How to Make Your Overseas Flight as Comfortable as Possible

I hate hunting for airline tickets.  But I think I’d hate going to Europe by boat even more.

So I thought I’d offer some tips on airline ticket hunting.  We’ve found amazing deals.  We’ve also paid more than we wish to remember to get back and forth between the US and Germany.  I hope this helps make your trip comfortable no matter how much you end up spending.

(jetlagged in London last June – our airline was on strike)

1. Flying abroad costs more around Christmas time and from late May to early October.

I think you know why.  That’s when the weather is fantastic or Christmas markets abound.  But truthfully, if we were going to be tourists in Germany, we’d go in April. The weather is usually beautiful, and the tourism isn’t overwhelming.

2.  Avoid New York City.

I’m not sure why, but the experiences we have had at Newark are always awful.  The employees (from customs agents to the FAA and gate agents) always seem so miserable.  Maybe it’s the New York culture compared to what we’re used to in the west.  Maybe it’s that the airport security systems didn’t actually fit in the structure.  Maybe employees are overworked or uncomfortable.  I really don’t know.  But I will pay more to fly into any other city.

3.  Try to get the fewest legs possible.

That’s for comfort’s sanity as you get tireder and tireder.  If it costs a little more to have fewer legs, we think it’s worth it, especially if you’re flying to a new country for the first time.

(same jetlagged day in London. being pilots, we watch planes take off for “fun”.  and then we take pictures to show other pilots… or put on Making This Home!)

4.  Get a full night’s sleep before you leave.

Don’t take the first flight out; don’t get up at some crazy early hour to head to the airport.  We’ve found that our bodies adapt best when we get a full rest.  We don’t catch as many colds.  We adjust to the new time faster.  And yes, we’ve tinkered with this constantly!

The worst would be getting up to leave Europe early.  It’s pretty common to have to get up at 4 or 5 in the morning to catch an early flight.  What time is that in the US where you’re headed?  8:00 at night?

5.  If you travel often, try to just fly with one airline whenever possible.

This is our current plan – building up and using frequent flier miles, using companion tickets… Our airline of choice?  It’s German.  Luftansa has never lost our bags, never lost stuff from inside our bags, never gone on strike, or never really messed up our schedules.

This strategy is our key for affording tickets.

Once we had tickets with United; our international flight was actually on Luftansa.  Somehow, United didn’t get the information to Luftansa for our return flight.  It was after a funeral, and we were so exhausted.  The woman we were checking in with at Luftansa didn’t know our situation.  Yet she actually bumped us up to first class on our flight from Frankfurt to Denver.

I feel like that describes our Luftansa experiences perfectly.

Oh and just an fyi – they’re the only airline that serves free alcohol inflight.

(after nine months abroad, this man at our last layover in June symbolized everything I was coming home to. I wanted to hug him; instead I took a picture.)

6.  You can’t avoid jetlag no matter what anyone tells you.

Jetlag happens because of the body being at high altitudes.  There are very strict aviation laws about this, which is why cabins are pressurized.   (It’s also why little airplanes like the ones we fly cannot be above certain altitudes.  We can only be at other altitudes for a small length of time.)  By pressurizing the cabin where you sit, the airplane can create a feeling of an altitude much lower than where you are in the sky.  But it doesn’t go all the way down to the types of altitudes where we live.

So you can’t avoid jetlag, but you can do things to make the transition overseas more comfortable.  Drink lots of water, eat, exercise or move your body, and REST.

(in Berlin ages ago with an empty cart and no luggage.  Huh.)

7.  Bring noise canceling headphones if you travel a lot.

They’re worth their weight in gold when you want to watch movies or sleep.  It’s already uncomfortable enough to sleep in airplanes, right?

Are there any tips you can offer?  Any questions you might have?