# What is the longest flight you've taken? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826 "2010-08-20T03:36:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/41 "2010-08-20T20:48:56Z")
Washington to Beijing: about 12 hours over, 12 1/2 hours coming back ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/42 "2010-08-20T20:57:15Z")
My great aunt once a nonstop flight that lasted nearly _3 days_. She was coming back from a study abroad program in Germany and opted to fly back instead taking an ocean liner. She flew on the LZ-129 _Hindenburg_. šŸ™‚ She told me it quite nice, much more comfortable than the jetliners she later flew on. The only thing she complained about was the aluminum piano, which sounded horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/43 "2010-08-20T21:16:10Z")
I flew from DC to Johannesburg, which Wiki listed at 17 hours, but it didnā€™t feel that long. From Joā€™burg to DC, that was torture. Thereā€™s a refueling stop in Dakar, but the total time in the same seat is something around 19 hours. Another flight that sticks out as being very long was a BA flight from Hong Kong to London. I see that it is only 13 hours or so, but the entertainment system at my seat didnā€™t work. Iā€™ve made various trips between DC and Tokyo, Seoul, Dubai, and a few other places before. In general, these flights tend to have nice amenities, and that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/44 "2010-08-20T21:39:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > > [@lost4life](#): > > > > I once did Detroit to Chicago to Los Angeles to Sidney to Adelaide (our company was rather cheap with airfare). I left on a Wednesday and landed on like Friday. It was a total of something like 22-26 hours. > > I did something similar, but I didnā€™t count it for the OP, as it wasnā€™t non-stop. It was Chicago-\>LAX-\>Auckland-\>Melbourne-\>Hobart. Something around 24 hours. > > I believe the LAX-\>Auckland stretch was about 13 hours, so that should probably be the longest non-stop for me. > > Still, none of these experiences compare to going from L.A. to Chicago on a Greyhound. 50 friggin hours. When I did LAX to Auckland, it was about 14 hours. I got smart, though - I flew Atlanta-Memphis-LAX the night before, and spent the night in LA, before I got on the Qantas flight. The return trip, however, was Auckland-LA-Memphis-Atlanta, and the only thing that made it endurable was that the LA-Memphis and Memphis-Atlanta flights were almost empty, so I had a whole row of seats to myself. LAX to Auckland was tough, but the Orlando-Charlotte-Munich/Berlin-Frankfurt-Orlando trip I took in early July was worse: seated in the middle seat of the middle row. No bulkhead to rest and try to sleep against, or window to look at the ground, and no aisle where I could stretch my legs. And an eight-hour drive from Orlando back to Atlanta, on top of all that. My first trip to Europe was worth it, but man, it was rough. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/45 "2010-08-20T21:42:48Z")
U.S. to Germany. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/46 "2010-08-20T23:12:28Z")
SFO nonstop to Auckland, on Air Canada. IIRC it was about 12 hours or so. They showed the three worst movies I have ever seen, back-to-back-to-back: **Garfield** , **The Big Bounce** , and **Catwoman**. It transcended badness. Itā€™s become a funny story we remind each other about to this day. We were tried and having free drinks and laughing at the awfulness. ā€œIs thatā€¦Bill Murray?!ā€ ā€œJennifer Love Hewitt looks faker than the cat.ā€ ā€œDrink when he says ā€˜Lasagnaā€™.ā€ Then theyā€™d announce the next one. ā€œGarfield is a better actor than this chick.ā€ ā€œTheyā€™re actually making Hawaii suck.ā€ By the time they announced the third one, ā€œOur next feature is available on channel 3ā€¦Halle Berry starsā€¦asā€¦Catwoman!ā€ my friend and I were laughing so hard at the absurdity of them picking one even worse than the others that our wives had to tell us to keep it down. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/47 "2010-08-21T06:10:53Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Tokyo to Portland. ~16 hours. > > Iā€™ll be damned. I thought Los Angeles - Sydney was at least 24 hours, but according to a quick search itā€™s only about 16-18. Jeez, what kind of plane were you flying on? [WikiAnswers](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_hours_does_it_take_to_fly_from_Portland_Oregon_to_Japan) says 9 hours. My longest is only 11 hours; Tokyo to LAX. Amsterdam to Johannesburg took about 11 hours also. ---
**Author:** ![bathsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@bathsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bathsheba)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/48 "2010-08-21T07:48:21Z")
> [@Waffle\_Decider](#): > > Oā€™Hare to Hong Kong. 15 1/2 fucking hours in an aging United 747, 31" seat pitch, geriatric flight attendents with an attitude, and it didnā€™t even have a personal TV screen. It was pretty close to hell on earth. As above. Only it was nigh on 17 hours from LAX to Sydney with a strong headwind. Twenty minutes before landing we were diverted to Melbourne because of fog. The people who hadnā€™t died of DVTs first killed the bitch attendants and then killed themsleves. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/49 "2010-08-21T12:27:58Z")
