How well do you sleep on planes?

[frodo1]

With the assistance of drugs and a flat bed.

Surprisingly, antihistamines work best for me

You may be suprise to know that NICE (the British NHS Medical Research Authority) found that those antihistamines that make you feel a bit drowsy are just as effective as some of the strongest sleeping tablets in getting you to sleep without any of the very serious side effects.

 

[Forg]

You may be suprise to know that NICE (the British NHS Medical Research Authority) found that those antihistamines that make you feel a bit drowsy are just as effective as some of the strongest sleeping tablets in getting you to sleep without any of the very serious side effects.

My wife’s bought anti-histamines from the US which were actually labelled as a sleeping tablet; active ingredients were the same & the same number of mg as the Strayan-spec Polarimine (old skool drowsy-making antihistamine) I had.

 

[BAM1748]

When I was young I could never sleep on a plane, perhaps the excitement of travel, now I'm old it's not hard to fall asleep and I change my sleep pattern the night before a long flight so I get on tired

 

[Mitch_W]

I sleep very poorly anywhere except in my own bed at night ( I can't nap during daylight hours).
So on a plane (only in J) with noise, activity, new environment etc... sleep is not going to be an easy option.
I am very cautious in use of sleeping tablets, antihistamines and alcohol, so the best I can get (with judicial use of aforementioned aids) is a couple of broken hours slumber.
After an hour or so, I end up just lying quietly with ear plugs and sleep mask on, pretending to sleep, and hoping to at least relax and get some rest.
I always arrive feeling like a zombie.

If you are not keen on sleeping tabs, you could go with Melatonin which just adds to the natural melatonin we produce. Quite harmless and if you are over 55 no prescription is required.
Sometimes I use melatonin but mostly Tamazapam as I find there is usually no groggy feeling on waking.

 

[tdimdad]

Melatonin is my go-to, as well, if needed. Alcohol disturbs my sleep and makes me feel tired in the morning. Even if I wouldn't sleep, melatonin helps my body to relax and fake sleeping for quite some time, and this way restoring my energy.

 

[zig]

If you are not keen on sleeping tabs, you could go with Melatonin which just adds to the natural melatonin we produce. Quite harmless and if you are over 55 no prescription is required.
Sometimes I use melatonin but mostly Tamazapam as I find there is usually no groggy feeling on waking.

Should have included melatonin in the list of aids I have used. It has helped me relax and get maybe 60 - 90 minutes sleep.

 

[Matt_01]

When younger I did not sleep well when on planes, now I am a little older I seem to to sleep for a little longer but it still interrupted due to me moving around. Mrs&MissM seem to be able to gonk out not long after takeoff and need to be woken up by the crew prior to landing.

 

[John in Melbourne]

I find zopiclone (avoid alcohol and St John's wort) is good for 7 hours sleep if in a lie-flat bed.
I wake up fresh with no "drugged" feeling. Whereas in BBZ (before business and zopiclone) days, I never slept well in a plane.

 

[Stealthflyer]

I’m getting better but it’s still a bit of a roulette when it comes to sleep. Some flights I get heaps and others almost zero. I have a bit of a routine and list of necessary items: reject shop inflatable neck pillow (loosely inflated), eye mask, earplugs, pillow behind back, extra pillow to hug, 2x G&Ts. The recent discovery of Temazepam has made a world of difference. Getting a row of four economy seats to myself also makes a difference, but that’s a lot harder to orchestrate.

 

[frodo1]

Now that I'm retired and into slow travel, I still fly J class but only fly during the day. I arrange overnight stopovers and find there's little or no jet-lag at the final destination. This April it took 3 days to travel MEL-DEL-FRA-LCY. We saved heaps by not flying direct into LHR and we enjoyed every minute of it! It's my way to keep travelling into my senility.

 

[zig]

Now that I'm retired and into slow travel, I still fly J class but only fly during the day. I arrange overnight stopovers and find there's little or no jet-lag at the final destination. This April it took 3 days to travel MEL-DEL-FRA-LCY. We saved heaps by not flying direct into LHR and we enjoyed every minute of it! It's my way to keep travelling into my senility.

