Leaving for Jo'Burg then on to Port Elizabeth on August 22nd for my first safari .

Need some tips on how to manage the 16hr flight on Delta from Atlanta to Jo'Burg. We have the comfort coach seats.

any tips would be appreciated.

Ambien so you can get 6 hours or so of sleep.

Set your watch to SA time and start observing it when you get on the plane.

the on demand entertainment systems on the Delta 777 is awesome.

Stay up the night before (ie don't go to bed) so you go to sleep as soon as you sit down in the aircraft.

You'll sleep most of the way.

It's how I handle the flight from Australia to the US, I normally wake up a n hour or two out of LA.

Just make sure you don't get too comfy in the airport lounge areas as you will nod off !!!

+1 on the ambien. Time flys when you are sleeping

Have a great trip

Drink lots of water, get up and walk around as much as possible. Do the little leg lift exercises that the little cartoon guy with the big forehead will show you how to do. Take off your shoes and put on those thin socks. Convince yourself that the pilots and mechanics are much better than you think they are. Read a book you are into that you started before the trip. Watch a few movies. In the good old days they used to bring you a frozen snickers bar and a hot towel in the middle of the night. That was great but I do not think they do that anymore. Wash your hands often and try not to get sick. Wear comfy clothes that you could also hunt in. Try and remember when flight attendants were attractive. Write in a journal. Sleep if you can. Laugh to yourself about how loud some people talk. Watch another movie or two. Try and beat the computer game at chess if available. It will make you feel stupid every time. Look around at all the ugly people and make yourself feel better and smarter even though you can't beat the computer chess game on the easy level. Choose chicken or beef but be prepared for at least one of them to be all gone before they get to you. Watch out for the food cart, they will take your leg off at the knee. Brush your teeth. Try and guess who has not showered in a week. The cheese and crackers are always good and the desserts are sketchy. Marvel at the color tones of the breakfast sausage. Be happy, feel lucky. It is better than a boat. Watch another movie.....you are almost there!

Two word: Kindle Fire. I just downloaded eight books by my favorite author, John Sandford. They were only $9.99 each on Amazon.com

Delta 200 is the best way to the RSA.

After takeoff, you are fed a meal in about an hour. Next, watch a movie and go to sleep. Virtually all of the cabin naps now. It's best to sleep when everyone else does. Occasionally, get up and walk around to keep your circulation going. Drinking water (especially) is important. About an hour before landing, you will be served your second meal.

Since this is a 15 or 16 hour flight, towards the end everyone will have gotten all the sleep they are going to get, and the cabin activity increases. So, get your sleep in as soon as you can. You arrive in Jo'burg in the early evening, so if you are overnighting there, you will be ready for some nice bed rest. I'm thinking your leg to PE leaves the next morning, if your trip is like mine was last time.

Whiskey.

And all the things mentioned above.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Game Hunter:
Whiskey.

And all the things mentioned above.

+1, allways helps me sleep and use to be free. I will find out in 4 days if it is still free.

First of all, I ain't a midget. I'm 6'1" and weigh 260. Room in an airplane seat is important to me.

That said, I just did the Delta 200/201 trip both ways. I paid a little bit extra and got Comfort Economy seat 31A. It is against the hull and at the bulkhead. It has plenty of room where you can get up and get to the restroom or walk a bit without bothering your row companions. It also reclines 50% more than regular Economy. It conveniently has both a USB power port and a 110 volt plug-in.


Both ways, I read some, had the meal provided, drank a Scotch (which is free in Comfort Economy) watched a movie and then slept 8 hours straight (using my C-Pap machine, btw). I awoke quite refreshed for the first time in 20+ experiences of flying to South Africa. I washed up in the restroom, exercised a bit by walking around the a/c a few times and settled in with my Kindle and read a book (When a Crocodile Eats the Sun). I got to Afton House about 7:00 p.m., had supper, etc., was quite ready for bed at 11:00 sleeping to 6:00 a.m. (and thereafter suffered no appreciable jet lag!).

