What to for an international flight

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m going from Michigan to Buenos Aires on a month-long study abroad trip. My total travel time (layovers + airtime) is going to be around 16 to 18 hours. I’ve never traveled internationally, and my longest plane ride has been 4 hours out to California.

If any experienced fliers have advice for what to do to kill time, how to prevent jet lag, dos/don’ts of customs, I would really appreciate it. I’m getting ready for finals week, and haven’t even thought about any of this. It’s all so much at once!

Any help would be appreciated.

2

A few useful items:

Thick warm socks. The temperature of a plane feels quite chilly when you’re drifting off to sleep.

Earplugs. For obvious reasons. Many hours of jet-engine drone can be very uncomfortable.

Water. Drink lots. Get an aisle seat, so you can visit the toilet lots too.

Some people swear by those little blow-up wrap-around neck cushions, although personally I hate them and prefer to bundle up some blankets or clothes to lean against when sleeping.
What airline? Can make a major difference in terms of comfort. How long is your stopover, and where is it? If you plan ahead and find out, you may be able to get access to showers etc there, which will make things much more pleasant.
Customs - if you’re carrying anything that might be a problem (such as medicines) check ahead that they’re OK (for example, Codeine is illegal in some countries). In general, you should be able to find out what to expect, what forms you’ll be filling out etc, online before you travel.
I can’t see jet lag will be much of a problem - surely the time difference will be only a couple of hours?

3

I would agree with everything GorillaMan said – especially the part about water. Drink heaps of it. All the time.

Personally I prefer a window seat so I can sleep. I also recommend a “pillow substitute” (as GorillaMan said) – maybe wrap a sweatshirt around your waist to use on the flight.

Here’s another hint, if you have lots of time: Show up to the airport extra early and try to get an “emergency row” seat. It means you’ll have to hang around the airport for awhile, but the extra legroom can be a big help.

Also, I like to start a big long book a few days before I fly…that way I’ll have something to read that I’ve already gotten “into”.

I usually have a drink or two on the flight, to help me sleep and/or relax – but no more. Drinking a lot is a terrible idea on a flight, both due to dehydration and being drunk in an enclosed space way up high can be bad news. And flight attendants hate drunks.

As for customs, just be sure you have all your paperwork ready for when you go through. It’s usually pretty simple, unless you’re unprepared or acting nervous or stupid.

And most of all, have fun and relax. I travel overseas a lot, and I hate it – but I always try to remember that it’s just a day or so of travel and inconvenience to get me to whatever great adventure I may be on.

Good luck!

4

One warning about the emergency-exit seats - on a few aircraft (IIRC the 747-400 is one in case), you actually get less legroom - the fittings on the exit which contain the emergency slide extend out in front of you.

5

Two additional tips:

6

Oops. I hit the post button a bit early.

Two additional tips:

  1. Have some local currency on hand for the taxi/train/bus ride from the airport.

  2. Keep photocopies of your passport, airline ticket and travel insurance policy separately from your documents. It will make replacements easier to arrange if you are robbed.

7

Oh, another general tip:

Put address labels on both the inside and outside of your checked-in luggage, with full contact details (both the US and Argentina), flight details, telephone numbers, etc. Anything to help them find you should the luggage go a-wandering.

Oh…and another, which I’ve heard of but never done myself - not just take a photocopy of papers as Cunctator said, but scan them and put them on a password-protected photo site on Yahoo or similar. That way, you can guarantee you can get your hands on all the important details, even if you loose everything.

8

If you like music, bring your favorite portable form of it. When I get sick of reading or I am trying to sleep, music is great.

Take snacks, especially if you are a picky eater. Nothing worse than being hungry and you can’t do anything about it.

If you like puzzles, word games, etc, those are compact and easy to carry.

I saw someone recommend baby wipes for a long car trip and thought that was a great idea. Sometimes they bring you a hot washcloth (lovely!) but if you want to freshen up in between, baby wipes would be just the thing. I already bought a sample size pack for our trip to England next month.

I find “plane time” to be really different from real time. It sorta feels like time is suspended, if that makes any sense. Plus, I try not to look at my watch too much. :slight_smile:

9

Wow, thanks for all of the great ideas!

As far as leg room goes, I think that I’ll be okay for the longer of the flights (Miami to Buenos Aires) because I’m flying American. I’m going Lansing to Detroit to Miami on Northwest, so leg room will probably be at a premium, but it’s only about 2 and a half hours in the air.

Gorillaman, the socks are something that I would never have thought of. Sounds like a great idea. Same with the labels on the insides of the baggage.

Cunctator, I’ll have to remember to get some pesos before I head off. I’ve heard that the ATMs in Buenos Aires have favorable exchange rates and are compatible with Cirrus and Plus system cards.

