I am based on LondonBut the main office of TPG is in New York City. Regularly flight through the Atlantic, and I have a time of time lag for anyone from the northeast (especially New York) to the United Kingdom.
Most flights from the United States to London leave at night and arrive the next morning or around lunch time, given the time difference of five hours. However, New York and Boston are unique, since these cities generally also offer a handful of daytime flights to London. These flights are so short that you can leave in the morning and arrive at night on the same day.
I have flown from New York to London More times I can remember in several carriers, in different classes and in different flight times. With practice, I have perfected my route strategy, and now I always opt for daytime flights instead of reserving a night flight.
Here is why diurnal flights from New York to London are much better than night flights.
Night flights are too short to sleep properly
A night flight would mean a complete nighttime, right? Not quite. Flights from New York to London are generally scheduled for a maximum of seven hours.
This does not mean seven hours of “lights off, closed eyes” rest. If you want to eat the two meals served on board, or Struggle to sleep Through the noise and light of food services, it will probably get a maximum of four hours of sleep, if not less. I have never understood why someone wants to have breakfast four hours after dinner, but some passengers do it, and you have to endure that if it is happening around you.
The flights that go east on the Atlantic regularly enjoy strong tail winds, so these flights are often even shorter. I do not remember a New York flight to London that I have taken that it did not land early.
How fast these flights can be? In 2020, a British Airways plane He made the trip in four hours and 56 minutes, which is much less than the scheduled time of seven hours. I would be surprised that the lights were turned off for even three hours on this flight, and I need much more sleep than to work properly the next day.
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If you want to maximize the rest periods, you can complete the meals, perhaps eating in the living room in advance, but even if it is in first class with a mask for the eyes, caps for the ears and a lies seat, it will only be allowed to recline your seat for less than five hours between reaching the cruise altitude and starting the offspring.
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You can sleep in a real bed
I can’t sleep sitting for more than 20 minutes at the same time, so a night flight in the economy is not an experience I enjoyed.
Lieves seats in the premium cabins provide a better sleeping experience, but I am generally tired when I land since my dream on board is restless, perhaps because of the warm cabin temperature or the noise that I can still hear through my caps for the ears or headphones with noise cancellation.
I live in London, so if I take a one -day flight from New York, I can go directly to sleep in my own bed quite easily, even if that means I don’t get home until midnight. This is always preferable for an uninterrupted rest night at the right temperature, without any other passenger or aircraft noise.
If you stay at a hotel, instead of arriving in London at breakfast time after a night flight and potentially you need to wait a few hours to register, with a daytime flight, your room will be ready and can go directly to bed.
Related: The best hotels in London
There is no jet delay
The New York hourly zone is usually five hours from London, depending on the time of the year. Night flights leave as soon as the 6 PM, which would be 11 pm of the United Kingdom time. In theory, that would be the perfect time to sleep to restore your body clock to the time zone at your destination. However, in addition to the various sleep interruptions mentioned above, if I have been operating at east time for a week, I simply feel tired at 6 pm
Diurnal flights allow him to sleep in London at a reasonable time (usually between 10 pm and midnight). Assuming that I can sleep all night, what I can generally after a flight, will wake up at normal time the next day, feeling rested, renewed and without Jet Lag.
Compare that with an exit of the 6 PM, forcing themselves to sleep and handle just a few hours before landing at dawn, disoriented and jet-irrigated.
No, thanks. These flights are absolutely brutal, and I would recommend doing everything possible to avoid them.
If you take one of the many night flights to London, I recommend you choose an hour of departure that is later possible (ideally 10 pm or posterior). Of course, besides you will see when it lands, but it may be easier to fall asleep on board.
You can save your points and miles for another day
If you have difficulty sleeping, as I do, I recommend using your points and miles to reserve or update a completely flat bed to guarantee a better sleep.
It is less important to travel in a premium cabin on a daytime flight to Europe. These flights spend very fast (especially if you are working or watching a couple of movies), often the benefits of a superior class can be wasted on a flight like this.
I have no problem flying in the economy during the day, since I would prefer to use my points and miles for flights during the longer night, where I can really take advantage of the comforts offered by the carrier.
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It can be a normal work day
When I tell friends and family about these less known daytime flights from New York to London, they generally say: “Yes, but you lose a whole day on the plane.” It is true that flying during the night maximizes your vacation time and, if you can sleep correctly, you can save a night in your accommodation.
However, most of the daytime flights that I have taken on this route have been on normal work days. These Flights will generally have wi-fi, So shortly after takeoff, I open my laptop, I connect and work solidly during most of the flight. It is easy to catch up with the emails and colleagues of Slack, and write some stories for TPG on each flight.
If you want to work on a flight and you have Access to the living roomI recommend breakfast in the living room and omit the first meal aboard these flights. The quality of the lounge food is significantly better, which allows you to work immediately instead of waiting for your food to be clear.
Obviously, not everyone can work remotely, especially at 30,000 feet, but otherwise I would be working from home, consider whether you can work from heaven.
Related: What airlines offer free Wi-Fi? A complete guide
What flight is better?
There are five diurnal flights from New York to Heathrow Airport (LHR) this summer: four of the John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Jetblue and American Airlines, and one from Newark Liberty Liberty International Airport (EWR) in United Airlines.
There is also a daytime flight from Boston Logan (BOS) International Airport to LHR in British Airways.
The question of that is the best flight to take an energetic debate between the TPG team, which regularly flies this route. Main spokesperson Nicky Kelvin He prefers previous outings as the early care call takes him at the time of London quickly, and can still sleep in his own bed at a reasonable hour.
For me, the American Airlines flight is the best option simply because it does not require an hour of abnormally early attention, and I will not feel tired all day. This means that I will not need to take a short nap on the flight, I can work productively at all times and go to bed at the time when I walk through the main door, before midnight. This is a quite perfect flight schedule for me.
End
I have flown from New York to London more times than I can remember; I have tried all kinds of different flight options that range from bright to horrible. The very short nature of the flights on this route means that it is unlikely to land rested and renewed from a night flight, even if the best airline in the world is flying.
I cannot strongly recommend the handful of daytime flights operating on this route. They are my proven way of flying to London feeling as cool and healthy as possible.
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