How to Survive a LONG HAUL FLIGHT from a Frequent Flyer

hey everyone welcome back to the channel let's face it long-haul flights are not very comfortable so this video I'm going to give you all of my tips to make that flight a bit more comfortable and how to help you adjust to your new time zone I do also have an Amazon travel must-haves video for long-haul flight let's get into it all right the first thing you need to do is just mentally prepare for your long-haul flight if it's I think I'm gonna say over five hours now we're talking Long Haul and that can be also within the United States so like LA to New York that's a long flight just gonna be in a better mind frame that you're going on a long-haul flight you may be crossing a few different time zones and just getting your body in mind ready for it I think is a great first step and on top of just immensely preparing that you're going to be going on a long-haul flight you can start peeping at your new time zone if you're changing time zones is when you get on the plane go to your iPhone and automatically set your own clock to the new time zone that way when you're checking your phone throughout the flight you know what time it is where you're landing and at first it's very jarring it's like oh my gosh it is 4 AM why am I up right now and it just helps get your mind ready for that new time zone another thing that you can do before long haul flight is consider doing some light exercise the day before a stretching session yoga a light walk just kind of get your body moving it's because you are going to be sitting in one position for many hours so I think if you have the opportunity definitely take the time to move your body stretch I would avoid though doing like really excessive exercise unless you do it on a regular basis like nothing is worse than being like completely sore on a long-haul flight but number three is picking your seat strategically now this isn't just like some two hour flight we are talking Long Haul and if you have the option I know this varies between Airlines some of them may be an extra charge but if the charge isn't too much then you're willing to spend I really really suggest having a seat assignment some Airlines they don't even like give you a seat assignment until check-in and if that's you you are going to be bound for a seat in the back and it's not going to be fun now it gets even more strategic than that obviously no one wants to sit in the middle seat if you're a middle seat lover leave a comment down below because I would like to know why okay but if you plan on sleeping during the flight definitely pick a Windows seat that way you can kind of lean on the seat no one's going to bother you if you have to use the bathroom though you're gonna have to ask two other people to either get up so if you are a sleeper if you don't want to be moved if you don't have to go in the bathroom a lot I would pick a window seat if you're like me I'm the type of person that needs to be able to get up when I want to get up so I am an aisle seat girl and if you are stuck in the middle just you know that's where the mentally preparing comes in you know I have another trick this is like my Pro tip if you are traveling in a group of two like me and Al always travel together so when I book my seats I book him on a window and I book myself in an aisle and I leave the middle seat open normally because no one wants to sit in the middle seat no one books that middle seat unless it's filled at check-in which happens quite often especially now because travel seems like every flight is full that I've been on recently but I think it's a better bet you may have a middle seat open it has worked out for us in the past so it's a gamble if if you are willing to take a gamble I recommend why not try it and also if you can avoid picking a seat near the bathroom that's where people hang out if they have to use the bathroom they usually just stand there and for me I think it's kind of distracting all right my next tip is be early very long haul flight nothing is more stressful than either missing a long-haul flight because rebooking that is a bit more challenging because most long-haul flights no matter where you're flying they don't have many options if you have a layover you're going to maybe delay your trip a day or two days I know it's boring if you arrive to the airport there's nothing to do the food really isn't that good but I think it's better than being stressed out you never know how long you're really gonna need at the airport last long halfway I was flying from Paris to New York and they always say arrive three hours early for an international and we needed every minute of those three hours the line to check our bags wasn't long but if you're checking bags you need to account for that line you need to account for security and if you're flying internationally back to the US they don't have like TSA Pre so everyone is in the same line so that took like an hour and you're also leaving the country so you have to go through custom that line took an hour and a half after we got to the Customs line our plane was already boarding and we were early for the airport allow yourself extra time just in case those things happen once you get on the plane It's Time to Get Cozy so wherever you're seating this is going to be your new home for the next five six ten plus hours so make it your own make it comfortable make sure all of your Essentials that you want to use throughout the plane are right right next to you or on the seat in front of you your headphones out get your blanket on because it's International I do give you a blanket if you're not flying an international flight I don't think they give you blankets so I love this travel blanket from Amazon it's super cozy you could bring your own blanket take off your shoes but please wear socks please better yet wear compression socks and just get comfortable because this is going to be your little place for the next couple hours down the seats with the antibacterial wipes get comfortable the next tip is to make sure you have all of your Essentials but to sum it up quickly I like to bring these these clear containers these are from Amazon and I keep my essentials in here because they're clear so on the plane they usually dim the