Fighting Fatigue

Is the cost of stopping for 'a few days' really cheaper than biz class?

We haven't flown business class. The extra expense seems outrageous even with the upgrade from Premium Economy. Does it really help with sitting/lying down with your seat beat buckle in for over 10 hours except when you need to use the lavatory? We don't sleep well on the plane, just nodding off/on throughout.

I think it's a great idea. You know your own travel needs. Maybe you could go on the TripAdvisor New York and/or New Jersey forums and ask about getting to and from the airports there (or DC if you are considering Dulles). There's JFK and LaGuardia and Newark and I would imagine that they differ in ease of getting to hotels and sightseeing.

Both Reagan National (no European flights) and Dulles are connected to downtown Washington DC by subway, so one advantage of using Washington as a gateway is that (assuming you arrive and depart during Metro's operating hours) you don't have to budget for airport taxis.

There are definitely more non-stop flights from New York (I'm not positive how Boston and Philadelpia compare), but among the destinations with non-stops from Dulles are Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Geneva, Vienna, Milan, Rome and Istanbul. In addition, there are seasonal non-stops to Rejkjavik, Nice and Athens.

My unresearched guess is that fares tend to be lower from New York/Newark.

The time of year and the potential that weather might impact your plans plays a role. Spring favors connecting through the northeast while fall favors the southeast.

Your concept works well for me. I fly to Denver before my trips, to visit family. That knocks a couple of hours off the international leg and makes a big difference.

The east coast would be even better, especially if your choice of city gives you more nonstop options.

We travel from a small airport on the west coast and it’s usually a 24 hour travel day with 3 connections, so I get it. I would look at where the typical connections are for the destination you want to travel to (Chicago, New York, Atlanta, etc). Otherwise you could end up with a 8 hour travel day just to get to the east coast, when you could have spent 2 more hours to get to Europe.

So three ideas spring to my mind for you and I have not done any of these options. How about a stop in Canada, Toronto would by my first guess for that stop.

Second option would be to use Iceland Air and add a stop over in Reykjavik, Iceland. It looks like it is easy to add a stop over to an Iceland Air itinerary. This may not work well just due to the fact that the flight to Iceland is still a long one from your location.

Third option how about a cruise? The Queen Mary 2 sails regularly out of New York. Then there are also repositing cruises that you could choose to use as well. The cruise option would take quite a bit of time, but might work for you.

Good luck, and happy travels.

Business class flights are definitely expensive but how much more is it than the cost of two flights and the cost of a few days accommodation in the middle? You will also still likely get hit by some jet lag when just flying from the east coast.

In my slightly limited experience travelling business class does make a difference when trying to avoid jet lag and travel tiredness. I have flown three times direct from London to Singapore for work, economy, premium economy and business class ( got to love budget cuts! ) For me there was no comparison between economy/premium and business class. I also struggle to sleep on flights but just lying with your legs up on a comfortable bed is just more relaxing and conducive for a good flight. The headphones were noise cancelling and I found that really made a difference. I hadn’t realised how much the drone of the plane noise is exhausting over a long flight. Being able to eat decent food when you want and more space to walk around also helped. The final benefit was being able to use the airport lounge, which meant time in the airport was just more pleasant. I still had some jet lag, which is to be expected with the London/Singapore time difference, but I was no where near as tired.

Unfortunately I can’t afford business class when I am paying to travel but if I could stretch I would, for the difference it makes.

I hear you. We fly out of Bend, spend the night in San Francisco then continue with our international flight. If the 10 1/2 hours to get to say London from San Francisco is too much, I would suggest flying to Dulles or New York, depending on the airline you like, and continue on.

I’ve only flown business class twice, usually fly premium economy, on American Airlines. But those 2 wonderful flights I slept 5 hours or longer. It was SO great! I normally never sleep more than a 20-30 minute doze. I fly out of DFW so I fortunately almost always fly direct to Heathrow or Charles de Gaulle. In your situation I’d seriously do the math on business class vs hotel and possibly another day of travel expenses.

