7 nights vs 8 nights

[sontino]

We are going to visit my sister who lives abroad (long haul). We can either get 7 nights flying Saturday-Saturday with the return which lands at 7am Sunday morning. Or we can do 8 nights Saturday-Sunday with the return that lands at 5:30am Monday.

We’d be working on the Monday but could work from home. What would you do?

I would do 7 nights and then have the Sunday to chill out before going back to work but if you don't mind sleeping on the plane and going straight to work then do that.

Personally I'd take the Monday off and do the 8 nights, the longer the better for any holiday! Especially long haul!

If you can't take the Monday off then I'd come back on the Sunday morning, have a day to do the washing, food shop etc and an early bed if tired from the flight.

I'd do 7 as I'd rather have that extra relax time

I’d do 8 nights but I’m quite used to getting off the plane and straight into work. Are your hours flexible? Could you grab a nap early afternoon and then power through for the rest of the day? I think if you sleep on the flight (although with a 5am landing comes a 5pm take off so I doubt it…), plus the nap, you should be able to make it. It also depends what kind of job it is - do you have to be awake and alert for meetings etc?

If you couldn't take the Monday off I'd arrive back on the Sunday.

A night flight straight into work would make for an awful Monday that I would dread in advance and not be worth the extra night.

How many time zones are you crossing? In my head I'd try to maximise my holiday, but in reality of you are crossing a lot of timezones and you are jetlagged as well, I think I'd be concerned about struggling to work a full day.

We did a short haul 1 week holiday last year which should have landed at 3am Monday meaning we'd be home for 4.30am to grab 3 or so hours sleep before WFH. We were delayed so ended up getting home at 6.30am. I could have and should have booked an extra days annual leave bur didn't think!

My job is fairly chilled but there’s no way I could fly all night and go straight into work, although to some extent it does depend on timezones / which direction you are flying / what cabin class you are in. Also what if you are delayed? I’d do the 7 nights and have a day to catch up.

I could fly all night and go to work when I got back my husband couldn't!
As soon as I get on a plane I can literally go to sleep, most times I'm asleep as soon as we take off, my husband no matter how hard he tries simply cannot sleep, I'm usually still asleep when we touch down on the tarmac 🤣🤣 no matter what time the flight is, I 😴 sleep!