Who Prefers Morning Flights To Europe?

I've considered using those flights, but I concluded that I'd be wasting an entire day of sightseeing. So for me it doesn't work out. From what I understand the morning flights are designed for business travelers that want a full nights sleep in a hotel before the next business day. But going in the other direction there are evening flights which serve the same purpose. I do use the evenings flight because it gives me that extra day of sightseeing. But they're only useful for travelers who live in the NYC area. They don't arrive until around midnight, and there are no connecting flights at that hour.

In Seattle we have only a night flight leaving at 7 or 9pm, arriving around 3pm in London. My wife and I got to our apartment in South Kensington and had enough time after unpacking to go out for dinner and walk around a bit before coming back and crashing at 10pm only to wake up wide awake at 5am!!

I LOVE the morning flight. I have chosen United's morning flight from Dulles to London on 4 of my last 6 trips. In fact, I like the morning flight so much better than evening flights that I often choose to fly into London and out of another city. I spend a couple of days in London before flying elsewhere. There are lots of cheap flight options out of London and I really like London so never have a problem finding things to do there.

The flight from Dulles leaves around 9:30am and gets to Heathrow around 10pm. I take the tube into London and generally am at my hotel by 11:30pm. I generally stay at a hotel on the Piccadilly line. I usually just stay up late the first night and sleep in late the first morning.

In April, I took an overnight flight to Brussels and was reminded why I like the morning flight so much. I also cannot sleep on the plane. I pretty much wasted the first day with a headache feeling like I wasn't taking anything in. Some people feel they are wasting a day flying with the morning flight, but I always feel like my first day is a waste anyway so the morning flight works for me when I am going to London. Unfortunately, from Washington, the only morning flight to Europe is to London.

I prefer to arrive as early as possible and get some sleep on the plane.

J.C...if you take the AA nonstop from RDU to LHR.....it arrives about 6:30 AM London time/1:30 AM Cary time.

If your hotel there won't let you check in early (some might if the room is ready), you could always arrange to rent a room at the Yotel at Terminal 4 in Heathrow. You tell them what time you want to arrive and how long you want to stay. You pay, in a sense, by the hour. Go there, catch a few hours sleep, then go to your regular hotel, check in, and have a night out. The yotel will be cheaper than any hotel near JFK or BOS.

If your destination is somewhere else but you have a connection in London, do the same. Arrive early, sleep for a few hours at the Yotel, and then catch a later connection to your destination.

Yotel

Laura: I've taken that morning United flight from IAD to Heathrow. I'd be using it on my next trip except that I'e got a credit with AA to use. So, I'm flying out of JFK. (Unless I made a mistake, AA has no nonstops to London out of Dulles, morning or otherwise.)

Frank: I've taken that AA flight back from London to RDU, but not outbound. LIked it better when they used a 777.

I guess it all depends on how each of us respond to night flying and jetlag. I know from my experience that I'm pretty dysfunctional, if not on the edge of being physically ill, the next day. If I was 30 years younger, I'd probably take the RDU flight (the airport is only about 15 minutes away), but no longer. This trip I'm incurring the expense of a flight to JFK and a night at a hotel. Expensive, but the alternative is paying for a day and night in London during which I do nothing. This way, I'll get a reasonable night's sleep and be up and about the next morning. When I have taken the night flight, I've just holed up at the hotel for about 24 hours, which is an equal expense.

I took a morning flight once. I left O'Hare around 9 AM I think and got in early evening into London. I must have done something that evening, but I must have been pretty tired as I don't recall anything! The next day I caught a train to York. I had originally be on an Air Canada flight the night before, but they went on strike. It was an adventure to get on the American flight, and it was an added adventure to get home as the strike lasted my entire trip! I think that I would do it again. I'm not sure why I haven't yet. Pam

J.C....AA has 6:00 AM flights from RDU to both JFK and BOS that connect to morning flights to LHR. The connection at JFK is 55 minutes and it's 65 minutes in Boston. This might save you a night at a hotel in NY. There's also a 6:30 AM flight to Chicago with a 90 minute connection to a flight to LHR. The JFK and ORD flights are 777. The BOS flight is a 767.

Sleeping on the plane has never really worked, and so we look forward to trying the daytime flight for the first time. From Columbus, OH we'll fly to Chicago and on to Heathrow, arriving around 11 PM. Knowing from past trips how that first day or so usually goes, I actually feel I will be gaining a day rather than wasting one. Could have saved more time by going through Boston, but waited too long deciding. Great price and this connection sorta sold us on the 2 week trip. We'll see how it works.

Frank: I passed on those 6:00 am flights out of RDU for two reasons. First, they're at 6 a.m. Second, I'm wary of the approx. one hour connection time in New York.

I should say the primary reason I can't sleep on planes is that I am 6'4". Apparently, the people who design aircraft interiors live in a world where no one is over 5'8".

jc in plane design school ... they are taught no one is over 5'5" and no one weights more then 120.

J.C.- have you tried asking for a bulkhead seat? That way no one is in front of you, leaning back their chair and limiting your space. You can also prop your feet up on the bulkhead so that it is more like a lounge chair. We fly out of Charlotte and usually leave about 7:00 or 8:00 at night. We actually like arriving mid-morning in London. We go for walks, shop, and generally have an easy day. A few times we've even taken a train to Cardiff for the day- but that was pushing it. We like to get an early supper and be back to the hotel room for an early bed time (9:30-10:00) rather than 11:00-12:00).