How to convince friend redeye flights aren't awful

[Nonny]

Four of us are going on a cruise in April, and we need to fly from Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale.

Option 1, is a red eye that leaves the day before around 10 pm, is non-stop, gets us to Ft. Lauderdale at ~7 am, and is cheaper (~$60/each). We'd have about 8-9 hours before we have to get on the ship, and so a hotel is unnecessary. The biggest con here is if the flight is cancelled we could be screwed (but looking at the stats it has an excellent on-time score, and no recent cancellations).

Option 2, is an early morning flight (could be any where from ~7am to noon depending on the airline), more expensive, at least one stop, and would require a hotel stay. Pro is that we have more flexibility if the flight(s) got cancelled, but a huge con is that none of us are morning people and I always swear I'm never going to book an early flight ever again because it always sucks.

Three of us are leaning towards the red eye, but when we suggested it to our fourth he freaked out at the idea, swears he won't be able to sleep, and was just overall not happy about Option 1. But on the flip-side he's probably the worst about being a morning person out of all of us, and I think that option 2 would actually suck more for him than Option 1 and when you add in the hotel costs it becomes even more expensive.

How do we convince the other guy that a red eye isn't that terrible and is the better option?

[emilyinchile]

This may be a stupid question, but can't 3 of you take the red eye while the other guy takes his daytime flight?

[yourmom]

why do you all need to travel together?

[Nonny]

Oct 3, 2012 16:01:54 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

This may be a stupid question, but can't 3 of you take the red eye while the other guy takes his daytime flight?

That is definitely an option that is on the table!

But I do think he'd kind of have his feelings hurt if the rest of us "ditched" him. I'd rather try to get him on board with traveling with the rest of us, and start the trip off on a good (semi-rowdy) foot with all of us traveling together. It also makes it easier for carpooling to the airport and on the return trip home.

[yourmom]

If that isn't reason enough to convince him, then he's made his decision and he's on his own. When you are travelling with friends like this, majority rules.

[GilliC]

Tell him to take a nap the afternoon before the flight. If you guys check in for the cruise early, the cabins are typically ready around noon, so he can sleep the next afternoon. And if he's up all night on the plane, that sounds like a great pre-cruise party on the flight! (He can be disappointed later when you all curl up and go to sleep.)

[osumelissa]

Give him the options and let him make his own decision. That is what I do when we go on trips with friends. Here is the flight I am taking, if you book the same one, fantastic. If not, see you there.

[Nonny]

Oct 3, 2012 16:42:32 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Tell him to take a nap the afternoon before the flight. If you guys check in for the cruise early, the cabins are typically ready around noon, so he can sleep the next afternoon. And if he's up all night on the plane, that sounds like a great pre-cruise party on the flight! (He can be disappointed later when you all curl up and go to sleep.)

See, this is helpful.

Basically the three of us want him to travel with us because it will be more fun, but we won't force him. I just don't want to be a dick about it, you know? And I think with him a well reasoned nudge and maybe some sleep tips is all he needs.

[aurora]

I think it's totally legit for the 3 of you to say "We want to take the red-eye. We'll miss you if you take the other, but look forward to seeing you at the ship."

I really hate red-eye flights myself. If they were both nonstop I'd pick the more expensive daytime flight hands-down. But with a stop, that's tougher.

[mdgirl]

I agree that the red eye is the better option in your case since it will save you both time and money, but I'm not sure your friend is completely off base in his opinion here, either. I've taken a few red eyes from Seattle to the East Coast and they're terrible because they're just a little too short to get any meaningful sleep, and sitting aroud staring at my luggage for several hours after getting off one doesn't sound like fun either.

[balbacm]

What are you going to do once you land in FLL with all of your luggage from 7A til your cruise allows you to board 1pm? 3pm?) Sounds like a cranky start to vacation to me.

I'd much rather book an early flight the day before your boat leaves, get in to FLL at a more leisurely pace, have a nice dinner on the town then go to bed. You can wake up the next morning and lay on the beach all day before you cruise ship leaves. Bonus vacation day!

I hate red eyes, but that is me. I never can sleep on them, even with the best of intentions/pharmaceuticals/not sleeping for 3 nights in Vegas.

having said all that, when H and I travel with friends, we book the flights we want/are convenient for us, and let our friends do whatever they want. sometimes we fly together, and sometimes we don't. we are all still friends

[dawnyp]

You won't be able to convince him. Personally I hate red eye flights and never book them. I cannot sleep on a plane and get to my destination exhausted. When I travel internationally overnight I always do an early check in and immediately sleep for 3 hours at least. If you take a red eye and don't have a hotel you are potentially going about 24 hours with no sleep. Not a great way to start the vacation.

