Finally Thinking About Flights!

[artnbarb]

Although I don't have a kitchen at the moment, we are gradually settling in to our new home, and at last can start to think about Umbria for Sept/Oct. Here's my dilemma: we all know that flying these days is extremely stressful, and when you combine that with my inability to sleep on a TA fight, I've come to dread flying. For the past several years we've combined our extended stay in Umbria with a pre-trip to somewhere else, mostly to help with the jetlag. Dublin, Scotland and London have served us well, but I just don't think we're up for that anymore. Now I'm just trying to find the shortest, most efficient way to get to Rome, and even the shortest flight from the US is still too long for me!

Because we live in the Eastern time zone, there's not much incentive to fly somewhere domestic a day early. I can probably fly to any hub with either SWA or the airline I'll fly to Europe - JFK, Chicago, Atlanta, Philly, maybe even Charlotte.

So - what are your tips for beating jetlag and surviving the long-haul flights? I've tried melatonin with limited success. Becuase I'm short I've also used a foot hammock for my feet, but sometimes, because of the closeness of the seat in front of me, it's been really difficult to use. I do use Trtl neck brace which I defintely like. Prices are continuing to rise, and even Premium Economy might be a strain. In the past we've been lucky enough to use miles to upgrade to Premium Economy on American, but I don't know anything about the premium economy class for other airlines.

The only spot of good news is that we will have someone picking us up at FCO and driving us to Umbria! You'd think by now I'd know how to cope with this flight, but evry year, about halfway through the flight I ask myself if it's reallt worth it!

 

[Pauline]

I feel your pain. I thought those flights from the US to Europe would get easier the more we did them, but it got worse! And we had to fly all day from ABQ to get to an east coast hub for the Europe flight.

To make the flight better I would load up on magazines to browse and a good junky novel to keep me distracted. I would bring a very light blanket, like a pashmina, to cover myself in something nice. And noise cancelling headphones.

We used to do a one-way car rental and drive to airports where we could get a direct flight (Phoenix or Denver), spending the night somewhere along the way.

I hope you find a good price or upgrade for premium economy. And very nice that someone is meeting you at FCO. That will make things easier.

 

[artnbarb]

I've tried noise cancelling headphones in the past, and for me they weren't worth the added bulk, esp when I just use them for the eastbound flight. And then there's the cost for the really good ones. If I use earplugs I'm fine, but still not going to sleep.

One thing that really bothers me during long flights, and one of the reasons I bought the foot hammock, is the fact that my legs and feet get soooo achey during the flight. I do move around, and try to do lots of in-seat foot/let exercises, but nothing seems to help.

Several years ago I decided that the cost of having someone pick us up at FCO (and take us back at the end) was just going to have to be factored in to the cost of the vacation. I don't know how Art managed to drive from FCO to Umbria after the all night flights, because even as a passenger it was pure torture for me! Last year we were lucky to be able to take the train down from Venice, and the year before we flew directly from London Stansted into Perugia.

I wish someone would revive the Concorde!

 

[milgreen2]

we've flown Premium Economy on Delta and ITA (sometimes codeshare, sometimes booking directly via ITA because the price was better) and found it to be well worth it. I too struggle with my legs because they're so short and it's hard to find support.....the foot rests in premium economy definitely make a difference for me.
we usually fly BOS-FCO, but for our upcoming trip to Puglia in a couple of weeks, we're flying JFK-MXP, and connecting via Ryanair (I know, ugh!) to Brindisi. on the way home, we need to fly from Bari to MXP the evening before our connecting flight, but again the better price of the roundtrip ticket makes an overnight stay near the airport worth it.
best part: we found a local driver who will take us from our home in Enfield, CT to JFK and back for less than it would cost us for the 18 days of parking in either Boston or New York!!
now that we have a ballpark estimate for what round-trip transportation has cost us over the past few years of travel to Europe, as long as we're in that range, we can live with it, and we try not to focus on just how much more expensive it is now vs. how much it used to be.....