You might want to look at a daytime flight out of New York or Boston to London. Daytime flights are great. You leave in the morning and arrive the same day evening. There is no need to attempt to sleep on the plane. Some of the options are listed here:
https://www.passrider.com/daytime-flights-to-europe-from-the-u-s-you-wished-you-knew-about/

I took a daytime flight to Europe almost every year from Dulles to London for about 20 years. I loved that flight as I cannot sleep on planes. Unfortunately, United has stopped offering that route so I am stuck with overnight flights.

Unless there is something specific you want to do on the east coast, I would choose the east coast departure airport depending on my final destination in Europe and airfares for my preferred class of service.

For example, flying to London from New York City airports the airfares are usually pretty competitive in all fare classes due to the number of carriers flying nonstop.

Keep this in mind......the busiest route across the Atlantic is between New York City and London. Six airlines fly that route. It also has the lowest business class tickets.

From London you can get cheap tickets to almost anywhere in Europe.

This is what I do. I also take the daytime flight. I'll be doing it again in a few days. Daytime. Business class.

Before you decide to do this, I recommend that you check the airline prices AND the length of your flight to Europe.
We live in South Georgia and usually fly into Atlanta then to Europe. Atlanta is a great airport to negotiate a flight change. You stay inside security and the subway in the airport is efficient and fast between terminals.

We have flown to Japan and China from Atlanta. Delta has a direct flight from Atlanta to Tokyo and it was much better than having to change flights in Seattle or LAX. When we went to China, we changed flights in Chicago O'Hare and the transfer was AWFUL. I will NEVER book a flight through O'Hare. Security was a disaster and slow. We almost missed our flight to Bejing since we had to change terminals and go through security again. It took an hour to go through security.

We have flown to and out of Dulles (Washington) and that was painless. Newark was not the greatest airport we have found.
JFK, if you have to change terminals, it is a bit of a pain. We generally try to aviod JFK, unless the fare is really a big savings.

Boston Logan is not too bad.
Miami is not as bad as Newark or JFK, but not as good as Dulles or Logan.

Another thing to consider is trying to adjust your body to the time change before you go. You can read much discussion in this forum about Timeshifter, an app that helps get your mind and body prepared for travel. I used it flying to/from West Coast to Turkey (11 time zones) and it definitely helped me hit the ground running (and on return I had very little jet lag, which is highly unusual for me). Even if you do a layover on the East Coast it could help with travel related tiredness.

I agree with Laura about day flights. I have flown business class and since I don't sleep on the plane, it did nothing to lessen my fatigue. I will say business class is quieter.

We flew from the West Coast to meet up with a friend in Boston, stayed the night and toured the city, then took an evening flight out of Logan to London. It was so much better than flying direct from the West Coast. We got to begin working on our jet lag adjustment, and had hours less sitting time. The extra cost is minimal if you can use miles for the US segment. We liked Comfort Inn/Suites Logan International Airport for reasonable rates and free shuttle, and it's a short Lyft ride into the city. This is now our plan A for future European travel.

I spent a few days in Philadelphia last year and stayed at a B&B. At breakfast on my last day, I met a nice couple from Seattle who were doing what you’re thinking of. They had just spent 10 days in London and were spending a day or so in Philly to see the sights and recharge their batteries before flying home. They said it’s how they plan all their trips to and from Europe now, and they rotate East Coast cities for their overnight stopovers. They had stopped in Boston, New York, and D.C. on previous trips.

My tip? Fly out of the West Coast to Iceland. Spend a day or 2 there and continue. They allow layovers there on the same ticket. The flights are quicker and not as exhausting as that 11 hour flight from the LA, etc.

Flying east from California or Washington presents its own fatigue IME, especially considering the PITA factor of clearing security two separate times, traveling to and from an additional airport, etc. I don't see this (for my purposes) as likely to lessen fatigue. Each to one's own, obviously.

We fly only business class when traveling to Europe. It's expensive, but in the context of overall cost of a European vacation it's relatively minor.

Build in a couple of days of recovery upon arrival in Europe. Absolute do nothing days...

We fly business class now, never going back. I monitor prices, and sometimes the price of business class is not much more than Premium Economy. Google Flights is your friend, set price alerts for flights you are considering well in advance and check them frequently, you may get lucky on business class prices...

