Aisle or window best for sleeping?

Yes, switch to the window seat. You will never know if it is better unless you try.

I agree you might have a better chance sleeping in a window seat, but if like me, there just is no sleeping on a plane.

I agree that the window seat is probably better for sleeping, but if I'm traveling solo I hate having to wake my seatmate in order to get up and stretch or use the bathroom. I have never been able to do more than doze on a plane anyway so I just try to be very well rested before I leave and resign myself to staying awake all night.

Have given up the pursuit of sleeping on a plane……just made my peace with that and now I download movies and put my EarPods in and enjoy myself……i do think having the window to lean against helps……

I can never sleep much, but I feel like the window is more private and cozy.
Last week there was a funny NYT article on how casual people are on planes these days. The author said the person behind her somehow wedged her foot between the seat and her toes were next to the author's ear! I can't imagine....

I'm pretty low maintenance when I fly to Europe so I just tuck myself into a Premium Economy window seat and get what ever rest I can. For those of us flying off the eastern time zone, I rarely get any sleep if the flight departs a couplea hours before 6:00pm - I have a much better chance at sleep if the flight departs a couplea hours past 6:00pm.

I always prefer the aisle, but never sleep more than a few minutes, if I’m lucky. We leave soon on a 10.5 hour flight and this plane has the 2-4-2 configuration so I booked 2 side seats with me at the window and hubby in the aisle. I’m hoping it will help me sleep, especially since they kept changing our first flight segment and after an early departure from our home airport we now have a 9 hour layover at SFO. It’s gonna be a long day/night.

Andrea in the above post mentioned the 9 hour layover before her trans-Atlantic flight. We had to endure this on our last trip in July to Stockholm. We've decided to explore flying to the Hub (Atlanta or Minneapolis for us) the afternoon or evening on the day before and staying at a airport hotel and then getting a good nights sleep before getting on the overseas flight. In fact, we have found that we will be able to schedule earlier flights overseas because we can get to the airport easier. I will post after our next flight and let everyone know how it works out, I realize that this adds expense and extra time to the trip but we're in our 70's and being up 3:00 am to catch a 6:00 am flight to a Hub then sit for 8-9 hours to then catch the overseas flight really wears us down!

I much prefer the aisle seat which I request too. If given a choice, even better. One reason is if the need for the WC arises.

I always can count on sleeping at least 6 hours on the 11 hour non-stop flight from SFO to Paris or Frankfurt. Flights from SFO to Paris or Frankfurt depart from 1:30 to 3:30 pm, basically the overnight flight, which is the option I always choose and arriving between 9 and 10 am. to start the new day afresh.

The advantage of the window seat is that with a pillow or two you do have head support.

I've tried to sleep on planes for years, and just can't seem to, so I'm always in an aisle seat these days.
I'd rather someone climbed over me than vice versa, and I don't mind moving at all.
Plus, if they want to get out, you can stretch your legs another time.
It's easier to have an aisle set in a row of four rather than three, as then you'll only have one person asking to get past you rather than two.

People grabbing the back of my seat is my pet peeve too.
One long day-light flight I was on, the woman behind me was up and down like a yo-yo visiting her friends in another row, and grabbed my hair as well as my seat back every single time.
I'm usually very polite, but not that time.
I finally stood up and faced her and told her to please stop grabbing my hair and sit down and stay put for a while.
She did.

Mardee, I think a window seat might be good for you to try and sleep.

My partner and I normally get the 2-seat section of the 2-4-2 or 2-3-2 configurations. I seldom am able to sleep but sometimes I can with the window to support my rolled up jacket. But it's easier for my partner to climb over me for restroom trips. He has to get up as I can't maneuver around his long legs.

Once we were demoted to bulkhead seats on a subsequent flight when we lost our premium economy seats on our canceled flight. I was in the 1st seat of the 4 seat section just where the aisle narrows and I was constantly being bumped in the shoulder by people and carts and once someone even elbowed my head. I tried leaning in to my partner but that didn't help. There's no way I could sleep in that seat. I hated that flight and was rather annoyed that my partner wouldn't trade for even a short time to relieve me.

treemoss, yes, that's true. I always have decision angst though - will it be better? What if it's not? Arrghhh...

Paul, kayla and Jane, that's what I'm afraid of - even if I give up my beloved aisle seat, I still may not be able to sleep.

periscope, my flight doesn't leave MSP till almost 10 pm but I'm not sure that will help.

Andrea, my flight is a 2-4-2 configuration as well, but I'm solo so the person next to me is a stranger. I'm sort of hoping that it might stay open, which would be a real luxury. But I know I can't count on that happening.

Mary, ugh! That would creep me out...

Donald, that's why I'm flying direct out of MSP. This year my flight to Germany originated in Duluth, so I had to be there 3 hours early (so around 8 am). Then the flight to MSP was delayed so I sat in that tiny 4-gate airport for almost 5 hours, then had a 3 1/2 layover at MSP. I was exhausted before I even boarded the main leg. This trip I will sleep in, drive the 2 1/2 hours to Minneapolis in early afternoon, park my car at friend's house, then take the light rail to the airport and have a nice dinner while I wait to board around 9 pm-ish. So even if I still don't get any sleep, it will be more bearable.

