Long Flights

[marine6357]

I will be making my first visit to the Philippines in September and was hoping to get some tips or tricks to help with long flights. This will be my first time traveling non stop on an airplane of over 7 hours and was wondering how bad can 13 or more hours get? Was thinking of breaking the trip up some to alleviate some of the longer flights. Possible flying thru a different route to get there. Time is not a factor so making shorter hops and longer overall travel time is not a problem.
Also what is the longest non stop flight you have ever been on?

[Dave Hounddriver]

13 minutes ago, marine6357 said:

what is the longest non stop flight you have ever been on?

You may get some answers to that on this thread from last week:

 

[Guy F.]

The secret to dealing with jet lag is Ambien. Ask your doctor for a prescription. Taking a couple during a long flight will make it bearable.

Edited April 2, 2018 by Guy F.

[JDDavao II]

We used to do 10+ from Seattle to Narita and that was rough. Add the Narita to Manila leg of 5 hours with a 3-hour break at Narita and we were zombies when we landed.

If I had my way, I'd fly the West Coast, US to Honolulu and stay overnight (or a day or two). That gives you about  5 - 8 - 5 hours of flight spread out a bit. A stay overnight in Narita would help, too.

Other than that, all I can offer is: get up a walk around when you can. Try to sleep if you can. Water yourself when you can.

[JDDavao II]

1 minute ago, Guy F. said:

The secret to dealing with jet lag is Ambien. Ask your doctor for a prescription.

I tried the sublingual Melatonin tabs to reset my rhythm for my first trip to the Philippines. They seemed to help.

[Guy F.]

Melatonin works but doesn't wear off quickly enough. I still feel 'off' 12 hours later.

[Jollygoodfellow]

Make sure you move about on long flights. Don't want to get deep vein thrombosis.  https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dvt/travel.html

[marine6357]

15 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

make sure you move about on long flights. Don't want to get deep vein thrombosis.

Yes Very good advice. Don't have any issues with blood clotting but never can be too safe.

[Jollygoodfellow]

1 minute ago, marine6357 said:

Don't have any issues with blood clotting

I think the first you would know about it is after the fact. 

[marine6357]

10 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

I think the first you would know about it is after the fact.

Probably true. My brother in law does suffer from a large clot in his leg and that does restrict him from any long periods of sitting. So overseas flights are not in his future.

I do wonder if taking aspirin before and during the flight would be beneficial to help lower the risks of problems?

Edited April 2, 2018 by marine6357