Anonymous wrote:If United still has the daytime flight to London, highly recommend that. Arrived in time for a late dinner, went to bed and started the next day fresh.

That was cut in 2023. In theory they were going to restore it for summer 2025, but decided not to.

https://simpleflying.com/united-airlines-follows-delta-air-lines-cutting-daytime-europe-flights/

Anonymous wrote:If flying Polaris with UA to LHR, there is an Arrivals Lounge (with hot showers, the day's newspapers, and a hot breakfast) at LHR. It makes a huge favorable difference if one takes the earlier flight and has business meetings the first day in London.

The BA arrivals lounge is also great. A shower and bacon sandwich sets you right.

If United still has the daytime flight to London, highly recommend that. Arrived in time for a late dinner, went to bed and started the next day fresh.

I actually think the 6:30. They give you dinner at 11 pm on the late flight on United and they also wake you up for breakfast so I don't find it any easier to sleep. Honestly Dulles to LHR is great in the sense that it's basically going to SFO if you make up time but it's just an awkward amount of time.

If flying Polaris with UA to LHR, there is an Arrivals Lounge (with hot showers, the day's newspapers, and a hot breakfast) at LHR. It makes a huge favorable difference if one takes the earlier flight and has business meetings the first day in London.

Anonymous wrote:I am the outlier. I prefer the early flight as I find it very hard to sleep on planes. If I get the late flight, I’m tired and it’s terrible not being able to fall asleep. Even if I finally managed to fall asleep, they turned the lights on early and noise began so I feel horrible waking up after only an hour. If I get a 6pm-ish flight, I’m not tired and don’t try to sleep. But I find it relatively easy to power through till 7pm on the day of arrival. Sometimes, I am ready to crash at 5 pm on the second day though.

I have done this before if I can get into my lodging early. Or staying with family or friends. The absolute best experience I've ever had with jet lag I made it to a friend's house in London by 8am. Slept until noon. Woke up and then went to bed at normal time that evening.

If you have to really be on the go all day from 7 or 8am with zero sleep, it's ROUGH.

I prefer the later one but will do the early one if needed. I am on the 6:30 flight in 2 weeks - we get in at 6 am and will sleep for a few hours after we arrive which will hopefully help to get acclimated. The 6:30 was much less expensive so there we are.

And agree with the risk of delays - I almost missed a connection at LHR last year because the late flight didn't leave until 2 am.

Anonymous wrote:I always go for the later flight, but I will say that it can be brutal when there is a delay. Leaving at 2 or 3 am is rough.

Fingers crossed that won't happen!

Later. IAD not at all crowded at that time. Check in and security is not crazy. Same with LHR T2 when you land.

I always go for the later flight, but I will say that it can be brutal when there is a delay. Leaving at 2 or 3 am is rough.

Later for sure, I hate landing in the early am and having to push through a very long day. We like the late flight out of Dulles bc we get in, tube to our hotel, can usually check in and get freshened up a little, and then explore and have dinner without feeling like we're going to pass out from exhaustion.

Anonymous wrote:Also - you can book the hotel room for the day before and check in early

We have a million people with us so we are staying in an apt rental, but they let us drop off luggage at 1030am and if no one stayed the night before let us check in then too. So hopefully that works out.

Also - you can book the hotel room for the day before and check in early

I am the outlier. I prefer the early flight as I find it very hard to sleep on planes. If I get the late flight, I’m tired and it’s terrible not being able to fall asleep. Even if I finally managed to fall asleep, they turned the lights on early and noise began so I feel horrible waking up after only an hour. If I get a 6pm-ish flight, I’m not tired and don’t try to sleep. But I find it relatively easy to power through till 7pm on the day of arrival. Sometimes, I am ready to crash at 5 pm on the second day though.

Those flights to Europe that arrive so early are mainly for

- business travelers who have meetings that day (maybe flying business class with better chance of sleeping or having made arrangements to shower somewhere or freshen up before work)
- people connecting to other flights

I find them brutal for reasons others have mentioned

- by the time you're ready to sleep, they're serving a breakfast and prepping the plane for landing
- little chance of checking into hotel until late in the day
- what to do with luggage if you're staying somewhere like an AirBnb

I've fallen asleep standing up on a walking tour in London after one of those 7:00 am arrivals.