Long Haul or Ultra Long Haul Flights? No Problem, Here Are Some Tips To Make It More Comfortable
Going on a long haul or ultra long haul trip can be very daunting especially if there is no stop over and you’re flying in economy class, while everybody is different here are some of our tips that can help improve your flight to make it more comfortable:
Select better airlines
Not all airlines are created equally! This statement is pretty much accurate when comparing all available airlines that offers the same destination country that you plan to visit.
While different airlines charges different fare, more expensive ticket does not always translate to better experience than the cheaper ones unless of course you’re paying business or first class suite. We’ll be discussing specifically on economy class.
We’re going to use example from San Francisco (SFO) to Tokyo either Narita (NRT) or Haneda (HND) while there are so many selection of airlines, some of them are much better than others. Typically from our experience flying with airlines that are owned by Asian countries are much better than flying with US owned airlines from punctuality, seats, foods, services both on and off the plane. All of these adds up and over time make a big difference when you land at your destination.
We’re not saying that all US owned airlines are bad, we had decent experiences when flying with them but it’s a whole different experience when you fly with the likes of JAL, ANA or Singapore Airlines.
Select better seating
If you’re traveling solo and don’t really care on where you sit then this will not be an issue. On an long haul flight flight where you sit can have an impact on how well you can rest or how comfortable it is, usually for us if the flight is 2 hours or less then it doesn’t really matter much but if it’s over 7 hours then we prefer to select our seats (depending on the fare and airlines you may have to cough up a few more $ just to select a better seating).
If you’re traveling with an infant or young children, you may want to get the extra leg room seating because having that extra space can make a huge difference not just for you but for your child as well as other passengers.
Depending on the layout of the seating most common 3-4-3, 2-4-2 and 3-3-3, the ones that we dislike the most is the middle seat if flying alone. Each seating has their own pros and cons, window seat will give you a little extra space to sleep but you have to go through people to get to the restroom. Aisle seat can give you quick access to the restroom however more often than not you can’t really sleep much since you will likely get bumped by others walking in the aisle. Not to mention which row that you are sitting at, some of them are better than others. So our advise is to select the ones that you like the most and fits your party’s preferences.
Download movies into your personal devices
If you’re flying 7 hours and up most likely you will not be able to sleep for the entire flight and having entertainment can help make the time passes by. Flying overseas most airlines will have an IFE (Inflight Entertainment) and they will have movies, music, games and others. However not every airlines have a good variety of selections and if they do, you may not like it.
This is why we highly recommend downloading movies or series into your personal devices such as a tablet or laptop, download those series or movies from Netflix or Crunchyroll or whichever services that you use and binge them while you’re on the flight. We’ve done both with and without downloading and bringing our device makes quite a difference and more enjoyable during our trip.
Noise canceling headphones
All economy flights provided headphones are very basic and often not comfortable to use, it is much better to bring your own especially ones with a good noise canceling feature.
Use comfortable clothing
Quite some people didn’t really think much about clothing during the flight, most will think about what what the weather will be on the destination and wears the clothing that is fit for that weather. However this can make your time during flight becomes uncomfortable, for example the destination’s weather is cold due to winter and one wears thick clothing but the airplane temp is always warm during the flight you will not be enjoying your time during the flight.
This is why we recommend wearing something that is comfortable like loose-fitting and layering in case it is too hot or too cold during the flight
Bring your own snack
Bringing your own snack can save you money and you get to snack things that you like. Ordering food midflight (if they offer it) can be very expensive and even then it may not be good as well. Long haul flights will have food served and again as I mentioned earlier that not all airlines are created equally, some have better foods than others even though it has the same origin and destination.
As you can see the differences are staggering and this is why bringing your own snack can help when you can’t really eat the food that are provided during the flight.
Bring your own pillow or neck pillow
Having your own pillow or neck pillow can really help you sleep and rest better, airline pillows are usually thin and doesn’t really help much. Having your own that you’re comfortable with to use definitely helps give you a better rest
There are much more other things that you can do to make your flight more comfortable but you know yourself better than others and what works with others may not work for you and vice versa, let us know what you like to do to make your flight more comfortable on a long or ultra long haul flight.