New York flights

[Satsuma1234]

Can I ask if you booked flights to New York, would you use the overnight flights back to the UK or, the ones that leave New York around 7 am?

Usually overnight. I don’t think I’ve ever flown back during the day (especially if I need a day at home to reacclimatise).

You probably won't be as tired coming off the daylight ones, and will be able to go to bed shortly after arriving, sleep well and hopefully bump back onto uk time easier. You also usually get less traffic to JFK if you go early. The flights are often busy though and the people on them are tired and grumpy! It's a weird brunch service too.

We did overnight it worked out great. Flew Norwegian jfk to Gatwick.

I would always try to get the daytime flight back across the Atlantic, most of them are overnight though. Last time we went to NYC we had a flight home leaving JFK about noon. Arrived at Heathrow about midnight. We looked like such great parents feeding our primary school children MacDonald's at the motorway services at 1.30am

We always do overnight back to UK and works really well for us.

Overnight. You get nearly a full day in New York but don't have to pay the expense of another night in a hotel. I think it makes it easier to adjust your body clock too.

I fly to and from nyc 2-3 times a year. I'd always get day return flights if possible but then I suffer incredibly from jet lag/no sleep, I find losing a nights sleep on the way back just too tough for me.

Overnight on the way back is best.

Always daytime. Yes you lose a day of holiday if that’s that’s the purpose of your visit but you stay awake on the plane, go to bed when you land and wake up with no jet leg versus getting 4-5 hours if you’re lucky of shitty quality sleep and feeling like crap the next day (and probably for several day’s afterwards). Even business/first doesn’t make it tolerable in my experience.

Daytime. Definitely better. When I go back to the UK to visit I have to do an overnight from the west coast and I’m like a zombie when I get to Heathrow. It’s a miracle l can even recognize my bag on the carousel and manage to lift it up. Hate that feeling.

Overnight is better from JFK or LGA as you get the whole day in NYC.

I would not get a 7.00am flight to the UK from NYC because you would still have to arrive at the airport around 3 hours beforehand (and there's hardly anything in terms of facilities there too particularly once airside). Also such a flight could cost more to book because these are really aimed at business travellers.

@AttilaTheMeerkat there's loads to do at JFK or Newark airports

We flew home from JFK 2 years ago... it was awful. The terminal was tiny with only one eating area and a few shops.... hardly anywhere to sit. Most people were sitting on the floor.

I wish I could agree but having seen both directly there are hardly any facilities at all particularly once you go airside. Landside at both is a bit better though not much and it is also dependent on what terminal you depart from. Terminals that have domestic flights arriving and departing generally have more facilities than ones used for mainly international departures.

It depends on if i was travelling alone or with kids and if it was economy or business class?

Economy and with a 10 year old. We did overnight last time and the jetlag was horrendous. I just wondered if it was easier during the day.

i always try to book overnight on any long haul just because i find flying so boring even with the entertainment, so shortening the experience with a few hours sleep is much better for me, plus I'm not normally affected too much by jet lag

Day flights in your circumstances op.

@satsuma1234 I fly transatlantic at least 6 times a year.

Delta/virgin have the most room for economy seats!

Me and my DH went in 2004 and flew home through the night. We are going again in October with our DS (15) and DD (12) and doing the same.
It's not great, we flew/fly at 7pm NY time and landed at 7am uk time. We will just get as much sleep as we can on the flight and have a really early night the day we get home

I’m about to give up the overnight flights as by the time you actually start flying, food served lights out it’s quite late, I never sleep either.
Only problems with the early flights are expense and having to get to the airport before dawn. But at least I get a few hours sleep before boarding. Swings and roundabouts.
I was upgraded once ( delta) and had a totally reclining seat with a curtain round! It was great and I had a decent sleep.

I did the day flight back two years ago, and night flight last year. Day was much better for coping with jet lag,

Always daytime flights. We did this very route back to the uk a few weeks ago. We took the BA 7.55am flight out of JFK. It was brilliant.