I imagine that some of you will be old hands at flying…
Confession: I’ve never travelled by plane! I’m super curious about it, though, and I was wondering how people keep themselves entertained on longer flights.
I know that domestic flights can often be short (well, in the UK, I think it’s an hour or two to London from Edinburgh!) - but I’d love to know how those travelling further afield stay entertained as I can imagine there’s a big difference between a two hour flight and an eight hour flight. Please share in the comments and let us all know how you keep busy when you’re in the air.
I’m really hoping to try a short flight next year to see how I get on - any tips for keeping myself distracted will be super helpful!
An Edinburgh/Glasgow to London flight is approx 90 mins. You will not really have much time to waste. There will likely be zero on-board entertainment provided. We find that it’s a treat to disconnect from the internet. We choose enjoyable distractions. Whether that’s a book (audio, ebook, physical), newspaper, magazine, puzzles, music or otherwise then it should be relatively easy to pass a little time.
Quite often we travel UK/Europe to Western Canada. 9-10 hours. Different tactics, entertainment and sleeping.
Good luck on first flight. Hope can relax and enjoy the experience.
Been lucky enough to have been flying for nearly 40 years since I was a kid for holidays, business and now sitting.
If you take a long haul or non budget flight then they’ll likely have seat back entertainment system available to you. In which case I carry my blue tooth headphone adapter for planes so I can use my own nice Bose noise cancelling headphones rather than the cheap in ear buds airlines often provide if flying in economy or premium economy.
If a budget airline or short haul I fly with carry on only and take a laptop but also a mini tablet (8 inch) a folding keyboard, a seat back tablet clip on holder and power bank. I fit these (apart from the laptop) in my man bag to my seat. Then I set up my tablet on the seat back. Connect my bluetooth headphones and I can watch downloaded tv or movies. Maybe some music. I can also finish work emails with my foldable keyboard and tablet.
Most of my flights are European ones recently so are 2-3 hours long on average but deduct 30 minutes after take off and another 30 minutes pre landing when you need to store things away and useable time in the air is limited.
Often times on flights I will start going through my pictures on my phone to delete, put in files, organize, etc. It’s also time to look back on memories of travel, pets, family, etc.
I usually sleep a lot aboard, but like to have options. So I download audiobooks and movies onto my phone and tablet before my flight. I also sometimes use/buy wifi, depending on the length of the flight and whether it’s available.
FYI, on international flights, even if you have or buy wifi, it will cut off at some geographical point, which is sometimes murky. That can be a problem if you’re trying to work and need a connection. And the plane wifi typically supports only messaging and some surfing, not streaming. You can’t for instance do video meetings, either. And never count on having wifi aboard, because some planes don’t have it or it’s broken.
Oh, and I bring noise canceling earbuds, as well as ear plugs, in case of noisy passengers / kids.
With power banks, note that some airlines are requiring that they be carried only in carry-ons stowed at your feet — not in overhead baggage or in checked luggage — because of fire risks. And if you go to China, they will confiscate your power bank if it’s not labeled with “CCC,” which indicates manufacturing they deem safer than otherwise.
As an Aussie, long haul is something we have to do if we want to travel further than New Zealand, the South Pacific or Asia. It’s even 5 hours from east to west coast Australia. I travel economy or premium economy (although I got a business upgrade this trip for the first leg) and to get through the time travel I always go in with a plan to kill the excruciatingly long flight (26 hours from Brisbane to London this time, via Sydney & Singapore). First I work out what time it is at my destination and try to plan for sleeping when it’s night in that time zone (always an epic fail). Then I check out what movies and box sets are available on the flight entertainment system and plan what I’m going to watch. I love binge watching box sets! My back up plan is some shows downloaded on my tablet, a puzzle book like sudoku and a book to read. Warning though, your nearby passengers will hate you if you continue to read with your personal light while they are trying to sleep when the cabin is dark! I always take an eye mask and ear plugs on a long haul flight. By the time I have 2 meals, a few glasses of wine, some snacks and a cuppa or two, some water and loo breaks and freshen up, the flight is over before I know it….SAID NO ONE EVER!!
My best tip is, book the most expensive luxurious hotel you can afford at your destination, to help you get over the ordeal. It worked a treat for me this time and I flew business half way and premium economy the rest! Last year’s economy long haul is a nightmare I’d rather forget!
If your first flight will be a short one, I would not worry much about getting bored. The excitement of a first flight should keep you from any boredom. You’ll find the noises on take off and landing will keep you on edge for the first and last 20 minutes. Try to get a window seat; the views will mesmerize you for stretches.
For long flights, the best boredom deterrent is sleeping through the flight IF you are one of the lucky who can sleep sitting up on a plane (I’ve always envied that “talent”). If, like for me, sleeping is a distant ambition, there are plenty of onboard entertainment options: movies and audiobooks downloaded to your smart devices and back-of-the-seat displays with a select of movies and TV shows. Eight hours passes pretty easily if you watch a couple of movies.
More troublesome than boredom is long periods of being uncomfortable. To get an idea, put a marginally comfortable office chair 22”/56cm away from a wall and sit there for 4, 6 or 8 hours. To add realism on a window seat, put the chair against a corner window or wall with the same clearance to the front and pile a small obstacle course on the other side of the chair to simulate the person you’ll be crawling over to get to the loo. Find a tiny table you can place in front of you for your meal and load it up with drinks, dinner, salad, dessert and serving utensils to get an idea of the dining experience. It is probably too much but if you could do all that on a kidde rollercoaster ride, you’ll cover 90% of the experience.
