A Trusted Friend in a Complicated World
By Aaron Rasmussen
Updated on May 30, 2025
Getting comfortable on an airplane can be a challenge. With these travel expert tips, your flights will be much more tolerable.
Multiple movies, hours of uninterrupted reading time and total disconnection from the outside world—honestly, I really love a long plane ride (up to a point). But for many travelers, the thought of sitting sealed up inside a flying tin can for hours on end—even if the final destination is a beautiful beach in a far-off locale—feels more like a necessary evil than an exciting escape.
While copious amounts of in-flight entertainment and a solid nap (or three) can help pass the time, there are plenty of other clever tips and tricks to make your next long-haul flight a little less painful. Read on to learn our expert’s tips for long flights.
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I never board a really long flight without first stocking up on snacks—at least one salty, and one sweet—as well as an overpriced bottle or two of soda from the terminal. Sure, I could rely on the beverage cart for something to eat and drink, but I’ve learned my lesson one too many times. Service can easily get delayed, I might fall asleep and miss it altogether or I just don’t feel like asking for anything in those in-between hours. My motto with food and beverage: better safe than sorry. A few extra bucks spent in the airport is a pretty small price to pay for mid-air culinary control.
Sometimes you just have to treat yourself. I’ve racked up a lot of airline miles on Delta, and while I usually like to save them for flights, every so often I’ll splurge on an upgrade—a decision I’ve never regretted. I already enjoy flying, so when it comes to those really long hauls, the extra space and elevated service make the mile-for-mile trade totally worth it.
Angela Cavis has worked in the travel industry for more than 15 years, and she now frequently travels internationally for her role leading communications in the Americas for Booking.com, the Amsterdam-based online travel agency. She emphasizes that comfortable layers are a wiser choice than prioritizing trendy “airport outfits” when traveling long distances. “It’s tempting to prioritize style, but breathable, cozy layers always win out on long flights,” she says. Her go-to? “A soft oversized wrap or sweater that can double as a blanket, especially when the cabin gets cold.”
Nancy De Losa, the founder of A’qto Cycling, a boutique Italian cycling tour company, frequently jets between Europe and Australia. She employs a similar strategy for surviving those extra-long flights. “I wear an oversized hoodie, thick socks, a neck pillow, eye mask and face mask, essentially turning my seat into a warm, dark cocoon,” she says. “It blocks out light, keeps germs at bay and signals to my body that it’s time to sleep. Add a melatonin, and I’m usually out like a light.”
Ashley Serrate, an account director at Zapwater Communications—a public relations agency that specializes in lifestyle, travel and tourism—is constantly on the go. To stay fresh in transit, she never boards a plane without a well-stocked amenity kit tucked into her personal item and stowed under the seat in front of her. She always includes a toothbrush, toothpaste, makeup-removing wipes, hair products and anything else she might need mid-flight. “I’ve found it super helpful when it comes to freshening up, and then I’m not digging through my roller suitcase to find those items,” she says. Plus, she adds, the kit serves as insurance in case something goes wrong when she arrives at her final destination: “A change of underwear can be helpful in case your checked luggage vanishes!”
I always book a window seat to minimize interaction with other passengers—and I’m definitely not alone. Many frequent flyers are firmly either team window or team aisle (and absolutely no one willingly picks a center seat unless they’re team glutton for punishment). But beyond personal preference, there are some strategic reasons to take into consideration when choosing one or the other. “If you easily sleep on planes, a window seat provides wall support for dozing off and minimizes disruptions from others in your row,” says Skyscanner Global Travel Trends Expert Laura Lindsay, who offers a great tip for getting better rest: “Choose a seat on the side you usually sleep on—it makes tilting your head in that direction easier.”
On shorter flights, or if you’re not planning to snooze, an aisle seat might make a better choice. “If you plan to stay awake during the flight to watch movies, read or get work done, aisle seats eliminate the need to climb over sleeping neighbors when you decide to stretch your legs,” she says.
