Do You Ever Age Out Of Early Morning Flights? Absolutely Not!

You age out of redeye flights.

I despise the 6 am flight until I land at 8-9 at my destination, refuel w/ coffee & have a full day ahead of me!

I will say, I try to avoid flights that are so early that the first public transit of the morning won’t get me there in time, I save a lot more money by flying at 7:30 am vs 6 am & the plane would’ve overnighted on the ground unless it’s from one of the fewer redeyes

I took the tweet as a real sign of immaturity, quite frankly. "Aging out" implies to me an inability to grow up, nut up, do the travel efficiently, and get back home. Instead she probably needs two neck pillows, a giant Stanley cup and a recovery day after a long mid-day flight from BOS to NYC. I see she is some type of "founder" but I see a serious lack of adulting.

I've never been a morning person, so I've always tried to avoid morning flights. Even a 9am flight sucks lol. I will pay more to fly later.

I hate how most of the delta perks I get (companion ticket or upgrade passes) are only for the 7am flight.

Ridiculous premise. Morning flights have their advantage, and daytime flights as well. You do age out of travel, when your body and possibly mind can no longer perform the needed tasks while moving along. We've witnessed this with both our parents and it's sad and comes way too fast in life.

Some say that one must “Accept that you’ve aged out of 7AM flights”, while others contend that “You age out of redeye flights”.
Balderdash!
It all boils down to personal preference in the end.
More click-bait Ben, yes?

More like you age into them!

I find it easier to fly early than at redeye time as a vintage person.

Ben, wait until your kids are teens and find out if they're enthusiastic about waking up and flying early. Mine weren't!

It sounds as if you might be feeling the pace of modern life Jim, however, some of us crusty old blighters are up for a lot more life yet don’t you know …. 🙂

Some older blighters might be forced out of their beds in the early hours by their bladder, others remain in control …. 🙂

The problem is not the 7 am flight. It's that, if the airport is a significant distance away, you end up having to get up at 3:00 or 4:00 am, or maybe even earlier, to get there on time. When I was younger, that was no problem. Now, in middle age, if I don't get a solid 6 hours of sleep (at least; 7 is better), I'm groggy all day and it's very unpleasant. On top of that, there are about a zillion scientific studies indicating that getting enough sleep is extremely important for your health. I can't just go to bed at 8 pm in order to wake up at 3 am; my body won't let me.

For the same reasons, I detest red-eyes even more in economy - although they are fine in lie-flat business if the flight is long enough.

I personally hate early morning flights, not because I can't get up early if I have to, but because I develop anxiety about missing my alarm to get to the airport. Constantly waking up to check the clock and make sure my alarm is set takes a toll.

If I have a choice though, I'd take the early morning flight over a red-eye.

I definitely try to avoid redeyes even in first. The issue with early morning flights is that it often messes with my sleep schedule. For a 7AM flight you need to be at the airport by 6AM which means a very early morning. Best flights are early afternoon that get you there even with a delay by evening. But of course other schedule requirements, connections, etc. ultimately decide what time I take a flight.

Early flights are useful. If having to make a connection, the likelihood of that working are improved. Same with a doctor's appointment. Nobody wants a late afternoon appointment when your wait will be longer.

6am is better than 6pm, especially when you avoid afternoon rush hour on the roads and then the grumpy business animals in the terminal.

However there’s nothing more civilised than a noon flight: normal night sleep before, cruise to the airport, stroll onto the flight and order a cocktail after the seat-belt signs go out. Styling.

I personally hate them. Don’t get me wrong, everything said is correct (easy travel to the airport, flights on time, etc) but I hate waking up to catch them. A 06:00 flight means getting up at 3:30. I don’t sleep much on planes. So even if I get to my destination early, I’m still dragging all day. I can’t force myself to sleep early, so I’m usually at best getting four hours of sleep and I can’t recover, no matter how much coffee I have.

When will AeroB13a "age out" of OMAAT?

Probably a moot point these days, but the early mornings flights are popular with business traveler road warriors. More competition for upgrades

I am 39 and find it easier to get up earlier for flights. Why would you not want to leave early to almost guarantee an on time arrival

This is kind of silly. Of course it all depends on the route, whether international, the time zones you are crossing, and even which carrier and service.

I much prefer a noonish flight on EK from DXB-LHR as one example. But, sure, an LAX-JFK 7AM would be preferred for that route. It's all route dependent. UA has two flights now to MNL from SFO. I much prefer the late evening departure over the early afternoon option to be able to go straight to sleep for nine hours.

