Surviving a long haul flight in economy

[Bobsledgirl]

How? We have a 8 hour overnight flight next month. Can’t afford an upgrade and the last time I had a flight like that it nearly killed me!

The seats are so uncomfortable, you can’t recline unless everyone does. I recall being desperate for sleep but couldn’t find the right position. A neck support cushion didn’t help because the seats are too upright.

Any tips? It’s putting me off the trip tbh. ( Can’t change the flight)

I was hassled by the cabin crew twice on the same flight about using the business class toilet, AND I WAS ACTUALLY TRAVELLING BUSINESS CLASS! I clearly didn't look like I belonged that was with KLM, who I no longer use...

I'd be sniffed out immediately if I tried a sneaky seat swap

Oh no @JustWhatWeDontNeed I also tend to look scruffy on flights, I don't buy into the bc cabin is full of smartly dressed people.
I don't fly on any KLM flights now but we did for a while and I loved the little houses they give you. No American Airlines have anything as nice.

I'm currently on an 8 hour flight and basically 2-3 people around me have reclined. I think it's very selfish to squash the person behind you. Of course you can recline but its generally unnecessary.

I once got additional frequent flyer points added to my account because one of the toilets in economy was out of order on a flight from Dullas to Heathrow and they were not allowed due to air safety regulations to allow economy passengers to use the business class toilet. So I doubt the story that someone has frequently blagged a BC seat using the toilet trick too.

Night flight, it’s ok to recline. Day flight, it’s not IMO.

I highly recommend the Timeshifter app for combatting jet lag. Your first trip plan is usually free of charge. Depending on where you are going, it might recommend you don’t sleep anyway.

..and….oh no, …...…..here we go (yet) again…

This really is one of those try “walking in somebody else’s shoes for a mile before criticizing them” issues.

Lots of passengers on a day time flight, especially on Long Haul, especially on a net worked airline may be on utterly different itineraries with their body clocks on very different time zones to the lucky lot who live down the road from the terminal or spent the night before at the airport Prem Inn.

For example we’d fly passengers into the UK from places into place like the Sub-continent on shortish Long Haul overnight flights who would maybe get a couple of hours on the ground at Heathrow and then step onto another Longhaul day time flight, to maybe Africa or to the States…

Fundamentally just because you don’t feel the need to recline doesn’t mean other people don’t feel the need or don’t have a genuine need…

Yep. I don't know why people assume everyone is doing the same journey as them. I've boarded plenty of planes at Heathrow with fresh faced passengers when I've just come off a night flight and spent 2+ hours connecting.

Sleep can also be necessary to fend off jetlag, depending on how many timezones you're crossing. Middle East to west coast USA destroys me. I will sleep whenever I need to and I won't feel bad about it

Unless you're exceptionally leggy, no one is getting squashed by the seat front.

I think some people just enjoy being hostile and complaining.

notimagain I’m well aware some passengers on day flights may be on a different time zone, come off a night flight or just exhausted for some other reason. I’ve been that person. I still don’t think it’s ok to squash the person behind you who (it is likely) will not want to sleep. It’s something you suck up as part of having booked a day flight. Whereas on a night flight it is fair to assume the person behind you also wants to sleep, and therefore ok to recline.

Obviously opinions differ and this is mine.

@minipie

Opinions are fine but there's the practicalities - one of many problems with having "daytime"/"night time" rules for seats is how heck do you codify it...??

Take a fairly typical flight out of Heathrow for Los Angeles, say a 1600 UK departure, 11 hours sector, gets into LAX about 0300 UK time (early evening West Coast). Most of the the year it's daylight all the way....do you force everyone to sit bolt upright the whole flight?

OTOH Eastbound, some Far East Routes, UK PM departure you'll be daylight for maybe a couple of hours, then have a very short night, then another chunk of daytime...how does that work ? Up...down allowed...up?

Well the airlines dim the lights on night flights and not on day flights. So they seem to be able to codify it perfectly well. Of course it’s always a compromise, they are estimating what will suit most passengers best, but as a passenger I would follow the example set by the lighting and reckon that dimmed = ok to recline.

On your LHR- LAX example I would expect lights to be dimmed for about 6/7 hours of that flight (maybe 9/10pm London time to 1/2 hrs before landing). It’s reasonable to assume most people departing LHR will be on London time so will want to sleep for at least some of that window.

I think you are right @minipie that opinions differ vastly on this topic and whilst you can do you, I don’t think you can impose your own thoughts on this on others.

There are any number of reasons why a traveller would want to or need to recline their seat on a long flight and provided they are considerate enough to return to upright during the meal service, my view is that they are perfectly at liberty to do so. The airlines have determined that seats can recline for a reason. Why should your comfort as the passenger in the behind seat trump the comfort of the passenger in the forward seat who may be jet lagged, very tall or have an injury which makes them more comfortable in a semi reclined position? Reclining a seat does not mean that the person behind has less leg room or that the seat will touch their body in any way, it just means that part of the top of the seat in front is slightly closer to you and slightly cramps the table space available.

If you don’t want this, you could always book front row or bulkhead seats on the plane to ensure that you are not affected but otherwise the guaranteed personal space you have purchased to occupy on the plane is that with the seat in front reclined and if the passenger in front chooses to stay upright, that is a bonus not an entitlement.

We did this on our last Orlando flight. On the way out the configuration was 2 - 4 - 2, which was great as, as a couple, we could have one of the two's and only had each other to disturb.

On the way back the plane was a 3 - 3 - 3 configuration and I chose the middle for the same reason. No matter which side we sat, we'd have a random person next to us, so we might as well be able to get out when we needed to without disturbing someone. It was a night flight too, so nothing to see out the window anyway. The plane ended up having cameras on the tail and undercarriage so we could watch the London skyline as we came in to land that way.

Of course, muggins here got stuck in the middle seat between DH and another man, so I ended up telling DH to bugger off the arm rest between us, as he had two, the man next to me had two and I was stuck in the middle with none, and I'm not exactly a wee waif of a thing myself.

I hate the middle seat! We always go for aisle seats, so we're still next to each other, but both can get in and out easily.