Most flights from North America to Europe are overnight flights. How do you maximize your sleep on overnight flights?
I recently flew to Europe with my daughter for her first visit to the continent and wrote out a list of things we could do to maximize our sleep on the flight. Here I will share it with you.
Before the Flight
- Book a Late Departure Flight: Depending on your departure and destination cities, there are often flights that leave early (5:00 PM) or late (9:00 PM). I always try to book the later flights, as it is practically impossible to get to sleep on a flight leaving early.
- Reserve a Window Seat: Window seats are great in that they allow you to lean against the airplane wall.
- Order a Special Meal: I like to order a special meal for the flight, as they get delivered first, which means I am finishing my meal while others are just starting.
- Go to Bed Early the Night Before: To get into the rhythm of an early bedtime, I always try to go to bed early the night before.
On the Flight
- Get Comfortable: I get as comfortable as possible as soon as possible: remove my shoes, empty my pockets into my personal carry-on bag, and put the bag into the compartment above.
- Eye Mask, Ear Plugs, and Headrest: Eye mask, ear plugs, and a headrest are crucial for good sleep. I personally just use the fold out headrest in my seat but travel pillows are great too.
- Sleep Early: I try to go to sleep as early as possible. Usually, that means eating a dinner and having a glass of wine first. But keep in mind that will take about 1.5 hours of the often too-short flight time. On very late departure flights I go to sleep before dinner (and skip the special meal).
- Sleep Late: If possible, sleep right through breakfast. Flight attendants wake you up an hour or more in advance so they can service the whole plane and the breakfast is not worth missing that extra hour of sleep.
- Leave Your Tray Down: Speaking of breakfast, if you did order a special meal, they will likely wake you up to give it to you the next morning – which they won’t do if you are sleeping through regular meal service. So I leave my tray down when ordering a special meal.
Jet Lag Versus Sleep on Overnight Flights
Keep in mind you face two hurdles in flying to Europe: getting enough sleep on the flight and jet lag. All of the above only addresses the issue of getting enough sleep on overnight flights. But if you can get four or more hours sleep on an overnight flight, you are primed to defeat jet lag – which I can address in another article!
Thanks for the insight however, in a couple days we leave at 3pm from Chicago to Rome arriving about 7:30 am their time. What do you suggest for us ( 70 yrs old). Thanks
That is a difficult one. Obviously, it is hard to sleep at 3:00 PM. I do know some travelers who taking sleeping pills on those flights, which if you time it right and are used to taking them could be a good option. Otherwise, I would try to get to bed early the night before, be prepared to not sleep too much on the flight, and then potentially take a short nap (no more than an hour) the afternoon you arrive. If you can make it through until a reasonable hour like 8:30 or 9:00 PM before you go to bed your first night in Europe that will be helpful.
Thank you. We normally go to bed around 11 pm.
So I was thinking of trying to sleep around 5-6 pm. Maybe it will be after dinner??
(have no idea what time what time the serve food on ITA).