If you decide to split the trip up with an east coast stop, find daytime flights for the Europe leg...these are fantastic fatigue beaters. Check JFK, etc.

I am with an earlier poster. Fly to a city with a daytime flight to London, spend the night, fly to London. Spend that night in London and then head anywhere in Europe. Daytime flights are much easier to recover from IMHO

I will only fly business class (or first if the price is right) for all long haul flights as the difference in how I feel both during and after is so much better. I can always sleep on a lie flat bed which means I'm more refreshed when I land. Not being cramped in an economy or premium economy seat is a huge benefit and one I'm willing to pay for.

I was always a fan of making my connection in Europe--or flying direct if possible, from San Francisco. A couple of years ago I was heading to Edinburgh on United and discovered I would have to connect somewhere and decided to try Dulles. What a difference that made! I departed at my preferred time of 1 pm and had a 2-3 hr layover, which allowed me to walk around, freshen up and get a snack, then the overnight flight felt much more natural, and was only about 5 hrs. I arrived around 10 am the next day and felt much perkier than usual, plus I still had pretty much a whole first day, rather than running out of steam by 4 pm.

I do have the benefit of living on the east coast. Nonetheless, I break up my flights if I need to take a second flight. I take the day flight from Boston to Heathrow, Terminal 5, sleep in a lovely bed at the Sofitel at the terminal, and then I catch my connecting flight the next day, so far always from T5, but it's easy to change terminals at Heathrow. Decades ago, I was on a flight for 9 hours, and the last two hours were pure torture. I said 'never again'. Also, I don't sleep on planes, even when in business class, once. Not worth it if there is a better way. Instead, I get to relax and read uninterrupted for 5 or 6 hours and arrive happy and clear. As far as pricing goes, it is so much less expensive to break up the flights and sleep in a real bed than to pay for business class...but even if it wasn't, it is much more relaxing. IMO YMMV

Basically, since being retired, I like to turn my transportation time into part of the enjoyment of the trip, not 24 hours I need to suffer through.

Hi Laurel, we lived near Seattle for 30 years, and now I have the extra flight to begin in Spokane, so I understand your comment.

Occasionally my work & my flight status would get me moved up to the wonderful lay-flat seats, and I really did sleep well overnight. Otherwise, I buy the Premium Economy early to get the bulkhead aisle seat - a little extra leg room. I purposely walk at least every three hours to the back of the plane to keep my legs from aching or getting stiff. And I try to drink more water & ice.

I did purchase Premium Select seats two times in the last few years. Honestly, a nicer seat, but it didn’t make a huge difference, so I’m back to Premium Economy. I’d rather spend my money in Europe- not in the plane.

I have stayed overnight near Schiphol on the way home when I had a complicated flight itinerary from Dubrovnik & one other, but I have not done an overnight hotel on the way to a European destination. I don’t like JFK, so I would probably pick Atlanta.

Two considerations.

Your airline or its alliance will help determine which hub you should go through.

And if you just can't sleep on a plane, which is not unusual, prem econ vs business might not make a real difference.

Another consideration, raised by the WSJ recently, if you spring for business and it's an overnight flight, all the supposed perks offered to you will be wasted because you're supposed to be asleep the whole time!

I used Newark recently for a trip which gets a lot of bad press and it went swimmingly. There are shuttles to get to nearby hotels and you can easily catch a train to NYC for sightseeing. It's a United hub.

A little out of the box idea- Consider a transatlantic repositioning cruise for one of the directions.

Are you retired or do you have a job you are taking time off from? Do you feel like you are at a much greater risk of falling and hurting yourself compared to when you were younger?

My closest international airport is Detroit Metro airport. I have traveled to different parts of Europe 7 times so far. When I went from Detroit to Athens, there was a change of planes in Philadelphia. On the way back there was a change of planes in Atlanta. My flights to London, Amsterdam, Munich, and Rome were direct, no plane changes. My trip to Vilnius for a class I got college credit for, in 2007, was just two flights, changing planes in Amsterdam. My flight to Spain and south America involved changing planes in Miami, Florida. I am 42 if this matters. I hope I am still working at paying jobs as long as I am healthy and able to. I wouldn't waste time going outside the airport and spending much time in a city by the east coast just to break up a trip to Europe. I never planned for fatigue. I slept in a defective and lacking way on that planes on the way to Europe when the flights were at night. Then I was wandering around in a fog and too tired but still functioning. I got in bed sometime between 4 and 8 pm the day I arrived. I was awake and fine doing whatever I did the next day. If your budget is big and you don't have a regular job, its fine to spend days on the east coast.

