Live your best life at 30,000 ft.
Let's be real, if you're a normal person flying to New York, chances are you're not doing it in business class (and if you are, fair play, but can't relate).
Paul Quigley of News Whip is a regular Dublin - New York commuter, and he's learned a few things that makes living from 30,000 ft a little bit easier.
So here are eight hacks to make a 7 hour + flight that bit easier.
https://twitter.com/paulyq/status/1627714106471120898?s=20
8. Ditch the early flights
According to Paul, flying out late morning/early afternoon is the optimal time to do it. If you're someone easily panicked or stressed, nothing is going to amplify that more than trying to catch a 6:30am flight out of Ireland, especially when you have at least half a day of flying ahead of you.
Flights going between 11am and 1pm are the sweet spot, so nab them if you're able.
7. Always fly out of Ireland
If your long-haul is going to America, like Paul's frequent New York commute, then flying direct from Ireland is key for the sole reason that you can go through pre-clearance before you're even in the air (this is not the case if you're going to Canada, you will have to go through immigration when you get there).
While this means you need to leave yourself more time in the aiport - queues at immigration and pre-clearance can build up significantly as I've learnt the hard way before - when you get to the other side, you're sorted.
6. Bring your own earphones/headphones
If you've ever known the pain of forgetting your earphones or Air Pods on a flight, left with no choice but to use the aircraft's offering, you'll know to be extra diligent when it comes to bringing your own listening device.
5. Take a refillable coffee flask/mug on-board
This one is absolutely genius. You don't even have to be a coffee snob to admit that the coffee on most flights is sub-par at best. If you want to enjoy a nice coffee at 30,000 ft, then bringing your own coffee cup is the way forward.
Quigley brings a large coffee flask which he fills up at his chosen coffee spot in the airport, a must for staying caffeinated.
4. Pack your lunch
If you're a hater of airplane food, you really have no better option than packing your own food. Not only will it save you splurging on the flight offering, you'll have no nasty surprises either.
Just, for the love of god, consider your fellow passengers when choosing what to have. I love tuna and sweetcorn as much as the next person, but it's simply not okay to take it on-board with you. Same goes for egg mayo.
And if you do like airplane food (no judgement from me, I've had some pretty good meals whilst in the air) then just stock up on snackage, because Quigley says the snack offering is often less than appealing.
3. Don't rely on the WiFi
The WiFi has personally never worked for me whilst flying, so I wouldn't even dream of relying on it, and neither should you. Downloading everything you need ahead of time is the only way I'm afraid. Podcasts, music, movies, documents - don't get caught out or it'll make for some very miserable flying.
2. Check movie reviews before you take off
In that crucial 15-20 minutes where you're twiddling your thumbs, wondering if the flight is going to take off on time, you have ample opportunity to check the reviews of the movies available. I've sat through some pretty terrible films in the name of passing time (
Batman vs Superman really is as bad as everyone says), but there's probably a less terrible option to get your through a couple of hours, so Quigley suggests just checking that Rotten Tomatoes score while you can.
1. Be Kind
It pays to be kind, so Quigley suggests just leaning into it while you're on-board a long haul flight. In his experience the flight attendants are way more likely to take extra special care of you if you just be polite and smile every once in a while.
So just don't be a dick, and things will be sweet.
Header image via Getty
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