Bill73 (Bal) just happened to be on the same row and I don't think I awoke him a bit the several times I got up to use the restroom, etc. later in the flight. Bal seemed to get a good night's sleep, too (on the same row, but in an aisle seat).

The only downside on the front row of Economy Comfort is that your food tray comes out of the armrest and isn't as easy to use as those on the back of seats ahead of you. No big deal.

Row 31, even in the center isle, has extra foot room allowing you (and the folks next to you) to get up without making row mates get up too. It, of course, is a great pain to have to awake, get up, etc. every time somebody has to pee on your row. That doesn't happen on 31... and that's really nice.

Some classes of frequent flyer (Diamond?) are free upgrades to Comfort Economy and others are reduced rates. I believe my total for both flights was only $120 and worth every single penny.

If it's not too late, I'd upgrade that little bit... My flight was so comfortable, if I can get 31A (or whatever is the window seat on the opposite side) in the future, I'll not even worry about trying to get Business Class. It was that nice an experience.

Ambien, neck pillow, inflatable camp cushion.

Available and most camping and outdoor stores, the camp cushion is 16x16 and rolls into a very small package. It only costs 30 bucks, but makes a big difference when you are on your bum for 16 hours.

I also keep a pen and a copy of our passports and other personal info in my pocket so I can complete immigration cards without having to get up and dig through my bags.

If you are one who sleeps easily on a plane then you should do fine. I am not one of those people. I can probably get 6 or 7 hours but it takes darn near the entire flight to do so. I took ambien on my last trip and have mixed feelings about doing so again. However, I got a solid 6 hours straight out of it.

I agree with setting your watch to SA time as soon as you get on the plane and trying to ahear to that time once you do so. Staying up late the night before in an effort to force yourself to sleep on the plane does nothing for me other than to put me that much further behind on my sleep.

quote:

Originally posted by JudgeG:
That said, I just did the Delta 200/201 trip both ways. I paid a little bit extra and got Comfort Economy seat 31A. It is against the hull and at the bulkhead. It has plenty of room where you can get up and get to the restroom or walk a bit without bothering your row companions. It also reclines 50% more than regular Economy. It conveniently has both a USB power port and a 110 volt plug-in.

JudgeG speaks the truth about Seat 31A and its counterpart 31J on the other side of the plane. I got these seats coming and going, and they are great. I am a short guy, 5'7", so I can actually extend my feet all the way against the bulkhead and stretch my legs quite nicely.

xanax and red wine....... or ambien.....

I don't want to frighten you but a good friend of the family was coming home from the middle east last year, slept the whole way home, got off the plane dropped dead with a blood clot. So please wear compression stockings and take a baby aspirin every 5 to 6 hours during the flight.

Dean

sleeping pill with a glass of champagne

This bears repeating; after three (3) jaunts across the pond Grafton's methods work just fine for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Grafton:
Drink lots of water, get up and walk around as much as possible. Do the little leg lift exercises that the little cartoon guy with the big forehead will show you how to do. Take off your shoes and put on those thin socks. Convince yourself that the pilots and mechanics are much better than you think they are. Read a book you are into that you started before the trip. Watch a few movies. In the good old days they used to bring you a frozen snickers bar and a hot towel in the middle of the night. That was great but I do not think they do that anymore. Wash your hands often and try not to get sick. Wear comfy clothes that you could also hunt in. Try and remember when flight attendants were attractive. Write in a journal. Sleep if you can. Laugh to yourself about how loud some people talk. Watch another movie or two. Try and beat the computer game at chess if available. It will make you feel stupid every time. Look around at all the ugly people and make yourself feel better and smarter even though you can't beat the computer chess game on the easy level. Choose chicken or beef but be prepared for at least one of them to be all gone before they get to you. Watch out for the food cart, they will take your leg off at the knee. Brush your teeth. Try and guess who has not showered in a week. The cheese and crackers are always good and the desserts are sketchy. Marvel at the color tones of the breakfast sausage. Be happy, feel lucky. It is better than a boat. Watch another movie.....you are almost there!

