Here We Go Again: The Joys of a Long-Haul Economy Flight

"I'll never do a long-haul flight in basic economy ever again". Those were my foolish, naive words after flying home from Korea in premium economy during our last trip around the world. 

With airfare continuing to climb, I couldn't bring myself to upgrade this time around. "Oh, it's only 8 or so hours" I told myself. Then I saw the return flight was nearly 10 hours and I instantly began regretting my decision to pinch pennies this trip. By the time I finally got to the point of defeat and called American Airlines to beg them to take all my money for an upgrade, there were none to be found. Alas, economy it is.

And to be clear, the upgrade to premium, as luxurious as the cushiony seats and extra space is, is much less for me than it is more for Brent. Being only a few inches over 5 feet tall, it is relatively smooth sailing for little 'ol me in economy. Brent on the other hand, I can feel my own legs cramping just glancing over at him with his knees pressed against the seat in front for the next several hours.

By some miracle, the very early morning of our departure, it was as if the American Airlines angels heard my already exhausted sighs. Suddenly there were two Main Cabin Extra seats available at the bulkhead of the plane. I swiftly grabbed them, desperate for any upgrade in legroom I could manage (and that wouldn't set me back $6,000...I'm looking at you business class).Basic economy or not, I would ideally just sleep away a large portion of the flight. Unfortunately I have never been great about sleeping on flights, and being a light sleeper already, a plane isn't the most ideal sleeping environment. Flying to Myanmar I was up more than 26 hours straight while the rest of my cohort was able to grab some shut-eye. This trip I spent most of the 9 hour flight to our connection flight in Dublin grabbing a handful of brief 10-15 minute naps, jealously staring down my fellow passengers who were so easily slumbering away nearly the entire flight. 

So for those of you who are lucky enough to be able to grab a few Zzz's during long haul-flights, please share your secrets. With your help, maybe I'll grab more than a power nap on my next 10+ hour flight.

Happy travels,