I used to like early morning flights (and still prefer them) but things are changing a but. The first thing that has definitely changed (at least at my home airport) is that early mornings are extremely chaotic now. It is very common now for me to get to the airport by 5:30AM and the TSA line is sometimes out of the terminal. Forget about getting into a Delta lounge that early in the morning as lines are huge. Not sure why but more and more mid morning flights are now the less chaotic time to fly. The other thing that I have about very early morning flights is that my sleep habit has changed and I literally can't sleep well the night before if I have to wake up very early. I wake up several times during the night and keep starring at the clock to check if I haven't missed the alarm clock. I hate that.

Morning people are simply the worst! Just thinking about getting up early makes me physically uncomfortable.

+1 definitely depends on the routes. A good example are westbound flights from Europe to the US, which mostly depart in the morning or early afternoon hours. If connecting from another city the same-day, you probably need to take a 6AM flight.

I personally avoid redeyes on domestic US flights at all costs.

You are most definitely a morning person 🙂

My issue with super early flights is that public transit isn't great at the wee hours of the morning. That said, if I get upgraded to a premium cabin, it's worth the trouble.

And at the airport, it's always 5 o'clock somewhere. No qualms about ordering an eye-opener, preferably on the rocks.

I never aged into them. I hate early flights. My wife, an FA, also avoids very early reports.

Truth is, they're the most on-time flights because most of the time, the planes are sitting on the ground till 6am, but I'm absolutely not a morning person.

It depends on how early. 7am is generally fine with me, you need to be at the airport 5am or 5:30am, which is fine. But 6am flights, or even earlier ones, are brutal because of a 3am or 4am arrival to the airport. Also lounges often only open at 5am or even later, so services for very early flights are often very limited.

@eskimo that I definitely agree with. I tried another red eye earlier this year and it killed me for two days.

If it's a 6 or 7am flight I would check into an airport hotel the night before so I can get a few hours of sleep and not have to get up at 3AM. Also not entirely confident my rideshare would show up at that early hour and don't want to chance it.

It's really my only use case for hilton and marriott points these days. Don't care about room upgrades or breakfast since I'm just there for a few hours sleep. The most important thing is a efficient hotel shuttle to the airport. Bonus if the hotel is connected to the terminal but that's rare

I agree - I always take the first early flight out of DCA. Only ones I more recently are avoiding are the 5am ones (6am ok). TSA doesn't open until 4am at DCA now, and there is a big line - even for both CLEAR and TSAPre (less of an issue when they opened at 3am - and once was 24h. First AA lounge opens at 4:15am. But even that doesn't work much for a 5am with boarding at 4:20am.

If you want to use AmEx lounge that doesn't open until 5am and then limited service until 6am.

Normally my time from exiting my front door to walking into the AA club is 20 minute, when CLEAR is not backed up. Have taxi waiting when I walk out of the house.

this is more an issue in the middle of the country (but also Florida), but early morning (or just morning) flights also often have better weather since the heat and humidity of summer thunderstorms usually develop in the afternoon rather than early morning.

Any frequent ORD, DFW, IAH, or DEN flyer can sympathize with working all day with great weather only to see thunderstorms develop all around you

Because that laid-back Spanish countryside life has made you WEAK, senor. 😉

Yousr front door is in the airport?

It takes almost 20 minutes from Centurion lounge to E gates.

This is incorrect. The best flight of the day is the latest non-redeye flight to maximize daylight hours in your vacation destination + minimize PTO days.

If you're going from the East Coast to the West Coast, you work a 9-5, go to the airport from your office, and take a westbound 6:30 p.m. flight. Check into your hotel at 10 p.m. and wake up in your destination.

If you're going eastbound, you take the ~4:00 p.m. departure out of SFO/LAX to EWR/IAD to maximize hours in California, then get home around 2:00 a.m. and go to sleep.

If you're leaving Europe, you take the last westbound flight (depart 5:00 p.m., land 8:00 p.m. usually) to get a full day in of being a tourist before going to the airport at 3:30 p.m.

If you're just doing a quick hop up and down the coast, you still want to leave after work and get to your destination so you don't blow the first 4 hours of the day in transit.

some of us travel for work and don't have much of a choice

Agreed with a lot of other comments. Whatever gets me there that allows me to maximize the amount of daylight when I arrive

I'm 37 years old. I've never been a morning person, and I don't think I ever will be. I don't book flights before 9am if another one is available.

I happen to collect data on the traveling older adult population for my work, and while I can't share details, more older adults over 70 seem to like mid-morning to later flights vs early morning flights.