light sometimes and you can actually see what's inside I would highly recommend bringing some eye drops I would bring deodorant lotion toothbrush and toothpaste I also have like an Electronics bag as well so I have everything that I'm gonna need on my plane right in front of me and if you've been enjoying this video so far please give it a thumbs up that helps YouTube recommend it to other Travelers like yourself so we can all endure a long-haul flight together next tip is to stay hydrate I know they say drink water drink water but for real drink some water so whenever they come by with a beverage cart always get a glass of water what I highly recommend just bringing your own water bottle so you know if you're thirsty you have something that you brought on you could also bring some liquid IV that helps with some electrolytes keep your hydration levels up my favorite flavor is passion fruit and tropical punch they're so good and let's talk about that wine card if you're flying International they do serve wine on the plane and they do not mind refilling your cup and if you want to keep your hydration levels up I highly recommend just skipping the wine cart altogether I know it's hard like and I am not one to judge like I love drinking wine but if you're serious about keeping hydrated the wine isn't really going to help you out I would honestly just limit it to just one glass if you're going to go for the wine the one thing about airplanes is that it's Extremely Loud To Survive a long-haul flight you're gonna need earplugs or noise canceling headphones noise canceling headphones are honestly just a savior because all that noise is just blocked out conversations are blocked out now if you don't have noise canceling headphones you have to bring some earplugs 100 don't know how I would do a long flight without earplugs or noise canceling headphones I don't even go on like a two-hour flight without it also if you're listening to a podcast or watching a TV the volume is at the perfect level if you don't have noise canceling you have to crank up the volume like to full volume and you still can't hear anything so the noise canceling headphones are just essential for a long-haul flight and to stay more comfortable I would definitely recommend bringing a neck pillow I love this one from Amazon it's an adjustable neck pillow and you can kind of form it to any weird position so it's super comfortable to wear around your neck it has like the foam in it is a bit more like sturdy but also if you just want to hold it if you just want to like cushion yourself against the seat I just love this pillow for any long-haul flight it's always best to be prepared and I would charge all of your electronics the day before or just before you get on the flight so that means your cell phone Kindle let's say you're using an iPad a computer keep all those charred you don't want to rely on the in-seat power outlets because sometimes they don't work and you don't want to wait it out to charge your devices to realize you cannot charge it and because sometimes those NC power outlets may not work I would pop a portable power bank that way you can charge your phone the laptop iPad just in case those don't work and another tip is to bring your own entertainment if it's an international flight you can bet there's going to be a TV in front of you but if you're flying Long Haul within the United States like LA to New York there may not be a TV on your plane so if that's the case I would recommend bringing your own entertainment whether that being podcasts TV shows that you downloaded and then also you can bring some non-electronical entertainment you could bring a book you could bring a card game if you want to play with like your friend that you're traveling with or your partner crossword puzzles Sudoku you can bring like little game books as well just to keep yourself entertained just in case there is no TV in front of you now before you go on a long-haul flight and if you want to listen to podcasts you have to pre-download them before you get on the plane and I would do it at home where the Wi-Fi is good I've been on a plane and try to download a podcast before takeoff and because the Wi-Fi service is horrible like on a plane doesn't download in time for the plane takes off and I have no podcasts and to double check downloading podcasts put your phone in airplane mode and play the podcast and if it works you're good to go because you're going to be on airplane mode on the plane and if it works on airplane mode you know for a fact that it's going to be working when you're on your flight speaking of in-flight entertainment and watching TV I would avoid too much screen time on a long-haul flight I know it's tempting to like binge an entire series on a plan I recently was watching The Morning Show on my last flight and it's so good and nearly had four episodes any way to walk and if you are flying like a red-eye International kind of flight definitely don't watch too much TV because you're supposed to be sleeping good things about a long-haul flight is that you were off of Wi-Fi you are basically disconnected from the world so if you need that time to like work on things it's like the perfect opportunity because you're not going to get emails you're not going to get text messages you can kind of just like really focus on anything that you're working on what are the things that you always wanted to do but never are able to get done at home like bring it on the plane like if you want to do a face mask do a face mask I usually do like under eye masks they're really nice bring a pen and paper and journal if you want to research something and you have the Wi-Fi like go do it like this is the time to kind of do those things that you never are able to do next tip is to wear your favorite comfortable clothing like it's essential to be comfortable right I would avoid jeans on a long-haul flight and I would avoid fabric that's not breathable and by the way I found the most comfortable airplane pant I will leave it on the screen right here they are from Amazon they are so so comfortable they're extremely lightweight so they aren't overheating and one of the things I forgot to mention in my Amazon travel must-haves video is that when you're finding airplane pants looking