If you are forced to sit upright in a confined space for a very long time then its not surprising that you'll start to feel very uncomfortable at some stage. If you asked someone after a long flight what it was that made them feel so drained they would probably be able to give you quite a long list of things such as sore neck, cramped legs etc and therein lies the secret to improving your "long-haul" experience.
If you can at least reduce the effect of every irritation, no matter how small, to the absolute minimum it can all add up to a huge improvent in comfort and allow you get off that plane feeling just about human.
The following suggestions address just some of the most common complaints but of course everyone is different so hopefully, by following the same "micro-management" approach, you should be able to think of even more things to alleviate problems that particularly bother you.
WHEN YOU CANNOT FLY DIRECT If you have to split the journey try to choose a route that allows one short and one long leg rather than two legs of equal length. Why? It is far less gruelling, for example, to do a single twelve hour flight than two six hour flights. One reason is that on a six hour flight about three hours will be taken up with serving meals and collecting the rubbish leaving you the other three to sleep before you get off, wait around and repeat the process. On the single twelve hour flight you will have the same three hours of commotion but it leaves you a much longer period to sleep. Another reason is the psychological boost you have knowing that when the plane does land then the torture has finished !
LUGGAGE CHECK-IN The advice here is straight-forward. Just turn up early ! Get to the airport as soon as the check-in opens and you’ll not only avoid waiting in line while people argue with the airline staff about excess luggage but you’ll also actually get some choice as to where you sit on the plane.
PICKING YOUR SEAT The best seats on the plane are next to the emergency exit as they give much more legroom and, as many people already know this, you’d be lucky to get them but its always worth asking. The other seats with extra legroom are facing the wall of the toilets or galley but be wary as these can be the worst seats on the plane and the reason is – BABIES ! The wall in front of these seats has hooks to hang bassinets and its normal for the stewards to rearrange the passengers so that mothers requiring them are moved to these seats. Not surprisingly babies do not enjoy long haul flights any more than the rest of the passengers and they express this dissatisfaction very loudly and often with great endurance. Being in close proximity to an unhappy baby for a long time will ensure that you arrive at your destination sleep-deprived which may mean you have to waste your first day recovering in your hotel room.
Other than avoiding the nursery area seats the only other choice you’re likely to get is aisle or window seat – choose an aisle seat. The down side is that you’ll have to stand up every time your neighbours want to visit the toilet but this is a small price to pay for the advantages which are :
You can visit the toilet as many times as you like without bothering anyone.
You can also get up and stretch or go for a walk whenever the need arises.
When things quieten down in the plane and providing you are awake you can stretch you legs into the aisle and just retract them if someone wants to get by.
You have easy access to your things in the overhead locker which means you can keep your seat area clear.
When the plane lands you can get your things from the locker quickly and move up the aisle ready to be one of the first to the customs gates which is well worth doing in Bangkok to avoid a long wait in yet another queue.
BUY QUALITY EARPLUGS Besides youngsters there is a whole host of other possible noise sources from persistant coughs to thunderously loud snoring. If you are lucky you won't need them but earplugs are a great way to overcome cabin noise and help you sleep for longer periods. Sometimes the airline provides these along with sleeping masks but its a far better idea to buy some quality re-useable ones. They might seem a little pricey for what they do but some quality plugs have interchangeable inserts that allow you to choose the type of noise you need cancelled. For example, maybe its the engine noise that bothers you or maybe its somebody talking. These types of plugs are frequently available at the travel accessories stand in airport pharmacies but its nearly always cheaper to pick up a pair from a regular retailer.
MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE There’s no glamour in cattle class so forget the designer gear and dress for comfort. Your only thought should be to get to your destination feeling as good as possible.
Loose fitting thin clothes that allow the air to get to your skin are the best. Jeans are the absolute worst as not only will they restrict your attempts to find a comfortable sleeping position but their thick seams and rivets can really dig into your skin after a few hours. It also pays to wear well ventilated shoes (sandals are especially good) as you want to get them off the minute you are settled in your seat and clean dry feet avoids any embarrassment over foot odour. Its amazing how much difference happy feet can make to your overall feeling of well-being on one of these flights.
One travel accessory that's worth its weight in gold is the inflatable neck pillow. If you haven’t seen one before it’s a very small horseshoe shaped pillow that you wear around your neck. It increases the number of positions that you can rest your head in while you try to sleep which not only improves your chances of sleeping longer than 10 minutes at a time, it also decreases the risk of the stiff neck that many travellers suffer from after a dreaded long-haul.
TAKE SOME FOOD Many people seem resistant to this idea because “they feed you on the plane”. Its as if they feel they are losing money if they eat their own food during the flight. Well you can eat the airline’s food as well but the sad truth is that its often not very good and there’s not much of it. On a flight of around 10 hours you usually get one “full” meal and a breakfast with about six hours between them. Watch how hungrily people attack the breakfast when it finally turns up. If you’ve got a stash of sandwiches you can eat whenever you feel like it so you don’t have to add starvation to your list of discomforts. At the time of writing, liquids are still restricted in hand-luggage so when they start serving drinks on-board make sure you get a couple of bottles of water to store for later. Yes, you can order it anytime by calling the steward but they aren’t always free to serve you and do it too many times and the service from some may get a little frosty.
SMOKERS DILEMMA As if there wasn't already enough discomfort involved in flying long-distance the smoker also has to contend with nicotine withdrawal symtoms. In fact, it seems more and more airports are going out of their way to add to their discomfort by removing all indoor smoking areas which means that they have to endure an extra hour or two of abstinence while they wait to board their flight. Here are some ways reduce the pain :
1) Buy a small pack of nictotine gum or more effective (so some say) is the plastic cigarette that holds nicotine cartridges. They work! And try not to feel any embarrassment puffing on that plastic tube after your meal as there's a lot of other people on that plane who will understand what you are going through and if they don't should you really care ?
2) Pay particular attention to your comfort in your seat. Read the advice above on this subject as if you can manage a long period of sleep its the best way to avoid thinking about cigarettes.
3) If you have a choice of airports to travel through on your way to Bangkok find out which ones have gone completely non-smoking and avoid them! Some such as Zurich still provide comfortable lounges while others at least have little glass walled rooms for when you are desperate. Travel and airline booking agents are often ignorant of information like this so try visting the airports website. They probably will not display this information but usually have a map where you should be able to see smoking areas marked. Note : as of March 2008 the new Bangkok Airport had smoking rooms available for arriving passengers (before clearing Customs).