I agree the econ comfort is the way to go.

IME, Ambien tends to be a 6 hour drug, not 8. So those that only get a good 6 hours, don't fret.

The only other thing really worth mentioning is the need for anti-embolic stockings if you have ANY circulation problems at all, are overweight, hx of cancer or recent serious infection. Heck, I don't fit the profile, but pop an aspirin a day or two in a row before the trip to help prevent a deep venous thrombosis. (even though that recommendation has recently been changed, I do it personally. YMMV.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Ca...nousThrombosis/31044

A pulmonary embolism would REALLY screw up a trip.

Ditto on the stockings! I use them all the time, even in business and first going to India and Asia; definitely in coach going to Africa.

They are about $30/pair and you can get them at Walgreens and CVS. Get the knee high ones, the full leg ones are a pain in the ass.

quote:

Originally posted by Duckear:
I agree the econ comfort is the way to go.

IME, Ambien tends to be a 6 hour drug, not 8. So those that only get a good 6 hours, don't fret.

The only other thing really worth mentioning is the need for anti-embolic stockings if you have ANY circulation problems at all, are overweight, hx of cancer or recent serious infection. Heck, I don't fit the profile, but pop an aspirin a day or two in a row before the trip to help prevent a deep venous thrombosis. (even though that recommendation has recently been changed, I do it personally. YMMV.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Ca...nousThrombosis/31044

A pulmonary embolism would REALLY screw up a trip.

Find someone to join the mile high club with!

Then crash hard afteward.

Compression stockings for sure. Then drinks, dinner, more drinks. Empty that full bladder. A full bottle of water with 2 Tylenol PM and 8 hours sleep, and life is good!

I take my ipad, laptop and Amazon Kindle.

On the ipad I have several movies and TV series that I like.

On the Kindle I have several hunred books I would like to read, and I have a 2TB portable hard disk with enough National Geographic documentaries to last me at least a couple of months.

WE all enjoy watching National Geographic documentaries, trouble is they show them when we do not have the time to watch them.

I got a Hauppauge HD recorder, which I have hooked up to a laptop and record everything they show.

They do repeat many films, and some of the adverts are rather long.

But, I take the recorded videos and edit all the adverts out of them, and discard any repeats.

The kids also love to watch them, both here at home and while travelling.

Watch the movies on the screen in your seat back.

take the asprin as suggested above.

I just can't sleep on flights mroe than about 90 min at a time so bring a good long book or two.

I read Atlas Shrugged on the flight and The Fountainhead on the flight home.

Have copies of yoru documents on ou to make doing the forms easy.

A pair of slipper or flip flops in the carry on means you can take off those heavy boots.

Get up and walk around often.

Hydrate a LOT.

try and figure out which one of the gorgeous SA flight attendants is single and strike up a conversation. ;

Saeed is right on about the iPad.

I'll never fly with my laptop again.

The iPad is great for movies, there is a Kindle app for any books if you want (and don't like the Apple reader app iBook) and for surfing the net and checking email. And it takes up no more room than a magazine in your carry on.

Furthermore, it is a great back up in case you get the one seat on the plane with the broken entertainment system.

I learned early in my military life to get sleep when you can grab it. usually in a C130 crammed full. I still get on a plane and fall asleep by the time the wheels are up, just out of habit.

Generally, I sit there in my 16" x 12" space contemplating how much money I am saving by not sitting up front. My flights, Seattle to Chicago to Frankfurt make a seven hour flight look like a cake walk, especially when the greedy parisians make make me lay over for 24 hours on the way back.

Lately, I have been traveling by train, and while AMTRAK isn't the TGV, I really like it. Nice people too.

quote:

Originally posted by Duckear:


IME, Ambien tends to be a 6 hour drug, not 8. So those that only get a good 6 hours, don't fret.

