There are all kinds of theories about how to handle a long-haul flight without feeling drained.
It’s an occupational hazard for cabin crew… but here are their tried and tested tips.
1. Go local – fast
Change your watch to the time in your destination as soon as you land (most phones automatically do so). Living on local time is easier when you fly west as you’ll normally arrive closer to bed-time. Fly east and you may have a full day to get through before bed. ‘It’s why cabin crew say west is best, east is a beast,’ says Jennie Jordan, author of Flying High, a book about flight attendant life.
2. Limit your naps
A quick nap after arrival is fine, preferably in the morning because it won’t affect your body clock as much as a long afternoon snooze – and is less likely to stop you sleeping at night. But it’s best to stay up to your normal bed time. Planning a first-day activity, even if it’s just a restaurant for an early dinner, can take your mind off sleep.
The experts advice changing your watch as soon as you land in your destination and avoiding long naps in the afternoon
Alcohol is more potent at altitude and leads to dehydration, which makes fatigue worse
3. Booze is bad news
Free drinks may be tempting, but alcohol has more effect at 35,000 feet as cabin pressure cuts oxygen levels in the blood. Drink too much and hangovers can kick in shortly after landing, further confusing body clocks that associate sore heads with early mornings. Dehydration also creates fatigue and compounds jet lag.
4. Drink in that fresh air
Don’t drink your coffee/tea indoors on your first morning away. Take a cup out into a garden or hotel pool or even into the street so you get some fresh air and feel daylight on your skin as early as possible. It helps your subconscious record that it’s morning and eases you into the new time zone.
Taking your morning coffee out to the pool will help ease you into the new time zone
A twilight stroll aids digestion and helps you acclimatise
5. Go for a stroll
Scientists say dog owners tend to sleep well as they go for short walks in the evening, stretching muscles and reminding the subconscious that darkness has fallen. So take a twilight stroll on holiday. And never go straight from dinner to bed, which may add indigestion to jet lag.
6. Sleeping pill rules
Three nights of sleeping pills are enough: over-the-counter, prescription or herbal pills can help you sleep in a new time zone, but Dr Ben MacFarlane, author of Holiday SOS: The Life-Saving Adventures Of A Travelling Doctor, warns against packing too many. ‘After the third night you should be able to sleep naturally,’ he says. ‘Get into the habit of taking medication on holiday and you might struggle to break the cycle at home.’
7. Avoid disturbances
Don’t risk being woken when you do nod off in a hotel for a quick midday nap. Most cabin crew will turn mobiles to silent and hang up ‘Do Not Disturb’ signs.
Cabin crew tend to use do not disturb signs so they can sleep without an unwelcome knock from housekeeping
DJ Calvin Harris, pictured here with wife Vick Hope, advises eating egg yolks while airborne – though it’s not clear if that has any scientific basis
8. Embrace background noise
Experts say it pays to embrace low levels of noise on planes and at hotels. Tell your brain it’s OK to be surrounded by a low hum of activity and you’re more likely to sleep. White noise, including recordings of log fires, can also soften sounds that might otherwise wake us.
9. Don’t brazen it out
Some swear by staying on UK time while away. They say it makes it easier to click back to British time. Critics believe it’s only likely to work for business travellers away for one or two nights. If you’re away for a week, ignore UK time completely.
10. Ignore weird tips
DJ Calvin Harris recently said eating raw egg yokes on flights stops him getting jet lag. When flying long haul he says he puts six eggs in his cabin bag then cracks them and eats the yokes at his (first class) seat. Does this work? Doubtful — but each to his or her own.
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Ten jet lag busters! Airline crew’s tips to make long-haul travel a breeze – and a warning about sleeping pills
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