Let your friend take the flight he wants to, you take the flight you want to.

[sunny]

I would definitely not want the red eye. Now granted I am a morning person, but I am also willing to pay more for comfort and to have time to do what I want

I think yes, you let him know that you all will book the red eye and it would be super fun if he joined you but that he should pick the itinerary that makes more sense for him.

[zitiqueen]

Yeah, red-eyes to start a vacation suck. I'll take one home no problem since I always take an extra day or two off before having to return to work, but a red-eye kind of starts the vacation off on a crummy note.

[Nonny]

FWIW, I talked to him about it more on Friday and asked him if he was going to take a different flight if we all decided on the red eye and he said he'd prefer if we all traveled together. He thought traveling together just seemed like a better option.

I also think he didn't realize that the red eye option meant no hotel room the night before, because he asked about that, and seemed to also prefer that option. Then I mentioned that for us it also meant one less day of a pet sitter, and he is taking that into consideration as well because he's planning to get a cat soon.

I think what's going to happen is we'll all take the red eye and he's going to book business class so he'll have more space and be more comfortable (he says he tends to do that anyway for longer flights).

Personally I prefer red eyes at the begining of the trip because when I land I'm all jazzed up and excited and that keeps the exhaustion at bay. On the way home though they tend to make me cranky because I'm already tired from doing stuff at my destination, over traveling, and just ready to be home. Our cruise starts off with two days at sea before we hit our first port of call, so it's not like we'll have anything to do but chill out on the ship anyway.

[emilyinchile]

Glad you guys worked it out!

Although I am laughing at the notion of 6 hours being a longer flight for which he needs business class But hey, his money, I'm not judging!

[GilliC]

Oct 7, 2012 22:21:47 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

Although I am laughing at the notion of 6 hours being a longer flight for which he needs business class But hey, his money, I'm not judging!

I chuckled a little too.
Although, I do tend to appreciate business more on a short overnight than a long one. On a 13-hour flight, I can generally manage enough sleep in economy even if it gets interrupted or I wake up uncomfortable every so often. On a 7-hour flight, I have to try to sleep sitting upright during takeoff, dinner, and landing, which is a challenge for me.

[Nonny]

Oct 8, 2012 4:50:54 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Oct 7, 2012 22:21:47 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

Although I am laughing at the notion of 6 hours being a longer flight for which he needs business class But hey, his money, I'm not judging!

I chuckled a little too.
Although, I do tend to appreciate business more on a short overnight than a long one. On a 13-hour flight, I can generally manage enough sleep in economy even if it gets interrupted or I wake up uncomfortable every so often. On a 7-hour flight, I have to try to sleep sitting upright during takeoff, dinner, and landing, which is a challenge for me.

Well, he's a little bit bigger of a guy too, and I can totally appreciate wanting more space on a plane period! I'm kind of a fatty, but I'm still smaller than all the guys going on the trip and even I am horribly uncomfortable on planes.

My H and I are planning to book economy and then seeing if we can upgrade at the airport for cheaper.

[emilyinchile]

I am not laughing at paying for business class (I often do myself when I'm flying to the US), just at 6 hours being a "longer" flight

[Nonny]

Ah, gotcha! I think for him it is a longer flight though. I think his regular flights are mostly 4 hrs or under. My H thinks it's a "long" flight too, which I think is funny considering he's flown to Japan.

[AAM2012]

So what are you guys going to do from 7am when your flight lands to when you can board the cruise?

[basilosaurus]

I was somewhat saddened to realize that I feel any trip shorter than 8 hours is short. I've reached the point where I think that not getting a full night of sleep makes a flight strangely short. Yet I almost can never afford business class, so my insomniac self has become a pro at suffering through a long coach flight.

The one time I got to upgrade to business lie flat seats, it was only 9 hours (got maybe 5 hours sleep, max), and I was bummed not to sleep more because it was so comfortable. Plus, warm marcona almonds

[80sjunkie]

Glad it sounds like he is coming around. I have a love/hate relationship with redeyes and the last one we were on involved a screaming child right behind us. Here are the things we make sure to pack to help us sleep: eye masks, ear plugs and large cushy headphones (our own faux noise canceling headset), comfy socks (might want to kick your shoes off) small pillow (they give you one but I actually use them both) and toothbrush/toothpaste just in case we eat or drink anything before the flight. Also, the emergency exit row always seems like a good idea but keep in mind that it gets colder so dress appropriately.

[Nonny]

We actually all booked the red eye flights this past week, and he did opt to spend the extra $$ for first class, and so did our other friend. My H and I cheaped out and did coach though, but we'll see if we can upgrade for cheaper at the airport, otherwise we'll just suck it up.