Any air travel can be stressful, but facing down a long-haul flight can be especially intimidating.
Should you prioritize sleeping or eating, or both? Should you attempt to exercise in the aisle? Is it ever acceptable to take off your shoes?
Kris Major is a British flight attendant with 25 yearsâ experience. Heâs worked short-haul hops and spent 14-hour stretches in the sky. Heâs endured journeys with an unenviable number of layovers, and heâs become an expert in refueling via power naps at 30,000 feet.
As many of us prepare for long-haul trips over the summer, Major tells CNN Travel his tips and tricks on surviving multiple hours in the sky.
Should you eat before or during an overnight flight?
If youâre catching a night flight and you want to maximize sleep on board, Major suggests eating before boarding.
This is particularly important if the flight is on the shorter end of the long-haul scale: if youâre traveling from New York to London, for example, at best youâre looking at around five or six hours sleep, so you want to make the most of that rest time.
Major, who also represents European flight attendants and pilots as chair of the European Transport Workersâ Federationâs Joint Aircrew Committee, says itâs telling that most business travelers shut their eyes as soon as they get on board.
âThe seasoned travelers, after takeoff, you go down the cabin and you can see that theyâre gone â theyâve covered themselves up and theyâre asleep,â he says.
Still, Major admits that eating before flying isnât always doable, because of long security lines and busy airport terminals. Even if you have the best intentions, you can end up settling for a sad-looking sandwich as you run to the gate.
If youâre flying business or first class, you also might be tempted to make the most of food and drink offered on board â itâs hard to turn down complimentary champagne, after all.
But realistically, the cabin food and drink service can take a good two hours, so youâre losing valuable rest time â and your Business Class ticket should give you access to an airport lounge, so max out those facilities instead, and board the plane well-fueled and ready to rest.
So when should you eat on the plane?
If youâre flying long-haul, youâll likely be offered more than one meal during the course of the flight.
Meal times start to feel a bit arbitrary when youâre crossing multiple time zones, but should you eat whenever food is offered to you? Or should you turn meals down if youâre not hungry or trying to sleep?
Major says passengers should do whateverâs right for their travel schedule. If youâre exhausted, youâre better off sleeping than forcing yourself to eat dinner at the equivalent of 3 a.m.
âMost airlines donât particularly plan their [food] service around the passenger and acclimatization and time zones crossing,â explains Major.
Should you bring a travel pillow or rely on the airline offerings?
Airlines usually provide pillows for long-haul travelers, no matter the cabin, but Major says bringing your own eye mask, travel pillow and/or a blanket could be a good idea depending on your preferences.
Eye masks are great if youâre trying to sleep when the cabin lights are on, while you might prefer your own travel pillow to the airline version.
Plus, while itâs rare, thereâs always the chance that pillows are unavailable â something that could be a big problem on a 14-hour flight.
âIt happens,â says Major. âSo I would say, cater yourself for your own comfort and your own needs as much as you possibly can.â
What if you canât sleep?
Many of us find it difficult to sleep on airplanes, whether due to unfamiliar noises or, for the cheaper seats, limited leg room and upright positions.
Struggling to sleep on a long flight, knowing youâre going to pay for the lost hours when you land, can be an unpleasant cycle of worry.
Should you persevere and keep trying, or give up and watch a movie?
Major says thereâs no point trying to force sleep, particularly if your body clock thinks itâs the middle of the day and youâre simply not tired.
But he cautions that itâs important to bear in mind what youâre doing at the other end. If youâre going to be driving, for example, or going straight to a meeting, you should try and rest as much as you can.
What are the flight attendant rest areas like?
Crew rest areas exist on all airplanes, but what these rest areas look like depends on the airline, aircraft and the length of the flight.
âIf weâre going somewhere over, say, 13 hours, we need to have good rest areas,â says Major, who explains flight attendants should typically be entitled to breaks that allow for 90 minutes of sleep. That way, theyâve completed a full sleep cycle before theyâre back to work.
âYou need at least one sleep cycle scientifically to be of any use, to keep your ability to operate safely, your decision making processes, your communication skills,â says Major.
Flight attendants need to be alert throughout the journey, so they will take it in turns to refuel via mid-flight power naps.
Major says he finds sleeping in crew rest areas pretty easy, but he knows flight attendants who find it tough to sleep in beds that Major calls âtechnically coffins.â
âThere are some crew that really struggle with the bunks, theyâre not pleasant,â says Major.
âYou push yourself right in, so theyâre long and thin, because theyâre up in the aircraft, so thereâs not a lot of space. They are like what youâd imagine youâd see on a submarine.â
Flight attendants will usually opt to get changed out of their uniform and into loungewear before squeezing into the bunks. Major says he always packs a T-shirt and some comfortable lounge pants.
