Surviving Long Flights

[DoubleF]

Long flight? Try to sleep. If that doesn't work, iPad isn't bad for movies, games etc.

Things to bring:
- Entertainment (this is subjective. Can be books, music, booze, pills, women/men whatever)
- Ear plugs or earphones. You'd be surprised how much nicer it is to not have droning sounds in your ears.
- Snacks. Not necessarily for the plane. Grab a line of arrowroot cookies. Will save your ass if you end up at a location with no food etc. Or stuck in a stupid long line up of sorts.
- Print off of your information and any other info like maps. Expecting wifi is a bad idea.
- Read reviews. I once went on a "short walk" per a map app. 6x the estimated time later... I angrily stomped over to my destination.
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[Pontine]

Ah those long flights. I just got back from the Philippines and there's lots of great tips here.

On the flight back there was no personal entertainment system on the back of the seat, so don't always expect to have one. Luckily I had tv shows loaded on to my iPad and I had my PS Vita.

Something I haven't seen mentioned yet is a cushion for your butt lol. It gets really uncomfortable after a while, especially if you're trying to sleep.

[psicodude]

I fly a fair bit for my job and have found that I get really bored if I count on one type of entertainment for the entire flight. Put a movie or two on your ipad, install a couple of games that don't require an internet connection, grab a few TV shows (I love mindless crap like Cops or Top Gear) and purchase a book or magazine. I recently purchased a Surface Pro 3 because it can do all of the above, but mostly because it can run most of my Steam games.

Purchase one of those neck pillow things, wear socks so you can take your shoes off, and bring some snacks. As Ken0042 said above, get yourself one of those portable battery charger things. They are a life saver!

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by psicodude

purchase a book or magazine.

http://www.nextissue.ca/

[psicodude]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

http://www.nextissue.ca/

I recently purchased a Surface Pro 3 because it can do all of the above

[DownhillGoat]

^ya I caught that. It was more for the OP :P

[Flames89]

Some thoughts:
- I find loading an iPad with gripping tv shows better than movies. For some reason, getting interrupted mid- tv show (to finish it hours to days later) is far better than a movie.
- for long flights you will want one of those douchy inflatable neck pillows.
- as soon as you are on the plane, pretend you are in the timeline of where you are going. Middle of the night when you board? Go into sleep mode right away.
- a couple drinks, a melatonin, and a sleeping pill go a long way. If they buy you an extra hour or two of sleep, you will be thankful
- for long hauls, ignore dressing well.

[psicodude]

^ Oh, my bad.

I should have added that I use the full version of "AVPlayerHD" if I am using the Ipad for movies. Really easy to copy movies to it via wifi.

[MacDaddy77]

Originally Posted by ernie

My advice to take or not when it comes dress. You are traveling for business so don't wear something you wouldn't wear if you were traveling with your boss.

Traveling for recreation...wear whatever you want.

I agree with you if your on a shirt haul flight. If your on a long distance flight why wear a suit if your going to be flying for 5+ hrs? You can easily change out of and into a suit when you clear security and upon landing

[ricosuave]

compression socks and frequent walks up and down the aisle
neck pillow

[MRCboicgy]

Yep, if you are able to choose your airline, do the research first - such as the previous comment about Air Canada's high-density 777s. if you want more info on the +/- of the airlines - ask here, there are enough avgeeks that will help.
Other than that, take an aisle seat, and when you aren't sleeping walk a bit and get lots of water. My biggest issue with flying to Asia was the dehydration.

[burn_this_city]

What layout is the sardine can 777? We're flying to Heathrow and the plane changed from 767 to 777.

[Tapestar]

Refer to this website to check the best seats on any given aircraft.
http://www.seatguru.com/

[bubbsy]

i used to travel a lot for work earlier on in my career... before the tablet craze took over.

Now the trips were not as long as the ones to Asia, as they averaged about 6-8 or so hours. I actuallly loved the trips. It was an escape to have zero connectivity for some time, no emails/calls/txts/bbms, and on those international flights i'd get a chance to catchup on some work on the laptop, but hated that, so spent my time enjoying the free booze, taking plenty of books to read, watching movies, and just getting some alone time with the ipod and some shuteye.

i'd suggest you get yourself a nice tablet with enough space to put the shows/movies/magazines you like on it. keep some hardcopy books on hand in case of low battery issues.

Oh and regardless of price, i always eat plenty in the airports so as to reduce the amount of plane food i have to consume.

[stampsx2]

I wish civ 5 worked on ipad. That's a solid 100 hours right there.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

What layout is the sardine can 777? We're flying to Heathrow and the plane changed from 767 to 777.

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Air...ER_77W_new.php

[Ahuch]

Tablet with some TV shows + movies, Cellphone with music on it, a decent pair of headphones, earplugs, and I can't stress this enough - an eye-shade. There's always some person who wants to leave the window open or use the reading light for 6 hours during a red-eye flight home.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Tapestar

Refer to this website to check the best seats on any given aircraft.
http://www.seatguru.com/

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Air...ng_777-300.php

I got me some sweet, sweet 19H on this for my flight to Frankfurt. Can't wait for dat legroom.

[littlereddevil]

Make sure you get a good airplane seat pillow, and get up periodically every hour or so to do some stretching. May sound silly doing the stretching, but your back, neck and legs will thank you. Nothing worse than having dead legs after a long flight.

Crosswords and mind puzzles are also not a bad idea. Quick way to pass by the time. I find when I'm more actively engaging my brain time just seems to whip by.

Now I'm a student and obviously it's a little easier for me, where I can just catch up on missed readings, etc.

But that isn't stopping you from catching up on the latest business news and economic theories am I right?