Seeking the Scenic Route
A midwest travel blog
Travel Tips

How to Survive a Red Eye Flight: Tips & Tricks

I’m a huge advocate of traveling on a budget – the more I save, the more I can put towards my next trip. But sometimes, that mindset leaves me in uncomfortable situations. Take for example my recent red-eye from San Diego to New York City (or my flight from San Francisco to Chicago a few years back).

Now, unless you’re shelling out the big bucks for first class tickets, red-eyes are notoriously uncomfortable.

Between a shocking lack of legroom and the screaming (yet somehow still adorable) infants that always seem to be seated just behind you, getting any sleep on a plane can be difficult. That difficulty is amplified by 10 when you know you need to sleep, and there’s that extra pressure to get some rest so you can enjoy your trip.

How to survive a red-eye flight

The first thing you need to understand is that there is preparation involved. You can’t just to the airport and frantically pull this blog post up and expect to have a comfy flight. There’s a bit of shopping involved (I tried to keep it budget friendly!). Plus, the things you do all day leading up to the red-eye will impact whether you’re able to snooze from point A to point B or not.

Your shopping list

Some of these things you may already own, some you might need to go out and buy. 

For full disclosure, we’re using affiliate links here (aka if you purchase anything from this blog post we’ll earn a small commission - it won’t cost you a penny more, though!).

After this section, I’ll go a little bit more in-depth about why these items are so essential.

Laying the groundwork

I’m going to be honest, as much as I love to travel, I’m an anxious flyer. The week (sometimes weeks) leading up to a trip I panic, I google plane crash statistics, and I get all doomsday debby downer.

If you’re in the same boat as me, laying the groundwork for a successful overnight flight is extra important or anxiety will manage to keep you up half the night.

Here are the steps I follow to lay the groundwork to survive a red-eye flight.

  1. Book an aisle or window seat if you can. Or, if you’re traveling with a partner, you can book a middle seat. Bonus if they don’t mind you using them as a pillow! #ProTip: If you’re traveling with a companion, book an aisle seat for yourself and a window seat for your partner (or vice versa).If the plane isn’t full, most people aren’t booking middle seats for themselves if they can help it, and this can help put you in a position where you and your pal get the whole row to yourself. If someone does book between you two, either offer to switch seats with them or be super respectful to not be talking over them while they’re trying to relax and get comfortable in flight.
  2. Avoid any and all caffeine. If you’re a casual coffee drinker like myself, skip the day of your flight so you don’t have any residual caffeine jitters when it comes time to take off. If you’re a can’t-function-without-my-daily-espresso coffee drinker, consider giving yourself a hard cut off at least five hours before your flight to accommodate for caffeine’s 5-hour half-life.
  3. Get moving and grooving. If you intend to sleep on your flight, make efforts to properly wear yourself out. Go on a walk, lift some weights, do yoga, what have you. Just make sure that you’re burning energy, so you don’t randomly get a second wind halfway through your flight.
  4. Eat digestive friendly foods. Flying from San Diego to New York, I wasn’t able to get to sleep for a few hours thanks to some questionable food choices rumbling around in my belly. I knew what I was getting myself into, but the sushi was just too tempting. Don’t be like me, eat digestive friendly food and maybe consider taking a digestive enzyme, too.
  5. Don’t wear a full face of makeup to the airport. Or bring makeup wipes if you do. I never fly with makeup unless I have meetings shortly after landing, but especially won’t wear makeup if I intend to sleep. I feel like all women in my generation were scarred by Seventeen Magazine’s threats of the terrible things sleeping in makeup does to your skin.
  6. Hydrate, but not too much. Leading up to a red-eye, spend the day making sure you’re extra hydrated, then simmer down the hours leading up to your flight. Basically, make sure your body is comfortably hydrated, but not so much so that you’ll be running to use the airplane bathroom every hour.
  7. Wear very clean / non-smelly shoes. I’ll explain why in the next step.

