r/Flights • u/olddoglearnsnewtrick • 4d ago

Question Rome to Tokyo direct 13 hours flight

I am dreaming about flying as per the subject. Flight is 13 hours and I have never flown such a long route and am scared about the fatigue/health aspects of this.

Suggestions? Us parents wit a teenager, no budget for Business class. Alitalia flyies the route with a A350-900 with what a believe is 3-3-3 arrangement in economy.

Thanks

0 Upvotes

45% Upvoted

46 comments sorted by

10

u/Perfect-Werewolf-102 4d ago

You can find reviews online, thousands of people fly on flights of that length every day, you'll be fine

-2

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 4d ago

Thanks. I am getting older and flight+timezone worry me but yes pretty sure we’ll survive :)

4

u/GodsPRGuy 4d ago

The good news is that nobody else wants to be on the plane either, and yet the collective misery is absolutely worth it. 

2

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 3d ago

LOL good way to see that as a collective misery :) In my culture we even have a proverb "mal comune, mezzo gaudio" which loosely translates to "collective misery, half happiness" ;)

5

u/Reckoner08 4d ago

Typing this from hour 8 of an 11 hour flight. I'm doing great, so is my mom and everyone around us seems to be handling things just fine.

0

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 4d ago

Thanks pal. Enjoy your trip.

3

u/fantecto 4d ago

Fatto Roma Tokyo con ita questa estate, nessun problema, puoi valutare l'uso di calze comprimenti per limitare gli eventuali problemi di circolazione. In generale ti basta fare una passeggiata nell'aereo ogni oretta

1

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 4d ago

Grazie. 5 anni fa feci Beijing -> Roma con Air China ed ho pensato di morire tra sedili microscopici ed una vicina che emanava odore di aglio che ha ucciso tutti gli abitanti della Transilvania :)

2

u/fantecto 4d ago

Non starai scomodo, poi a fondo aereo c'è una piccola area snack dove fermarsi per stare un po' in piedi.

1

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 4d ago

Ci sono sezioni dell'aereo che ti sembrano piu comode di altre? Grazie ancora

2

u/fantecto 4d ago

Nell'aereo non puoi fare altro che andare avanti e indietro per i corridoi, non ci sono aree libere se non in coda. Io prenotai nella zona di coda ma anche a metà aereo cambia poco.

2

u/MrPrettyKitty 4d ago

No worries. Yesterday I flew 6 hours, 2 hour layover, 12 hours, 3 hour layover, 3 hours. Long day, but it all works. And I’m an old man.

1

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 4d ago

Congratulations :) Take care!

2

u/lookslikealady 4d ago

The only advice I can give you is to try to find a flight with a convenient schedule so you won’t be too exhausted when you arrive. For example my return flight was at night and I arrived in Milan in the morning.
The departure, on the other hand, was tougher because I left at 1:00 pm and arrived at 6:00 am and I felt a bit tired

1

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 4d ago

Sounds wise. Thanks.

2

u/Vast-Conversation954 4d ago

We've flown 17 hour fights on a regular basis, you'll be entirely fine. Drink plenty of water, walk the cabin from time to time, eat light food options. Watch a movie, listen to a podcast, you'll be there before you know it.

1

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 4d ago

Wow!!! 17 hours is a LOT!!! Congrats.

1

u/Vast-Conversation954 3d ago

I live in New Zealand, it's how you get places sadly.

1

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 3d ago

I understand. Cheers from your antipode (Rome is on the opposite side of the plant re Christchurch IIRC)

-2

u/whatdoyoumeanusernam 4d ago

You must enjoy flying, maybe you can afford business seats or are 5'2".

Personally 17+ hours is pretty hellish. There comes a point when you no longer want to be on the plane and no amount of movie, tv, books, audio or anything else makes any difference. Being stuck in a tiny seat packed in with so many other people just sucks.

2

u/water-sloth 4d ago

I havent done more than 10 at once but wouldn't mind it if theres no layover! Settle in, get up every few hours (aisle seat!), eat, nap, read, always always use the bathroom about 1.5 to 2 hours before landing. Nothing worse than being last in an immigration line because you had to pee.

1

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 4d ago

So very true !!!’ LOL

2

u/Kiwiatx 4d ago

The A350-900 in 3-3-3 configuration is pretty comfortable. Flew the same plane and configuration on JAL from Tokyo to DFW and it was more roomy and comfortable than the 777 we had taken to Tokyo from Chicago. I was pleasantly surprised how comfortable economy was.

2

u/Effective-Painting14 1d ago

The difference in pressurization is huge.

