Flight

Red-eye flights: how to arrive rested

How to get the most sleep on an overnight flight and get through the day you land: when to book, what to skip on board, and how to handle arrival day.

By Surya Narayanan · · 2 min read · Sleep and jet lag

A red-eye is an overnight flight that leaves late in the evening and lands in the morning. It saves a night in a hotel and a day of travel, but on a typical red-eye there's barely time for a full night: New York to London is about 7h 10m gate to gate, and Los Angeles to New York about 5h 17m, with meals, lights and landing eating into that. The aim is to get the best few hours of sleep you can, and to plan the day you land around being short of it.

Before the flight

  • Pick the latest departure that still works. The closer the flight is to your bedtime, the easier it is to sleep.
  • Book a window seat away from galleys and toilets, and as far forward as you can, to get off quickly.
  • Eat dinner before you board, so you can skip the meal service and sleep after take-off.
  • Stop caffeine by mid-afternoon. A 4 PM coffee is still about a third there at midnight; the caffeine calculator shows yours.
  • Change at home into comfortable layers, and keep a toothbrush and fresh shirt in your carry-on.

On board

  • Sleep as soon as you can: eye mask on, headphones in, seat back as soon as it's allowed.
  • Tell the crew you don't want to be woken for the meal; some airlines have a sticker for it.
  • Skip the alcohol, which makes sleep shallower.
  • Cover the noise: the cabin's own hum helps; soft brown noise through noise-cancelling headphones helps more.

Our full guide to sleeping on a plane has more on seats, pillows and timing.

The day you land

  1. Get daylight straight away and keep moving. Light helps wake you and starts shifting your body clock.
  2. Freshen up: many airports and lounges have showers.
  3. Caffeine in the morning only.
  4. Nap, briefly, if you must: 20 minutes in the early afternoon with the power nap timer. A long nap will make the night harder.
  5. Keep the first day light. Avoid booking anything that needs your sharpest thinking.
  6. Go to bed early, at local time. The sleep calculator can help you pick a bedtime that fits whole sleep cycles before your alarm.

Red-eyes and jet lag

An eastbound red-eye across the Atlantic adds jet lag to a short night. Starting to shift your sleep a day or two before helps; the jet lag calculator tells you which way and roughly how long it'll take, and our jet lag plan covers the days after.

The red-eye at your desk

Flight turns a route into a focus session as long as the real flight, with the same cabin hum. No sleep lost.

Questions

Are red-eye flights worth it?

They save a hotel night and a day of travel, and can be good value, but you'll usually arrive short of sleep. They suit people who sleep easily on planes and have a light first day.

What should I do after a red-eye flight?

Get daylight and keep moving, freshen up, have caffeine only in the morning, take at most a short early-afternoon nap, keep the day's plans light and go to bed early at local time.

How do I sleep on a red-eye flight?

Eat before you board so you can skip the meal, choose a window seat away from galleys, use an eye mask, earplugs and a neck pillow, avoid alcohol and late caffeine, and go to sleep as soon as possible after take-off.

Why are they called red-eye flights?

Because passengers often arrive with tired, red eyes after a short night's sleep on board.

Try it with a free tool

Keep reading

  1. How to get over jet lag: a day-by-day planHow long jet lag lasts, and a day-by-day plan to beat it: shift before you go, switch to local time on board, and use light, sleep and meals when you land.
  2. Melatonin for jet lag: what the evidence saysWhat research says about melatonin for jet lag: how it works, the Cochrane review's findings on timing and dose, where it's sold, and when to ask a doctor.
  3. Sleep cycles explained: why 90 minutes mattersSleep runs in cycles of about 90 minutes through light, deep and REM sleep. What happens in each stage, why waking at a cycle's end helps, and how many you need.
  4. Caffeine half-life: when to have your last coffeeCaffeine's half-life is about five hours, so afternoon coffee is still working at bedtime. What's left of a cup over time, what changes it, and when to stop.