CNN.com - Blog: Take the red-eye? No thanks!

By CNN's Richard Quest

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(CNN) -- Posted: August 30, 2006

I was tempted this week to rail, again, against the illogical, and downright confusing baggage regulations in operation at airports around the world. But don't worry. It's frankly too depressing.

I have just returned from the U.S. and on my return home (UA with miles going to Mileage plus) I carried onboard a bag that I couldn't take going out. Where is the logic in that?

Anyway I promised myself I wouldn't get my blood pressure up on this subject. So let me turn to something else.

I returned on the marvelous daylight flight UA 922 from IAD to LHR. We left Dulles at 0930 and, allowing for the time difference, arrived in London at 2100. I had flown all day (and some would say wasted a day in the air,) but most important for me I didn't have to take the dreaded red-eye flight across the Atlantic.

British Airways has had a daylight flight from New York for just about as long as I can remember. Others were slow to join in, because an airline can't get the same utilization out of the aircraft flying a daylight flight to Europe. Now though, there are flights run by Virgin (from EWR and JFK,) American from JFK, and United out of Washington.

In an era of miserable aviation conditions I find the daylights a wonderful way to travel. These little-known-about and prized gems of aviation are marvelous. I can work, doze, eat, watch a movie (usually all of the above) and arrive in the UK in time for bed. Sure, holidaymakers don't like to take them because they lose a day flying back, but for me there is no better way to get home.

Across the Atlantic you barely have time to have dinner and a snooze and you are being woken up for landing. Today's flight across is going to take just 6 hours 11 minutes. A stonking good time, but if this was the middle of the night hardly conducive to a good night's rest.

It's the same when crossing the United States. I loathe those red-eyes from the U.S. west coast to the eastern seaboard. Flights times of around 4-5 hours that land at 0530!

Asia to Europe red-eyes don't seem to bother me I the same way, perhaps because the flights are longer. 12 hours SIN-FRA allows you to have a proper sleep. 14 hours SYD-LAX is the same.

Perhaps the truth is harder to take. Am I getting too old for the red-eye? It is starting to take me days to recover from these shorter red-eyes. Pooh to the idea that you can be productive when you get off the plane (even in VS Upper Class or BA First.) You are going to be wrecked, smelly, tired and wishing you'd not bothered.

Sir Richard Branson once asked me what I thought about slowing the planes down, so the transatlantic flight took a bit longer, to give you more time to sleep. Brilliant I said, unless you were stuck at the back of the plane, when you'd want to get off sooner rather than later.

Overnight flights from the States are for those making their first forays into global travel, who love to boast they've just come off "the red-eye" while those of us whose backs twinge whatever chair the airline provides need something more sedate. Yes, I have a confession to make. I AM getting too old for the red-eye!

So join me! Let's celebrate the fact that we are over 40 and the red-eye is cruel and unusual punishment worthy of a law against it!

Red-eyes are so-called that for reason -- because you spend the rest of the day trying to stay awake, not to yawn in your boss's face and counting the minutes before you can go home at a respectable hour.

And please don't everyone suddenly go for the daylight flights ... because then there won't be room for me, and I'll be the bad tempered, aching and groaning, misery rubbing those darn red-eyes.

How do you handle the red-eye? Or do you favor a daytime flight instead? E-mail .

Your replies:

I travel fairly frequently to Asia. My tip for travelling west to east is to try and time your sleep with the destination. If I am arriving in the evening I will try and stay up so I will be ready to get a sleep based on the time zone I am travelling to. However, on the return flight I will try to just relax and enjoy the flight disregarding time issues. But I try to give myself a day on my return so I can adjust my sleep plan. This is probably oversimplifying things but that is pretty much it.
Austin DeFreece

I'm in full agreement that the eastern seaboard flights are too short for a red-eye, but a) only if you are travelling without children, and b) if you in J or F class. Back when flights were less crowded and one could upgrade on AA with miles, I used to fly in J from MIA-LHR with some frequency. It's about a nine-hour flight, which is ideal to watch a movie on the laptop and relax with dinner, maybe sleep for about four or five hours, then feel peckish enough for breakfast. Heck, if I was flying J or F and lived in New York or Boston, I'd almost consider backtracking to ATL/DFW/MIA just to have a longer flight... well, maybe not.
Tom McCallum

Hi Richard, I agree with you completely. In fact, several times this year, because I have family and friends in Los Angeles, I have taken the first flight out in the morning from JFK to LAX, arrive at 10am, spend the day visiting people, have dinner, and then take the 8pm VS flight to LHR. Much more appealing than the short red-eye. Most people think I'm crazy for flying to LHR via LAX, but they don't do it once or twice a month.
Kendrick B

Richard, in addition to the daylight flights you mention from JFK and IAD, both AA and BA have a daylight flight from Boston to LHR, as does Air Canada from Toronto (don't ignore us Canadians!).

Personally, when travelling from the east coast I prefer one of the earliest evening departures around 5pm or 6pm. With "red-eyes", the fast eastbound flight time of six hours or so means you arrive when it's still only around midnight according to your body clock, so even if you can't sleep on the flight, you're still reasonably fresh.

I've been around long enough that my first transatlantic daylight flight was on a route that no longer has any daytime flights...JFK to Paris CDG on an Air France Boeing 707 sometime in the mid 1970s. To make that flight more attractive they left the middle seats in Y unsold so passengers were guaranteed an empty seat net to them. I also recall a flight on Pan Am's daytime B747 JFK-LHR sometime in the 1970s, fortunately in first class (before first class even had sleeper seats, never mind flat beds), but when they used the upper deck as a first class dining room. Those were the days!
Regards, Ken Pickford

Very interested in your question about flying a plane slower across 'the pond' to make a better nights sleep. This is an idea I have discussed with several frequent travellers over the past couple of years with almost unanimous expressions of interest.

