The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Your Next Overnight Flight

Posted on 25th Nov, 2023 by Heena Ganotra , Updated 12 months ago

Traveling can be an excellent opportunity to brush off the mundane from your daily routine. While looking for flights, overnight flights are a particular preference for those who want to save their money. Still, for someone who isn’t a frequent traveler, late-hour flights can be pretty overwhelming. By misjudging it as a regular flight journey, several first-timers have confronted predicaments that could be avoided if they had been more diligent while planning their flights.

Don’t underestimate the lassitude of a long overnight flight!

Issues Faced During Overnight Flights

If your head starts to swirl when you think about managing your overnight flight, don’t worry! It happens to all of us. Even frequent flyers have trouble going through such flights, so you need to formulate a proper strategy to counter the hiccups you may encounter during your Red Eye flights. We understand that you can’t negate the problems during your overnight flight using a Fabian Policy. Therefore, MyIndiaFlight has come up with a complete list of all the necessary things to keep in mind to help you withstand your future odd-hour air travel.

Essentials To-Do(s) To Have A Comfortable Overnight Flight

1. Carry Supplements To Support Your Body: If you want to get your body extra support while traveling at odd hours, you can use Magnesium citrate powder along with essential oils to relax, recover and get a good night’s sleep. Here magnesium acts as an anti-stress mineral, and lavender oils help to soothe your mind. Some other essential oils include Peppermint Essential Oil (for an energy boost), Tea Tree Essential Oil (for anti-bacterial and anti-inflammation), and Ginger Essential Oil (to cure Motion Sickness). You can also carry antioxidants such as grapes, blueberries, nuts, and beans to boost your body’s immune system.

2. Comfort Is The Key: Firstly, the outfit you select should be loose and made up of breathable material. Avoid garments that irritate or hurt your skin since most overnight flights are often inadequately cold, so you should carry something warm to keep yourself insulated. Alternatively, dressing up in layers is a great way to avoid any discomfort. For those with poor blood circulation, compression socks are a must. Also, please save your six-inch stiletto heels for the club and toss a pair of slip-ons or flats from the shoe cabinet for your flight. 

3. Choosing Seats Strategically: While both window seats and aisle seats have their pros and cons, we can all agree that middle seats offer no apparent benefits. If you don’t want to be bothered by frequent bathroom visits of co-passengers, space for a headrest and desire to glance at the outside view, the window seat is the perfect choice for you. An aisle seat is preferable if you want to take strolls frequently during your flight or if you’re an avid bathroom user and don’t mind the flight attendants’ faint noises walking down the aisle. So be pre-emptive while booking your seats on a flight.

4. Carry Flexible Hand Baggage: Most travelers slice down their personal space by taking bags unsuitable for cabin luggage. Since you have limited space around your seat, you should avoid taking hard-shelled bags or cases along as cabin baggage. Instead, you should look for soft-sided and versatile options such as duffel bags, travel backpacks, travel totes, fanny packs, messenger bags, drop kits, and similar options. Also, keep your hand baggage at the minimum to avoid discomfort while off-boarding from the flight

5. Carefully Pick Your Food From The In-flight Menu: You might catch the aroma of heavy-cooked meals drifting down the aisle during your flight. However, eating heavy meals is not a wise move during long overnight flights as they are difficult to digest, especially when all you are going to do is sit for quite some hours. Heavy meals make you bloated and keep you awake, becoming a big nuisance on a long air trip. As a rule of thumb, avoid food with high salt, sugar, spice, and oil content.

6. Hydrate Frequently. Avoid Alcohol And Caffeine: Since planes replenish air from the outside, which is devoid of water vapors, the atmosphere inside the cabin can become quite dry if not bone-dry. On top of it, the strong air conditioner fastens the dehydration process across the cabin. It is advisable to drink at least 9 ounces of water an hour to avoid becoming parched. Additionally, avoid alcohol and caffeine during your overnight flight, as it can disturb your sleep cycle when you try to sleep.

7. Stretch Every Few Hours: While you will be sleeping comfortably if you follow all the last bits of advice, you must not forget to stand up once in a while to stretch your muscles. By walking once after every few hours, you can save your legs from any blood clots (DVT). If you can’t stand up, you can still move your joints by performing Ankle Rolls, Toe Raises, Forward Bending, Neck Rolls, and Shoulder Stretching. You can also be creative in finding good workout spots in your plan during your journey. For example: After putting down the toilet lid, you can perform Squats in the Restroom.

8. Keep Your Sleep Accessories Handy: We often plan an overnight flight wishing to rest through most of our journey. Sleep is seldom possible without adequate arrangements. So don’t forget to keep all the sleep accessories in your handy bag or travel kit. Your kit must include a sleep mask for blocking out light to your eyes, a warm pair of socks, a light personal blanket for insulation, and earplugs or headsets to cancel out any cabin noise. Furthermore, don’t forget to pack a travel neck pillow as it is the linchpin for a successful sleep session on red-eye flights.

9. Build A Post-Flight Routine To Reinvigorate Your Body: After planning for the overnight flights, why not plan ahead a routine to detoxify from Jet lag? We usually devote so much to flight prep that we often take our bodies for granted. After all, a healthy mind lives in a healthy body, and to enjoy your vacation to the fullest, you need to recharge yourself as quickly as possible. You can pursue a Yoga, Acupuncture session, or massage therapy to rewire your brain and flex your neurons to get your sleep cycle on track. Soak some sunlight, take some Magnesium and go easy on carbs on the day of arrival to your destination.

10. Pack Some Books And Gadgets For Entertainment: Although many forms of inflight entertainment are available to you onboard, it doesn’t guarantee to meet your personal needs. We recommend you carry some books and your electronic gadgets that better suit your recreation needs in your satchel. Books provide an essential escape while lying down on your seat. Tablets and mobiles also help in passing the time while playing games or binge-watching on Netflix. Don’t forget to recharge your electronic devices if there is no recharge facility available on the plane. You can also carry a power bank if you expect to use your laptop to work in mid-air. 

If you adhere to the above guidelines, you won’t catch red-eye and fly overnight smoothly!

Also, are you looking to book a cheap Red-Eye Flight? Leave everything to our team at MyIndiaFlight. With our dedicated team that works tirelessly 24×7, you can bet on us when it comes to giving you superior customer service; anytime, anywhere!

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Do you have any additional tips for surviving overnight flights? Please let us know in the comments below!