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What is the longest plane flight you have been on?


mommyoffive
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What is the longest plane flight you have been on? 

What section where you in?  Economy, Premium, Business, or First class? 

 

I want to go to places that are really far away, but man the flights sound hard.  I haven't ever flown anything but economy, maybe that would make it better?  Does it? 

Longest I have flown in at once was 12-13 hours with all the kids in Economy. 

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3 minutes ago, Fifiruth said:

I think that you have me beat. I’ve been from California to Korea, and Ohio to London, but that was back in the 70s and 80s and I don’t remember much. I’m sure that the seats are closer now, so I’d buy the most comforable class seat you could afford. Ds21 went on a 10-hr flight to Europe last year and said that it was okay. I was on some domestic flights last year, and those seats were close! It was pretty ridiculous.

 

Just pretending you went from LA to Seoul is 13 plus hours. 

Yeah buying the best seat we can afford is tough since we need 7 tickets.   But I figured if I used all the money I spend on the Dance and Violin for the kids that would pay for some really nice seats!  :)

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I think the longest single flight we’ve done is 13 hours from Istanbul to Chicago.  We’ve had connecting flights that are much longer though.  It took us about 36 hours to get from Seattle to Bishkek so with the time change, we arrived two days after we left. We’ve only ever flown economy.  Well, I guess we got free upgrades to premium economy a couple of times recently.  It’s amazing how much difference a few inches can make so if you can afford that, I’d go for it.  Anything more is even better.

For me, the flight is something to be endured but it has a definite end.  I just expect it to be horrible and am pleasantly surprised if it’s not terrible.  The jet lag is worse to deal with in my opinion.

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A 14 hour (mostly wait on the runway of O'Hare) when I was a kid for what was supposed to be a 45 minute puddle jumper flight - long delay was due to a thunderstorm.  I think I was 8.

This was obviously long before they ever came up with a passenger bill of rights.  The flight attendants kept serving me and my siblings soda but wouldn't let us up to use the restroom.  It wasn't good.  I've hated O'Hare ever since.  I don't mind flying but I hate airports.

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18 hours in the air direct from LA to Hong Kong in economy. Total travel time about 22 hours. But I was just out of high school, and I flew Cathay Pacific, which at least at that time was considerably more flyer-friendly than any airline I've been on in the past 10 years.

Not sure I'd do it again.

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Nearly 15 hours a couple of times now in economy. Hate it. I’ve learned that nine hours is pretty much the end of my tolerance. After that I catch myself rocking back and forth and humming and fighting the urge to bang my head against the seat in front of me. 

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You have me beat. I flew from Orlando to London which I think was around 9 or 10 hours. We stopped briefly in Maine both there and back, so the flight across the ocean was probably 6 or 7 hours. I flew coach but it was in the 80s. Flying, including the amount of room one had even in economy class, was much different then. I was also young and single and flying solo. I didn't have kids, or even another adult, to have to worry about.

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11 minutes ago, Katy said:

A 14 hour (mostly wait on the runway of O'Hare) when I was a kid for what was supposed to be a 45 minute puddle jumper flight - long delay was due to a thunderstorm.  I think I was 8.

This was obviously long before they ever came up with a passenger bill of rights.  The flight attendants kept serving me and my siblings soda but wouldn't let us up to use the restroom.  It wasn't good.  I've hated O'Hare ever since.  I don't mind flying but I hate airports.

 

OH my gosh what a nightmare

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6 minutes ago, PeachyDoodle said:

18 hours in the air direct from LA to Hong Kong in economy. Total travel time about 22 hours. But I was just out of high school, and I flew Cathay Pacific, which at least at that time was considerably more flyer-friendly than any airline I've been on in the past 10 years.

Not sure I'd do it again.

 

Yeah I think it was much easier to do when we were younger. 

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Probably LA to Taiwan.   although LA was my connection.  That wasn't so bad though.   I somehow lucked into the seat in front of the stewardesses jump seats.   There were two seats and then sort of a hallway and then the jump seats.   The girl next to me and I both put our carry-on immediately in front of our seat and hooked our legs over them and then used blankets to cover up what we were doing.   It made it like the seat was really deep and was lovely.   

The absolute worse though was a DFW to Frankfurt on United.    They'd gone overboard on the squishing of the seats together.   I am 5'6" but I'm all torso so my legs are short.   My butt was against the back of the seat and my knees were on the seat in front of me with my lower legs dangling.   Eating was pretty difficult because no one could lower the table.   

I used to love to fly.   Now, I'd rather skip the trip or drive, and I hate to drive.   

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1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

 

Holy smokes.

In economy? 

How did you feel at the end of that?