You make the point about economy pax not being keen on the idea, but I see no need for that to be an issue. If BA (or VS) were to acquire an Airbus 319/320 equipped for long haul travel - like the ones PrivatAir operate for LH - and equip it with 100% Club World or Upper Class, they could fly that across the pond to NY at normal speed on the way over, as one of the many flights they offer each day. I for one would take it every time I come back, without fail!

This seems to me such a basic idea, but one that no-one seems to have embraced yet. No problems with economy passengers etc. Hey, now that the A318 is type approved for LCY, they could even operate one of those direct into Docklands. If BA or VS don't take this on, surely someone else will go for it, such as Maxjet or Eos before long...
Regards, Anthony Biddulph

Richard, I have to say I fully agree with your article on "red-eye" flights. I myself am forced to take frequent "red-eye" flights to London Heathrow (although I have to say, I'm dreading my next visit with all the luggage restrictions imposed). What holiday travelers fail to notice though is that they will be losing on an entire day regardless of the flight times. On the day itself, it's rather difficult to be efficient and make the most of your remaining time seeing that you have to worry about getting to the airport on-time and deal with all the lengthy procedures recently put in place. If you make a conscious effort to wake up early and try to get some reading done on the plane (and I may just be repeating what you've written yourself) you can actually manage to arrive home on-time for a good night's sleep. My advice to everyone, "red-eyes": Avoid unless necessary.
Best regards, John

Richard, Either you are getting old, or you're getting spoiled. For your sake, I hope it's the latter :-). Having the privilege of flying business every time, with personal entertainment, first-class service, lay-flat seats, gourmet food, and all those comforts, you are still cursing night-time flights? During the (very) few times I've had the privilege (yes, in today's economy, let's call it for what it is) to fly business from Asia back to Europe, I would loose consciousness somewhere over the Sea of Japan, and wake up somewhere over Denmark ... rested and full of energy, ready for a shower at the lounge before getting on with business. What's the problem with you? :-)
Cheers, Bernardo

Dear Richard I would like to disagree with you about the red eye flights -- I think that they are the best way to fly. I live in Israel and go home to Toronto once a year to visit my family, flying at night. I sleep my eight hours, eat dinner and breakfast, watch a movie and land in the morning bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to face the day. Stephanie Nazareth, Illit, Israel

Greetings Richard, read your CNN.COM Blog: "Take the red-eye? No thanks!" with great interest and amusement. I regretful say that I completely disagree with you. Working for a pharmaceutical company, I've flown over 1 million miles over the last 20 years, making all the runs between LA and Sydney, Atlanta and Tokyo, Cincinnati and Paris, etc., etc., etc. Throw on top of that the fact that I too have just hit that wonderful '40' mark (sorry, don't really know what's wonderful about it either), I think I'm in a pretty good spot to comment on your article. I find nothing better then having worked a day in Atlanta or in Cincinnati and then get on a Delta flight usually leaving around 4-6 PM for Europe. My secret is this: Order the express meal, have one gin-and-tonic followed by an Ambien (sleeping pill), and I sleep like a baby for a good solid 6,5 to 7,0 hours. I wake up, refreshed, and ready to go to the next meeting or face the day. I do agree with you that this isn't getting easier though with age. I fight to stay awake come about 5 PM in the office, but by the time I've had dinner and gotten ready for bed, I fall asleep dead tired and get a great night rest. I know everyone has their desired flights, but personally I would take the red-eye any day of the week.
Best regards, Stefan

Hello Richard, I use UA 922 often as my gateway to Europe and of course my 1st choice to the UK (or should I say "used to" given the UK security charades: my Tumi shoulder bag is 1.8 inches too thick among other issues). Sadly, I did this on August 9 and was awakened to a nasty surprise on August 10th! I got to spend the day with a good friend downtown and solved the situation by fleeing to Brussels on the Eurostar for GBP 205 one way. (They of course decide that there are too many pax and deny us dinner!) Actualy, BA have arguably a better "daylight flight" from IAD arriving at 20:15. One could potentially connect from the earlier flight. However, UA 922 actually starts in Chicago at about 06:00. Thus, UA is looking to feed US domestic passengers to this flight, but I have dreams about connecting to the 21:05 SAS flight to Stockholm. I even overheard some Brits who were talking about their holiday in Argentina. They had connected from the Buenos Aires redeye. Quite the journey. p.s. UA used operate a daylight from JFK. It was the first to go after 9/11. AA also runs one BOS-LHR. But as a UA 1K I am a slave to UA 922, but they treat me well since I must have taken this flight at least 20 times always in C class and at most paying a B fare since moving to DC. I sincerely wish that the would consider doing this to FRA as well.
Kind regards, Frank L. Ross

I have to agree with you on the red-eye issue. I commute frequently between my home in Singapore and my clients in the US. Whilst I love the service on the EWR-SIN nonstop (SQ 21/22), arriving in Singapore at 0600 will mess up my internal clock for several days. On the other hand, flying UA via Narita or Hong Kong takes about 6 more hours (layovers included) but I arrive in Singapore at 2230 and get a good night's sleep. In this case I have no jet lag at all.
Cheers! Mike