If you naturally wake up that early, then it's clearly fine. But otherwise the early alarm wipes out all other benefits morning flights may have. Catching the 6 AM bank out of my local airport means waking up at 1:45, which to me means basically not sleeping at all as my normal bedtime is somewhere between midnight and four.

Another downside on morning flights is breakfast on planes and lounges are gross. Will take lunch or dinner anytime over it.

Breakfasts in AA Flagship lounges are consistently good, with smoked salmon, crispy thick cut bacon, etc.

- Team ex-US OWS

100%.

"at some point you have to accept that you've aged out of 7am flights"

this is a "misery loves company" statement for people who have limited themselves and must have an age bracket / demographic justification for it. my 19 year old cousin struggles to get up early and has almost no stamina. my grandfather is 75, has constantly woken up early all his life and just climbed ojos del salado with my 49 year old father

This is so situational. I love that early AM flights are usually on time and I’m not opposed to them. However, I live so far from the airport that for a flight at 0600 it’s an 0200 wake-up and 0230 departure to drive on deserted Kansas backcountry roads which in the winter is far from appealing. I pretty much will always do an airport hotel the night before if my flight is before 0900 to get some decent sleep, but that eats into the potential cost saving of that early flight. I usually wake between 6 and 7 without an alarm so it’s a huge benefit to me to wake up and meander to the airport versus drag myself out of bed at 2.

From other cities when I’m nearer the airport on a work trip, the value proposition is totally different.

Ben, not sure if the early morning flights will work when you travel with kids. Everything takes longer with kids just to even get out the door to the airport. LOL (or not LOL).

I wish there were far more evening flights! I love waking up @ my destination. If I could fly after my workday to the other side of the country to sleep---sign me up for a lifetime of flights.

"It’s not true everywhere, but airports are often the most pleasant when you’re on the first bank of flights; the terminal isn’t as chaotic, lounges often aren’t as busy, etc."

My experience is that that cheapie airlines cram all their flights into a short window in the early AM - I presume so their staff can work multiple flights - then be sent home.

So if you like standing in long lines, go for it.

I like early morning flights, but issue sometimes is when traveling somewhere and staying in a hotel preflight with platinum/diamond status or something like an FHR stay, am forced to give up the breakfast and late checkout perks. Ideal would be if there were a way to receive breakfast even at 4am in such scenario!

six seven?

I wake up at 4 five days a week for work, I think I owe it to myself to minimize the amount I wake up at that time on my rare vacations. The daylight argument is out the window for me, because it means arriving too exhausted to actually enjoy the place.

I am 62 years old and I never take the early morning flights if I can help it. I have never been and will never be an early morning person. Yes, I get to work between 7 and 8 am but that is completely different than waking up in the middle of the night and getting to the airport 2 hrs before the 6am flight. I don't care for redeye flights either. I feel hung over the next day from lack of sleep (not from the alcohol). I can tolerate the red eyes in business class when i can get a few hours of sleep.

One huge point only a few people have mentioned: at some airports, the early morning flight bank is so heavily scheduled/TSA so understaffed that even pre-check is a 40+ minute insanity. I'm a morning person, but I tend to pick 8am over 6am at certain airports where the above is a major issue.

The proletariat troll posts:
“You age out of redeye flights”.
The proletariat troll posts:
“When will AeroB13a "age out" of OMAAT?”
AeroB13a posts:
“When will Eskimo the proletariat troll mature sufficiently and join the grown ups?”

Im the opposite. I’ve aged out of red eye flights!

Another issue with taking the first early morning flights is that some North American airports don't have check-in open for flights until like 90 minutes prior to departure. So, you arrive at 4am for your 6am flight, but can't check in until 4:30, along with everyone else. So, the check-in line is horribly long, even in the priority queues. And then, all those people also have to go through security as well.

I've dealt with this routinely at YYZ (at the transborder terminal), and it's horrible.

7AM is OK for us if the flight otherwise checks the boxes (non-stop and/or right price etc).

But we 100% won't do the 5AM or 6AM flights anymore. No vacation is worth setting an alarm for 2:30AM.

I've always liked evening flights. Let me get to my destination the day before so that I can get solid rest without having to commute directly from the airport to my client immediately after flying in.

Ben, you are a rarity in that you naturally are awake for that first flight of the morning. I'm not. When I was a bit younger, my body could tolerate more abuse of my sleep schedule, so I was more willing to take early morning flights. With time, I've aged out of them a bit (not entirely). I think that's a pretty typical pattern. Oh and you also live closer to the airport than most of us I think.

