How I survive red eyes

This is my guide to surviving overnight flights in economy. Do you fly business? Great, you already have a better chance of sleeping. There may still be a few helpful nuggets. I mostly fly economy so this guide is economy-focused.

My goal is to sleep on the flight and wake up rested enough to have a good day at my destination. I consider myself successful about 2/3 of the time. Here are the 5 steps I follow:

1. Select a good flight (at the right time)
2. Buy a window seat
3. Come prepared
4. Enlist my neighbour’s help
5. Hope for no screaming children

These steps are focused on reducing the chance of being woken up at undesirable times. This is not a foolproof guide. Regardless of what I do, there’s always a chance I’ll be seated next to a screaming baby. Hopefully these tips will help make the most of your next redeye.

Select a good flight

tl;dr: Get a direct flight that departs ~30 min before bedtime

Considerations for flight selection:

1. Decide if it’s worth taking a redeye. Taking a day flight, sleeping at a hotel/home, and waking up rested might be better.
2. Prefer direct flights over connecting. Nothing disrupts sleep more than waking up, deplaning, navigating a well-lit terminal, boarding, then trying to fall back asleep. If there are no direct flights, I opt for a long leg + short leg. Then I focus on sleeping during the long leg.
3. Figure out a desired bedtime. I often choose 11 pm in my destination time zone. I prefer the destination over origin time zone to help with jet lag.
4. Target flights that depart ~30 min before bedtime. 30 minutes gives me time to settle into my seat, taxi, and takeoff.
5. For shorter flights (< 8 hrs), I opt for slightly later. This reduces my chance of being kept awake during the first few hours of flight time.
6. For longer flights (> 10 hrs), I opt for slightly earlier. This will let me board and possibly have the first meal before falling asleep. Since it’s a long flight, I’m not concerned about the flight being over too soon and having to wake up.

Buy a window seat

tl;dr: Buy a window seat

Buy a window seat. Buy a window seat. Buy a window seat. Yes, I pay for it. It’s worth it. I’ve regret being cheap so many times before.

A window seat will:

• Prevent me from getting up if someone else needs to go to the bathroom.
• Have a window to rest my head against.
• Helps me control the amount of light.
• See pretty things if/when I wake up.

Other considerations when buying a window seat:

• Some seats may not recline. I usually cross-reference [seatmaps.com] when buying my seat.
• I avoid seats near bathrooms. There’s generally more activity there, so more chances of being bumped/woken up.

Come prepared

tl;dr: Sleep mask, Earplugs, Melatonin, Water (+ Neck pillow, Snack)

I always try to arrive prepared. I’ve been on flights where the captain decides to leave the overhead cabin lights on all night. Never again will I forget my sleep mask.

My general checklist:

• Sleep mask
• Earplugs
• Melatonin (or desired sleep aid)
• Water bottle
• My sweater

Other people may consider:

• Neck pillow
• A snack
• A blanket

Boarding strategy

tl;dr: Avoid caffeine, take melatonin, don’t drink too much water, ask your neighbour for help

My pre-boarding checklist:

• Avoid caffeine during the day
• Transfer my sleep items to my pockets/personal item. In case I’m forced to gate check, I’ll have them with me. It also serves as a final check if I’m missing anything. The airport convenience store usually works as a last minute backup.
• Bathroom
• Refill water bottle

My boarding checklist:

• Take the melatonin when entering the boarding line. Boarding usually takes ~10-15min. This leaves ~15min before the melatonin kicks in.
• At my seat, I tell my neighbour I’m focusing on sleep. I ask them to let the flight attendant know that I’d prefer to skip a meal if I’m asleep. This avoids a flight attendant forcing me awake to eat overcooked chicken or soggy pasta. My neighbours have always been understanding.
• Put on my sleep mask, earplugs.
• If I’m sleeping with a blanket, I buckle my seat belt over the blanket. This makes my seat belt visible to flight attendants.
• Get comfortable.
• Pray for no screaming children.

End

That’s it. I controlling what I can. Please let me know if there’s anything else you do to improve overnight flights.