Very tired!  LOL!  It was many years ago and well worth the trip, but those Asia flights are exhausting!  I've actually been there twice.  We went for a full month on our honeymoon which was nice.   Eta, yes in economy!

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Atlanta to LA to Hong Kong.  Guangzhou, China to Hong Kong to LA to Atlanta.    2nd trip:   Atlanta to Newark to Beijing.  Guangzhou, China to Hong Kong to Newark to Atlanta.  I remember one of the long legs was 13 hours, one was 15.  Total travel time each way was over 24 hours and I can't sleep on planes..  

First was with a calm baby, the second was with a baby that pretty much screamed non-stop and had more then one case of diarrhea :)  Fun times!!!     Economy.

Last year I flew to/from London by myself.  Still economy but it was heaven as I remembered the other flights.  

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I wish I could remember.  It was either a flight to India or the one to Athens.  The former was memorable because a little girl screamed loudly almost the entire flight.  The latter because I had expected to sleep on the flight, so I stayed up the previous night working.  Turned out the seats were so uncomfortable that the only way I could sleep was to lie down on the floor under the seats (with all those metal chair legs etc.).  And that only worked for maybe an hour.  First world problems, I know.  :P

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I have flown multiple times from BOS to Tel Aviv (12 hrs) and BOS to Tokyo (14 hrs) and will fly Tokyo to Melbourne (11 hrs) this summer.  The longest consecutive flights were from Tokyo to Amsterdam (12hrs) connecting to Tel Aviv (5 hours) pregnant and with a 2 year old and no husband.  The seats keep getting smaller and I can say if you can get at least Economy Plus it will be more tolerable.  Flying these trips first/business class is a revelation!  Sometimes it is worth having your husband fly all over the world and being away from the family...

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I've had lots and lots of flights in the 10-12 hour range, and most of those were just one leg of an even longer trip. If it's a single flight that gets me where I'm going I don't mind the length nearly as much, but 10-12 hours on a plane, knowing you're going to have 2-3 hours in an airport and then another flight, and then a long line at customs and immigration, and then a long taxi ride to the hotel... those are the ones that make me want to never fly again. In the last 4 years I've had at least 10 round trips that involved 24-36 hours of travel in each direction, and I have to admit that I actually cried while packing for the most recent one (last month), I was just dreading it so much. :-(

If you can afford it, I definitely recommend Delta's Comfort Plus. It's often only a little more expensive than economy, and the extra 4" of leg room makes a BIG difference on a long flight. You also get priority boarding, so you can be assured that you have overhead bin space for all your carryon luggage, which keeps the underseat area empty. That plus the extra leg room means you can really stretch out and try to get some sleep.

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My longest non-stop flight was from Dallas to Abu Dhabi which took about 15.5 hours. Since my family travels to India every couple of years, we have kind of gotten used to it.

We always fly economy and soreness and jet lag are the norm!!

But my longest one-way trip would be from Bangalore to Dallas, via Abu Dhabi and London..took me 40 hours to get back home. I had to book tickets just before traveling and the itinerary had 10-hour layovers in both Abu Dhabi and London. The saving grace was that I was traveling by myself and I got the opportunity to take the city tour at Abu Dhabi!

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I've done the SYD-SFO direct flight many times, both ways. It's 13 or 14 hours, depending on which direction you're going. Every time was in economy, including when I took infants/toddlers with me. The *one time* I didn't go economy was when DH and I were able to upgrade to business class. We were upstairs in a 747, and it was wonderful!

My mum has also done the same flight several times, each time in economy. The last time she did it, she was 80 years old, and it took her weeks to get over the flight. It's tough sitting that long in economy (and every time I get on the plane, I'm freshly dismayed about how little space you actually have) but it's not impossible, and I figure that if my 80-year-old mum can hack it, so can I! 

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My longest nonstop flight was LA to Moscow -- around 11 hours. I have definitely done my share of layovers and long connections with 24+ hours of total travel. I used to fly 100k miles per year as a management consultant, and flying in business or first makes an enormous difference. Going back to economy, after losing my elite status with the airlines, was awful. I almost wish I didn't know how much better it can be in the front. If you have never seen the airport episode of Seinfeld where he sneaks into first class, it is worth it.

If you fly in economy, especially as you get older, you really want to move around. I worry about DVT as I age. Now, I try to be smart about earning miles as much as possible and using cards like the Amex Platinum for perks to make travel more bearable. 

 

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My recent flights to and from France were the longest and also the most total travel time I have experienced. Both directions had connecting flights, so leaving was Baltimore to NY —->NY to Paris, and then returning was Paris to Atlanta—->Atlanta to Baltimore. The airtime for the long part of both of those was about 7 1/2 hours. My total travel time coming home was close to 22 hours and I warned everybody that nobody better wake up Mama in the morning. All the flights were economy.

