Said It Here

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.

  1. 1
    Flying business class for better comfort and sleep
  2. 2
    Consulting a physician for specialized sleep medications
  3. 3
    Using pink noise podcasts to block out noise
  4. 4
    Landing late in the day and immediately sleeping at the hotel
  5. 5
    Using apps like Timeshifter to mitigate jet lag

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/travel2 people · September 2026

“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 ↗

Phlowman · r/travel · 3 upvotes

“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 ↗

Putrid_Choice_7518 · r/travel

Where this came up

r/travel

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