into the ankle band so I know a lot of like pants have like an elastic ankle band now if they're too tight once you sit down that ankle band rides up on your calf and it actually can really hurt so honestly avoid those ankle band like little elastic things around your ankle trust me I've actually worn a pair of pants that had an ankle band it bothered me the entire flight and thankfully the flight wasn't too long but avoid those that's why I like these Amazon pants because they're very flowy around the ankles and if you are worried about your feet getting cold I do recommend bringing some compression sock and also bring layers I know for me I get really warm and sweaty when I board the plane I feel like it's not as cold but once they're up in the air it does seem to cool down a lot definitely just bring some layers so you can adjust to whatever the cabin temperature is my next tip is just listen to your body you know flying through different time zones is really taxiing on yourself and if you feel like sleeping sleep and if that means you're sleeping at a weird time to where you're Landing just do it because if your body needs something I don't recommend you like forcing yourself to stay awake because whatever your body feels like doing do it if you sleep throughout the whole flight I mean amazing I mean I feel like our bodies react more to no sleep than having too much sleep over sleep one day I feel like it's not going to be as damaging as like really not sleeping at all the day before a long-haul flight be sure you get a great night's sleep just because like for me you can't really get a good sleep on the plane so if I had a bad night's sleep in my own bed and then have no sleep on a plane I'm gonna be like not in a good mood prep your body the day before have an amazing sleep go to bed early hydrated take a long shower and just like have a really great free night's sleep so once you get on that plane if you aren't able to fall asleep at least you had a really good night's sleep the day before and then here are some of my tips to trying to fall asleep on an airplane for me it's hard but I actually implemented this on my last flight and it really did help me out if you are flying a red-eye flight that could be from the west coast to the east coast within the United States or from the United States to Europe the first thing that you need to do when you get on that plane is trying to psych yourself down to go to sleep so take off your makeup brush your teeth kind of do your skincare routine usually on an international flight they do feed you right as soon as you get on the plane eat the Food they'll take it away and that's your moment to fall asleep even though you may not be tired put an eye mask on put your headphones or earplugs in put your blanket on and start closing your eyes if you can just kind of get your body into that sleeping mode at least trying to get some sleep help me out on my last flight you could also take some melatonin and make sure you have all the most comfortable clothing and then once you land how to adjust that time zone faster I mean the first day is always just like the weirdest feeling because you're just like super tired it's daytime the sun's out and your body is just so confused when you get to a new time zone try to eat in the same schedule as a regular meal so like if it's dinner time eat at dinner time and then try to stay awake until like your regular bedtime wherever you live try try to stay up until 10 so that you can sleep and kind of have an eight hour sleep schedule because if you fall asleep at six and you wake up eight hours later you're gonna be waking up at 2 A.M and your body's probably gonna be fine because it had eight hours of sleep but now you're up at 2 A.M so try to stay awake as long as possible it's so hard but if you are going to a place with sun try to get outside get that sun on your body so your body can know that you're in like a new time zone usually when I do that by the second day I'm good like I'm ready on the time zone so it's kind of just like adjusting that first night's sleep and you should be ready to go and last but not least bring your own snacks on the airplane international flights they do feed you but you can have a longer flight within the continental US from let's say the east coast to LA but they don't feed you anything even if the flight is like five hours like I find that so wild like how do they get away with it you have to bring your own snacks to get you through I love bringing these little Chomps these are beef jerky sticks and I find energy bars like the ones that are like normally sweet they literally do nothing for me I eat one and I'm starving so these kind of definitely cure my Hunger a bit more than those but I also like to bring a long haul foot like my own peanut butter jelly sandwich those are great because they don't have to be refrigerated the whole time you could bring string cheese yogurt but you have to eat it again like before takeoff just because you don't want it to be like sitting around too long those are more like my healthy snacks they also like to bring Trail made not allergies are a thing if someone does have a nut allergy on the plane they usually do announce it let me know if you do have enough allergy and what your experiences with that I never had my own situation where I couldn't eat my own trail mix and pretzels are also pretty good snack you can also bring your own snacks for an international snow flight but I do find the food that they do feed you is pretty filling so there you go those are all of my Long Haul flight tips for a better long-haul flight I hope you enjoyed this video and let me know down below where are your next Long Haul flight is I'd love to know where you're flying to and where you're flying from I also do have some other Amazon travel must-haves videos if you are traveling anywhere soon with that I hope you guys have an awesome day and I will see you in the next one bye

Channel: Dana Berez

Views: 84,989

Keywords: long haul flight essentials, long haul flight tips, long flight tips, long flight essentials, long flight, how to survive a long flight, how to survive a long haul flight

Id: L93-XaIVII4

Length: 15min 54sec (954 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 04 2023