Long haul flight. Give me your tips.

[ThreeblackCats]

As per title, I absolutely hate flying, so any tips to ease a long haul flight for an anxious flier will be terrific.
Im flying 8+ hours transatlantic soon and I’m already having stress dreams. My sensible side knows it’s the safest form of transport, I’m just not a great flier.
I have faith in the mumsnet hive mentality. Get me through this horror.

I was the same as you, I read SOAR and I am now able to relax on flights. When I do get anxious the book gives you ways to cope with that. I now rarely get anxious at all. Best money i ever spent!

Wine. Movies. Book. Nap. More Wine. Think of it like a very lazy day. It passes quicker than you think. You can also ask GP for medication if you’re very anxious or get Nytol from the pharmacy to knock yourself out. But it will be fine. Focus on where you’re going and how worth it it will be!

Oh thank you @Winewednesday . I knew there were a myriad of great books, and I knew Mumsnet would help.

It’s not just the actual fear, it’s really hard to explain. It’s like my sensible side is not talking to my irrational side. Im not an irrational person, I just shake at the thought of being miles high.

Decongestants stop ear pain and limit popping. Doesn’t help with a fear of flying but at least you’re more comfortable. Take them every 4 hours starting 90 mins before you board.

Apart from that. Distraction. And the lounge before the flight. Just head down when you have a gate. It stops that dread feeling that it’s coming. The lounge just looks like a hotel lobby bar/restaurant so probably more relaxing than being reminded you’re about to fly. Get some nice snacks to take on board. Indulge in the bar service. See if there’s in flight entertainment, if not, bring your own.

Distraction.

Podcasts are your friend, download to your phone, switch to flight mode once onboard and turn the little aeroplane on the map page on the inflight entertainment system. I also find getting my moneys worth from the complimentary drinks helps. I flown a lot but still hate taking off

My fear began once I was up in the sky knowing I was not at ground level. Take off and landing was always relatively okay. One thing I learnt, is when I became anxious during turbulence I would sit heavy in to the seat but in the book it tells you to push your feet down on the floor. What a difference that made for me. There are lots of other coping strategies in there, I highly recommend.

I’m terrible at flying. I am
terrified despite knowing it’s the safest form of travel!
I used to fly to the Caribbean every year and I found the biggest difference to how I felt on board was my experience in the airport so I kept it stress free by booking the lounge and having a couple of gins pre flight (not enough to not let me on board). The quieter
and calmer atmosphere plus those couple of drinks just relaxed me so much more. I also booked premium economy wherever possible as I found the class of bubbly etc on arrival on the plane made it feel like so much more of an experience to the point where you could forget you were boarding a
plane.

alcohol Tipsy is the only way for me

I would be careful drinking alcohol to be honest. I generally love a drink, but the altitude can heighten the effects significantly. I'm also a nervous flyer and downed a couple of wines early on in a transatlantic flight and then spent a good hour or 2 feeling like I'd had 2 bottles! Just take it easy.
I used to get a diazepam prescription before I flew and just having it with me helped, like there was something I could take if necessary but most times I didn't need it, and now I don't take it with me at all.

Noise-cancelling earphones/headphones and a podcast or watch your fave tv show or movie and concentrate on that.

I usually am so absorbed the time passes by or fall asleep and then wake up some hours having pass. Sometimes I go right back to sleep and find myself waking up 20-30 minutes before landing.

Oh, so many very, very helpful tips already. @DazedandConcerned thanks, I don’t suffer pain and had planed to eat myself into oblivion. It’s great to know my tactic us an actual real plan.
@gogohmm wonderful, hadn’t even considered podcasts, but certainly will now. Many thanks.

As soon as you board the plane home set your watch to UK time Melatonin for the flight home depending on time, it will help you sleep and helps you straight back into the right timezone quicker. If you're anything like me you'll also sleep for most of the flight back then.

On the way there, set yourself up a playlist of all your favourite music (if using Spotify etc don't forget to download it!) find a good book you've been dying to read, a drink and some nice snacks.

Travel pillow. Get a good one, pop on your headphones and a face mask and relax.

Valium....extreme but worth it. You'll sleep the whole flight.

Alternatively podcast, good book, crosswords/puzzle books, films. I personally don't drink alcohol on flights as it makes me feel rough really quickly.

Thank you to everyone who commented. I do hate flying, I especially hate long haul, but some nifty tricks, thanks again.

Take some antihistamines/night nurse whichever knocks you out just before.

I HATE flying and slept from london to Charlotte. Woke up not knowing wtf was going on but we had landed 😂

I find writing lists helps - focussing on what I want to do, where I want to go, if there's any cool foods/wines etc that I want to try.

I've heard melatonin is good for jetlag, but how do you get it in the UK?

I’m the same, I really don’t like flying. My recipe to get through is a couple of travel sickness pills one hour before take off. They are really relaxing and then I have a G&T when in the air 👍 I also rewatch one of my “comfort” movies while flying or listen to my playlist..and remind myself the plane is just a small bit necessary part of an amazing experience 🙂

I’ve just done the direct flight from Australia to London at 17.5 hours and I hate flying. This blog helped me which is written an air hostess…

awheelinthesky.com/blog/

It's only 8 hours. By the time you've had a meal, watched a couple of movies and had a nap it'll be time to land.

Or (assuming you are not going to be responsible for children on the flight) get some valium (a really low dose will do it). You may still dislike flying but you won't really care.

I panic when they shut the door. The feeling of being ‘sealed in’ makes me want to bolt off the plane. I make my husband distract me so I don’t see them do it. I saw someone suggest anytime. They give me terrible nightmares so be careful if you do take them and download a good podcast to pass the time.

Noise-cancelling headphones (or earplugs). Eye mask. A decent travel pillow.

If your airline offers in-flight entertainment, plug yourself directly into a movie, the fluffier/sillier the better. If it doesn't, ensure you have entertainment downloaded onto your phone e.g. podcasts, TV programmes.

I always bring my Kindle, but find it strangely hard to concentrate on reading while I'm on a plane. Instead, I find that a little puzzle book (crosswords, sudoku type things) works better, perhaps because it's in little bite-sized pieces.

If you have time, book yourself in for a hypnotherapy session. Your "irrational side" is your subconscious mind and it thinks it's doing the right thing by giving you the heebie-jeebies (technical term!). It just needs to be told to stop it because it's not being helpful.

Talk to other people on the flight
Helps time go quicker.

I hate flying. Don't mind take off or landing but scared sh**less of turbulence. I even check the weather reports before I fly.

I've never managed to get any Valium, my GP would only prescribe me diazepam which doesn't seem to do a lot.

My tips are some drinks before you fly (I know it's not the best but it relaxes me), something distracting (I rope one of my teenagers to play cards with me) and looking at the map of progress (if they have one).

The more I fly, the better it gets but I can't see myself enjoying it (and I'm lucky enough to usually fly in business or first).