26 replies to this topic

[duke007]

Do "NOT" get the seat 16C on a Boeing 777-300 unless you want to get bumped everytime someone walks past you down the aisle or the big risk of "screaming" child next to you

I check in early so I can get aisle seats and ask also if rows 25-30 are available.
The reason for this is your far enough away from "screaming" child but close enough to the front of the plane to get out quicker and also you still have all the food choices before they run out.

[petesie]

Join the airline Frequent Flier programme as they are all free and check in and pick your seat online.

Upgrades happen now and then and also invites to lounges.

[FatboyUK]

Some tips from me.....

Always adjust to local time, wherever you are. If it means a slightly earlier night then usual cos you knackered, pick your special one, and hit the sack early.

If trips are in-frequent, consider paying for Premium Economy if available in the first place - sometimes the fares are not much more then economy, but alot more comfortable.

Join the frequent flyer scheme of your airline. Upgrades will be issued to card holders first.

Always dress smart/casual - no shorts, sandals etc. You may be put in the system as "SFU" (Suitable for upgrade) if the flight is busy.

Visit www.seatguru.com for all info on the best seats on various airlines and aircraft, and always try and pre-book where possible so atleast you know you've your preferred seat. Anything extra is a bonus. Always ask at the gate if there are any vacant seats with more space. Avoid bulk head seats.

I've heard these are good...www.jetsleeper.com - slightly better then your traditional air pillow.

Tough, I know, but don't drink alcohol. Planes and booze don't mix, and will make you feel worse as the flight goes on. Stick to juice and water.

I always sleep better if I don't eat onboard too....perhaps self cater and eat when you want, not when your crew want you to.

If I can think of more...I will let you know.

[mardhi]

I spent about 14 years of my old job doing pretty much nothing but flying longhaul. One of the key things that worked for me, was understanding the direction I was flying in and how it related to departure times. i.e living in Asia meant you had multiple options on how to get to Europe/US etc. However as soon as I was off an aircraft, I would often be going straight into meetings and then flying straight back again afterwards.

For your example you indicate 24hrs - which probably means somewhere East coast/midwest small city on the US. if it was me, I used to try and stay up for as long as I could on the flight and then finally flake out and get maybe 5/6 hours sleep. On the 2nd leg (assuming your doing stopover in say Tokyo/Taipei etc, try and get more sleep (assuming you want to hit the ground running that night), or otherwise stay wide awake and once you get to the hotel you will almost certainly just crash out (which is what I wanted to do). You awke next morning and push yourself to keep going to normal sleep time.

However a lot of this depends on where your starting from and what your connection points are, assuming your not on the TG non stop LAX flight.

If you were coming from for example somewhere in Latin America, or Europe, I would personally always elect to go on a night flight rather than day flight, however I was lucky and the company was paying for business class seats.

Incidentally I am not huge fan of taking any kinds of sleeping drugs so I just rely on few glasses of wine and plenty of water. I often used to eat before going onboard as well and then decline meals and just try to sleep but its often very difficult depending on times of flights (Thailand - Australia being the worse example for me - 6pm departures are not good for trying to get to sleep on an 8 hour flight) and then your arriving at 6am local time.

So a huge amount depends on where your starting from and where your connecting.

[mardhi]

@ mardhi - thanks for the tips.

Salt Lake City-LAX-Tokyo-BKK

Short layovers, less than an hour each stop. Again, my main purpose for this trip is to meet LB's and would like to see of Bangkok while I'm there. Ancient City was suggested, maybe do a little shopping but mainly mongering.

So presumably your on a 11pm arrival or thereabouts into BKK assuming United or Northwest or Japanese carriers. In which case, key is do you plan to hit the town immediately you arrive? If so, sleep on second leg as well, you will still be tired (or at least I was and it was a struggle to keep awake on that second LH leg. If you intend to go to sleep straight upon arrival in your hotel, do not sleep on the second leg. That always worked for me and I did those Trans Pacific routings probably a hundred times.

[suryo]

seatguru.com is inaccurate with some airlines.

I was on a Etihad 777-300ER recently with a 3-4-3 layout in economy.
On seatguru these planes on that specific carrier has a 3-3-3 scheme.

[larrylarry]

Ok I am assuming your flying coach so an isle seat and ambien (i take half at a time) are key. A neck plllow and noise damping head phone are nice as well. Most of the other stuff you can get on board but I do pack a sort of comfort kit with items to freshen up.

[thailover57]

In my travels from east coast USA I usually arrive at midnight in BKK. Taxi to Patts arrives about 1:30-ish. Check in to hotel and then go wandering for an hour or so. Have dinner (or whatever it would be called at that time). Head back to the hotel by 3:00 AM (no one in tow). Sleep til 11:00 and I'm ready for anything. No jet lag going forward. Going back to USA, different story. Bad jet lag.