Yes, but Ambien and 2.5 glasses of red wine is usually an 8-9 hour combo. Ya, there is that tiny chance that it kills you and all....but it might be worth it when faced with the option of being awake for an entire flight to Africa.

quote:

Originally posted by tendrams:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Duckear:


IME, Ambien tends to be a 6 hour drug, not 8. So those that only get a good 6 hours, don't fret.

Its quite simple actually. The afternoon before departure, just drive through a chunk of Montana, all the way across the state of Idaho and on up to Spokane Wa. which is the closest large airport. Relax for a few hours in the cab of your pickup truck since you got to the airport in plenty of time to make the first of your three connections that day ultimately ending up in atlanta for the evening flight. Board the aircraft, eat dinner, COLLAPSE from exhaustion. Wake up in african airspace!

quote:

Originally posted by DMCI*:
Generally, I sit there in my 16" x 12" space contemplating how much money I am saving by not sitting up front. My flights, Seattle to Chicago to Frankfurt make a seven hour flight look like a cake walk, especially when the greedy parisians make make me lay over for 24 hours on the way back.

Lately, I have been traveling by train, and while AMTRAK isn't the TGV, I really like it. Nice people too.

didn't realize the train ran to RSA. GOOD TO KNOW

If there is a train from Calif then I wonder if a bus ticket would be less. I am retired so the extra time does not matter so much as when I worked and had to take time off to go places.

Great suggestions and travel tips.Thanks guys.
We leave mid August, trip report hopefully in September.

quote:

xanax and red wine....... or ambien.....

Xanax or Ambien. Do not take both at the same time. If you read the instructions on the label of the Xanax it says DO NOT take other sleeping aids-- as it slows down your heart to an extremely low and dangerous pulse. .

I took some Bose noise cancelling head phones on my last trip. Quiets the plane noise down a lot. Very nice!!

Ambien, neck pillow, Bose headphones as said before. Take 1 ambien after the first airplane meal you'll probably wake up just before the next meal to take another then read a good book for the last segment and then you're there!!

Bottom line is don't leave without Ambien, although other sleeping pills probably work as well and drink plenty of water the air system of the planes will dehydrate the hell out of you!!

Ditto on:
Economy comfort
Xanax
Neck pillow
Compression socks
Bose noise canceling headphones
Have a great trip!

If you are mixing prescription medications like benzos and sleep aids (ambien, xanax, etc) with alcohol, why not read the precautions on those meds before imbibing? Better yet, ask your prescriber for his/her opinion. There ain't much medical care over the middle of the Atlantic.

I read somewhere that the atmosphere moisture in a commercial aircraft is at the same as desert air. I pound the water, read my Ipad (with the Kindle app), watch movies, sleep as much as I can, and just endure the only negative part of my trips. I take low dose aspirin daily and I get up and walk around the a/c periodically. A friend (35 y.o., athletic, medical professional) developed deep vein thrombosis from sleeping through most of the 10 hr. flight to Europe. He has some clear thoughts about staying active oin long trips. I'm planning on using the socks on future flights.

I am booked in Economy Comfort on the Atlanta-J'Burg-Atlanta flight but I just took Judge G's advice and moved from seat 32F to 31A. I didn't realize the Delta offered Economy Comfort on my Seattle to Atlanta leg but for a small fee I was able to upgrade from standard coach to Economy Comfort.

Lots of good ideas above. I used to fly international a lot on business, pre retirement. I found the small foam ear plugs very helpful in cancelling noise and allowing me to sleep.
Going to Zim via joburg and atlanta. Departing July 29.
Will use some of these ideas.

quote:

Originally posted by swaincreek:
Leaving for Jo'Burg then on to Port Elizabeth on August 22nd for my first safari .

Need some tips on how to manage the 16hr flight on Delta from Atlanta to Jo'Burg. We have the comfort coach seats.

any tips would be appreciated.

A Quaalude and a couple beers..

Seriously, the flight is awful. It's like jail. I can't sleep sitting up for more than 20 minutes at a time. Get some Ambien or some other sleeping pill from your doc and try to sleep through as much of it as you can.

Thanks for all the tips.