Long haul flights are simply the only way to travel to the other side of the world for Australians sadly (when is teleportation going to be invented??) and I know that for a fact as I take the standard 24+ hours of flying to reach France, my second home and this is how I survive the dreadful economy long haul flight when time seems to slow down to a snail pace.
SET YOUR CLOCK TO YOUR DESTINATION
By setting your phone or watch to the time of your destination when you get onto the plane can help set your body clock for your trip and reduce jet lag, this means only going to sleep when the time of your destination is either night time or early morning. This hack is slowly becoming the norm for aviation as we take a step further to non-stop flights to and from Australia with Qantas recent testing from both London and New York to Sydney. But if you have stop overs, its perhaps best to change the time to that location during your stop over if you don’t want to forget your next flight!
BRING YOUR OWN HEADPHONES
I had recently flown with Qatar Airlines from Australia to France for the first time and being my typically self, I had looked at alot of youtube reviews of the airline and found that the headphones provided in economy were not the best and being on a flight thats around 15 hours long than another one for 8+ hours, this can make your flight a struggle. So I highly recommend bringing your own headphones that you can plug into the headphone jack as it can help block sound out and also means you can actually hear what you are listening too!
SEATING
Whilst the argument of where is the best part of the place (not including anything above economy) wages on. I had personally found that seats at the front of the plane (such as the A380) where economy were the first rows are was the more quieter part of the plane as the engines are behind you and most of the time, it feels more private as the section had less seating, therefore less likely to have children in the section. I had also seen before my trip that the front of the plane is less impacted by turbulence and my flight from Melbourne to Doha was perhaps one of the most smooth flights I have ever been on! because turbulence and me do not mix well.
LAYERS
Blankets that airlines provide can be a hit and a miss (except Qatar’s blankets which were the best that I have used! nice and thick to keep you warm throughout the flight) so its ideal to bring some items that can keep you warm. There is nothing more worse than getting shivers all night long that can prevent you from getting essential sleep.
MEDICINE
Whilst I think most flights have the standard headache medicine onboard. If you are fussy on your tablets etc. its a good idea to bring your own especially if its also anxiety targeted ones which I had taken a couple of times for my trip to France as I hadn’t flown for so long (I only get some anxiety when taking off, landing and turbulence! so the oil I had worked well)
BEING ACTIVE
Sitting for such a long time can seem like a death sentence, and it can definitionally create jet lag symptoms, swollen legs or other health issues so its essential to try and get up for a walk or even stretch when you are waiting to use the toilet or even in your seat! This can also help break up the long periods of sitting down.
Also another way to be active during the flight is to drink alot of water to also help prevent dehydration and jet lag but also means trips to the toilet for most!
WHEN NOT FLYING SOLO
I had did this hack recently and loved it. Rather than my sister and I having our own personal items such as a backpack each, we made sure we only had one between us which meant that one of us got more leg room during the flights because we did not have an item in front of us!
EARPLUGS, EYE MASKS & TRAVEL PILLOWS
Whilst airlines typically provide earplugs and eye masks on long haul flights, if you have your own that work well – bring them as they can be a life saver when it comes to trying to sleep. On my flight from Doha to Melbourne, I had a baby right next to me that would cry for a bit every now and then which was not a big deal to me but having earplugs and a eye mask helped to reduce the level of noise and lighting from other passengers and the plane.
Depending on the aircraft and how updated the seating are, headrests can be a hit or a miss. For example – on my A380 flight from Melbourne to Doha, the headrests could fold up to 90 degrees, so that allowed me to not use my travel pillow which was fantastic but on both flights from Paris to Melbourne, the headrests were bulky and could not fold! and it was also a really uncomfortable placement when I used my travel pillow as-well. So always bring a travel pillow of any kind to help make your flight a bit more comfy.
CHARGING CORDS
There is nothing more worse than realising that your phone/devices cords are in your checked luggage, so always remember to pack one so that you can charge your device whilst on the long flight, play games or watch/ read anything that you have on your phone.
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