Red-eye flights, those seemingly undesirable flights that depart in the late evening and arrive in the early morning, get a bad rap. If you tell your friends and family you’re taking a red-eye flight, they will often look at you pityingly and console you with a “That’s too bad”. But red-eye flights surprisingly offer more benefits to travelers than most people might think. Here are 5 unexpected benefits of booking a red-eye flight.
1. Traveling Off-Peak
Red-eye flights depart when the airport isn’t as busy as usual. That means security lines are usually short and the airport is quieter and less chaotic than normal. Red-eye flights are also less likely to get delayed than flights during the day because there’s much less air traffic.
2. Arriving at your destination in the early morning
Arriving at your destination in the morning is helpful. It’s much easier navigating a city during the day than it is at night. Sometimes the process of flying can seem to occupy an entire day, but since red-eye flights fly overnight when most businesses are closed, you’re much less likely to be missing out on activities while you’re in the air.
Also, if you’re able to soldier through your fatigue following your red-eye flight, then you can maximize the amount of things you can see and do in the day. For example, if your flight arrives at 6am, then you can go eat a nice early breakfast at a cafe and arrive at the museum right when it opens at 9am.
Some hotels or hostels may also allow you to check-in early. At the very least, you should be allowed to leave your luggage at the hotel or hostel while you explore the area.
3. Saving money on accommodations and flight
The red-eye flight itself is often cheaper than flights at other times. Flying overnight, saves the price of a night of accommodation in your arrival city. Additionally, you could use a red-eye flight for 1-day trip somewhere, which eliminates the need for purchasing overnight accommodation altogether.
4. Making Day Trips Possible
Taking a red-eye flight is one of the best ways to squeeze in a fast day trip somewhere for business or vacation. Red-eye flights allow you to arrive early morning and depart again in the same evening, allowing you to pack in a full-day of activities. It’s much harder, though not impossible, to do day trips with any other flight times.
5. Flying the Red-Eye is Often Quieter and Less Crowded Than Other Flights
Since most passengers, even children, are tired and try to rest during red-eye flights, the plane ride will often be quieter and less chaotic than other flight times. Red-eye flights also sometimes have fewer passengers than other flights.
Final Thought: Coping with Red-Eye Sleep Deprivation
It’s true that most people aren’t able to rest very well during red-eye flights. But going one night without adequate sleep isn’t necessarily as horrible as you might think. If you ensure that you’re rested up the night before your red-eye flight and the night after your red-eye flight, then one night of sleep deprivation should be manageable. If necessary, take a short nap (under 1 hour) sometime after you arrive and try to return to your normal sleep schedule in the evening.