Did years ago. I refuse to take any flights earlier than 9AM. My normal wake time is 6AM. A flight does not rise to the level of importance to change this routine

Which is why I stop at the bagel place on the way to the airport. The only problem is it doesn't open until 6:30, making it a marginal stop for even an 8:30 am departure.

I hate the idea of taking a short haul flight early in the morning, but I love taking very early long hauls and treating them as night flights. On a routing like HND-LHR, staying awake the entire night before and boarding at 7am when I'm ready to go to sleep works really well.

You never need to age out of them, they can bugger right off. Unless I am planning to have a comprehensive night out clubbing etc before a taxi to the airport, anything before 10:00 needs to be extra cheap and/or hugely enticing in terms of status miles to get a look in. I don't have any issues with anyone who sticks to a medieval biological clock, but it's not my problem either.

1 PM is about as early as I'm happy with.

I honestly have never understood how people have such a hard time waking up early. Alarm goes off. Get in the shower. Hit the airport. Though I'm more team earliest flight on the return flight back home.

In the UK, the likes of Jet2 and TUI have multiple aircraft based at the same airport z all leaving between 05:30 and 08:00 in the morning to maximise daily usage. It literally is the worst time for queues anywhere other than LHR.

I agree that early AM flights have some distinct advantages. Expect for those of us who go to bed about 0130 and roll out around 0830. Early flights with wakeup times of say 0400 are miserable. I catch the Alaska nonstop from TPA to SAN once a month that departs at 0800 and it is a struggle.

Maybe you just hate yourself, why would anyone get up so early and fight your way through all the thousands of people fighting to get on cheap flights on cheap airlines and lining up for ever in security?
Personally I feel a lot safer flying with a pilot who didn't have to get up at 3 am but good luck to you and safe travels!

You would understand if you were not an early morning person. The absolute earliest I can get up is 5 am and that's pushing it.

I can relate to this- when I used to take 5 am flights and would have to get up around 2 or so. It was very difficult to settle in and rest properly, getting up every 20 mins or so to check the clock. Luckily I haven't had to fly that early in recent years. I generally consider 7 am or later to be a good time to fly

Or maybe you just can't get your stupid, fat ass out of bed at a proper time! What a stupid comment.

Sorry Randall, I just recalculated and it is actually 6 minutes.

Or maybe fake Eskimo just can't get your stupid, fat ass out of bed at a proper time! What a stupid comment.

Sorry fake Eskimo, I just recalculated and it is actually 6 minutes.

I don't know who you are, but please stop commenting calling me fake! I think you are Darryl Stewart???!!!

no one thinks you're cool

everyone knows what the proletariat is, no one understands why you bring it up on an aviation blog comment section to sound cool.
You sound classist and unable to respond with normal diction or your own thoughts and resort to a very weird classism.

If you can't deal with people responding to your posts, why are you here?

Would you rule out staying at an airport hotel and getting an 8am flight, out of interest? Just curious!

Well, I can wake up early no problem, but it means I will have slept for one or two hours in total, making the day absolutely miserable.

I suspect your 19 years old is (just like most of us late sleepers) super productive at two in the morning, hand your grandfather would constantly struggle to stay awake his entire life.

Being late sleepers doesn't mean we have "less stamina" or that we sleep more than other people. We just sleep at different times.

I prefer 5-6am flights that get me into my destination city around the time I can check into my hotel at no additional cost. But I have definitely aged out of redeyes. Especially when hotel check-in is not until 3 or 4pm.

Say it louder for the people at the back!! We don't lack stamina, just more productive at different hours of the day

Agree with a lot of this but I have such a fear of missing flights that waking up for a early flight is never a problem. Had a 9am flight today, and while it wasn’t that early I woke up a 5am because I finish packing in the morning and also want to leave a buffer for Uber cancelations.

Simple. You just party all night and then go directly to the airport. Sleep on the plane. No problem.

I'm on team @Jo Ann and @Samo. I'm a night owl. I have to live in the real world (and with my partner who thinks the day starts at 5pm) so I aim to be in bed at midnight most nights. Left to my own devices I'd be up to 4am. And getting up earlier than 6am, leaves me miserable and sick to my stomach even if I did my best to go to sleep at 10pm. I do it on occasion, but it makes for a lousy day. Less then 6 hours sleep leaves me equally miserable. And, further, flying during the day makes me tired. I get where I'm going and want to nap. I commute regularly up and down the east coast and happily take the second to last flight of the night -- get to the airport around 7pm, to my destination around 11pm and to bed shortly after.

We're not lazy -- we're programmed differently.

