London to SEA trip … opinions on best flight schedules to minimise jet lag

[tygerbright]

Hey all!

For our December family holiday I’m looking to fly to Vietnam and return back via Thailand.

Looking at two options:

1) do the 12 hr long haul London to/from Thailand and then hop across as needed

– Outbound via Thai Airways: LHR (depart 11:50) -> BKK -> HAN (arrive 09:35)
– Return via Thai Airways: HKT (depart 20:40) -> BKK -> LHR (arrive 06:20)

2) split the travel by stopping over in the middle-east

– Outbound via Qatar Airways: LHR (depart 08:35) -> DOH -> HAN (arrive 07:10)
– Return via Qatar Airways: HKT (depart 20:45) -> DOH -> LHR (arrive 06:25)

Both are on par in terms of fares currently and very little in it in terms of layover/total duration.

Wondering which option would be the best to arrive in a reasonably ‘human state’ with minimal jet lag so we can settle in quickly and enjoy the holiday? I normally take a late flight to SEA but need to consider a day flight due to school hols etc.

Appreciate thoughts!

[Aston100]

I did a flight on Thai from BKK in J and was not particularly impressed by the state of the hard product on the 777. Service was excellent and f&b were acceptable: not great and not bad either.

Is your flight from Bangkok to Hanoi part of the same ticket? if not, are you building sufficient connection time into this?

[tygerbright]

Hey Aston

Yep in all cases the flights would be ticketed through on the same PNR – for both outbound and return legs.

Sadly – we’ll be in the cheap seats regardless of carrier also. Don’t have enough air miles … but a plus for Qatar is that I’d earn some Avios I guess.

[The real Swiss Tony]

If you take the TG flight, spend a few days before hand moving your body clock. Go to bed earlier & wake up earlier. Do an hour a day for 4 days and you’ll hopefully feel the benefit.

TG will serve a meal after takeoff then it’ll be getting dark outside anyway so you’ll be closer to wanting sleep rather than a snooze if you think it’s 9pm rather than 3pm.

If you go for the QR option, I’d spend the extra to guarantee your hotel room is ready on arrival. Get checked in & sleep until lunchtime, then start your day as usual.

[Richie]

I prefer arriving to SEA in the afternoon, ie TG917, which arrives at 4pm. You can check in, un pack, freshen up go for dinner and then early to bed.

[TooPoorToBeHere]

I think it’s all about how good you are at sleeping on planes in whatever type of seat you’re going to end up in.

If I know I’m going to be awake or at best sleep badly and fitfully (which I would in Y) then I’d want to split the trip “in the middle”.

If reasonably confident of long sleep then I’d want the longest-possible flight back to LHR to give unbroken period of sleep.

I use chemical assistance (sparingly) for this – modafinil or (ideally) adrafinil to stay awake when necessary, diphenhydramine to get to sleep when necessary. Either is disastrous if it goes wrong and there’s an unexpected need to be awake when sleep was expected or vice-versa. Careful the stimulant is legal in all your destination/layover countries if going that route.

[BBbetter]

TooPoorToBeHere wrote:

If reasonably confident of long sleep then I’d want the longest-possible flight back to LHR to give unbroken period of sleep.

Agree with this. On a Dubai flight recently I found it difficult to sleep between the two meal services.
Also, the QR flight is at 0835 and you probably have to wake up at 3 or 4am depending on where you start from, even if you stay in an airport hotel. You wont be able to get a good sleep on the QR flight assuming 2 hours for each meal service at both ends.
I’d go with the TG flight. It’ll get dark by the time the meal service is done, so in sync with UK daylight.

[John]

BBbetter wrote:

Also, the QR flight is at 0835 and you probably have to wake up at 3 or 4am depending on where you start from

Which is fine as it will be 10-11am in Thailand/Vietnam.

But agree a longer flight is better. No need to eat 4 times.

Either way the BKK/DOH outbound transits will mean you have to be awake at ~4am Vietnam time so not particularly ideal

[tygerbright]

Thanks all – great inputs.

I’m in London – 25 mins from Heathrow so early start with QR is not too bad. But on balance, I’ll be looking to lock in with TG as I like the idea of eating up the bulk of the miles on a single flight and the later arrival into Hanoi works better for us.

Now need to consider when to pull the trigger on the purchase! I know no-one can predict price fluctuations but is 8 months in advance still the best general guidance for long haul?

[Michael C]

We’re looking at something similar and are also leaning towards the Thai morning flight.
Like you, we’re sitting at the back, so my thinking is we might as well eat, binge a series
then snooze-flobber the last few hours. An hour after checking in at the Sheraton Grande and
the world will seem ok again!