Eating/Sleeping on Flight from the East Coast to Europe

If it is the 10:20 pm TAP flight, you can just decline the meal. You will probably already have had a meal by that point anyway.

We usually just decline the meal on the late night flights.

It will be surprising if it is a big meal. Even so, how does eating late normally affect your sleep? It actually helps some people doze off better. This certainly will affect individuals differently.

Hmmm…
Sleeping on a plane interesting concept, I’ve heard it can be done.

I never sleep on a plane anyway, so always eat the meal when offered. It is never a big dinner anyway, to be honest.

My goal is to arrive at Washington-Dulles at least 3 hours before my scheduled departure time. That normally gives me a lot of extra time after I clear security, part of which I use by having something healthy to eat at one of the restaurants. It's usually a salad with chicken. Yes, it will be a bit overpriced, but I feel as if it's a better start to the trip than eating a bunch of airplane food. It doesn't hurt to skip the airplane dinner (and stay off all electronic devices) if you want to sleep, but it doesn't solve that problem for me. I'm just not willing to spend the $2000-S3000 for what would be a real solution (a lie-flat seat).

Chicken or pasta? If you’re lucky there may be a curry choice. Sometimes we’ll eat part of the dinner that is served, but there have been times we simply skip it altogether. None of the meals would win any competition as they are mediocre at best. There are differing options depending on the cabin you’re in; economy, premium economy, business, etc. The meal is served about an hour after taking off. Options vary by airline. Prior to landing a snack is served. We skip it since the options are generally terrible.

I usually watch a couple movies. If I get an hour’s sleep I feel lucky, but it has nothing to do with having eaten the meal.

At least you have a short flight compared to west coast folks! On a very late evening departure the "dinner" will be served pretty quickly after takeoff. I have never found meals "big" and often it's not fantastic quality in the cheap seats (exception: Korean Airlines). I also have an airport meal before my flight and if the dinner selection on board looks unappetizing I skip it. Though it isn't generally good advice, I do allow myself one cocktail or glass of wine because I'm on my way somewhere fun. I tend to get hangry so even if it doesn't look amazing I almost always have the pre-landing snack/breakfast offering.

The bigger issue for me is getting settled in to maximize the possibility of sleeping - brushing teeth (with bottled water and not tap water in bathroom), eyeshades, ear plugs, neck pillow, comfy clothes, shoes off/slippers on. I rarely get any good sleep on long haul flights, but dozing is better than nothing. And as I fly solo and sit on aisle seat, I am always interrupted by someone needing to exit my row.

Have a wonderful trip!

Obviously different people have different ability to sleep. I can only speak from my personal experience.

Unless I am in the Business Class with flat beds, I will be lucky to snooze for 1 or 2 hours in a 7-hour flight. When I travel to Europe, it usually doesn't make a difference whether I eat the meal on the plane or not. You will not be able to sleep while they are serving food anyway -- with the bright lights and noises and the smell of food. Usually, 1 hour after meal is served, which means 2 hours after the flight departure, they will turn down the lights. You should try to close your eyes and rest. Even if you don't actually fall sleep, it will be good to practice slow breathing and it may end up with you falling sleep at least for a while, or you will just be in a relaxed state for a while.

The real key to adjust to the time difference is that when you land at 7 or 8 AM, make sure you are outdoors and be exposed to bright natural light. Have your 3 meals that day at normal local time, and don't ingest caffeine after lunch. Keep going in the afternoon even if you feel sleepy. Then after an early dinner, you will be ready to crash and have a great sleep at 8 or 9 PM.

I always have plenty of time to kill at the airport so I go to one of the restaurants and have a leisurely dinner. It is more comfortable than sitting at the gate. I then usually skip the dinner on the plane.

Are you flying United or TAP? If you are on United, that flight leaves very late so you won’t be served dinner until after 11pm. And United’s food is bad; you won’t be missing anything.

I echo everything that acraven and Laura said.

On late flights like this, I put my face mask on, put my ear plugs in and shut my eyes. I usually sleep a little. No one bothers me.

My husband in contrast will eat the meal. He never sleeps at all so it gives him something to do. He also likes a snack at 11 pm at home. I do not.

Totally personal preference.