@Jenny it’s time to book that flight! You don’t know how lucky you are living with so many cultures and experiences within very short flights. As others have said on short flights by the time you are settled in and in the air there is often not that much time before landing prep. Usually I have a book on my tablet. Often I just look out the window and for your first flight definitely book yourself a window seat. Where are you thinking of going?
Coming from Australia, our idea of a “short flight” is anything under 10 hours — which probably tells you everything. A quick weekend away can involve three plane changes, two terminals you didn’t mean to visit, and at least one moment where you question all your life choices. Door-to-door, it can feel like a 40-hour endurance sport… but with tiny pretzels.
So we’ve had to master in-flight entertainment out of sheer survival. I pack downloads like I’m preparing for a minor apocalypse: shows, podcasts, games, books, backup games in case the first games fail, snacks in case the snacks fail. Then I break the flight into manageable chunks: watch something, stretch, eat something, contemplate the meaning of life at 35,000 feet, rinse and repeat.
For your very first short hop, though? You’ll barely need anything. A window seat, a bit of music, and the thrill of take-off will do most of the heavy lifting. It’s all over before you’ve had time to get bored.
Hope your first flight is a happy (and wonderfully uneventful) one.
Just remember the flights are temporary, no matter how short or long, so just roll with things and avoid getting stressed.
I also try to help parents with young kids. Like most recently, a mom was traveling alone with a toddler and infant, so I helped them throughout the flight and even when we laid over, making sure they got to their terminal OK on their way back to Egypt.
Another recent time, I told the mom it was OK to lay her toddler on my lap, too, since it seemed painful for her to hold her upright in the middle seat during the whole flight. And I watched the little girl when mom went to the toilet. We didn’t share a language, but gestures worked fine.
We’re all just on our way to somewhere, so it’s good to help when possible.
Well everyone is very different as to how they stay occupied. Some people have no problem falling asleep on flights, no matter the length. I never sleep on flights - even if it is an overnight flight that is 6 or 12 hours!
We bring snacks. Remember it is important to stay well hydrated.
I download movies before the flight on my iPhone and make sure I have AirPods or a headset for my phone. I bring my Kindle and make sure I’ve downloaded books in advance.
As SoloGal said, it’s a good opportunity to go through your photo album on your phone.
Haha This was reminiscent of something I read about how to prepare for tall-ship sailing. Wish I could remember it all but I do recall the bits about sleeping under your bed, or in a hammock in your closet…
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Definitely a window seat! Flying is fun!! Clouds are awesome. Watch the clouds, watch the ground, all the little towns and roads and landscape…
I catch up on the trip so far in my journal, play some games on seatback screens if available (smoked the previous Air Canada trivia players), did I mention looking out the window??
Wish I could sleep on a plane. The best I can manage is a semiconscious doze in which I can still hear all the noise.
For long haul flights, something worth considering: I try to time my arrival for maybe 4 or 5 local time. That way, you can always check into your hotel straight away and have dinner, then go to bed soon if you’re tired. Or at least put your feet up and relax right off.
I tend to enjoy flying and have good luck. Having a good attitude and being friendly can help. Like on my most recent trip to Europe, the desk agent switched my seat and gave me a row to myself without my asking. And on my way back, both of my flights included an empty seat next to me.
Some people are easily stressed or triggered and aren’t at their best when traveling, so it can worsen their experiences, unfortunately. I’ve read that some use meditation apps and/or CBD gummies, which can help. (Just take such before heading to the airport and never carry them on flights, in case they’re illegal wherever you’re flying to.)
I can sleep easily, so don’t usually spring for upgrades. But I have some friends who love them and they collect credit cards rewards points and usually get upgrades for no money. That might help folks who can’t sleep on planes, too.
Was on a flight last year @Maggie8K between Spain and the UK that had some empty seats so the mother across the aisle decided this was an opportunity to change her childs dirty nappy (diaper) across a few seats. I know changing a toddler is needed but surely there’s a better place than across a row of seats in the middle of the plane. All other passengers then had over an hour left to ‘savour’ the aroma!
Most of my flying is on Delta (with 2.6 million lifetime miles I get automatic 2nd from the highest status) which has kept free seat-back video on all but their regional jets - if the flight is long enough I’ll watch a movie. I often find foreign or documentary films that I’d not see in my local theaters.
I also have a cache of audiobooks on my phone for listening.
And sometimes I’ll just look out the window although the current trend of most people keeping the shades down isn’t good for that. Years and years ago, flying from Shanghai to Paris - daylight the whole flight - the skies were clear for almost the whole trip. Wonderful to watch. Last spring, flying from New York to Washington on a clear day I had the good fortune to have a window seat and was able to film the river-visual approach to DCA. The river-visual is the less frequently used approach but it follows the Potomac River downstream to the airport - amazing views from the left side of the plane. Dropbox (Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial beginning at about 2:20.)
And I’m old enough to remember when we had interesting conversations with the people we are sitting next to!
I read books! Sometimes I feel like I’m part of a dying breed. I also do word search puzzles sometimes. On European flights, my phone is packed away for the duration and I don’t look at any screens.
Long haul flights are a bit different, on the ones I’ve done I did watch movies. There were screens on the plane. I don’t like watching things on small screens and don’t own a tablet. My laptop never comes out during a flight.
This was reminiscent of something I read about how to prepare for tall-ship sailing. Wish I could remember it all but I do recall the bits about sleeping under your bed, or in a hammock in your closet…
