Saturday, May 12, 2012

Red Eye Flights are great and stink at the same time

I've done some work related travel to the Mid-West recently. My trips start from Seattle and end in smaller towns, not the big hubs like Atlanta or Chicago, so I'm destined to have a layover and a connecting flight.  Red eye flights have some advantages, but they also come with some disadvantages.

The Good

  1. Security lines are shorter at the airport
  2. You can sleep your way across the country (you'd be asleep anyways at home)
  3. You miss less time with your family.
  4. It doesn't matter the quality of your hotel bed, you'll be so tired you'll sleep anywhere.
  5. If you're a frequent flyer (which I'm not), you're more likely to get upgraded.
  6. Sunrise viewed from a plane is beautiful.
  7. Because you spend one night on the plane, you need to bring fewer clothes and save on a hotel bill.
  8. Good reason to expense a non-stop flow of coffee drinks.
The Bad
  1. Its really hard to sleep on a plane. This can mitigate the benefit of #2 above
  2. By the end of the day at your destination, you're wiped out.
  3. When you show up at work in the morning, people expect you to be rested, which you are not.
  4. Makes for some long days.
  5. You miss out on the snacks and drinks because you're asleep.
  6. Once you get home, not only do you have to catch up on the home things you missed, but sleep too.

What do you think - red eye or not?

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