As heâs a senior flight attendant, Major will hang his tie on the exterior of his bunkâs curtain before he closes his eyes.
âSo that if thereâs any emergency whilst Iâm in the bunk, they know exactly which one Iâm in, even though thereâs usually one designated for the senior,â Major explains.
Do you have any tips on feeling fresh after sleeping on a plane?
Weâve all experienced waking up after a mid-flight sleep, groggily heading to the airplane bathroom to freshen up, and alarming yourself when you catch sight of your exhausted reflection.
Majorâs top tip for feeling refreshed following inflight rest might sound obvious, but he insists it makes a world of difference.
âCleaning your teeth is always the one that freshens everybody up the most,â he says, adding that flight attendants will always have between five and 10 minutes to freshen up before theyâre back on duty.
Thatâs enough time to get dressed, wash and, if you need to, comb hair and refresh makeup.
Flight attendants will greet a returning colleague with a cup of tea or coffee. Then theyâll head off duty for their own rest period.
Should you exercise on a long-haul flight?
Sitting in the same upright position for hours on end is uncomfortable, but itâs not always easy to get up to stretch. The seat belt sign might be switched on, or you might want to avoid disturbing your seat neighbor.
Major stresses that even just wiggling your toes while sitting in your seat is worthwhile.
âDo move around in your seat, move your legs, do what comes naturally â wiggle, move, get the blood flowing if thatâs what you need to do. For people that have got circulatory issues, talk to your doctor,â he says.
Whatâs your perspective on passengers taking off their shoes?
For many passengers, this is a controversial question due to concerns about smelly feet. But Major encourages anyone on a long-haul flight to remove shoes for comfort, and to help their circulation.
Flight attendants donât care, he says.
âWe do it ourselves. I think most people do it themselves. Itâs the right thing to do if youâre going on a long-haul flight,â he says.
âOne would hope that youâve had the common decency to have a bath or a shower and put clean socks or stockings or tights on before you get on the aircraft. Thatâs the only issue, if your feet smell.â
Major adds that itâs polite, if you think thereâs a chance of feet odor, to âgo to the washroom and do something about it.â
But flight attendants, he says, are more worried about passengers sticking out their feet into the aisle.
âOn a night flight particularly, if you put your feet in the aisle and youâve got dark socks on, we wonât see you, and weâll trip over you, and itâs a bit of a nuisance for us.â
Whatâs the best seat to book for a long flight?
If youâre worried about turbulence, Major advises that you try to sit near the front of the aircraft.
âYou could be standing at the front and feel nothing, and down the back theyâre bouncing all over the place â the aircraft moves differently down the back,â he explains.
If youâre tall, booking the emergency exit seat for the extra leg room could be worthwhile, although Major says itâs worth remembering âyou canât put your bags down at your feet or anything because it needs to be clear as an evacuation run.â Airlines also sometimes charge extra for seats with leg room.
Majorâs personal choice on a long-haul flight is booking a window seat.
âThatâs purely preferential, I can lean up against the bulkhead, pull my head down and go to sleep. Whereas you canât when youâre in the aisle seats or the middle seat,â he says.
The middle seat is never enviable, but itâs perhaps particularly unappealing on a long flight. Major reckons itâs worth paying extra for the aisle or window, especially âif you need to sleep on the flight.â
Should I invest in noise-canceling headphones and bring my iPad on board?
The way we consume TV and movies has changed drastically over the past decade, but inflight entertainment has largely stayed unchanged.
While many of us still enjoy watching new movie releases on board flights, itâs less of a novelty than it once was. Many passengers prefer binging a pre-downloaded streaming show on a personal device.
âMost people self-cater flights now when it comes to entertainment,â says Major.
Your own devices are also a good back-up in case there are issues with the in-flight entertainment system, which Major admits âmight not always be working.â
Flight attendants usually have handbooks that advise how to operate the inflight screens, but theyâre not always able to fix the problem.
âThereâs only so much we can do on the aircraft to kick it back to life if it starts to play up,â says Major. âThereâs very little we can do, apart from the usual scientific âturn it off, turn it on again.ââ
Most aircraft today have USB charging sockets, but a portable charger could also give you added piece of mind.
As a flight attendant, do you judge passengersâ movie choices?
Major says in his experience, crew arenât paying too much attention to what youâve opted to watch on board, but occasionally heâll comment on a travelerâs choice.
âWe can use it as an ice breaker,â he says. âIf Iâve seen a movie and itâs good, itâs something to use to strike up conversation.â
Major does recall once noticing a Business Class passenger reading a book which included some graphic descriptions.
âThe words were pretty pornographic although I couldnât see enough to follow the thread,â Major says.
