First long haul flight

[MarJay]

[Ste]

Cops in Portland don't fuck around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8yt8CEf73w

[Conzar]

Xanax
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11:05:35 Rob Fzs: i just wanna own an rd350 valve before they send us to war with durkadurkastan

[Lord Percy]

For the in-flight entertainment they usually give crappy headphones that you have to put up to full volume to overcome the sound of the plane's engines, and the sound quality is terrible.

Bring your own in-ear headphones just in case. They double up as fairly good earplugs too.

[dodsi]

Don't cheap out trying to save a couple of quid on your ticket by going indirect to a place like East coast USA - wait... too late for that one. The saving is rarely worth it.

Best thing we did was go direct to Las Vegas from Gatwick indirect flights were maybe £100 each cheaper but were 23 hours or more (in total) vs 11 hours direct.

Due to being 6ft 5 i spoke to the airline about getting legroom - and glad I did as they allocated me and my wife bulkhead seats.

Entertainment was OK - you get bored after a couple of films.

Drinking made little difference to me - if you have a good tolerance for alcohol... fill yer boots.

Business class is preferable, however I have never flown Business class. my next long haul I am considering premium economy.

[Tracey Suntan-King]

Andy, I've no advice for,you having never been outside Europe, however.....

Hope you have a great time.

Hope they can understand you over there

And I'm looking forward to seeing photos and hearing tales of your trip at this years BBQ.


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Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're probably right

[Rogerborg]

[Ste]

A long haul flight is the perfect time to start taking benzos.

Do try not to go full bartard.

[wots]

I regularly do 4 hour short haul (9 times last year), but I've also done Miami and Vegas a few times (the latter being a bit of a bar-steward).

Flown BA on the above short haul 3 times, all had a problem. Including lost bag, handing over our details to another passenger who had their bag checked in against my wife, she didn't even have bags. Yeah figure that out, DPA breaches & various other serious issues there. Did get major compo for that!

Long haul, I generally fly Virgin, just good service.

My tips

Good noise canceling headphones
Your own entertainment onto tablet/smartphone/laptop (or all 3), in assumption of the in-flight entertainment being broken or crap.
If you can't afford a better class (premium-economy on virgin is good), spring for the extra legroom seats. Well worth it.
Comfortable easy to remove shoes, you might look a cock in grandad slip-ons but believe me it's much better.
An eye-mask, some airlines provide them, again you will look like a cock, but even if you can't sleep you don't have to look at the pondlife next to you.
Water, buy airside at boots or whatever.
Window seat gives you something to look at every now and again, but also another place to lean against while trying to shift into another position.
When selecting a seat, use https://www.seatguru.com it's like the cycle-ergo for airlines with reviews on a specific seat, for an airline and their specific configuration.
Try to only carry-on what you really need. I prefer a rucksack as it will go under a seat and less likely to be offloaded, this happened to passengers on the flight I returned on two days ago. Believe me the gobby cow with her massive 'carry-on' bag got hers when it was moved to the hold.
Immigration/Security in the US is slow, it's taken me 2 hours before now. Be prepared for this, especially with the trump-factor.
The advice to leave your seatbelt loosely fastened, especially long haul across the Atlantic, is important. The first time you get unexpectedly bounced out your seat, you will always do it.
Enjoy the experience, it is a wonder of the world.

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[Tigerlea]

I regularly fly long-haul to visit family, because apparently I'm the only one capable of travelling and none of them will come here..

So what I have learned, may or may not be useful, but here goes (trying to avoid reiteration of previous posts):

wear shoes easy to get on/off as you may have to remove them at security and they may be more comfortable removed for the flight

addendum to previous note: pack flipflops for the actual flight - you do not want to go barefoot into the loos

do not wear a belt for when you go through security, and make sure your pockets are empty of change and any bling is also put away - otherwise you'll be stood at either end for ages taking off/putting back on all the metal stuff

pack everything you need for when you land either in outside pockets of checked luggage or, better, in your carry-on - this includes medication, mobile, money, passport (do not put valuables in outside pockets of carry-on ), charging cables, booking references, spare change of boxers.. and for the way back, your house/car keys. Also, if the airline successfully loses your luggage, at least you've got the things you need while they search for it/get you compensation.

bring snacks for the flight anyway, whether this be healthy options or a bag of chips and a chocolate bar

if you're worried about it fitting in your luggage, buy it when you get to your destination – despite poor hygiene of many Americans, they do sell deodorant and toothpaste over there

if you want any non-prescription meds like heart-burn tablets or pain killers, you may want to bring those with you from the UK so you're not trying to figure out what brandname to get in the states; however, they do have many of the same brands, just like with toothpaste

anything you don't want lost put in your carry-on

Grab spare ziploc bags at security at the airports in case yours splits for the way back

Mostly...
HAVE FUN!!

[Tigerlea]

Oh yeah – if you do plan to sleep, and you get to have a blankets, make sure you buckle up over the blanket. The airline staff will wake you otherwise as it's one of their requirements in case of turbulence.

[hellkat]

Also useful to know when travelling to America:
What we call paracetamol they call "acetaminophen" (brand named Tylenol). You can stand at the counter of Target (cheap as fuck chainstore) shouting "I just want some damn paracetamol", and nobody will ever understand what you want.

On that note, cheapshit chainstores are either Walmart or Target.
It's like going to Primark, just with different and therefore more interesting looking things. I know guys don't "do" shopping, and it's not that the shopping is GREAT over there, but it certainly seems cheaper the first time you experience it as a Brit and you will wish you had a bigger luggage allowance going home. A good reason to go back a second time.