Standard advice for dealing with jet lag is to consider what time it is at your destination when you're starting out. So if it's 10:00PM in DC, it's what, 3:00AM in Portugal? So why eat dinner at 3:00AM? You need to get your body clock on local time.

Some people are so excited about getting on that overseas flight, that they feel the need to eat & drink whatever is put in front of them, and watch movies all night, because it's included. And then they crash and burn when the plane arrives in daylight in what your body thinks is the middle of prime sleep time. Some people handle jet lag quite well, but if you're not one of them, it can ruin the first few days.

Standard advice for dealing with jet lag is to consider what time it is at your destination when you're starting out. So if it's 10:00PM in DC, it's what, 3:00AM in Portugal? So why eat dinner at 3:00AM? You need to get your body clock on local time.

I am starting to rethink this concept. First of all, setting your time piece on destination time is really a mind game and not a body adjustment for anything. I'm starting to think I should keep my mind based on my departure time zone until I land. So, if a meal is served at 7:00pm on the plane "my time", why not just partake in it. I just left my time zone, the new time zone people are in bed.

Once I land at say 8:00am local time, I will determine if I need something to eat. If not, I will hold out until local lunch time and eat. Now, for meal purposes, my body has reset to a local eating schedule. Easy to adjust an eating schedule.

Sleep is another subject. Once I land, I know I have many many hours until my local bedtime. So, I nap in the hotel as soon as possible for not more than two hours and then shower.

This nap will hold me until about 9-10:00pm local time. I sleep until no later than 8:00am the following day. I am then fully rested and never have any lag issues from then on. However, a major rule for me is no caffeine or alcohol on landing day. This includes chocolate :(

For me, landing day is a day to recoup. I purposely try and stay in a large hotel on landing day because my odds of getting into a room early is increased and for me the 2 hour nap works like a charm to get me through the rest of the day. I want this nap as soon as possible.

I have tried the check my bags at the hotel, get out in the sunlight, take a walk and it just doesn't work for me. Mostly because I get hardly any sleep on the plane and because I am so tired, the day drags on and on very slowly and I am just further wearing myself out. I believe a short sleep (2 hour nap) counteracts jet lag as much as daylight and I do both. Sunlight alone just doesn't make up for sleep deprivation.

Those who offer advice on hitting the ground running like RS, are people who have slept on the plane substantially enough to get through the day. I envy them.

Think about the facts. If you get up the day of your flight at 7:00am and you get hardly any sleep on your plane trip, your body has had no sleep for about 32 hours by the time you go to bed in Europe at 9:00pm local time the following day. Now your body is in an exhaustion state. You need sleep.

Try staying up at home for 32 hours with no sleep and I guarantee you can experience a trip to Europe in the comfort of your own home. I challenge you to do that at home just hanging around the house and see how you feel. Now imagine spending time getting to the airport, through the airport, sitting on a plane for at least 8 hours and then the arrival process in Europe and getting to your first destination.

I know jet lag is more than just sleep deprivation scientifically, but sleep for me is the answer. I can go 32 hours without eating, but 32 hours without sleep...not cool.

It will only be a five hour time change from the east coast, not a big time change. It sounds like you should skip the meal and that your husband will eat his. You will get a light breakfast too.

My husband and I found a solution to our jet lag going across the pond - take a day flight out of the east coast. We just took the day flight at 8 am out of JFK and landed in Paris at 9 pm. We flew to New York the day before. Booked a hotel at the CDG airport checked in - went to the bar and had a light meal and a couple of glasses of wine and then went to bed around midnight. Got a decent nights sleep - had a late breakfast and then we took the eurostar to Amsterdam to start our trip. We felt no jet lag dong this - we were very impressed. There are several day flights to london out of the east coast which might be a good start for Portugal. United did have one out of DC - do not know if it is still operation. We normally fly business class on overnight flights and wanted to try this to save several thousands of dollars and actually get a good nights sleep.

went to the bar and had a light meal and a couple of glasses of wine and then went to bed around midnight.

Wouldn't this be 6:00pm EST (body time) that you went to bed in Europe. WoW, how do you adjust to that the next day?

We love to take day flights. Usually NYC or Boston to London. We arrive at night and get a LHR hotel. Beats most of the jet lag.

Unfortunately, United discontinued the daytime flight out of Dulles to London this year. I loved that flight and am still hoping they bring it back.