I do think that is close to my maximum tolerance, esp. on returning. Returning is so depressing to me (always) and I wish I could just apparate back home. 

I often think I would enjoy Australia and NZ, but the thought of those flights and all those hours traveling makes me quail. 

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I don't remember. I've blocked it out. Lol.

Seattle to San Francisco, SF to Seoul, Seoul to Beijing. We got to our hostel and napped. When our host came to wake us for dinner, I couldn't rouse my traveling companion. Host was very concerned that she was ill and wanted to call a doctor. I convinced him that she was just tired, and we left her while we ate. She missed the pickled pigs ears and little packages of pigeon meat. I claimed to be vegetarian because I'm a wimp. Lol. 

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I have done the 14-15 hour flight quite a bit to Australia.  That is the longest leg of the journey, but it's about 21-23 hours of total flying to get where we are going.  By the time we get to the last little flight, I'm so tired that I don't care if we crash! LOL

The new 777 airplanes are cool, but the seating is really really bad.  Especially if you end up in a 10 across in the economy.  TERRIBLE. If at all possible get comfort seats.  I am only 5'1 and not very big and I was seriously cramped.  I miss 747 so bad, but you can still fly 747 but you just have be particular about where you are going and with which airlines.   There are websites that you can check the seating situation: https://www.seatguru.com/

I just flew back from London on a 777 with 9 across seating and it was better, but also only 8 hours.  It was a British Airways.  They were awesome in every way.

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I went to Kathmandu, Nepal. I can’t remember how long the total trip was but the longest leg was LA to Seoul for refueling. It was a long time ago but I don’t think we got off the plane then. I think it was about a 12 hour flight, then the brief stop and then a couple more hours to Bangkok. We then stopped in Bangkok and had a layover in the airport...slept in these tiny little cubicles you could rent. Leaving the airport was expensive, some kind of tax with customs, so not worth it for just being there for about 6 hours. 

We flew Thai Air. It was a long time ago (about 20 years) but it was super luxurious in economy. Great food, plenty of room. They brought these nicely scented warm towels around after every meal to wipe your face and hands. The flight attendants all wore beautiful silk dresses and fresh flower garlands. 

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7 minutes ago, Alice said:

 

We flew Thai Air. It was a long time ago (about 20 years) but it was super luxurious in economy. Great food, plenty of room. They brought these nicely scented warm towels around after every meal to wipe your face and hands. The flight attendants all wore beautiful silk dresses and fresh flower garlands. 

Yes - it was a while ago for me too but the Asian airlines had such nice amenities!  

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I assume you mean non-stop...  I think around 12 hours or so, to Africa.  I don't mind longer trips if there's a break where I can get out and stretch my legs for a few hours on a layover or two, and I've done that several times.  But non-stop -- that 12-hour one was okay until about 10 hours in, and then it felt waaaay too long.  They do feed you a lot which helps!  I paid a little extra for something like "comfort" or "premium" -- it didn't seem too much bigger than economy but I guess it was.

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The longest non stop was the first leg of a west coast to Sri Lanka trip, L.A. to Tokyo (12 hours). It was also the longest trip, period. Total air time was just shy of 24 hours, but broken up by a stop over in Tokyo and another one in Singapore. Economy, but Singapore airlines and the Singapore airport make it so much better. The airport is paradise!

The next longest one is first leg of west coast to Madrid, San Diego to Frankfurt (a little over 11 hours). Economy, obviously, hence flying to Frankfurt, then flying to Madrid!

I try not to think much about duration because otherwise it just drags on forever.

I usually also prefer to break up long trips with at least one or two stop overs, but I also have memories of a stop over from hell. It was going to be a direct flight London to San Francisco, but then September 11th happened, and we were given a layover in New York. The second plane had technical problems, the terminal was domestic, and had the most hard and uncomfortable seats ever. The airline didn't help in any way, we were stuck for hours. Not good at all!

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When I was a child we would fly to Kenya from Chicago and it was a 24 hour flight, kind of.  It was the same airplane, but it made several stops and you could get out.  You only had time for the airport, but walking around and getting a snack felt good.  They would clean the plane, refuel, restock, and you could get back on.   Pretty sure we made 2 stops in Europe and 2 stops in West Africa (Sierra Leone and Liberia as I recall).    That was back in the 70s and the "golden age" of flying.  We would get business class tickets and had more space.  And I was a kid.  The flights were on Pan Am.  They stopped them around 1980.

As an adult I have flown to Kenya, but it was two 8 hour flights and a plane change in Europe.  

My flights to Asia have been longer.  My last flight overseas was Newark to Beijing.  That was a 16.5 hour flight.  No stops.  Brutal, exp. with a 3 year old.

