How do people feel about night flights?

[Beachdaytoday13]

Going short haul to Greece/Spain, I usually always try to book morning flights for around 8am. That way we are usually at the hotel by about 3oclock in the afternoon. Then usually try to fly home at around 11am. That way we are not either rushing or hanging around to get home.

We’ve found a holiday we want to book but the only flights are late evening. Landing at after 9pm.

We did a night flight years ago and by the time we’d landed and got to the hotel it was the very early hours of the morning. I said I’d never do it again. But there are no morning flights at all.

What do people prefer?

Morning flights for me if at all possible. I prefer to arrive during daylight hours if I can.

Also, you will have been paying for the day in your hotel but didn't actually get there in time for any of it. I always think that is a waste, and a day of the holiday totally lost.

With kids or without?

Now it’s just me and DH I don’t mind a night flight .. can chill on a sunbed the following day if we’re tired …. Not so much fun with kids though

Not too bad going but coming back often awful. We flew to Crete recently and got to hotel about 11.30 pm which was 9.30 in UK so fine for a night's sleep. Coming home flight was 11.15 pm. We got into our house at 3.30am UK time which was 5.30 am greek time. Fortunately we are retired so it doesn't matter but I felt awful on the plane.

I prefer lunchtime or afternoon but would do evening as you describe. Early morning flights are what I avoid!

It wouldn't bother me. Morning flights are preferable, but and evening flight isn't the end of the world.

Just check that wherever you're staying doesn't have a cut off time for the reception desk to be open.

Short haul I prefer a morning flight but long haul is good at night .

Long haul overnight flights are bloody brilliant - take a melatonin and sleep the whole way.

Short haul night flights are the work of the devil.

I’d avoid if I could but if I wasn’t travelling with kids and had a relatively short, private transfer at the Greek end I’d do it to get the resort I wanted

I wouldnt call landing at 9pm a night flight. That would be ok.

My version of a night flight - leaving 1am, changing planes at 6am, getting destination at 10am was pure torture with 2 kids - one of whom has never slept on a plane.

Will be travelling with one 11 year old, so not too bad.

There is an option to land at 9pm and another option to land at 11pm but the slightly earlier one is a couple of hundred pounds more.

Thinking of paying extra for the private taxi transfer.

The only other option would be to go somewhere else entirely.

I would understand "a night flight" to mean an overnight flight where you land in the early hours of the morning - usually long haul.

Landing late is just an evening flight.

I wouldn't do this unless there were exceptional circumstances (family emergency or something like that).

It's not a good idea to land in an unfamiliar foreign country when it is dark for a whole host of reasons including personal safety if using onward public transport and you can't actually see what your hotel/view is like and it's much more of a faff to raise complaints after you've spend the night there.

I usually choose mid afternoon flights because I finish work at 1.30 near the airport, it saves a days annual leave. Coming home we often don’t get back until late evening as no young kids … just personal preference

It's always a night flight on return when I fly long haul. I'm not a fan. I don't sleep during flights and I get annoyed when the lights are dimmed down to virtually nothing, then all you can see is everyone's mega bright seat screens. I always feel as though I'm being told to go to sleep.

My optimum flight times are the earliest flights there are. I love getting to the airport and being on one of the first flights of the day just as the sun is rising. 🌄

Greece is 2h ahead so it's only landing at 7. You'll get to the hotel in time to have a drink, shower, room service then go to bed without being shattered

Always think a late flight out means the first day doesn’t exist, you get there, wherever there is,and go to bed, that said , late flight back makes the holiday a bit longer,but you just end up waiting to go home, personally prefer early flight out and afternoon; back, but rarely happens

But there are hundreds of threads where people recommend staying at an airport hotel the night before your morning flight. You're still paying for another night before your holiday's properly begun. At least with a late flight you get to wake up already at your destination.

Actually you pay per night so technically you don't lose out in that respect.

As per another pp, I've got late flights to and from Crete this year. Not ideal.

I love a really early flight like 6 or 7am. Getting up at stupid o clock and getting to the airport super early to look at duty free etc sets my holiday up for the best start.

I am really scared of night flights I don't know why but I just prefer to be flying in daylight.

X

I love a night flight home. I would hate to get up, eat breakfast and leave. I like to enjoy my final day there to the maximum and a late night flight gets that. Outbound I’m less fussy about but prefer a morning flight again to maximise time away

For short haul flights of around 2-5 hours, the perfect flight is any time from 11am to 4pm. These are, of course, the most expensive. Easy to get transport to it, and at the other end (sometimes public transport) and the other travellers are relatively calm. After that, my choice would be early with an airport hotel. Or extremely late (i.e. to arrive at 3-5am). With my kids, I would opt for extremely late (sleep on flight, shove us in a taxi, for more sleeping). I reserve my hatred for the early evening flight if on popular short haul routes. Long Haul, no longer care, you are going to be up there for a long time, so whatever time they say you go, you go, and most people have a modicum of common sense around this sort of flight.

Long haul flights from Asia to Singapore are often night flights, so there isn't much choice.

For short haul flights, the downside of night flights, apart from the late arrival and availability of public transport home, are that they are more likely to be delayed due to knock on delays in earlier flights. In addition if there is a delay you may have to pay spend an extra night in the country before flying out the next morning.

That’s not too bad. I dislike a late flight coming home though.

Our flight this year, as it was last year, is 6.15am which means being at the airport for 4.15am. In theory it’s great because we’ll be at the hotel by 11am. However, if it’s anything like last year, I’ll be so tired I’ll have a cracking headache and spend the afternoon sleeping in bed.

I've only done one but didn't mind it, we got to our hotel at about 10.30, went to grab some food then unpacked before bed. We woke feeling well rested the next day and it was nice as DD knew we couldn't go straight to the pool when we got there due to the time do she went to sleep really easily.

I don't think I'd do for a 7 night holiday though as I would feel like I'm losing a day

I did it last year as I wanted to fly from a small regional airport and there was o only one flight per day. At the other end the transfer was o my 20 minutes so that helped. It was fine.

Landing at 9 pm would put me off because you're paying for a night in a hotel without a day's holiday first, we usually fly out at 6/7 am, have lunch on arrival and then go to the beach after dropping bags off at the hotel.

Can you fly to your destination from your second nearest airport at a better time.

There's so many places I want to go that the first step of narrowing it down is usually 'where can I go for sensible money with flights at the least inconvenient time' which to me is fly out around 7 am and return in the early evening if possible so we can make decent use of the last day. It's rare that we go somewhere that doesn't pass that test as we'd just park the idea, go somewhere else and see if there are better flights at another time. There must be several options in 'Greece/Spain' where you could go?