Sound like a good option.
I'm always torn between the time needed to go through immigration, customs, travel to hotel, and back again in order to get some rest and break the journey, versus just pushing through and getting the journey over.

 

[BrockF]

Melatonin tabs (10mg OTC from the US), dark eye mask, in-ear foam ear plugs and I can usually get 5-8 hours quite easily. Slept for 5 1/2 hours on the seven hour SIn-Syd flight Friday night in Y. Biggest hurdle in Y, especially on Qantas, is the slow meal service that’s prevents seat back and lights out on the Asian overnight flights. On Us flights just try and time it so I wake up in Time for the breakfast service.

 

[John in Melbourne]

I'm always torn between the time needed to go through immigration, customs, travel to hotel, and back again in order to get some rest and break the journey, versus just pushing through and getting the journey over.

I did this for some years but, in the end, I went back to pushing through.

 

[JohnK]

I wish relaxing and avoiding anxiety/panic was as easy as sleeping.

I can fall asleep easily. I used to think it was alcohol but now that I don't drink much I can still fall asleep easily. In fact I got so good at sleeping that I'd fall asleep on take off, wake for snack/meal service, fall back asleep.

And just as easy to sleep in airlime lounges. I wake up many times because I'm anxious of not missing flight but fall asleep again easily.

I don't rate quality. For me sleep is sleep. If I cannot sleep it means I've had enough sleep.

 

[QF1]

I need to support my arms to be able to sleep. I used to tuck a pillow beside my side of the armest to support my arms on one side. The other side, I used my armrest since I always opted for one of the aisle seats in the middle row. B777 and even A330 had decent sized armrest and I used to be able to sleep 3-4 hours on 7/8 hours flight. I never eat or drink alcohol 3-4 hours before my flight and avoid the 1st meal inflight. For longer than 10 hour flights, I used to book kosher food and requested the cabin staff to serve me just the main meal during their 2nd meal service That way I got a decent meal towards the end of journey when I have had a few hours of sleep and about to land.

These days however, SQ's A350 is extremely congested and the armrests are smaller and even lower than other aircraft types. I find it extremely uncomfortable and avoid the night flights whenever possible. I tried the SQ J on an A350 a few times and did not find it them that comfortable to sleep either.

 

[fly2earth]

Bearly (if I am on J) because I have to get my money's worth (but then I fall asleep anways). Plus I get a free teddy from SQ which I forgot to claim because SQ stingy in actively handing them out (as well as the amenity kit)

 

[mountainriversky]

Also not a good sleeper in economy, can never get comfortable (bum gets sore), plus always a bit anxious about turbulence etc
I've only flown business during daytime so obviously can't sleep great anyway. Have some upcoming night time flights in biz and keen to see how I do in that

 

[Brucetiki]

First time doing an overnight flight in economy last night since I was a kid, and I struggled to about 4 hours. Could’ve been worse. Probably something I’d get better at the more I do of these overnight flights

I flew Hong Kong-Rome as an overnight flight as a kid and from memory I slept for the bulk of that 13 hour flight.

 

[Seat0B]

I usually manage to sleep pretty well on an overnight business flight, as long as it is a lie flat bed, not an angled one. I usually have a small drink or two, and take a melatonin (US over the counter 5 mg works for me). I eat in the lounge and try to go off to sleep as soon as possible after take off. That way, I usually manage 5-6 hours in a stretch, which is decent.

My biggest complaint about sleeping on a plane is short overnight flights! Like SYD-HND. By the time they do all the pfaffing around after take off, and wake you for breakfast, the flight honestly is not really long enough to get a decent amount of sleep. I actually look forward to 12-14 hr flights like SYD-DXB or SYD-DFW - have a meal, watch a couple of movies and have 2 x sleep blocks of about 5 hrs. Fell pretty good on arrival usually. This is how you know you are Australian, when an 8-10 hour flight is just not long enough .

I have not flown Y long haul for about 15 years now, and will not be going back to the back of the plane if I can avoid it. I could never sleep well wedged into an economy seat with Mr Seat 0A or one of the Seat Kids lolling onto me. Better than a stranger though!