How do i survive a 13 hour flight to china in coach?

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Laoshu Laoshi

I take this flight every summer..twice. I fly from Beijing to JFK in July then back to Beijing at the end of August. I'm an expert at it. This is how I do it. I stay up all night before I go. It's a 4 hour drive to JFK from my house. I sleep a little bit then. Eat a hearty meal before you fly because what they serve may be not be to your liking and you don't want to be starving as it makes the flight take longer. Get an aisle seat. It's better to get up every time someone in your row needs the bathroom than to have to wake someone up so you can use the bathroom. Wear shoes that slip off. I like thongs myself. If you notice there is no one else in your row stretch out as soon as the pilot turns off the seat belt sign after take-off. You don't want someone else switching to that seat. It is quite possible that you could have a 4-seat row to yourself. It's happened to me a couple of times. Get your legs up and claim them. Take books, a CD/Mp3 player, or computer with you for entertainment. They should show at least three movies during the flight, but 2 of them are likely to be in Chinese. One will probably be new and decent. The other is likely to be some 90s cop drama or comedy. Since the flight is so long, I usually go to the jump seat area to stretch for about 20 minutes every 3-4 hours. If you have ever taken dance, yoga, or played sports, those are the kind of stretches you should do. The stewards have never had a problem with this. I also like to sit on the floor with my legs crossed or stretched out in front of me for about 10-20 minutes. The stewards might ask if you're ok if you do this. People also walk up and down the aisles. Try to sleep when you can, but definitely do the stretches, too. The stretches will keep you from getting stiff. I also go to the bathroom quite a bit, mostly to wash my face since it tends to feel oily after so many hours on the plane. The stewards will usually have drinks and, sometimes, extra pretzel bags in the galley area for passengers to access freely. Take advantage of this so you stay hydrated. Good luck!

BTW, if you plan to take a taxi from the airport to your accommodations and you've never been in China before, make them use the meter. I've had friends be told the cost is "30" and get to their hotel and the driver meant $30 US, not 30 RMB. $30 US at that time was the equivalent of 240 RMB. No taxi ride within any city is that expensive. I live 60 minutes from my airport and only pay 100 RMB negotiated. It would be 150 on the meter. Also, Chinese airports do not have people that just help you move your luggage around. I've had people grab my cart and try to tell me it cost $100 US for their service. Grab your cart back and loudly tell them to go away. Beijing,in particular, is bad for this.

caligal30821

bring a laptop and and talk on yahoo answers the whole time.LOL

AHK

snooze....zzzz

if you can

during the flight they'll put on 2 movies, one after another. take a game boy with you, some cards a book or 2 or just stuff you enjoy doing. with all that going on, itll seem only a 3 hour flight.

D@H0tr3dGur1

bring ure ipod if u hav 1
it mite help

Babe

Stay up the night before make sure your real tired and sleep the whole entire time either that or get drunk on the plane
Have fun and Good luck

Obsequious

If it were me I'd ask my doctor to prescribe just 1 tranquilizer, like Xanex. Or I'd take something over-the-counter as soon as I got on the plane like Unisom. Time flies when you're sleeping.

Taffy Saltwater

Take half a sleeping pill - I like Ambien - so you can get some decent rest. Watch movies, listen to music, read a book or magazine. I bring a video iPod loaded w/my favorite movies/books; Memorex iFlip to watch the movies - battery lasts about five hours, and Bose QuietComfort II headphones to reduce engine noise. This got me through a 14 hour flight to Australia.

Athena

When I fly over seas I fly coach, there really isn't that much of a difference actually there is but, they have movies playing and you can sleep. I read a book, or a chat with other people. Ipods are nice too.

benceroger

nap when you can read a stephen king or james michner novel get up and move around as often as possible leave the coffee alone stay with one alcoholic drink if you must imbibe enjoy the enflight movie and meals

DME B

With a nice, fat sleeping pill.

igiveup

grab a fleight attendant and join the mile high club

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