Osaka Japan. Going over the time varied, but the longest was over 16 hours. Now, this was not \*just \*the flight mind you, but coming back I started my stop watch when I left the hotel and stopped it when I stepped into my house and it was just slightly more than 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/50 "2010-08-21T12:31:26Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > > [@HeyHomie](#): > > > > Tokyo to Portland. ~16 hours. > > > > Iā€™ll be damned. I thought Los Angeles - Sydney was at least 24 hours, but according to a quick search itā€™s only about 16-18. > > Jeez, what kind of plane were you flying on? [WikiAnswers](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_hours_does_it_take_to_fly_from_Portland_Oregon_to_Japan) says 9 hours. My memory must have inflated how long the journey was. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/51 "2010-08-21T13:28:15Z")
I have flown: LA - Sydney (which is further than San Francisco - Sydneyā€¦ flown that one too) Sydney - Dubai (I actually started in Wellington, NZ that day) Atlanta - Dubai LA - Hong Kong All 15+ hours. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/52 "2010-08-21T15:47:12Z")
I think the longest one offered from Anchorage to the states is to Denver (could be wrong) and itā€™s around 5 hours. I think Iā€™d rather be planebound for an entire flight than all of the on/off, on/off I have to deal with when going further than the west coast. I did three ā€œhitchesā€ during the Katrina cleanup and they were around 17 hours long from Anchorage to NOLA. If I recall, we had no fewer than three plane changes. Not fun. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/53 "2010-08-21T15:59:08Z")
Longest single leg? JFK to Shannon. I donā€™t remember how long it was exactly, but it was a full overnight and then some. For the total trip, I had just gotten off Cleveland-JFK immediately before, and Bozeman-Cleveland a day or two prior. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/54 "2010-08-21T17:45:36Z")
New York to Johannesburg - about 16 hours non-stop on Northwest Airlines back in 2002. At the time, I believe that was the longest non-stop flight operating. Johannesburg to New York, including ground refueling, about 19 hours. At nineteen years old and exhausted from a week of building a house, 19 hours was a bit long. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/55 "2010-08-22T02:37:36Z")
Thai Airways International was offering nonstop between Bangkok and New York City, which is a pretty good distance. I believe thatā€™s cancelled now. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/56 "2010-08-22T05:52:49Z")
Wow. I flew 9 1/2 hours from Denver to London last summer and have vowed to either take a night or two in New York or take some trans-Atlantic cruise from now on. It was brutal. I canā€™t imagine doing 15-20 hours. ---
**Author:** ![T.Slothrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@T.Slothrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Slothrop)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/57 "2010-08-22T08:30:22Z")
North from Nha Trang and enemy radar painted us and we did evasive maneuvers. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/58 "2010-08-22T16:25:03Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > Wow. I flew 9 1/2 hours from Denver to London last summer and have vowed to either take a night or two in New York or take some trans-Atlantic cruise from now on. It was brutal. I canā€™t imagine doing 15-20 hours. If it is under 12, I consider it a ā€œlongishā€ flight at most. Itā€™s frustrating to be 7 hours into a flight and realize Iā€™m not even half way. Even harder with a 10 month old baby. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/59 "2010-08-22T16:45:56Z")
Phoenix to Buffalo which is only about four hours and that Iā€™ll never complain about again. So yeah, very small there compared to everyone else in hereā€¦ ā€¦however let me know when you do the ā€œLongest Time on a Greyhound Busā€ thread, Iā€™ll be kicking ass and taking names with my times and distances in that one. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826/60 "2010-08-22T17:43:45Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > I think the longest one offered from Anchorage to the states is to Denver (could be wrong) and itā€™s around 5 hours. Iā€™m taking this flight tomorrow (well, Denver to Anchorage really). It is a stupid roundabout way to get to Anchorage from here: two hours to Denver and five hours to Anchorage. Coming back through Seattle is something like two and three hours. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-longest-flight-youve-taken/550826.md?page=4)