Brynda, I’ll remember to bring the baby wipes!

Thanks all

10

I agree this is important. An aisle seat also allows you to get up often to stretch your legs.

As for jet lag, the most important thing is not to take naps after you arrive. If you keep sleeping every time you feel sleepy, you will never get over jet lag.

Try to get some sleep onboard, but don’t get stressed if you find you can’t sleep. Bring plenty of fun reading material. Music is good, but be careful with battery life. (This is the one situation where the iPod is less than ideal - the battery won’t last till the end of a 10+ hour flight.)

11

I don’t think jet lag is going to be a problem since Amazingrace is traveling north and south, not east and west. Not many time zones will be crossed. :wink:

12

I guess that I shouldn’t have said ‘jet lag’ but more of the ‘plane time’ that Brynda was talking about. I’m leaving at around noon and arriving early the following morning (I’m only 2 time zones away). I just figured that I could have problems sleeping at normal times.

13

D’oh. In that case I’d try to get plenty of sleep the night before the flight, or better yet, a few nights leading up to the flight. That way one night of inadequate sleep won’t be a big deal. (I know, easier said than done…)

14

Living at the end of the earth from which everything is a really long flight away, I’ve done a few long haul 24 hour + trips…

I disagree about aisle seats - get a window seat. I have two reasons for this:

  1. It’s easier to sleep leaning up against the wall of the plane.
  2. It’s better to do the climbing over people than to be the person climbed over - at least that way, you don’t get woken up when the person next to you wants to go to the loo - you wake them up when you want to go.

Shower. Wherever you can, whenever you can. If you have access to a shower at an airport, use it. You will be sitting in the same manky clothes for 18 hours, at least with a shower, you can feel a little bit fresher.

Take a couple of sets of clean underwear in your hand luggage. It’s usually not practical to carry a whole change of clothes, but at least you can put on fresh undies and feel a little better.

When sleeping on the plane create a cocoon by pulling the blanket over your head. This will help give you a little privacy, it will make things a bit darker, and it will help stop your skin and lips from drying out too much, because you’re the moisture you exhale is staying in your cocoon.

Walk laps of the plane. You may feel like an idiot, but it keeps you moving, stretches your legs and helps you feel better. Whenever you can, walk 2 or 3 laps - you’ll feel better for it.

On the plane, sleep as much as you can. It will help with jetlag and boredom.

In customs, if you’re unsure about something, declare it - often the lines for people with something to declare are shorter, and they’re more likely to take a friendly attitude to someone who is genuinely trying to do the right thing (declaring something they’re unsure about) than someone trying to get away with something.

Drink plenty of water. The air on the plane is very dry, so keep up your fluids.

Take some moisturiser for your hands, face and lips, it will help you feel better.

When you get to your destination, avoid the temptation to sleep immediately, try and stay awake until nighttime and get into the day/night cycle early.

15

Well, I just did a Seattle-Vancouver-Hong Kong-Kuala Lumpur flight–28 hours in total and here’s what I’m happy I did:

Pretty much everything here especially the ear plugs. I prefer the window myself for leaning.

Bring your own meal. Freeze a bottle or two of water and take along a bagel, sandwiches, mini-wrapped cheeses and little sweets for yourself. And, in your luggage, pack something you like. I brought Ritz and Jif so I can sit here looking at the towers and have some peanut butter. Priceless.

Bring junky novels. Something that won’t keep you awake. Don’t drink alcohol. Take your shoes off. You will swell, so if you have tight rings, etc, take them off.

PUT YOUR STUFF TOGETHER. Make one pocket that is easy to get to for your passport and tickets. Always return them to this location. There is nothing like the wave of panic that washes over you if your passport is not where you thought it was.

Leave contact information with family/friends. Set a deadline…“If you do not here from me by Monday at 8pm. Worry. Do Something.”

Bring pictures. I keep pics of my buddies and my doggies on my screen saver.

If you have sensitive skin like me, bring your own pillowcase and even sheets if you want to. So many hotels bleach the hell out of their pillows, which is irritating. You can resort to draping a sweatshirt over your pillow at night if need be.

16

I always pack a full change of comfortable clothes and underwear, as well as necessary toiletries (packed separately in ziplock bags!), especially a toothbrush, in my carryon, in the event my checked luggage gets lost.

I also set my watch to whatever the local time is at my destination as soon as I get on the plane. That way, I can start getting mentally adjusted to that time zone long before I actually get there.

Bring a travel-sized package of tissues.

If your luggage has locks on it, I’d recommend not locking it, and resetting combination locks to all zeros. With airport security being so much tighter these days, you can pretty much be guaranteed your luggage will be opened and searched. And if it’s locked and they want to get in it, they will break the lock.

