What’s the Longest Flight You Would Take?

I have to fly from Houston to Dubai once a year for work and it is dreadful and grueling - over 16 hours. Work pays for us to fly (at least) business, thank god. I usually just upgrade myself to first and pay for it out of pocket because the added cost is worth it.

5 hours in coach is my limit.

I know connecting is a pain sometimes, but flying direct can be worse in cases like LA-LHR.

I flew Air France coach from Paris to San Francisco (11.5 hours). It was fine.

I spent three days on a bus once in Brazil. You guys are so fragile.

For American domestic travel a direct flight is generally seen as a good thing since the time spent on board can never be truly THAT long. I WOULD take a 16 hour flight if I had the chance to go somewhere amazing and I got some incredible deal. But I would hate it. Once you're over 8-10 hours, you're making a day of it it anyway, and I'd much prefer a couple hours layover. Some routes aren't really amendable to layovers - like Los Angeles to Sydney or Melbourne.

I sleep like a contented cat on flights. Window seat (preferred), aisle seat, in the shell of the middle of the middle aisle seats, it doesn't matter. Night flights, sunny flights, stormy flights, packed flights, empty flights, it doesn't matter. I stay awake for the take off and then it's usually straight to sleep and I wake up when breakfast is served or as we near landing.

I do like a free upgrade to an upper class cabin, but really the expense is a waste got me. Coach is fine. Bring your screaming kids: I'll sleep straight through their crying, their tantrums.

Much as I like sleep, there is too much of a good thing. I've never taken a super long flight and imagine that that could be trying for many passengers. It would be torture for my partner and we recently decided against an invitation for a trip that would have involved 13 hour flights plus another 90 min. flight and hours of layover in airports. It would have been a breeze for me, but not for him. For that reason we usually book some higher grade of service, even if wasted on me.

Any flight more than10 hours I would have to break it up.The longest I ever flew was to Hawaii from Chicago. We stopped for two days in San Francisco before resuming the trip. Hawaii was a 6 hour flight from San Francisco. I usually fly NYC to London and that's not too bad.

the last few years of my mother's life, I was flying from LA to the east coast a few times a year. Once I checked in at the kiosk (sp?) and it said, 'For $300, you can upgrade to First Class.' I thought, well, this means I'll get free food and my luggage is now free so that's got to be around $75 or so right? I whipped out my cc and made the purchase.

I did this a few times, mostly on the way back. The last few trips home were extremely emotional as I saw a deterioration and I knew I'd be truly alone in the world after she was gone.

Moms are the glue of the family. It's never been the same since she's been gone.

It's extremely hard to go back to coach after you've been in first.

I have to make one more trip back east for a memorial for her. I'll be flying business or first.

She left me her miles.

In coach: TWA: STL-HNL, 10 hours

In blessed First: QF LAX-MEL, 16 hours

Longest flight I've taken in economy was non-stop on South African Airways from JFK to Johannesburg which I believe was a little over 16 hours. Never again. The seats were horribly uncomfortable and on the return the entertainment system was malfunctioning. It took two Xanax and a beer to make me pass out (mostly) for that flight back.

JFK -SIN. Long flight but not bad in F on Singapore Airlines.

I did Chicago to Hong Kong a few years ago in coach for work( 14 hours) and I thought I was going to lose my mind. I took a sleeping pill about half way and it still didn’t help. Btw I flew back business class Shanghai to Chicago(16 hours) and it was dream. Business class is the only way to do these long haul flights.

I’ve flown from NYC to Sydney at least 20times, mostly in coach. It’s 6hrs east to west coast, then 14-15hrs to Sydney. I’m 6’3” and in my early 50’s. It’s never great, but I can make it work. The concept of the long flights is always worse than the reality, especially if you manage it well. It’s all about taking prescription sleeping tablets, so you sleep as much as possible, and arrive aligned to local time. For me, I’d generally rather spend the business class fare price on other aspects of the vacation, rather than the few hours of flying.