Do you have any anxiety about actually flying? I don't know how to help with that cos I LOVE taking off and landing. Its just the middle bit thats tedious.

I dread flying next to some noob who is afraid of flying. So I almost never speak to other passengers, other than anyone I happen to be flying with (pretty rare - so I almost always fly alone). But then I'm a ridiculously introverted loner when I travel, so ... apparently sometimes friendships can be struck up on flights. I just never really bother to make the first approach, prefer to fly in a little hellkattish bubble only interrupted by the insertion of food.

Speaking of which:
FOOD
Yeah, everything does come fried, very sweet, or smothered in mayo/some kind of slop sauce.

But you have to get it out of your system. You have to eat all the things you think OMG wtf is *that* cos even though you're Scottish and used to fried and weirdy foods, its entirely likely you will return to the UK after 2 weeks desperately wanting a nice healthy salad with no dressing.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[hellkat]

Is Boston the longest leg of your long-haul? I think its only* about 5 hours anyway isn't it? Not that much worse than flying to Cyprus or Portugal.

Got to admit, I'd have flown direct: all that faffing about in Europe, just makes a journey longer and long-ish haul is bad enough without extending your travelling time.

*("only" says she of the epic 24-27 hr antipodean flights, LOL)
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[Diggs]

I never fly without a bag of hard boiled sweets to suck. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the value of a hard suck when going down... The act of sucking and swallowing helps prevent ear-ache and temporary hearing problems which many people suffer from after flying.

Drink lots of water, go to the toilet as often as you can to keep your circulation going, and hope you don't end up next to a porker without deodorant...
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[andym]

Lots of useful information here, thanks

Unfortunately the tickets are booked, the layovers are allegedly 1 1/2 hours, but it's going to take almost 3 hours to get to France, just under 3 hours to get to Detroit then just over 1 1/2 hours to get to Durham.

On the way back it'll take 15 hours to get from Durham to Paris, just over an hour from Paris to Amsterdam then 35 minutes to get back to Glasgow.

[Polarbear]

You can buy guns in Walmart, big bad guns , and some drop dead gorgeous knives. Just put them in your hold baggage on the way back

I have some nice ones I brought back and they are better than anything I have bought in the UK at double the price.
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[Itchy]

Watch out for USB ports on planes. QATAR, Lufthasa, Swiss USB ports will erase data if you decide to use a USB stick for your own music.


If you suffer from jet lag on the way out reset your body clock on the return trip by fasting.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[stevo as b4]

Good luck OP and have a great experience on your big trip.

Oh and watch Quest tonight 9pm, Aircraft crash investigations. It pays to be aware of all the ways things can go wrong IMO.
Man wasn't designed to sit in a pressurised tube 7miles above the earth.

Im glad people have offered you useful good advice, as I have none. The only way I'd ever go to the US is on something that floats, if that's a 16ft Boston Whaler with a vintage outboard that'll do. I did a 10hour flight to Canada and won't ever 'me fly long time' again. Getting into the country was literally 50questions and lots of attitude, fuck that shit as I can get attitude and aggro in Tesco, for alot less time and money spent.

Im with Tracey, in that staying in Europe will do me just fine. Unless it's a road trip or on some big grand floating gin palace, or the most interesting and exciting of all would be a long distance train journey, I love trains to a nerdy degree, but arnt as aroused by lots of thin flimsy bits of aluminum sheet riveted or glued together, with engines full of fragile wafer thin turbine blades that sit in a 1000degree environment.

Planes are great and cool, but I want a reliable little VW derived prop swinger with some nice simple cables connecting all the moving controls to the flappy bits.

Flying jet liners one day might be safe if we can just eliminate pilots, auto pilots, frozen sensors and damaged fragile electronic components, along with terrorism.

[spnorm]

I have the "pleasure" of flying long haul to Shanghai a few times a year, plus I like to holiday in the States.

Pre-2009 I used to fly Business Class, then Premium Economy and nowadays economy.

On US trips, I've flown Premium Economy and Economy.

The first thing you've got to ask yourself is whether you'd pay £3000 extra to sit in a comfier chair for 10 hours? It's nice when the firm is paying, but can't really be justified if you're paying your own money.

Premium Economy can be a cheap upgrade in one direction and probably worth it on an overnight flight due to the footrest and increased seat recline.

However, the biggest difference in my experience is flying in planes with only two seats in the window rows e.g. A330 or especially the upper deck of the A380. It's much less claustrophobic sitting in these seats, especially when just travelling with the missus I also prefer to fly two shorter legs (e.g. Manchester - Philly - Denver) rather than a short leg and then a long flight (e.g. Man - Heathrow - Denver) as psychologically it's easier to fill the time on a 6-7 hour flight

[mentalboy]

Brace yourself for the daily WTF news stories (and I don't mean politics).

Here's todays, keeping it relevant, happened about 15 miles outside Durham: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39198075
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Make mine a Corona.

[tatters]

I fly to the US and back 3 times a month for work, most points have been well covered but l would suggest when going though any country's immigration dress smartly and look respectable. I always get questioned more when looking scruffy in t-shirt & hoodie than tidy in a shirt.

Also take plenty of Vitamin C before and during your travels to get your immune system up and wash your hands often or use hand cleaner in the airport and on the plane as its very easy to get sick from ill passengers.
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[MarJay]

[mentalboy]

[mentalboy]

[c_dug]

Reading this thread with interest, my longest flight to date is Gatwick to Rhodes, but I'm off to Brisbane for work at the end of April. Proper Long-Haul.

I think I may actually die of boredom or discomfort at some point on the flight!
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