The man was reading the book quite openly, and made no attempts to hide the contents.
âI was quite shocked,â says Major. âTurned out we were taking a group of sex therapists to a conference.â
Should you bring your own food and snacks?
Absolutely, says Major.
âOn most flights, people forget that you get on the plane, youâre not going to eat for the first hour, at least â itâs probably going to be an hour and a half after takeoff before you eat,â he says.
If you have a health condition like diabetes, bringing your own sustenance is particularly key. Itâs also important to pack snacks if youâre traveling with kids.
Iâm taking my kids on a long-haul flight, what should I do?
Major has young kids of his own, so he says he can answer this question both as a father and as a flight attendant.
âIf youâre tense, your child will be tense, itâs as simple as that. If youâre stressed, and youâre feeling anxious, your child will be anxious,â he says.
Flight attendants are experienced at talking kids and parents through the flying process, Major adds.
âBecause weâre just generally very relaxed, we can calm them down very quickly,â he says.
When babies are crying, parents are panicking and other passengers are sighing, Major says heâll always handle the situation in the same way.
âIâll make sure itâs audible for everyone else to hear, Iâll say: âPlease donât worry about it. Donât worry about your child crying. Itâs helping your child rebalance their ears. Itâs the only way they can do it, through screaming. Weâve all been children, weâve all cried, donât worry about it.â Iâll try to put the parents at ease. By putting the parent at ease, we can hopefully settle the child.â
Major says bringing favorite toys and blankets on the aircraft can also help calm a child, as it helps the alien airplane environment seem more familiar and comforting.
How do you deal with nervous passengers on long-haul flights?
Those with a fear of flying are, in Majorâs experience, worried about one of two things. Either itâs the âlack of controlâ and the âalien environment.â Or itâs fear of the airplane crashing.
Some people are reassured by Major walking them through the mechanics of the aircraft â explaining that unknown engine noises are normal, or that air travel is generally very safe and there are many fail-safes in place.
Others would rather not know the ins and outs, they just need distracting. Major once spent two hours on board a flight chatting with a nervous passenger in the galley, taking their mind off the situation.
Even for those who arenât generally afraid of flying, long-haul journeys present their own set of pressure points that can drive people into panic mode.
Crying babies might be viewed as more of an annoyance on a short flight, but passengers can âfreak,â as Major puts it, if they think thatâs set to be their soundtrack for the next 12 hours.
Delays to any flights are frustrating, but on longer flights, delays can suddenly hammer home âthe reality of distance and time,â says Major.
But Major says itâs important to remember that âthereâs always taxiing time built into the flight time.â
âYou can make up time on long-haul a lot easier than short-haul,â he adds. âYou can pick up a good half hour.â
Whatâs your opinion on AirTags?
Majorâs never used an AirTag, but he understands the attraction â especially for passengers whoâve dealt with a lost bag in the past.
Although itâs a different story when he travels with his family, Major says he usually travels carry-on only, even on long-haul flights.
Thatâs less because heâs worried about losing luggage, and more for ease and speed.
âOn my own, Iâve got one bag that I can live for a week out of, itâs so finely tuned,â he says. âI fly with hand luggage only so I can get through the airport as quickly as possible.â
If youâve got a layover, how should you maximize that time?
If youâve got several hours before the next leg of your journey, it could be worth booking a hotel room to catch up on sleep, says Major, who also advises stretching your legs and walking around as much as possible.
If thereâs enough time to leave the airport and get some fresh air, thatâs worth doing too.
Major knows what heâs talking about, he once did a mammoth journey with multiple airport layovers, âfrom Cairns - Brisbane, Brisbane - Sydney, Sydney - Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi - Vienna, Vienna - Frankfurt, Frankfurt - [London] Gatwick.â
âWhen I got off, I was nearly dead,â he jokes.
Whatâs your perspective on the super long-haul flights that could be a thing of the future?
The longest flight Majorâs ever worked was around 14 hours. The longest scheduled flight currently in operation is Singapore Airlinesâ New York to Singapore flight, which lasts 18 hours and 40 minutes.
Australian airline Qantas is preparing to launch its ultra long-haul âProject Sunriseâ flights, which would span upwards of 19 hours flying passengers from New York and London to Sydney, Australia. For flight attendants, Major says, that will involve working over periods in excess of 24 hours.
âYouâre missing two nights of sleep,â says Major. âThe impact of that we donât fully understand.â
Itâs still early days, says Major, and these details need to be ironed out. But he sees ultra long-haul as the âevolution of flying.â
âWeâve got the aircraft to do it now, so we need to find ways of doing it,â says Major. âAnd we will. Thereâs a lot of work going on to do that.â