I flew to Rio from Europe and back this summer. The flight was super comfy and the movies and books kept me busy the whole time (I got up just once to go to pee). But I was in for a shock after I returned home. I went to work the very next day and my co-worker said to me "Look at you feet". I looked down and saw that my ankles were completely swollen! I didn't even notice the swelling before because it didn't hurt at all but it sure looked super scary.

So the next time I take such a long flight I'll definitely stretch my legs on the plane more. I once saw some guy doing stretching exercises in the aisle mid-flight. It did look idiotic but it turns out that isn't such a bad idea after all. I wouldn't want to end up with a clot inside my legs!

18 hours nonstop Newark-Singapore.

R14 compression socks, too.

R14, yikes, I didn't realize that swollen feet and ankles were a sign of DVT (blood clot, deep vein thrombosis). My feet always get swollen on flights and I never make an effort to walk around the plane, except to go to the bathroom. And, no, I'm not overweight.

I travel for work, so as long as I have to

The 15 hours it took me to get from LAX to SYD and back on a 787 Dreamliner. It was my longest flight ever. Flew premium economy window seat and it was well worth the extra money. Flying to Europe I go PE, or try get an upgrade to Business Class.

Domestically I can fly coach, but sometimes get an automatic upgrade on American.

……

LAX to London is for amateurs. I've done Chicago to Hong Kong in the past and Newark to Delhi more recently. I used to do Chicago to Tokyo on a frequent basis.

It's about figuring out how to reset your clock--doing an entire long trip on one flight makes the whole process much easier.

I had a twenty hour flight from LA to Sydney in coach . In front of me was a missionary couple with a baby that cried from take off to landing. I hope the cannibals in Paupa New Guinea boiled their asses the first day .

LAX-LHR, LAX-CDG, LAX-PVG, LAX-AUK.

I’ve flown each of these many, many times, except Auckland, which I flew three times. I eat in the lounge and, sometimes, the first meal on the plane, then I sleep the rest of the way. From Europe back to LAX, I try to stay awake by watching movies and reading. It helps cut down on the recovery time if I can get home then sleep for 10-12 hours.

Beware DVTs. Despite wearing compression socks and a lot of drinking water, I developed one coming home from Copenhagen. A couple months later, I went to the doctor and told him I thought I had a DVT. He neglected to order an ultrasound, so a few months later I ended up in the hospital with pulmonary embolisms. So please, get up and move around the cabin. Drink lots of liquids. And insist on an ultrasound of you suspect a DVT.

This my seem like a super obvious question, but, aside from going to the rest room, do people get up to simply walk up and down the aisle to stretch legs, get the blood lowing, not look at the back of the seat? Or is this frowned upon?

"restroom" and "flowing."

I flew from San Francisco to Sydney - I think it was 16 hours. I was in business class, which made it really easy to do. The longest flight I ever did in coach was from Chicago to Munich - 8 or 9 hours of misery.

R24 Yeah, people walk up and down the aisles to stretch. Rude, self-absorbed assholes do yoga and/or block aisles doing exercises. Don’t do this and, for fuck’s sake, don’t crowd the galleys. Most airlines set out drinks and snacks in the aft galleys so passengers can help themselves, so take a slow walk back there, grab a bottle of water, and hydrate as you stimulate blood flow.

I've flown across the Pacific a few times, and the Atlantic more than twenty times. Always in Premium Economy or Business.

The only transoceanic flight I ever took in coach was on Japan Airlines, and their coach is more luxurious than any US carrier.

If you have to fly coach overseas, take an Asian carrier. Not US or European.

I used to travel a lot for work which was funded by federal grants. You had to fly US-based airlines overseas, so you were stuck with AA, United, or Delta (and PanAm before 1991). Delta has, by far, the best international economy product, but being based in LA, I fly oneworld (AA).

London to Cape Town, 12 or 14 hours, i forget, i was prepared for horror but actually slept a lot (to me the key to sleeping being those things on the seats that support your head (i don’t know the name) ans don’t understand why all planes dont have these. Still read half of a Le carré book and some wine.