Goodness....
If you can afford business or first class, go for it. There will be more room for you. The food will be better. There is more and better booze. You will feel pampered. It can be a nice experience. I've done it often but not when I was paying for it. Upgrades, company travel policy, those put me into better seats. How did I feel after luxuries versus standard squalid travel? Not an awful lot different. You are still dealing with the length of the trip, the time changes if there are any, the length of the travel day you have to deal with, any stress related to the usual travel problems. You will also have to try and decide how much pampering you will be subjected to. Drinks, warmed nuts, a platter of cheese and charcuterie, a meal, drinks, a schnotsy desert followed by a splash of old port and did I leave out the champagne and caviar? The seat might be more comfortable, but the service won't leave you alone. In the main cabin, they handed you a beer or a coke, tossed a melted cheese blob with ham at you and then turned off the lights. Good night!
For me, the end result is about the same in terms of tiredness or wear and tear. I speak from many years of international travel experience. I would never overnight somewhere on the way as a halfway stop nor would I splurge for the extra pampering. Get the trip over with. Get to your destination. You will be tired. Deal with it. Embrace the suck and move on. I used to fly from NY to Bejing and be in a car on my way to a customer site at 6:00 am the morning after I arrived in the middle of the night. It was not all that hard to do. What was hard was trying to sleep in the hotel after spending all of that time travelling. The temptation to sit up and watch TV and order from room service was very strong.
You can do it. 90% of the travel trauma we convince ourselves is affecting us can be ignored and overcome by simply getting on with it. Now as I am much older I find that it isn't all that much different. I'm over 70, getting around is not quite as easy, I no longer need to be on the go immediately after I land, but I still do try to plan so that the first days are active, not spent sleeping or trying to overcome what is a normal reaction to the stress of travel. Get up and go!
Enjoy your trip. Go for it, all in. Totally send it

I flew business class once. (This summer with an upgrade offered at check in- Toronto to Amsterdam.) It made such a huge difference that now I am struggling with the thought of sitting in regular seats again :-) It was business class on the way there and economy for the return flight. So now I am watching prices for my preferred flights for my summer of 2026 RS tour and I am ready to pounce. I’m hoping for business there and premium economy on the way back because I am spoiled and needy now! Fingers crossed. I refuse to spend what I think is an exorbitant amount though. I just have to decide where I will draw the line for spending. I had read an article once that said frequent business class passengers know to skip all the wining and dining on the plane and just get settled and try to go to sleep. So we ate at the included lounge at the airport and after take off settled in with the noise canceling headphones they gave us to use, along with some medication assistance ;-) and slept for hours. I felt like a fully functioning human when we landed! So much different than when we had flown premium economy overseas the year before. I can’t sleep sitting up, so even if the seats are wider and more comfortable and recline more in premium economy, you are still sitting up. I have definitely noticed that jet lag and airplane travel affects me way more now that I’m getting older. I used to be able to tolerate it and recover much faster.

How did I feel after luxuries versus standard squalid travel?

Henceforth I shall refer to the rear section of the aircraft as "Squalid Class."

Thanks everyone who responded! Flying to Europe wasn't as bad as far as the fatigue effect although we didn't sleep much. Flying home was torture! By the time we got into the front door (woke up at 3:30 to catch a 6:30 am flight to make a connection), we had been traveling for more than 24 hours!

We will take all of your ideas into consideration. We will keep an eye out for price comparisons between Premium Economy vs Business Class, although we doubt we will sleep any better on a plane. I haven't spent any time on the East Coast so maybe on the way back from Europe we should make the rest stop.

We did have a chuckle from the 42 year old (Mike L) regarding his optimistic approach to flying through the fatigue. We enjoyed your comments. If only we could be that age again and be able to travel, our bodies could handle just about anything. Unfortunately, at the ripe age of retirement but enjoying it, our bodies now need tender, loving care.

