We wouldn’t call ourselves frequent flyers, but we have boarded 23 planes in the past 2 years. Except for 4, these are all international flights, and 5 of them are intercontinental or long-haul flights. That counts for something, right? We learned a thing or two on how to survive long-haul flights from all these hours spent on planes, and we’ll be sharing them here.
Dreading to board that long flight to that awesome exotic destination? Here are some tips on how to take long-haul flights like an expert.
Life on long-haul flights
Some sources say long-haul flights are intercontinental ones, and some say they are flights taking 6 hours or longer. In any case, we’ve been on 5 and have found that no matter which airline you’re flying with, the facilities and services are more or less the same, but quality can vary.
The food on long-haul flights
We’ve flown with TUI (still JetAir at the time), Ukraine International Airlines, American Airlines and Emirates on our long-haul flights. We can’t remember everything, but I do know we were very impressed with the food from Emirates. We recently were on four 6 hour flights with them and loved the food on each and every one of them (keeping in mind it’s still airline food). You get plenty as well: bread, starter, main, dessert, complementary drinks (soft drinks, juices, beer and wine), water, and coffee or tea. Oh, and beforehand some mini pretzels and a drink as well.
Our longest flight was 14 hours from Sydney to Los Angeles, with American Airlines. The food on this flight was plentiful as well, and pretty good. We received the mini pretzels, dinner, a midnight snack (mini burger, mini hotdog and ice cream), and breakfast.
In theory you can ask for drinks (water at least) any time during the flight, free of charge. Often, there’s even a drinking water tap at the toilet. When you don’t have an aisle seat though, and you hate to be a needy passenger, it’s best to bring a bottle of water with you on the plane. I always like to have some mints or nuts with me too, just to pop something in my mouth after waking up from a nap.
The inflight entertainment on long-haul flights
The inflight entertainment on Emirates flights has been voted the best for years in a row. Having experienced it firsthand, we can totally agree. Except for that one screen malfunction, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed ICE, the Emirates inflight entertainment system. ICE is an acronym of information, communication, and entertainment. It keeps you up to date on news and sports, and helps you to stay connected with the world outside the plane. It has tons of movies (including recent ones), tv shows, music, radio, podcasts, and games. On some flights you can even watch live sports or tv.
Not all airlines provide this kind of top-notch inflight entertainment though. If I’m not mistaken, we didn’t have any personal screens on our first long-haul flight ever, with Ukraine International Airlines. Image my sheer excitement when discovering the touch screen and game console on our second long-haul flight ever with American Airlines.
I always have my Kindle and a puzzle book (love Sudoku!) with me as well, just to have an alternative to watching the screen for hours on end.
The service on long-haul flights
From our experience, the service on long-haul flights is pretty similar, whichever airline you’re flying with. You always get a pillow and a blanket, the basics for surviving a long-haul flight where you might need some sleep. When there’s inflight entertainment you get headphones as well. One time there even was an eye mask included.
How to survive layovers
Everybody hates layovers, but it’s a necessary evil if you want to save some money on long-haul flights. Layovers can be short and stressy or long and boring. I guess everyone prefers the one in between, where you have just enough time for a visit to the toilet, getting a snack, some water, and making it to the gate in time without having to run. In these last 2 years, we’ve experienced them all.
How to survive long and boring layovers
When the layover is long and boring, you better wish for free and fast WiFi and/or cosy chairs to sleep in. If you’re really lucky, there’s a movie theatre or a bowling alley close to the airport. I believe our longest layover was in Bangkok International Airport (or BKK for short), also known as Suvarnabhumi Airport. We had no less than 7.5 hours to kill. Luckily, there’s a railway connecting the airport to Bangkok. For about 150 baht per person we travelled to Siam Paragon shopping mall and back. There’s an impressive movie theatre called Paragon Cineplex, where we watched “Spider-Man: Homecoming”. Despite the fancy look of the place there wasn’t much choice in movies, but we really enjoyed this one!
To get there, you have to take the City Link to Phaya Thai, the final station, and transfer to the BTS Skytrain Sukhumvit Line to Samrong station. Allow for 45 minutes to an hour one way.
Our second longest layover was in Los Angeles International Airport (or LAX for short). We spent 5 hours of a 30 hour transit from Auckland to New York City in the domestic terminal of low-cost fares in LA. Have you been there? It doesn’t look like much, with little choice for food and a shitty Starbucks. Luckily the seats are comfortable and the WiFi is really fast.
How to survive short and stressy layovers
During that 30 hour transit from Auckland to New York City we had a short and stressy layover as well, in Sydney Airport. We had 2 hours to get out of the plane from Auckland and onto the one to Los Angeles. That seems plenty, don’t you think? That’s what we thought as well. We got out of the plane, through security and passed by the transit desk as instructed by the flight crew. The lady couldn’t find our flight however, and told us to check the big screens in the terminal for the gate and be there 1 hour before departure.
We planned to go check in first, but passed the Italian Bite and got hungry. We sat down for a quick pasta, as we weren’t sure how much food we were going to get on this 14 hour flight we’d board shortly. Suddenly they called our names over the speakers. *GASP* I know, we were two of those people wondering how the hell anyone managed to be late at the gate and had to be called over the speakers. Planning, people! And now it had happened to us.
We quickly grabbed our things and hurried to the gate, which was way farther than expected. We arrived 55 minutes before departure instead of 1 hour like we were told. The flight crew manning the boarding desk were pretty annoyed though, saying they had been calling our names for quite some time now. Honestly, we only heard it once while we were still eating, and once while we were hurrying to the gate.
After some administrative problems and an explanation on our part about why we weren’t at the gate earlier, the air was cleared. They ended up blaming the lady at the low-cost transit desk. Apparently this wasn’t the first time this happened. I guarantee this was the first and last time this happened to us though. Gosh, I hate we’re one of thóse people now.
Filling out entry forms
On most international flights you receive entry forms or arrival and departure cards prior to landing. They ask about your name and passport, the reason of your visit and where you’ll be staying. Upon entering the country, you’ll need to hand these over to the immigration officer, together with your passport. Be a model traveller and fill them out on the plane or at least before queuing at the immigration desk. I hate those amateurs who haven’t and are holding up the line and pissing off the immigration officer.
In order to fill out these entry forms quick and efficiently, we always have a list of all the needed information on our phones where it can be accessed OFFline. Obviously we know our name, gender, nationality and birth date by heart, but they also ask things you’ll probably have to look up. By now we know our passport number by heart as well, but just to be sure it’s still on that list, together with the flight numbers of our arriving and departing flights, and the address of the first place we’ll be staying. If you already have a visa, you need to fill out that number too. The other option is visa on arrival, in which case you can leave that box blank.
How to prevent a jet lag
There are tons of articles on how to prevent a jet lag on long-haul flights, boasting about having the 10 or 20 best tricks. The only thing we try to do when crossing several time zones, is to eat and sleep according to the time of your destination. I set my watch on the time in our destination and Brecht keeps his on local time for our flight schedule. It’s not always easy or possible, but we try. Maybe it works for you too? Oh, and always stay hydrated!
Long-haul flights in short:
You get:
- blanket and pillow
- inflight entertainment
- dinner and drinks
Bring yourself:
- bottle of water
- mints or nuts
- pen and information you need to fill in entry forms
- book or Kindle and puzzle book
Nobody likes spending hours on end in a plane, but it’s the fastest way to travel overseas. Hopefully these tips will help you survive those dreaded long-haul flights. Keep wandering the world!
Do you have any more or maybe even better tips for surviving long haul flights? We’d love to learn from you! Just let us know in the comments.
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