One hour in coach is my limit.

LAX to SYD on Air New Zealand. Business class. Upper deck of a 747 both ways. 24 seats, two very cute gay flight attendants. It was heaven.

I recently flew JFK-IST, nine and a half hours in coach. Never again. There was nothing wrong with the flight, it was just about three hours too long cramped up in coach.

I've flown business LAX-MEL (Australia) which is 16.5 hours. Qantas' A380 is lovely, but I almost lost my mind.

R31: Short flights are a waste of time---door to door an hour flight can easily take as long as driving.

NYC to Qatar, 16 hours. Great service. Emirates. Open bar. Great entertainment system. My grandpa came to the US from Sicily in steerage. Suck it up & quit whining.

[quiote][R31]: Short flights are a waste of time---door to door an hour flight can easily take as long as driving.

You can’t be drunk the whole time if you’re driving it like you can in the air.

[quote]My grandpa came to the US from Sicily in steerage. Suck it up & quit whining.

That’s why our ancestors emigrated. So their grandchildren can have a better life than they did and don’t have to fly in steerage (aka American Airlines coach).

I'm very envious of R6. I cannot for love or money sleep on planes.

I live in Australia and we know long flights. The there and back to Europe flight is the longest and most soul destroying route.

In a previous role I had to travel from Sydney to London for a week every month for over a year. We flew business class but it was still pretty brutal. 24+ hours each way. And Australia is so huge that on the way to London we’d still be over Australia after five hours’ flying. Then after 9 hours, land in Singapore or Hong Kong, with the worst feeling being getting back on the plane for the next leg which was 14+ hours.

The return went through two nights.

Qantas is introducing new aircraft next year which won’t need to stop so Sydney to New York, London, Paris etc will all be non-stop. 20 hours each way. Not sure if I’m up for that.

If I go back to Australia I am saving up to take the Indian Pacific from Perth to Sydney. Either that route of The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin.

They look gorgeous and interesting. Has anyone taken those trains?

I've been on flights that were around 5 hours, and made sure to get up at least once during that time to walk to the restroom. I also tried to stand in my seat or near it for a few minutes.

I am petrified to do a single flight more than that. I keep wondering if I could fly the shortest distance in one flight between North America - perhaps Toronto or even Halifax to Dublin? I'd handle staying there a day and then flying on into the places in Europe I'm hoping to visit (particularly Germany, Netherlands, etc.)

R40 - my parents took the Ghan and said it was one of the best experiences of their lives and they've travelled all over the place. They said the crowd was mostly older people.

Dubai to LAX, March 2020. We were being "evacuated" from Kenya due to COVID. Flew Nairobi-Dubai, spent the night. Then Dubai-LAX. Not by choice. (Our original routing was Nairobi-Amsterdam-LAX.)

When I was younger, I could do 6-8 hours in coach. Before I retired, I flew PHL to PHX every three weeks for five years - that was five hours max, and that was about my limit, especially if I had someone in the next seat who "spilled over" into my seat, or had loud children near me. Now, It's Business or First all the time. We are doing Dulles to Honolulu in a few weeks - that's about 11.5 hours, and we will be in first out and back. Is it overpriced? Yep. But makes all the difference in the world on longer flights, and makes it just a bit easier to leave after a month in Hawaii if you know you are in First.

We're flying Minneapolis to Tokyo in one month. Booked the level between Premium Economy and Business on the way there. Think it's called Premium Select? A friend suggested it. You have your own section of the cabin, your own flight attendant, better food, and more incline/leg room. Long flights don't bother me that much, but we felt like a little treat for the 13 hour flight.

Three words: compression socks, water. It’s not great but you’ll be fine. I did LAX to Europe in economy many times with no harm.

Japan Airlines unveiled their new premium seating, to be installed on their new flagship A350-1000 aircraft (serving North America and Europe).

Gaze at the renderings and lament all the money you wasted on caftans and amyl.

LAX to Munich, 12 hours in coach. 2 Xanax and a glass of red wine.