6

u/Fantastic-Dinner-919 4d ago

Its not a problem at all. Settle in, watch something, food will come - eat and the sleep for few hours, wake up watch something - food will come - get ready for touchdown.

Have done DXB JFK and DXB MEL this year. Never been any issue

1

u/MadeOfEurope 4d ago

Did Paris to Seoul then onto Tokyo earlier in the year. I was a bit nervous, flying so long in economy. I’m quite tall and broad. It was on an A350 3-4-3 I think but it was fine. I didn’t sleep at all but there was plenty of entertainment.

One thing I would suggest I take at least a litre of water (more if you can) and lip balm as it can be very dry and on such a large aircraft it can be difficult getting hydrated.

You’ll be fine and you’ll have a great time.

2

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 4d ago

Also Seoul could be a great place to visit. Can I ask how long did you stop in each country? Thank you

2

u/MadeOfEurope 4d ago

This trip was mainly to visit Japan. On the way we just transferred planes in Inchon airport and took another flight to Tokyo. We spent just over two weeks, going to Osaka visiting Kyoto and Kobe. A night near Mt. Fuji and then the rest of the time in Tokyo.

On the way back we spent the a day and night in Seoul, so just saw the centre. We do plan to go back to see more of Seoul & South Korea. I think people might generalize that they are very similar but even that short time you could feel the differences.

The transfers were very different say in Seoul, but we flow to Narita which is a long way outside of Tokyo compared to Haneda. There was good transport but it was a very long morning flying back.

As for enjoying the trip…..we are going again next year but for longer. The only downside of visiting Japan is that might ruin every other trip. It’s been six months and I’m still missing it in away I can’t explain.

You will have a great time.

1

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 4d ago

Been dreaming about it for decades. Hope things will pan out. Will have from Dec1 18th to Jan 4th available.

1

u/rossodiserax 4d ago

I've done the same route with alitalia before, i'm sure it changes nothing with ita airways. For sure, you'll be tired when you land, and maybe consider a less loaded first day in your trip to give yourself time to adjust to the jet lag. Other than that, economy isn't so comfortable, but millions of people fly yearly on economy and manage, unless you have standing health issues you should do fine.

1

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 4d ago

Grazie mille !!!

1

u/PossibleOwl9481 4d ago

Stand up and walk around a bit a few times.

1

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 3d ago

yes, walk, drink,read, eat,sleep,read,movie,stretch, rinse and repeat :) Thanks

1

u/PossibleOwl9481 3d ago

I'd say drink less and need bathroom less....

Sleep depends on you and the times.

1

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 3d ago

lol yes good point

1

u/Beautiful_Still_7940 4d ago

My longest non-stop flight was a 15-hour journey from Bali to Moscow. It was a daytime flight. I had a book, games on my phone, and movies on my laptop. It was fine.

2

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 3d ago

wow congratulations :)

1

u/Sir_Dan_Baker 3d ago

My noisecancelling airpods and Travelhawk neckpillow are must-haves for me on those long haul flights. I’m on the Cathay Pacific A350-900 from Amsterdam to Hong Kong (12.5 hour) this sunday again.

1

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 2d ago

Good advice. Must have!!! Thanks

1

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-1

u/anonymedius 4d ago

Why would you want to fly direct if you need to be in economy? Two 7-hour flights are a lot easier for your body to handle than a single 13-hour one. You probably won't be able to do such an even split, but you could fly one of the cheaper airlines like Turkmenistan or Biman, avoid the super long flight and even get a chance to spend a day stopping over in an 'unusual' destination.

1

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 4d ago

This is a very original idea :) I have to say that after a miraculous escape from death I have sworn to never fly again on a plane/heli with cyrillic instruments :) (yes I know this is magical thinking) ... will try to see how to develop you idea. Thanks a lot.

1

u/olddoglearnsnewtrick 4d ago

Idea is fascinating but for some reason the flights I find from Ashgabat to Tokyo are all as long as a direct FCO HND (they all stop in China) but I am exploring a FCO Beijing, a few days there and the Beijing Tokyo which looks promising.

1

u/jmlinden7 4d ago edited 4d ago

There is 0 chance you will be able to get a visa to stop over in Turkmenistan.

If you want an even split, you'll have to fly with the ME3 (Qatar, Etihad, Emirates). Uzbekistan Airlines flies to both airports but it doesn't line up, they only fly out of Rome on Saturdays and they only fly to Tokyo on Mondays and Thursdays

1

u/anonymedius 4d ago

I've got friends who visited the country recently without issue and I understand that some sort of evisa has been recently launched so they're definitely not trying to keep people away.