The Department of State has a lot of tips for students travelling abroad, with information specific to travel in Argentina, here. Also, make note of where the U.S. Embassy and Consulate General are located, and leave their contact information (which can be found here) with your family.

The Buenos Aires Herald is published in English and available online. You might want to check out the local news, so you know if anything interesting is going on there before your arrival.

You can check what to expect as far as weather before you go, here (right now it looks pretty damp, and should remain fairly cool, with average high temperatures of about 66ºF and average lows around 46º throughout the month of May).

Bring a blank journal to write about your trip as you experience it. You may think you’ll remember things later, but the details will become fuzzy. Even if you’re not normally a journal-keeper, years from now you’ll really enjoy having it to look back on.

HAVE A GREAT TIME!

17

I’m doing a round the world do-dad in about six weeks. Dublin-Sydney, with stopovers in LA and Auckland, then Melbourne-Delhi via Singapore 5 weeks later, then back home to Dublin via Bombay, Singapore and London aftr another 5 weeks.
I sympathise.

Things I didn’t see mentioned were ASPIRIN and SUPPORT STOCKINGS.

If you are at all worried of DVT, and you should at least consider it on any flight longer than 6 hrs, take aspirin before you fly. One 50mg dose of regular, over-the-counter aspirin should be enough for each flight.

Obviously this is not a good plan if you’re already on anti-coagulants, or have an allergy to aspirin, or some other condition which means you shouldn’t take it.

Knee-length support stockings are also recommended, they stop your legs swelling, and help to prevent blood clots too.

DVT is more likely (but still rare) in people with a family history of blood clots, the obese, women on the pill, and smokers. If you are in one or more of the above groups, aspirin is the way to go.

On another note, ladies on the pill who cross several time zones have been known to have “accidents” regarding taking pills at the correct time. Babies have resulted. If you have a medication which needs to be taken within a certain time-window, keep an alarm clock set to YOUR OWN LOCAL TIME, this shold stop that problem from occurring.

Other than that, I’m taking underwear, toothbrush, earplugs, baby wipes, hand cream, lip balm, perfume (for freshening up), First Aid Kit (in case the customs people want to look, I’ll be carrying needles, syringes and cannulas, in case I need them and the local stuff isn’t too hygienic) and a book of crossword puzzles in my hand luggage.

I keep all my documents (visas, passport, insurance, tickets, prescriptions) in one of those money belts. They’re safe, and always close to hand so I don’t have to panic.

18

Bring your travel guides and Argentinian literature (you’ve bought some already, right? :)) in your carry-on, so you can arrive in Buenos Aires feeling like you know the place already.

Have a good trip. I went on a study abroad trip three years ago with MSU, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. If you need someone to drive you to the Lansing airport, don’t hesitate to contact me.

19

Lots of great suggestions. I believe that I have an aisle seat for the duration, which is okay with me. I don’t mind being climbed over, and I’d rather be able to get up whenever I like without hassling the others.

I’ll see what I can do about getting a shower. I know that I always feel better when I’m not grungy.

Shayna, thanks for the great links.

irishgirl, Asprin and support stockings, check. I’m 19 and healthy, so I don’t think that I’ll have to worry about some of the health risks associated with flying. Then again, better safe than sorry. I’m only going to be one/two time zone(s) away (depending on how daylight savings has changed things), so the pill shouldn’t be an issue. No babies would result even if i did bungle it up, but that’s another story.

At this point it sounds like I need to have:
Water
Earplugs
My own snacks
Spare Undies
Tissues
Baby wipes
Books etc.
Gum
Moisturizer
Asprin
Support stockings
A good place to put documents
Toiletries

Thanks for the dos/don’ts! I was wondering if anyone knows if I can bring a crochet needle on the plane without getting busted by security. Does anyone hae any experience with this?

Only 11 days to go :slight_smile:

20

I don’t know about crochet hooks, but I do know that my wife (an avid knitter) has some “airline security approved” knitting needles that she takes with her when she flies for business. They don’t show up on x-rays and they’re pretty flimsy, but they do the job and she can knit aboard the plane. Maybe there is the same kind of thing for crochet hooks? Might be worth a visit to your local craft store anyway.

I’ve done a number of longhaul flights in my day (mostly Toronto-Honolulu-Sydney-Perth and back again), and the advice here is pretty good. Glad to see that you have an aisle seat–I always ask for one since I can’t seem to sleep on any flight, and getting up for a walk when I want to is important to me. I have been trapped between the window and sleeping people beside me and the passenger in front of me with his seat all the way back, and it was kind of claustrophobic, to tell you the truth. Couldn’t have got out if I wanted to without stepping on somebody.

Anyway, have a great trip!