How to Survive a Red Eye in Economy

Long haul flights can be tough, especially if you’re not seated in one of the premium cabins at the front of the plane. If the flight is overnight and you need to arrive well rested to your destination, it can be a challenge in cramped economy seats, but we don’t all have the deep pockets (or enough points/miles) to sleep well in lay flat seats on every trip.

Red eye flights get a bad rap, but I actually prefer them when it’s an option. Late night flights mean I can work all day before leaving for my flight and hit the ground running in my destination the next day (thus maximizing my PTO). Also, you save the cost of a hotel you’d have to pay for if you had taken an earlier flight and landed at bedtime. Saving both time and money is enough for me to justify a less-than-stellar night’s sleep on a plane.

As with so many aspects of travel, planning ahead can help make your economy red-eye experience as painless as possible.

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Choose Your Seat Wisely

When you book your flight, go ahead and lock in your seat to guarantee you don’t end up in a middle seat overnight. While I prefer the aisle seat for daytime flights, I always book a window seat for red eyes so that I can rest against the wall.

I recommend using seatguru.com to look at the layout of seats on your flight, as well as seeing if there are any seats what are particularly bad (ex. back row of seats may not recline, some rows may not have windows, being too close to the bathroom may not be pleasant, etc.).

Every airline has their own seats and not all economy seats are built equal. Some airlines, like ANA and TAP Portugal have economy seats that don’t recline (TAP actually has 2 types of economy seats and the ones that recline are an additional ~$80 per person). I couldn’t image not being able to recline even a little and have to sleep perfectly upright!

Come Prepared

While business and first-class passengers usually receive fancy amenity kits when they board, economy passengers are on their own to stay comfortable beyond the standard pillow and blanket airlines provide. Here’s a quick checklist of all the items I make sure to have with me in my personal item beneath the seat on a red eye:

Compression socks
Eye mask
Headphones and/or ear plugs
Lip balm, eye drops, toothbrush/toothpaste
Water bottle
Portable battery
Any medications you need

One big thing that’s noticeably NOT on the list is a neck pillow. Not only has every neck pillow I’ve ever used been awkward and uncomfortable (including the supposedly great Trtl one), but they also take up so much space for the rest of your trip. I stick with the airline pillow or a balled-up jacket.

Research what food is provided ahead of time and bring meals or snacks if the airline doesn’t include any (like we did when flying Iceland Air since they didn’t include any food with our ticket).

Drink Up (Water, Not Alcohol)

Staying hydrated is so important to combat the drying cabin air and help overcome jet lag, but I tend to toe the line on an airplane, especially if I’m in the window seat and don’t want to wake my neighbors to use the restroom. Bringing a reusable water bottle that you fill up after going through security is helpful to assure you have water when you need it and not just when the flight attendants come by with the tiny cups (and it saves money on overpriced airport water bottles too).

It’s best to avoid alcohol on red eye flights because alcohol is dehydrating and messes with your circadian rhythm, impeding how much quality sleep you’ll get. It can be tempting when flights include free alcohol in economy (which sometimes happens on international flights), but you need to weigh the pros & (very real) cons.

To Nap or Not? That is the Question

After you land at your destination, there are 2 main schools of thought on how to handle the day: take it easy or chug some coffee and power through until bedtime to adjust to your time zone immediately. I think the answer is “it depends.” When we went to Munich, we took a red eye and immediately got a coffee in the airport upon landing (before we’d even gone through customs). Then we spent a few hours sightseeing, took a 2-hour nap after we could check in to our hotel, and ventured back out for dinner. We absolutely stuck the landing on the time change with this strategy, but I think the nap was a “nice to have” not a must. On our trip to Iceland, we had booked a food tour for the day we landed and didn’t have time to nap but between drinking coffee and doing an engaging activity, we didn’t have any issues running on less than a full night’s sleep.

Do you prefer red eyes or daytime flights? Why? Are you team neck pillow? Let me know in the comments!