How much of a pain are late night flights?

[pastelgreen]

I'm on the verge of booking a lovely family holiday to Greece at the end of the summer hols. The only caveat is that the return flight arrives back in Manchester at 00.25 then it's an hours drive home. I've looked at the alternatives but we can't get the type of room we want at any other time.

We will have 8 year old dd with us. Will it be a nightmare? I think she's possibly old enough to be ok with it but wanted to see what other peoples experiences have been?

Absolutely fine!

Only thing I'd be bothered about is keeping the room on Greece side to get sorted etc for a late flight.
Some hotels allow you for a small price or they have a room and you get an allocated time to go in and fresh up before leaving.
Worth checking so your prepared and not waiting round all day and can still enjoy most of the last day.

I prefer night flights with my dc. Mine slept til we landed and then in the car on the way home. In to bed early the next day for some much needed peace.

Could you book a hotel at the airport then travel home in the morning? We've done this and it meant dd went straight to bed off the plane. Late flights have always been fine for us though.

@YellowLemonz

Absolutely fine!

Only thing I'd be bothered about is keeping the room on Greece side to get sorted etc for a late flight.
Some hotels allow you for a small price or they have a room and you get an allocated time to go in and fresh up before leaving.
Worth checking so your prepared and not waiting round all day and can still enjoy most of the last day.

Yes I think we can book a late checkout with TUI so we have the room longer, which will definitely be worth doing

@Tereseta

Could you book a hotel at the airport then travel home in the morning? We've done this and it meant dd went straight to bed off the plane. Late flights have always been fine for us though.

I did consider this but by the time we have faffed around checking in etc I'd rather just drive home. It's probably less than an hour actually as it's Manchester to Bradford and traffic will be dead at that time of night!

I agree that it will probably be fine as it's the homeward journey, & also a fairly short one.
Outbound is a different matter !

I actually prefer a late flight home. I hate getting home during the day and just sadly faffing about

Don't forget there'll be an hours time difference. So it'll feel more like 11.25. By the time you get out ghe airport will be around 12.25. It's still late but it's quite nice just going home to bed & sorting everything out in the morning.

We did this a lot when I was a kid. It was fine. We just slept in the car

For me, personally, I hate them. When I know I'm going home on that last day, I just want to get up and go. I hate the hanging around, feels like I'm.killing time. I will say when we went to Santorini ( with Tui ), the transfer to the airport didn't turn up. We'd already paid for it when booking and when checking out they wanted extra euros. It was a nightmare because we couldn't just jump in a taxi ( like we'd have done anywhere else). So, just double check your transfer is picking you up from agreed place.
I always pay extra for an early morning or at least lunchtime flight ( return). Going it doesn't really bother me as I love airports !

I prefer them and book them by choice. It means you get a full day at the end of the holiday that you can actually use for something useful rather than stuck in limbo hanging around for hours.

We always do them. I book early morning flights on the way out (stay at the airport the night before) and then as late as possible on the last day. I like to absolutely maximise my time on holiday.

Coming home, with an 8 yr old, I would do this as long as nothing really important the next day.

I have friends who take 2am (take off) return flights though. That would be a straight no from me

Er not for me thanks, except long haul (10+ hr flights) I do like a flight that leaves at say 9pm and arrives at 8am. But from Greece to U.K. landing at midnight which is 1am Greece time AND then driving an hour home. No. Driving tired is as unsafe and irresponsible as drink driving.

@TopTabby

Don't forget there'll be an hours time difference. So it'll feel more like 11.25. By the time you get out ghe airport will be around 12.25. It's still late but it's quite nice just going home to bed & sorting everything out in the morning.

Greece is 1hr ahead not behind, so it will feel like 1am and then home around 2:30am

Do none of you ever do night drives for holidays anyway? 1am isn't particularly late for that kind of thing.

Arg, no I am also wrong, Greece is 2hrs ahead, not one. So landing 12 midnight U.K. time, will feel like 2am. Even worse.

We always do night flights to Greece then it gives you your full days on holiday.
Nap on the plan, it's usually quieter, an 8 Yr old will definitely be able to handle it.
We take it in turns to drive home, it's about an hour to our nearest airport

We did this quite a few times when living abroad with much younger kids (often because the flights were cheaper, but also because it meant we could the day school finished). Honestly it was fine. From Greece you can have a nap on the plane. Have a designated driver and the other parent the designated kid entertainer. 8yo is old enough if not be helpful with luggage etc, but neutral rather than creating work.

A lot easier than early morning flights.

Night drives for holidays? Er no! Tend to drive sat am arrive for lunch/dinner and similar on the way home! A night drive wouldn't be safe if I was tired and would leave me knackered the next few days!

It's fine, kids are pretty adaptable but I would suggest not planning anything the next day (I made that mistake, I was the knackered one!)

We've done similar flight times with an 5-8 year old it's fine as long as the flight isn't delayed. Sitting waiting through the early hours for your flight when all the shops are shut is miserable. Also avoid Ryan Air they insist on having the lights on even on a night flight and traipsing up and down trying to sell stuff when you are desperately trying to kip whilst sat bolt upright! We end up landing feeling really really cranky.