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My longest has been from Minneapolis to Toyko; 12-14 hours, if I remember correctly.  It's all perspective though.  On the way there, I was by myself.  On the way back, I had a toddler who didn't like me, didn't speak English and I was already exhausted from wrangling the international adoption process by myself in a foreign country for two weeks with the aforementioned toddler.  Then the trip by yourself seems like a piece of cake. 

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Houston to Dubai-- 14+ hours (nonstop) there and 16+ hours return /economy   I was miserable the last 4 hours on the return flight...  We flew Emirates so at least the plane/service was good.  It made the other leg of the journey (6 hours) seem like a cake walk.

I guess it did not scare me off too much as I'm doing it again in 9 weeks! (Houston-Entebbe, Uganda via Emirates/Dubai).  Journey will take about 36 hours total...including an overnight in Dubai (at least it is a very nice airport!).

I'm debating about upgrading my seat for the 2 long legs... might be worth the $$$

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NY-Rome, over 30 years ago.  

The flight that *seemed* the longest was DC to Honolulu because I had showed up and waited at the terminal 5 hours with my 2 year old and 2 month old (DH was already in Hawaii) and was then told to go home and catch the flight the next day.  That flight, in United economy class, non-reclining row, lap infant who struggled with nursing in noisy places and a squirming toddler (worst seats EVER), all of us exhausted from the day before, was loooooooong. Hawaii was made all the greater paradise by the contrast!

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12 minutes ago, Targhee said:

NY-Rome, over 30 years ago.  

The flight that *seemed* the longest was DC to Honolulu because I had showed up and waited at the terminal 5 hours with my 2 year old and 2 month old (DH was already in Hawaii) and was then told to go home and catch the flight the next day.  That flight, in United economy class, non-reclining row, lap infant who struggled with nursing in noisy places and a squirming toddler (worst seats EVER), all of us exhausted from the day before, was loooooooong. Hawaii was made all the greater paradise by the contrast!

 

Oh my goodness, you rock.  Reading about you guys who have taken little ones on these trips alone.  Wow!!!

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If I remember correctly, it was 13-14 hours non-stop polar route flight. At least one hour was spent in part circling around and in part waiting on the runway because of some issue with the terminal. While we were sitting on the ground already waiting to deplane, several people mumbled about just sliding out the door to get out of the plane. :)

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18 hours - LAX to Guangzhou. Regular class. It. Was. H-E-hockeysticks. For some reason, in my head, it wasn't going to be much worse than LAX to Korea, which I had done before. That was so silly of me. At the end of the flight, everyone was basically ready to claw each other to get off the plane. And the moment the doors opened, of course, I mean, it's Guangzhou, we were all hit with that super muggy air so thick you have to cut through it just to move.

Going back to the US, you shave a lot of time off (and add a lot of turbulence... the turbulence freaks me out so much if I ever do it again, I might just go the other way and give myself a layover in the Middle East or something.

 

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Sing Air used to do a direct Newark-Singapore that was 21 hours one way and 23 the return.  I did it several times on Economy, including with kids, (that flight is now all business so we stopped taking it) but Singapore is a particularly comfortable airline, and they had this always-open snack bar in the back so you could get up at any time, stretch a little, and get a snack, which made it immensely better.

We all did a direct NYC to Johannesburg that was maybe 18 hours -- something like that -- on South African, also in Economy.  That was loooonng.  

But personally I'd rather endure an interminably long flight than deal with layovers. Maybe not with itty-bitty littles, but if they're old enough to manage their own in-flight entertainment system, I'd rather pack a bunch of snacks, go into The Zone, and come out once on the other end, than muddle through multiple sleep/stuff/timezone transitions.

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We travel  a lot. I don't know the longest flight(18 hours maybe?) It just depends on the airline. I love flying Turkish Air even in economy. They are amazing to kids too so makes it worth it. 

I will never fly Pegasus again even if only for an hour..... 

On long flights I just get everyone up to walk three or four times. 

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I love all the tips everyone is giving.  The good airlines to fly that is really helpful.  

It is making me think that doing a really long flight is doable.  I think for sure it is much easier once your kids or maybe 6 or 7.   Movies to keep them busy, they can handle the bathrooms on their own.  

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2 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

I love all the tips everyone is giving.  The good airlines to fly that is really helpful.  

It is making me think that doing a really long flight is doable.  I think for sure it is much easier once your kids or maybe 6 or 7.   Movies to keep them busy, they can handle the bathrooms on their own.  

Turkish Air offers movies, video games for each seat. Kids get a bag of toys and sometimes an activity magazine. Food is great too. It is rated #1 worldwide for a reason !

 

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