What to do at the airport

There aren’t many steps to take care of here; the two main ones are:

  1. Arrive with plenty of time to get through security and make it to your gate. This is always a good rule of thumb, but especially so if you’re trying to sleep on your flight. You don’t want to be pumping your body full of adrenaline sprinting through terminals as that’ll sabotage any plans to slumber.
  2. Use the restroom and go through a quick bedtime routine. I like to take the time before I board my flight to brush my teeth, wash my face, and apply face lotion or a mask. I have sensitive skin, so applying a face mask (a clear, non-noticeable one!) helps mitigate the irritation that typically comes with flying.

What to do after you board the plane

Now that you’re settled into your seat, it’s time to start making yourself comfortable. Generally, I do this in two waves. I start right after boarding but save some steps for when we’re already in the air.

Oftentimes during boarding the plane isn’t temperature regulated and it’s sweltering, so putting on my neck pillow or beanie is uncomfortable until after takeoff.

Directly after boarding

Stow your luggage above head if at all possible. You want as much leg room as you can get. This way, you can stretch out and aren’t as cramped as if you had your bag stuffed under the seat. With this said, make sure you board with the following items on hand so you aren’t digging them out of your bag last minute:

  • Your earplugs
  • Your beanie or eye mask
  • ZZZquil Liquicaps (or your sleep aid of choice)
  • Comfy socks

The first thing I do after I sit down is take off the shoes and socks I wore to the airport and change into thick, comfy socks. Usually heat holders or fuzzy socks. This is why it’s so important not to wear your everyday shoes that may have picked up an odor. If your shoes have even the slightest inkling of smell, be respectful of your fellow travelers and keep them on. If you wore a non-stinky pair, though, ditch them in exchange for a comfier foot situation.

I also use this opportunity to hydrate for what will likely be the last time until the plane lands. Again, I don’t go too wild. I take a few small drinks and stow my water bottle in the seat back pocket.

Finally (and this is important) I quickly talk to my neighbor. I’ll introduce myself, make ~90 seconds of small talk, and then let them know I intend on sleeping. I also let them know I’m not interested in snacks or beverage service. You might think this is unnecessary, but take it from me: if you intend to sleep, you’re going to be sat up next to the chattiest cathy in the plane, and they will ignore all social cues and start nudging you and trying to chat while you’re sleeping. Laying out your intentions can help make sure your neighbor knows you’re not up for small talk until landing. Of course, make sure to be very friendly! I always ask if they have any tips for sleeping on a plane, too.

After takeoff

Here’s where the magic happens. And by magic, I mean the least blissful sleep you’ll probably get in your life. But hey, unblissful sleep is better than no sleep.

  1. Insert your earplugs. I like the generic earplugs that come 60 in a pack. Roll them in between your fingers, pull your ear taut, and insert them. As silly as it sounds, there’s actually a right and wrong way to do this. If they aren’t doing a decent job muffling sound, they probably aren’t far enough in your ear canal.
  2. Pop your sleep aid. I go for ZzzQuil as I’m quite affected by it. If you need something stronger to fall asleep, use that. If you’re against sleep aids, you can also consider melatonin, which occurs naturally in your body.
  3. Set up your neck pillow. The neck pillow I recommend is the TRTL neck pillow, and it’s not like other neck pillows (it’s a cool neck pillow). But it does require a bit of adjustment. I try to get it on within the first five minutes of the flight. That way I don’t bug my neighbor getting the placement right. I’ve only flown with it a few times, but each time it gets easier. I highly recommend it over the typical “U” shaped neck pillow.
  4. Pull your beanie over your eyes to block out the light. I prefer a beanie over an eye mask. I find eye masks do weird sensory things to me that make it hard to sleep. Instead, I wear a long beanie and have it serve the same purpose as an eye mask.
  5. Sweet dreams…. From here, all that’s left to do is count sheep, do breathing exercises, or whatever it is you do to fall asleep. For me, I like to try to do yoga breathing, because I typically feel a bit anxious on planes.

How do you survive a red-eye?

I know my advice isn’t the end all be all for surviving an overnight flight, but I do hope some of these tips will work for you. And my strategy is always a work in progress, so if you have any tips, I’d love to hear them! And if you found this blog post helpful, please follow us on @seekingthescenicroute. We’ll post notifications there every time we publish!