Agree... my later morning (10am or so) or evening flights find me breezing through precheck in minutes.. not standing in that 6am flight line that my spouse complains about.

At DCA? @Eskimo, what do you do, crawl? It's a brisk 5 minute walk, maybe a 10 minute stroll. And I'll weigh in. I live about 15 minutes from DCA. With no bad to check and the clear E-gates, I can be in the DL or Centurion lounge in 20 minutes without breaking a sweat. I love DCA. I'm more likely to get stuck in traffic than a TSA line there.

Is there an English version of this ? Like - “When are you too old to travel at 7am” - is this something that’s just an Americanism -if it is it’s awful

"Aging out of 7 am flights"? - lol

You're either an early morning person, or you aren't. I am most certainly not, and never have been. I haven't aged out of 7 am flights, in the sense that I've never been willing to take one unless there's a really good reason. Frankly, the 9:25 flight we took to LA on Saturday is about as early as I'm willing to go. I fully understand the risk of a delay and a late night, but I'll take that risk over voluntarily getting up at 4 am any day.

Not a morning person but I'll take an early flight when necessary. It's not age, I'm in my 70's, just a life-long preference for a full night's sleep before traveling. But flying west coast to east, sometimes early flights are the more practical choice.

Thank you Eskimo, for proving beyond any shadow of a doubt that there is no such thing as a stupid question …. only STUPID answers.
Eskimo, your STUPID answer to Regern’s post proves what a most ignorant proletariat troll you are. Such a pathetic little creature, assuming that you are human and not some third rate computer program.
You are simply beyond the comprehension of real human beings. The dirt under my shoes has more worth to the human race than you ….

Aging out of <8hr redeyes is certainly a thing. Aging out of 7am flights is just a subtle flex that you have more money to spend to fly later. Congrats on being able to 'splurge' the extra $40 for your 10 AM flight.

Thank you Eskimo, for proving beyond any shadow of a doubt that there is no such thing as a stupid question …. only STUPID answers.
Eskimo, your STUPID answer to Regern’s post proves what a most ignorant proletariat troll you are. Such a pathetic little creature, assuming that you are human and not some third rate computer program.
You are simply beyond the comprehension of real human beings. The dirt under my shoes has more worth to the human race than you ….

I don't think you age out, more that if you naturally aren't a morning person you are able struggle against it while younger, but that becomes too onerous once you're older. That's the case for me, and increasingly found I pay a premium to fly at more reasonable times or now getting a hotel near the airport if it has to be early flight with no choice. I appreciate I am very lucky and privileged enough to be able to choose to do that although I am not a wealthy person.

if anything the older people i know have gotten up earlier and earlier as they've aged

Destination specific for me. If I'm going to a beach vacation, get me there as early as possible to maximize my days in the sun.

Too easy to trigger?

I abhor early morning flights. I am not normally an anxious person at all and typically sleep very well under just about any circumstances. The one exception is when I have an early flight the next morning. For some reason, the possibility of oversleeping and missing my flight just destroys my ability to get any meaningful rest at all and then I feel like garbage while traveling the next day.

I despise morning flights (I'm a nightowl, so 5 - 7am departures mean no sleep), but often they're most efficient, especially if you're trying to maximize your days off.

Also for catching connections, since longer flights tend to be front-loaded in most north american and european airports schedules. Now middle east, Asia, even LatAm, I find more options at "off hours", which I love.

WE do many 5 am and 6 am flights to go coast to coast and get there early to enjoy some of our day!!! Still not fun to do so and have been doing this for over 30 years,

I generally agree, except for the part about the airport services/lounges being less busy. At least at YYZ, the lounges are packed first thing in the morning for US/Transborder (less so but still busy for domestic). The lounges don't open until 5:30am/6:00am so there is always a line up to get in and then a stampede for coffee, food, etc. The airport itself is much quieter I'll give you that, but most services aren't open so the few coffee/breakfast places that are also tend to have large line-ups. Again, this may be specific to YYZ.

I'm over 80 and "early departure" is noon!
- Normal bedtime is 2 AM usually last minute packing (> 30 day trips) means later
- I was a nervous flyer so preflight relaxer meant lounge had to be open
- I love a pre-dinner appetizer, nice leisurely meal with good wines
- coffee and port or Bailey's
- 7 hours great sleep
That means 3 PM earliest, heading west, >13 hours in air
- Nirvana

If flying Biz what value is the lounge at 6 AM? Slimy eggs and crappy coffee?

Admit that a few offer a Bucks Fizz/ Mimosa but even then extra cost!

Just get on a breakfast flight longer than 2 hours and ok

Avoid if possible