Fred, I would love to arrive in the morning but I can't seem to find decent flights out of MSP that will get me there then. When I used to fly out of CVG, almost all my arrivals were in the morning (and departures in early evening) but not any more.

SJ and AMann, grabbing hair! I sometimes have to hold the seat in front of me to get out but I'm always careful and try not to exert to much force (and certainly try to avoid hair!). Sheesh! And AMann, the touching thing is weird. Some people!

Silas, yeah, I think I'd be a little annoyed, too.

@ Mardee...One advantage landing in the morning I've noticed over and over is the time required to get through Immigration is much less. I found this to be specifically true arriving in London LHR, much less noticeable in Frankfurt or Paris CDG. The one time I landed at LHR in the late afternoon, close to 5 pm, from SFO, clearing Immigration took a bit over one hour, certainly not the case arriving in the morning.

Fred, on this trip, I arrive at AMS at 13:00 then have a 2+ hour layover till I get to Glasgow. Hopefully Schiphol will have died down a bit by next year.

“I feel like the window is more private and cozy” i agree with Mary. Much more private and cozy.

I’ve decided to look at long haul flights now as just “one night’s bad sleep”.
If you’re on your way to your holiday, your adrenaline and excitement will hopefully keep you going; and if you’re coming home, hopefully you have a few rest days afterward to recover!

@ Mardee....Getting in at 13:00 is all right What about passport control at AMS? Hopefully your flight is on time or, better still, a bit early, 30 mins would fit the bill and that you literally have that 2 hours or, at least, 90 mins prior to the boarding call for Glasgow giving you time for a hot meal or cup of coffee.

Susan and Mary, I can see that. Cozy is always nice. Right now my chosen seat is still an aisle but I'm going to ponder this more.

SJ, ha, yes, it's about the attitude! I like that one!

Fred, I have 2 1/2 hours at AMS, and I am more familiar with that airport than I was CDG so hopefully passport control will go quickly. I like the idea of getting a coffee and something to eat.

I can rest my head on a pillow on the window.

This is pretty much a fantasy, there is too much of a gap these days to do this. In any event the banging against aisle seats makes them the worst for trying to sleep.

What about passport control at AMS

There won't be passport control for the UK. Recently this flight left from D which is where the MSP arrival would be, so same concourse.

Mardee: Icelandair is really the way to go MSP>>GLA, it's barely a 9 hour trip including connection time. You arrive about 11 am.

Andrea: Have you looked at Delta instead of Star Alliance? You might get faster itineraries flying east rather than backtracking to SFO, and both SLC and Minneapolis are right on the way.

Tom, thanks! I will check into Icelandair for my next flight but my flight for Scotland next year is already booked. I had around $500 in ecredits that I needed to use; hence Delta.

Icelandair from MSP works very well for Scotland and Scandinavia, the fastest connections. But Delta has better in-flight service and seats, don't forget that the headrest can be crimped inward to hold up your head.

On our flights home from Africa a few weeks ago (8 hours from Africa to AMS, then 9 hours from FRA to ANC), I took a window seat while my husband had the aisle. I did get sleep, but then I can usually get some. I went braless for the first time on the flights and wow, that was so much more comfortable!😜

Tom, I fly using United miles, so Star Alliance is what I have to choose from. SFO isn’t terribly far from me and many local friends choose to fly from there. We ended up doing that in March to avoid a 7 hour layover. It was originally a much shorter layover, but they changed the SMF-SFO flight time. It cost us about $150 for the rental car, gas and bridge tolls. Then factor in the time it took to get the car the day before, drive to SFO, return the car and shuttle to the airport allowing an arrival 3 hours before the flight and it’s not worth it to me. SMF is 20 minutes from my house. I miss the days before my husband retired when we would have free parking for any length of time because he worked there and the employee lot was available.

Tammy, I would kill to go braless but I get pretty self conscious about it - I might try it when the lights are out and see how it goes. :)

Tom, I'm a Delta fan as well - partly because of flying out of CVG before I retired and now MSP, but also because my brother is a pilot for Delta (mostly flies to Korea and Europe, etc.) and my SIL (married to another brother) is a flight attendant for Delta. So I like to think I'm supporting my family when i fly. 😊 I used to get buddy passes years ago, which were wonderful because I always got bumped up to business or first class. But those days are gone - the passes aren't what they used to be.

AMann, is that the banana pillow? I tried something like that and it just didn't work for me.

I am in the window sleeper group, bu it requires some planning. I take a blow up travel pillow to fill the area between seat and window. The airline pillow goes on top of that. Finally I add my fleece jacket folded up (inside out to avoid makeup stains) and rest my head on that. After early rising that morning, a connecting flight, and a Bloody Mary on the plane, I always get several hours of sleep!