First Red Eye Flight

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are typically full because they are typically the cheapest fares.

They are miserable. I stopped doing red eyes in my late 30s when I decided I was too old for that inconvenience. Nobody at my office flies red eyes anymore.

I wish they had more nonstop International flights during the day. Flying overnight is miserable.

+1. They are for amateur fliers who are looking for cheap seats. Except in extreme emergency, I’m way over them.

This is OP, I guess I’m an amateur flyer then. I’m usually United Gold, which means I’m a pretty regular flyer. United Platinum and 1k, the “professional flyer” tiers come with more perks, but if I ever got to that level, I would hate my life. Too much time in planes is not a good thing.

In addition to being an amateur flyer, I’m also poor, at least by DCUM standards. By booking the red eye, we save about $3,000. Each of the four flights is a savings of $500, which equals $2000 total. Additionally, we save about $300 on additional hotel night, additional car rental and meals. $3,000 in DCUMlandia, is chump change, but for us poors, it’s a lot of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree. I have taken a daytime flight to London at least three times. Wish there were more to Europe. But then I can’t sleep easily on planes. I think I did twice: long flights to Asia + business class+ Ambien.

I’ve flown to Asia a couple times and couldn’t sleep. I even had a couple drinks and a sleeping pill, which I know is pretty dumb, and still no shut eye. Probably due to the fact that I’m always stuck in economy.

[Anonymous]

I've done this a few times, LAX to JFK. It's not bad. You get on and after an hour or so they turn off the lights and people go to sleep. I have always taken half an Ambien though, so I can drop off. You will feel tired the next day so plan lightly, but it's nice to navigate going from airport to hotel in the daylight. One thing about going west to east is that a lot of flights leave super early, so you have to get up very early morning anyway, or you arrive at like 10 pm, which I hate. Take earplugs or noise canceling headphones, sleep mask. Sometimes they give them to you, I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are typically full because they are typically the cheapest fares.

They are miserable. I stopped doing red eyes in my late 30s when I decided I was too old for that inconvenience. Nobody at my office flies red eyes anymore.

I wish they had more nonstop International flights during the day. Flying overnight is miserable.

This is OP. Price is exactly why I booked the flight. It was half the price of the day time flights. This is a significant amount of money for a family of four. I am hoping the flight will be half full, but we’ll see.

Why would it be half full?

Based on my experience, the plane will be packed with families with cranky kids in their Jammies.

The cheaper flights are always full. The more expensive flights fill up last—if at all.

[Anonymous]

I’ve done it a bunch and they are not pleasant, but they get you to where you need to go for the right price. I find them far more uncomfortable than flights to Europe (smaller planes, domestic service). The benefit is that they are shorter flights as well. Try to get as comfortable as you can, but also bring entertainment options because I find them incredibly hard to sleep on.

[Anonymous]

The flight will be full.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The flight will be full.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are typically full because they are typically the cheapest fares.

They are miserable. I stopped doing red eyes in my late 30s when I decided I was too old for that inconvenience. Nobody at my office flies red eyes anymore.

I wish they had more nonstop International flights during the day. Flying overnight is miserable.

This is OP. Price is exactly why I booked the flight. It was half the price of the day time flights. This is a significant amount of money for a family of four. I am hoping the flight will be half full, but we’ll see.

Why would it be half full?

Based on my experience, the plane will be packed with families with cranky kids in their Jammies.

The cheaper flights are always full. The more expensive flights fill up last—if at all.

I’m OP, I guess it’s wishful thinking that flight isn’t full. I realize that if routes had half-empty planes, airlines would squash the route.

[Anonymous]

I find I can tolerate them if my schedule allows me to go home and crash for a few hours once I arrive. The real challenge is that the flights from the west coast to the east coast are too short to get enough sleep - even if you are in first class.

[Anonymous]

My family took a red eye from Phoenix to DC last year after Spring Break. It's my kids' first. It's fine. The plane was quiet and dark for the majority of the flight and we each got about 4 hours of sleep. We arrived home on a Sunday morning and took it easy that day. For a saving of 3k it's a no brainer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My family took a red eye from Phoenix to DC last year after Spring Break. It's my kids' first. It's fine. The plane was quiet and dark for the majority of the flight and we each got about 4 hours of sleep. We arrived home on a Sunday morning and took it easy that day. For a saving of 3k it's a no brainer.

That entire flight is 4 hours. There's no way you got 4 hours of sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're usuall in the air for about 5 hours eastbound, but if you add the preparing the cabin for landing and making various announcements on departure, there's really about 4 hours max of time when the cabin is quiet and you can rest. They dim the lights and everyone tries to sleep. How well that works is up to you.

So you arrive with only haflf a night's sleep.

The alternative is a day flight, but you lose the day due to timezones. For example the 8:30am flight from SFO arrives at 4:30pm.

I prefer losing a day as opposed to losing a night of sleep!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are typically full because they are typically the cheapest fares.

They are miserable. I stopped doing red eyes in my late 30s when I decided I was too old for that inconvenience. Nobody at my office flies red eyes anymore.

I wish they had more nonstop International flights during the day. Flying overnight is miserable.

+1. They are for amateur fliers who are looking for cheap seats. Except in extreme emergency, I’m way over them.

Disagree about them being for amateurs and bargain hunters. My husband is Global Services and still always chooses the red eye because he doesn’t like wasting time, losing a whole day and spending all that time awake on a day flight.

He goes to sleep as soon as the plane is in the air, takes a brief nap at home and then is good to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are typically full because they are typically the cheapest fares.

They are miserable. I stopped doing red eyes in my late 30s when I decided I was too old for that inconvenience. Nobody at my office flies red eyes anymore.

I wish they had more nonstop International flights during the day. Flying overnight is miserable.

+1. They are for amateur fliers who are looking for cheap seats. Except in extreme emergency, I’m way over them.

Disagree about them being for amateurs and bargain hunters. My husband is Global Services and still always chooses the red eye because he doesn’t like wasting time, losing a whole day and spending all that time awake on a day flight.

He goes to sleep as soon as the plane is in the air, takes a brief nap at home and then is good to go.

Ah our resident GS poster who mentions it every chance they get!

If he’s GS he’s probably in first/biz which is a different set of considerations. That’s not OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree. I have taken a daytime flight to London at least three times. Wish there were more to Europe. But then I can’t sleep easily on planes. I think I did twice: long flights to Asia + business class+ Ambien.

I love the daytime flight to London, I SOOOO wish there were more flights like that. I cannot sleep on planes so red eyes to Europe wreck me.