New York to Sydney...23 hours straight in the air! Ahhh! What will I do? Advice please!

I am flying with a stop that equals 24 hours.
My 1st flight (10 hours) leaves SF to Tokyo at 1pm and lands at 4pm (My 11PM) The connector (10 hour)leaves at 8pm (My 3AM) and lands at 8am. I'm going to try to stay awake the whole first leg and layover so I'll be able to fall asleep on the 2nd flight. Lots of Tylenol PM or Jager on the 2nd flight.

As for ideas on how to survive-Pick up a good book, crossword puzzles, movies, Ipod.

Hope that helps.

I think you have to be prepared before you fly. Get your sleeping patterns right so you can sleep the second half of the flight so you don't crash when you land!

Try and get an aisle seat so you don't have to climb over your seatmates, or even an exit seat so you have the extra leg room.

I'd suggest motion sickness tablets - just in case!

Hope that helps.

1. Bring a Pillow. Sleep in a Window seat. (Do not try to sleep without a pillow or you will have a sore neck for DAYS.)

2. Do NOT just eat whenever they give you food. Eat if you're hungry or if it's your normal meal time. Combined with the unusual airplane food, stress and irregularity of flying, you may find yourself with stomach problems, bowel problems, or just plain nausea. EAT WHEN YOUR BODY EXPECTS IT.

(As for myself, I'm approaching the ripe old age of 30 now, so these days I have to eat at normal times otherwise my stomach gets up set.)

3. Nintendo DS, etc.

4. Bring some "wet naps" or similar to wash your face, because it will get greasy and gross.

I had 2 2 hour flights, then a 16 hour flight overseas. I slept on all 3 flights. Woke up and ate when the food was there, went back to sleep. When I landed in Australia I slept at their time and ate on their time. Only thing that was hard was my bladder didn't adjust for first few weeks. I can go all night without going at home, but always had to go in the middle of the night for first few weeks.

Definitly bring a pillow, and music or a little game system. Books are great too. After 36 hours of flying and layovers I felt disgusting and couldn't wait to get into that shower.

I am surprised that there is a non-stop flight from NYC to Sydney. If you are flying Qantas, then make sure to utilize their great IFE (even in economy). If you are on an American airline, good luck with their crappy IFE.
For a long flight, I think an aisle seat is a must. I can't sleep at all on flights, so I am envious of those people who grab some sleep on the plane. Also a good book or magazine helps. BTW I tried wine, but it just left me hungover, but I'm sure it works better with others.
Enjoy Australia!

I'm flying Qantas...what is IFE?

Thanks for the advice! I usually have difficulty sleeping on planes too but I plan to take some Advil PM so hopefully that'll help a bit.

I believe IFE is short for In-Flight Entertainment.

Ok I have no idea what airline you're flying with but im a travel Agent and I don't know of any non stop flights to Australia, you're probably stopping at LAX on the way.. and the flights aren't that bad, the NYC-LAX is like 6 hours or something which is bearable, you'll have a couple of hours on the ground to stretch your legs etc then its about a 14 hour flight to Sydney, get an isle seat so you're not climbing over strangers to go to the loo and it's a late flight out of the US anyway so try and sleep and if you can't the entertainment is usually ok.. have fun :-) im sure you'll live lol

My flight info says "Non-Stop" from JFK to Sydney...with a "Stop-Over" at LAX. I assume the stopover is to refuel (I would hope!) but it definitely says Non-Stop. I didn't get any info about the stopover in LA until after I booked. Weird. Does that mean we will not be getting off the plane...just stopping for fuel and departing again?

quote:

Originally posted by oooteresa:
My flight info says "Non-Stop" from JFK to Sydney...with a "Stop-Over" at LAX. I assume the stopover is to refuel (I would hope!) but it definitely says Non-Stop. I didn't get any info about the stopover in LA until after I booked. Weird. Does that mean we will not be getting off the plane...just stopping for fuel and departing again?

Most likely just a refuel.

What time do you land at LAX and what time are you scheduled to head off again? That will give you an indication of whether or not you can get off. Anything with less than an hour or two in between and I doubt you will be able to get off the plane. Arrrgghhh, that would kill me!

i thought it was mandatory to deplane while refueling

Its a refuel but most likely American Airlines sells tickets on this flight for people going from NY to LA only (because American and Qantas are in the same airline alliance). And yes you will be getting of the plane because the flight crew and plane will have to be turned around.

So some people will be getting off and others will be getting on from LA or from other cities. I was supposed to be on this flight when I went down under but my flight our of Toronto was canceled so I had to go on something else.

Vallium