As a full-time photographer and content creator, Georgia Fowkes—who works as a travel advisor for Altezza Travel—has taken her fair share of long-haul flights while exploring the remote corners of the world. Her feel-good travel ritual helps ease her discomfort. “Cabin air always has this vague combo [smell] of plastic, reheated food, stale fabric,” she says. To combat that, she uses a “sensory reset” with a trio of scents she’s collected during her travels: mint, lavender and clove balms. “Mint is for boarding, lavender when I try to sleep and clove for when the air turns weird and plasticky,” she says. The scents are subtle enough not to bother anyone seated around her, but strong enough to help her settle in.
Rachel King, a writer who travels the globe to cover luxury destinations, believes that looking good goes hand-in-hand with feeling good on long flights. “I stick to a strict skincare routine—even on planes, where the pressurized cabins can wreck your skin,” she says. Her solution to rejuvenation? “I pack travel-size creams, serums, eye patches and Pedialyte packets to mix with water.” That last electrolyte-packed essential is an effective and quick way to replenish lost fluids throughout your body and stay refreshed, from wheels up to touchdown.
While a glass of wine or other alcoholic drink on a long-haul flight might initially seem like the perfect way to relax at 35,000 feet, it could come back to bite you. “I skip alcohol entirely in the air,” says King. She’s not alone. Content creator Fowkes learned that lesson the hard way. On a grueling trip to Tanzania for a safari with Altezza Travel, she had two glasses of wine during her multi-leg journey from Los Angeles to Doha to Kilimanjaro. “I landed completely dehydrated; I mean, dry skin and headache that lasted well into my layover,” she says. These days, she sticks to a strict no-sips policy on lengthy hauls. “Even a little bit at altitude, especially over that much time, messes with hydration and makes jet lag so much worse.”
We’ve all heard the horror stories of passengers wandering into the airplane’s bathroom in just their socks. Yeah, don’t be that person. Your choice of footwear can make or break your in-flight comfort. “My rule is no laces, and always half a size up,” Fowkes says of choosing slip-ons for longer trips. “Feet swell. I learned the hard way after hours of wearing tight sneakers and feeling like I was being slowly crushed.”
Nobody wants their mid-flight snooze interrupted by a screaming baby or a chatty seatmate. For Cavis, noise-canceling headphones, plus a pre-loaded playlist, equal a game-changing non-negotiable. “Even if I’m not watching a movie, having a playlist or podcast ready helps me zone out and decompress,” she says. “It creates a small sense of control and calm, no matter where I’m flying.”
Fowkes takes a different but equally effective approach: white noise. “It keeps me from losing it—the noise, the crowd, the endless little distractions,” she says. “My brain finally slows down. And sometimes, that’s honestly enough to get through.”
Time seems to pass differently on those longer flights, but the savviest travelers known how to make the hours works in their favor. “I set an alarm every 2.5 hours,” Fowkes says. “It sounds like a punishment, but it works. I wake up, stand up, stretch a little, maybe refill water. It breaks the trance of the flight. Otherwise, I lose all sense of time and arrive in full zombie mode.”
Serrate likes to get comfortable with a different strategy: She starts syncing with her new time zone mid-flight. “I set my watch to the local time after the first meal or even after the first snack service,” she says. “That means going to sleep when it’s [bedtime there], so I’ll already be adjusted as much as possible when I arrive.”
For Cavis, lengthier flights are more than just a way to get to where she’s going—they’re also a rewarding, prime productivity time. “I actually enjoy working on long-haul flights,” she says. “Without meetings or calls, it’s one of the few moments when I can truly focus and catch up. It helps the time go by faster, and I land feeling productive and refreshed.”
Reader’s Digest has published hundreds of travel stories that help readers explore the world safely, easily and affordably. We regularly cover topics such as the best places to visit (and the best times to visit them), tips and tricks to zoom through airport security, flight-attendant secrets, hotel-room hacks and more. We’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
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