flight in the world (around 17.5 hours). I paid the amazing return price of £1,350 for business class with Qatar Airways which from the UK, was an exceptional price.

    I too was a little concerned how it would affect my body clock (being on the wrong side of 60), however, I slept surprisingly well (over 12 hours on both of the very long sectors) and to be honest, there was very little impact with regards of jet lag at the destination or on my return.


    Just to add.....if you are taking internal flights on Air New Zealand, book through their NZ site as the fares are cheaper than their international sites.


    No internal flights this time, but thank you for the suggestion.

    That is an absolutely spanking fare - what a shame that it hasn't been repeated to suit my timings !
  • Murphy_The_Cat
    Murphy_The_Cat Posts: 20,968 Forumite
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    richardw wrote: »
    Book into a transit hotel at Singapore airport and get some sleep, no point forcing yourself to stay awake.


    I'll do some ground work and see how flexible the timings are for prebooking a room. I fancy a city tour, swim at the airport, explore Changi airport and do the Singapore Airline BC longue some justice - but aware that at the point of departure from SIA that we'll have been up for 24 hours. Less the time that we're asleep whilst at 30000 ft


    zagfles wrote: »
    Yes, and compared to the cost of flying BC and going via Sweden the price will be trivial. Probably about the same price as a round of drinks in the hotel bar in Stockholm ;)

    It'd probably be better to see Singapore on the way back, if the flights can be tweaked a bit to give a bit more time? We did that after an overnighter from AKL, which was pretty good as it was about an 11 hour flight leaving about 2300 AKL arriving about 0600 SIN with clocks back 4 hours, so you get a long night when you'll actually be ready for a kip.

    We were in economy but it would be making good use of BC to try to get a good kip on the plane, see Singapore in the day, then another long overnighter home.
    Its a cashless hotel, so we'll never see the cost of a round of drinks ;)


    The tickets are booked, paid for and issued so no flexibility to amend them.


    However, for a future trip when its just Mrs Cat and I and we go to South Island ............


    Doshwaster wrote: »
    It also depends on where you are going at what you have to do at your destination. If you are on holiday and flying to a 24 hour city (e.g. Vegas, Bangkok) then I wouldn't worry about jet lag at all - just eat and sleep when you feel like it. However, it is a bit different if you have to fly straight into an important business meeting.


    We'll be picking up a car/suv and going touring.
  • Doshwaster
    Doshwaster Posts: 6,329 Forumite
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    We'll be picking up a car/suv and going touring.

    If you are planning on picking up a car immediately on landing then you need to be very careful. Personally, I would never drive after a long haul flight (and for work trips we are banned from doing it). The last time I tried it after landing at Heathrow after a sleepless flight I found myself driving around the M25 the wrong way.

    It might make sense to book an airport hotel for your first night there before picking up the car to give yourself some more time to freshen up and adjust.
  • mgdavid
    mgdavid Posts: 6,710 Forumite
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    I respectfully disagree as I was looking for a general "feel" of what to expect for such a long trip going east (which I've never done before)............


    And I'll respectfully disagree as there is no 'general feel', it affects people differently. Or to put it another way, people allow it to affect them to a greater or lesser extent.

    We've done NZ and nowadays go to Brisbane at least annually. Our approach is to believe that jetlag is all in the mind and to simply ignore it and get on with whatever we plan to do once there. We book for the minimum stop in SIN, usually around an hour, which gets the journey done as soon as possible and maximises our time in Oz.
    Setting watches to the destination time can be helpful as it attunes the brain and body clock faster. Once there, force yourself onto the local time - don't go to bed in the daytime; catnap if you must, 10 or 15 minutes can 'buy' you a few hours of waking time. Make sure you keep yourself busy and active on the first day, it helps you stay up until normal bedtime, and helps you sleep when you finally get to bed.
    FWIW we are both OAPs and travel economy....
    The questions that get the best answers are the questions that give most detail....
  • richardw
    richardw Posts: 19,459 Forumite
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    mgdavid wrote: »
    .... Our approach is to believe that jetlag is all in the mind and to simply ignore it...

    It’s better to get an understanding of it and how you can manage it to minimise its effect on you and your trip. When you have worked this out, long haul travel is much easier.
    Posts are not advice and must not be relied upon.
  • bouicca21
    bouicca21 Posts: 6,696 Forumite
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    I’m with mgdavid. I find it important to act in tune with local time. So I try to stay awake and arrive in the evening so that I can just eat and go to bed. If I arrive in the morning i keep awake until the evening, but I find this much more difficult.
  • richardw
    richardw Posts: 19,459 Forumite
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    bouicca21 wrote: »
    ... I find it important to act in tune with local time. So I try to stay awake and arrive in the evening so that I can just eat and go to bed. If I arrive in the morning i keep awake until the evening, but I find this much more difficult.

    Is this flying west or flying east?
    Posts are not advice and must not be relied upon.
  • jackieblack
    jackieblack Posts: 10,499 Forumite
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    I think it also depends if you are naturally an 'early to bed, early to rise' person (as I am) or a 'night owl'.
    I really struggle after a late night/longer day so travelling west affects me much more than travelling east. I find it far easier to get up earlier than to be later to bed.
    My ex-h is a night owl and found it much easier when travelling west - the long days/late nights didn't affect him much if at all - but really struggled after travelling eastwards.
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  • Murphy_The_Cat
    Murphy_The_Cat Posts: 20,968 Forumite
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    mgdavid wrote: »
    And I'll respectfully disagree as there is no 'general feel', it affects people differently. Or to put it another way, people allow it to affect them to a greater or lesser extent.

    We've done NZ and nowadays go to Brisbane at least annually. Our approach is to believe that jetlag is all in the mind and to simply ignore it and get on with whatever we plan to do once there. We book for the minimum stop in SIN, usually around an hour, which gets the journey done as soon as possible and maximises our time in Oz.


    There's nothing wrong with disagreeing with some one, especially when you can both do it "properly".:beer:



    A few yeras ago we went to Hawaii. A long time before booking I rattled around all of the options of getting there and presented them to my family - it really came down to choice A) getting there as quickly as possible, but possibly (probably !) be badly affected by jetlag. The advantage being that we would get the maximum length of time in Oahu. The down side being that we'd be on some less than impressive plane for part of the journey. Choice B) Was taking a more circuitous route, with a night break in the USA. The advantage being that we'd be travelling on better planes for all of the journey and we'd arrive "fresh" and ready to go, The down side is that we'd lose a day on Oahu. --- all plus positioning flights to our ex-eu airport.



    The family (& me) chose option B, arrived in Hawaii fresh as fresh and had a great time. If we were to go to Hawaii again (unlikely), I wouldn't hestitate to do it this way again.


    But, I've never done a 36 hour trip (plus positiong flights) going East before. Previously I've heard on a lot of occassions that going East jiggers you up more than going West, hence the original post.
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