How to sleep and stay calm on long flights?
Frequent back-to-back travel can trigger severe anxiety and make it nearly impossible to rest or get comfortable in economy seating. Standard sleep aids like melatonin, GABA, and L-theanine often fail to work, leaving travelers exhausted and unable to relax during long-haul flights.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Flying business class for better comfort and sleepDid this help you?
- 2Consulting a physician for specialized sleep medicationsDid this help you?
- 3Using pink noise podcasts to block out noiseDid this help you?
- 4Landing late in the day and immediately sleeping at the hotelDid this help you?
- 5Using apps like Timeshifter to mitigate jet lagDid this help you?
- 6Buying numerous travel gadgets and bulky accessoriesDid this help you?
- 7Packing a large number of items in an onboard suitcaseDid this help you?
- 8Relying solely on whatever basic items airlines happen to provideDid this help you?
- 9seeing a doctor to get professional medical adviceDid this help you?
- 10taking the medication at the destination instead to help adjust to the time changeDid this help you?
- 11booking a business class ticket when possibleDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I am terrible at buying the newest gadgets to try to make long haul economy flights bearable. Most are so cumbersome that it's either painful to bring them out in the plane... or just not worth the space when not on the plane for the other 5 weeks of the trip.”source ↗
“Im curious to hear if anyone has found things that do actually make the flight bearable without taking up loads of suitcase space. Having a million things to unpack and use just isnt working for me.”source ↗
“It’s impossible for me to get good sleep on a plane unless I’m flying business. I have tried everything but just can’t get comfortable enough in economy to actually sleep.”source ↗
“Never have i ever slept on a plane in economy.”source ↗
“Should i take a pill. I have never taken sleeping pills.”source ↗
“I regularly take sleeping pills when flying. It doesn’t always work and will definitely not give you more than 4-5 hours sleep”source ↗
“I took Nytol on a LHR to LAS flight and it did absolutely nothing for me. I was wide awake for 10 hr only started dozing off as we began our descent into LAS 😂😂”source ↗
“I do love travelling but within the last year I’ve been challenged with more general anxiety and I’m becoming fearful/anxious of sitting in a plane for several hours and hopping on flights back to back.”source ↗
“How do I sleep and relax on a plane? Should I consult my physician for any particular meds? What do you all take? I have tried GABA, L-theanine, melatonin. None helps me sleep.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2How to pass the time on a long flight without sleeping pills
- 12How to get a busy toddler to sleep on an overnight flight
- 4How to handle tension and disagreements during group travel
- 5What to do during a long unexpected airport layover
- 4How to deal with strong aftershave and perfumes on a flight
- 3Why can't I sleep on Sunday night after resting all weekend?