Flight attendant shares best time of day to fly to avoid jetlag

A flight attendant has shared her advice with holidaymakers and says to opt for mid-morning flights. Some travel industry insiders say its best to fly first thing in the morning as this helps to avoid delays it can be exhausting to wake up in the early hours and get to the airport hours ahead

A flight attendant has shared her advice with holidaymakers – and says to opt for mid-morning flights.

Some travel industry insiders say it’s best to fly first thing in the morning as this helps to avoid delays it can be exhausting to wake up in the early hours and get to the airport hours ahead of an already early flight. It can be even worse if you incur high parking costs because public transport is not yet running.

However, cabin crew member Sif Björnsdóttir claims that the best option is to fly at a more reasonable hour. Rather than some cabin crew who say to jet off at 5am she says mid-morning is best to prevent jet lag.

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She told The Sun: "Mid-morning flights should be top of the list for UK travellers wanting the most comfortable and enjoyable travel experience. You can avoid the rush hour of early or late flights, meaning shorter queues at security checkpoints, check-in counters, and boarding gates. You can also get a much better sleep the night before, reducing the fatigue and jet lag that transatlantic flights may bring."

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While this might be possible later in the day, she added that a mid-morning flight means you'll have plenty of time to enjoy your destination if it's nearby – she recommends jetting off at 10am to 11am. Some fantastic holiday destinations just a few hours from the UK include Mykonos, a Greek Island, Marrakech in Morocco, and Teror in Gran Canaria.

Cabin crew worker Caroline, from Fort Lauderdale, disagreed with Sif and noted that the early hours are the best time to fly. She said: "I know you don’t want to wake up at three in the morning to catch a 5am flight. But I promise you the earlier your flight is, the smoother everything is going to go."

However, data has also been used to find the "best time" to fly as well as dates to avoid. . HappyOrNot, who run the well known 'smiley face' consumer feedback terminals found in airports and retail spaces across the world, analysed over 4.5 million customer feedback data points from airports in over 30 countries worldwide last year.

Data from the first quarter of 2022 revealed that the best day of the week to fly is Wednesday, while Sunday is the worst. It also found that Sif's advice wasn't the best way to avoid cancellations and delays. Instead, the best time to fly is 8am which got 86.6% positive feedback. The worst was midnight which saw only 77.3% positive feedback.

The data showed that the most common complaints at airports were wait times, 35.4% negative votes, customer service, 22.5% negative feedback, and staff friendliness, 9.1% negative feedback. That comes as little surprise to anyone who has had to spend hours waiting for a delayed flight.

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