It’s funny reading this as I am exactly on the last leg of a long trip home. There was no super long airplane leg of the trip. The most was 7 hours, but I have been traveling for about a day.

I live in Florence Italy but went home to Cleveland Ohio for my Mom’s 75th bday. Today I was traveling back to Italy. So I started in the Uber 8:30AM yesterday for a 10:30 flight CLE - NYC. Then I sat in JFK until my 4:45 PM flight to Milan which landed at what would be 1:15 AM EST. Then I had to take an hour train from Malpensa Airport in Milan to Milano Centrale train station to take a 2 hour train ride to Florence. I get in at 11:35 am here which is 5:35 AM EST. So I’ve been going from 8:30AM Monday morning to 5:35AM Tuesday morning.

When you’re sitting at home looking for the best fare, all these legs of a trip seem doable. But man o man, the day of feels like a different story.

[quote]If I go back to Australia I am saving up to take the Indian Pacific from Perth to Sydney. Either that route of The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin. They look gorgeous and interesting. Has anyone taken those trains?

R40, I could only book the Ghan from Adelaide to Alice Springs (24 hours), but honestly it was very boring. The scenery either side of the tracks is just not exciting. Every second carriage has you facing the opposite direction from the way the train is going, and you can't change your seat around, so if that bothers you be very clear when booking. There is a kind of parlor car you can escape to, with the seats along the sides under the windows, but if you're there you either have to look out the opposite window, through other people, or crane to see out your own. The food is really good, and they stop for you to get out and watch the sun rise over the desert, which is worth seeing, but otherwise it was nothing compared with some of the scenery you can see on day trips around Alice Springs, Uluru and Darwin. Unless you're a real train enthusiast, save the money and spend it on day-tours from the main centres. That's where you'll see the spectacular stuff, and the AAT-Kings coach tours I did had really good commentary, with heaps of information about Indigenous culture and history in the region, past and present. There is no commentary on the train.

I haven't done the Indian Pacific, but that's a longer trip than Adelaide to Darwin on the Ghan so I don't think I will. You would go through more red desert. But remember that flying Sydney/Perth in a window seat still gives you more than five hours of looking at the scenery, in a region where clouds aren't often a problem.

SFO to IST (around 14 hours) is the longest I've flown non-stop. Felt like I was going to jump out of my skin.

I was stunned to see that ticket prices for 1st class travel overseas, are over $4,000-$5,000 dollars. That's a lot of fucking money.

R52 Sure, if you're one of the poors.

This is what sedatives are for.

I've been in coach for over 16 hrs on a non stop international flight. No big deal if you are not in a middle seat. I can't afford 1st class.

None I was in the military for a while and have no more desire to travel. I have my house. My huge yard. Garden. Pool. Fuck it. I like my own little world. Fuck the hassle of travel. 🏡

I’ve done multiple 16 hours in coach. Honestly it’s not much worse than 12 hours. Always have an aisle seat so I can get up and walk around. The exit row seats in coach are better than premium economy. I’ve tried both.

First class is a waste of money, but the difference between coach and Business on a long-haul flight is absolutely worth the cost. The difference between Business and First is far more marginal unless your ego craves personal-valet-level service. Also, on many airlines First Class consists of separate compartments, with very few doubles available, so if you're flying with your partner you have to go down the hall and knock at their door to see them. I suppose many would see that as an advantage. How you incorporate children I don't know.

I can only fantasize about what a first class experience on some Airline's long haul flights are like. My little brother, who is an attorney, took a first class flight on Emirates to Thailand or somewhere and he had a private cabin with a bed and shower and there was a fully stocked bar for guest to mingle at on board.

R59 I'm with you on that. Maybe if I win the lottery! I've seen some of those premo international 1st class tickets going for $10K. I'd never be able to justify that! I've taken domestic 1st class by upgrading with miles or small supplement offers, but that is at best comparable to business class on international airlines. It would be a dream to be able to actually lie down and sleep on a long flight.