Tips for surviving an early morning flight

Friday, I dragged myself out of bed at 3 am to make a 7:00 am flight to Minneapolis. I’m the queen of early morning flights, though, after having made every mistake in the book. There are a lot of reasons to take an early morning flight. You can get to your destination earlier, early morning flights are canceled less often than flights later in the day, and they are often the least expensive option. But surviving an early morning flight takes a little planning. Here are some tips to make your morning flight experience more tolerable.

1. Pack a couple days in advance.

Normally, I don’t pack early. Maybe, I’ll pack the night before, but I will sometimes pack the morning of my flight. But, if you have an early flight, packing a little earlier than normal makes sure you have the opportunity to go to the store for any last minute item you need before you leave for the airport.

It had been awhile since I had flown, so I found that my travel kit was pretty picked over, so I was able to head over to Target to get everything I needed. If I had waited any longer to pack, I wouldn’t have been able to get what I needed before my flight.

2. Charge your electronics the night before.

There is nothing worse than starting your vacation with a low cell phone battery. You find yourself boarding the plane with a dying phone praying that your phone makes it to the gate attendant. There are usually charging stations at the airport, but judging from the number of cables hooked into the outlets last time I was there, a lot of people forgot to charge their phones the night before, too.

And, don’t just charge your phone. Make sure your tablet, e-reader and wireless headphones are charged, as well.

3. Download entertainment onto your tablet/e-reader/phone.

This is a good idea generally, but it’s especially important if you are flying early in the day. I’ve been at airports early in the morning when the guest WIFI at the airport is down. There is often no IT person around to fix it until later in the morning. Stores may not be open so you can purchase a book, either, especially at smaller airports. So, if you haven’t been able to download your entertainment, you’ll be at the mercy of your cellphone service to download what you can at the airport.

Pro-tip–Make sure your e-book or audio program will operate on airplane mode. I found out the hard way that my library’s audio book service requires streaming internet. Fortunately, I was able to read a book I’d downloaded on my kindle.

4. Pre-arrange airport transportation.

I’m a drive and park kind of person. You might be an UBER/LYFT or even a shuttle person. In any event, make sure that you schedule your rides and parking no later than the day before. If you plan to park at the airport, use a parking service that has a dedicated lot and advertises 24/7 shuttle service. I once paid almost nothing for airport parking, but I also couldn’t find the lot. Now, I use a reputable provider through airportparkingreservations.com.

5. Don’t leave last minute housecleaning until the morning you leave.

This might seem obvious, but if you are getting up at 3 am, you won’t want to take out the garbage, clean the litter box or wash dishes. You’ll want to pet your dog and/or cat, make sure they have plenty of food, grab your bag and go.

6. Grab a snack for the road.

Early in the morning, airport dining is pretty sparse. Coffee places might not open until 5:30 or 6 am and if your plane leaves before 7 am, it’s likely you won’t be able to grab a coffee in time for your flight.

My recent flight left at 7 am, but the line for Starbucks was prohibitively long even at 5:30. I’m not sure that lining up early would have yielded coffee, much less a snack. I was able to grab a breakfast sandwich and inferior coffee at one of the other shops, but that wouldn’t have been possible had my flight been any earlier.

7. Use the 90 minute rule to get the most out of whatever time you have to sleep.

Studies show that our natural sleep cycles are approximately 90 minutes long. So, if you can sleep in any increment of 90 minutes, you will be more rested. For example, I went to bed at 11 am and woke up a 3:30 am. That four and a half hours is far less than my normal 7 1/2-9 hours of sleep, but I was safe to drive and alert enough to get through security. Speaking of which…

8. Be flexible at security.

Very early in the morning, airport security and even airline counters are likely to be lightly staffed. Both Clear and TSA pre-check services may be unavailable or modified. In the past, I’ve had pre-check be totally unavailable, available only upon request, or fully open, depending on the airline, the airport and staffing availability. These early morning check-ins can be relatively painless, though, since lines are often short!

9. Bring a pillow or an airplane blanket.

I don’t need much to sleep on a plane on these early morning flights. Mostly just something to cover me and a window seat. You might need something more. If you can arrive at your destination having slept a little longer, you’ll have an easier time making the most of your early arrival!

10. Make the most of your early arrival.

Your vacation is starting a little earlier than those who took a flight at a more civilized time. Drop your luggage at your hotel and take one of those tourist bus tours to familiarize yourself with your destination. If you are way too exhausted, you may want to consider springing for early check-in at your hotel. Or, if you’ve had the foresight to pack a swimsuit in your carry-on, you could simply spend the morning at the pool!

I won’t lie. Early morning flights are really hard. But with a little pre-planning, you can survive your early morning flight, and have an even better vacation than if you took a later flight.

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