Thanks again. I wasn't expecting such a quick response from so many of you. They were all very insightful.

If you have never been to Iceland, do ad Ms. Jo suggests and doma stopover there. I’ve used Icelandair to
three times. You can stopover for a few days and the two legs count as just one flight.

Thanks everyone who responded! Flying to Europe wasn't as bad as far as the fatigue effect although we didn't sleep much. Flying home was torture! By the time we got into the front door (woke up at 3:30 to catch a 6:30 am flight to make a connection), we had been traveling for more than 24 hours!

Laural, were you returning from somewhere in Eastern Europe to home in the US? I have been there and done that, and I no longer do it.

I now make my way back to at least Paris, if not London, for a few days before making the non-stop flight home. Alternatively, on a trip to Eastern Europe, I will go there first, from the US on one hellishly long day, and then work my way back to the more western reaches of Europe for my final days abroad, to make the flight home less onerous.

In general, I have much less trouble dealing with jet lag flying westbound vs eastbound. The flight over to Europe is very rough on my body clock, but since upgrading to business class, it is not nearly as bad. YMMV...

CJ mentioned this above. If you have the time, sailing is one way to defeat fatigue. Many cruise lines have repositioning cruises with ships sailing to Europe from the US in the spring and from Europe to the US in the fall. And for much of the year, Cunard operates the QM2 between New York and Southampton (and at times to Hamburg).

And another way to fight fatigue--resisting the temptation to add on.

When I am planning an itinerary, I am too often tempted to add a few days and another city, to say what is one more three- or four- hour train ride, I realize this goes to the issue of the ideal length of a trip. But several times I have returned from Europe exhausted and, shortly after my return, caught a cold.

In the past, I have erred on the side of doing too much. As difficult as it is for me, I need to remind myself that there is such a thing as too much (and that I am no longer 40).

I can't sleep on the plane but I find it easier to relax when I just admit to myself that I won't sleep but still close my eyes. Still no sleep but takes some anxiety/stress/pressure/frustration off my lack of sleep. I will be tired and push through and go to bed around 9 or earlier the first night.

I have never been able to sleep on planes and just look at a long 10-11 hour flight from W. Canada as “ one night’s bad sleep”.
However, after paying for an upgrade to Business Class (BC )in 2022, I now save up all year and buy a BC seat to Europe for my yearly trips.
I have terrible knees and ankles and to me it is worth every last penny to be comfortable.
KLM was pretty good, Lufthansa A350 not so comfy, but I’m just back and this year flew Edelweiss .
It was the best flight ever.
Superb crew, lovely service, the food was excellent and the lie flat seat was the same width all the way down with no weird triangular space to cram your feet into.
Open space all the way….I saw one person sleeping on their stomach.
I am already looking at next year for their flights….their hub is Zurich.
I arrived there and arrived home feeling quite good and not worn out after a flight.
I would prefer that to spending maybe the same amount of money for two flights and a hotel night in between.
We are all different!

It's true that from the time you enter the plane until the time you actually get off, say from SFO to CDG or Frankfurt FRA, ie after taxiing waiting to get your overhead bin pieces, and waiting for others, etc, it is a bit over 11 hours inside the plane.

I just put with it, the discomfort, lousy food, ie, United in Basic Economy, and everything else you might find unpleasant , eg the middle seat, during the 11 hour overnight flight.

Once I land, I am there,...period, no layover, no changing planes, it's the terminus. The trip begins when I step into the general public area in CDG.

I just did a quick random check on a roundtrip from Kansas City to London, and I see the business class fare is 7 times the economy fare. To me, that's seven trips I could make for the cost of one comfy flight. I'm happy for those folks who can afford it.

See, I would rather have 3 short flights, then 1 long one. Especially that flight to Iceland from Seattle or Portland. It is only 7.5 hours and you have that quick layover in Iceland. Get off the plane, get on the next one. Their planes are more comfortable to me, as they just have 1 aisle and you board and deplane in a fraction of the time.
I don't sleep on planes either, but there is no way that I would pay 4000+€ for a flight that is normally just 800 or 900€.