How to Thrive on 12+ Hour Long-Haul Flights: Insider Tricks Airlines Aren't Telling You - Nomad Notes | EP 58

Grab Your FREE Guide - 7 Steps To Launch Your Digital Nomad Journey - https://www.thedigitalnomadcoach.com/

What if surviving a 12+ hour flight wasn't about suffering through it but actually enjoying it?

While everyone else is cramped in middle seats, fighting for armrest space, and arriving exhausted, Ryan's consistently scoring entire rows to himself in economy and when he's not doing that, he's in business class. 

His secret? It's knowing exactly when to change seats, which credit card gives you access to 1,400 airport lounges worldwide, and how to turn your points into business class tickets that would normally cost thousands.

Learn the one US airport Ryan would avoid entirely, the international airport that'll give you a free shower and city tour during layovers, and Ryan's  controversial take on staying hydrated versus staying entertained with free drinks. 

Plus, he's using a phone plan that lets him run his business from anywhere in the world.

Whether you're booking your first international trip or you're just tired of arriving sleep deprived, Ryan's breaking down the exact system that transformed how he travels. 

Listen now to discover how Ryan turns brutal long-haul flights into his favorite part of traveling.

Grab Your FREE Guide - 7 Steps To Launch Your Digital Nomad Journey - https://www.thedigitalnomadcoach.com/

MORE FROM RYAN MELLON :

Join the Digital Nomad Masterclass: https://www.digitalnomadnation.com/masterclass

Connect with Ryan: https://allmylinks.com/thedigitalnomadcoach

Share this episode with a friend or family member

• Give a Review on Spotify
• Give a Review on Apple

DISCLAIMER:
Listening to stories of beachside zoom calls, mountainside work views, and island-hopping entrepreneurs may cause severe wanderlust and an irresistible urge to turn your laptop into a passport to freedom. Side effects include daydreaming about tropical co-working spaces, working with Ryan to learn how you can start working and traveling and buying a one-way ticket to Bali. Get ready to start living your dream life today!

Transcript

[00:00:00] Marvin Athey: Let's say we're going to Bali from America. It is a long, long way. flight, 12 hours plus, two to three connections What would you, what's your advice? how do you prepare for a long haul flight?

[00:00:12] Ryan Mellon: I try to fly nowadays. I'm trying, trying to fly business if possible on the super long haul flights. and I, I took a course on how to use your points and miles to do that, and that's been a game changer. But if I am in economy. Which I have been [00:00:30] for many, many years.

[00:00:31] Ryan Mellon: I always get an aisle 'cause I'm pretty active on the plane. Like, I like to be able to just get up and go around and usually a lot of the main carriers even, on those long haul flights and economies or free drinks. So I'm usually, um, staying pretty busy with the free drinks and the entertainment and plenty of trips to the bathroom, so I'm extra like active.

[00:00:53] Ryan Mellon: It's great.

[00:00:55] Marvin Athey: You make it sound romantic now, it sounds, it's like people want these long haul flights, 

[00:00:58] Ryan Mellon: I do enjoy [00:01:00] the long haul flights. I, I'd rather do that than like be changing, the laborers and all that all the time.

[00:01:07] Marvin Athey: Do you have, you know, what do you wear when you're on these long haul flights? What do you, do you pack anything different? And also you said aisle seat, but uh, should we get a daytime flight? Are you getting a red eye? What do you think is the best?

[00:01:21] Ryan Mellon: I like the red eyes for sure. 'cause it's just much easier to sleep. When you're normally gonna go to sleep? As far as packing goes, yes. I always have a [00:01:30] hoodie at the top of my bag. 'cause you know, the airplanes are freezing cold. And I do have my own eye shades that I take everywhere with me. So, and usually just wearing like khakis and a t-shirt.

[00:01:44] Ryan Mellon: And then I'll end up in my hoodie 'cause it's usually cold on the plane. And then also another trick for if you're in economy and you're trying to get your own row at check-in, like, or even a couple hours before checking you, you can [00:02:00] usually move seats change seats in the app. So look at the back of the plane and find that four row aisle that has nobody in it, and then stick yourself.

[00:02:11] Ryan Mellon: On the corner of it. and then I've gotten many times a whole row to myself by changing seats last minute. Also, if it's a super long haul flight and there's just open rows in the back of the plane, just ask the flight attendant if it's okay. If you move. They usually, that's all [00:02:30] about keeping everyone happy.

[00:02:31] Ryan Mellon: So if. You can get a whole row to yourself, go for it. So I've spent many long haul flights with a three or four seat row to myself and just completely laid out. And they don't care. They just want you to be, you know, happy and not deal with you. So. 

[00:02:49] Marvin Athey: any routines you have when you're on the plane? Any movies you recommend to watch.

[00:02:54] Ryan Mellon: Yeah, so I mean, I just, I end up watching, I don't UI never get on the wifi. Use [00:03:00] that time to just like. Be offline. And everyone would suggest to you that you should stay hydrated on these flights, but I'm usually dehydrating with the free, free alcohol. Not suggested that it's just up to you. And, but I do have the rehydration packs for when I get off the plane, right?

[00:03:20] Ryan Mellon: And I do take vitamin C when I get to a new place just for immunity And think um, about um, using your points to [00:03:30] book seats in business class. There are some courses out there. I took a course that was a game changer for me to where you could use your points and then get into business, which is, it's not first, but a lot of these.

[00:03:44] Ryan Mellon: Big airlines that fly all over the world, their business is definitely for like a first class product with a lay flat bed. And that's a game changer as far as just getting rest and more space, more privacy, better service and you can do it for free, you know, using [00:04:00] your points of miles at a much better rate than you would spending those points in economy.

[00:04:05] Ryan Mellon: So, check out ways to travel business with some travel hacking with points and miles.

[00:04:11] Marvin Athey: That's, that's great advice. I, I, I'll have to take that for myself and. they always recommend three hours. Are you strict on three hours? Are you always testing how early you should go to the airport? What, what is your, what's your uptake?

[00:04:25] Ryan Mellon: No. I am pretty strict on three hours just 'cause I know it's. [00:04:30] I don't wanna miss my flight. It's usually an expensive long haul flight to somewhere. Right? So, and I do have lounge access through chase. My Chase card gives me lounge access to like 1400 airports worldwide. So if it does have a lounge, I'm in there.

[00:04:47] Ryan Mellon: And that's nice, great place to get food and drinks and also get worked on. So I, I enjoy spending time at the airport.

[00:04:55] Marvin Athey: Nice. And between us, we've been to lots of airports. [00:05:00] Is there any airports you love when you're transiting, or is there any ones you hate when you're transiting?

[00:05:05] Ryan Mellon: Hmm. That's a good question. I think one that I hate is Chicago, ORD. ORD sucks. They need to figure out how to level that place and start over.

[00:05:19] Marvin Athey: Wow.

[00:05:19] Ryan Mellon: It's just bad layout. And I will say that the world's busiest airport, Atlanta is one of my favorites because it is very well laid out and I do like to [00:05:30] fly Delta and that's their hub.

[00:05:32] Ryan Mellon: They are really good 'cause you just go downstairs and you get on the plane train, that's what it's called, it's like a high speed train that takes you to the different terminals. And so like you could be like at a terminal two miles away, but the plane train's only gonna take you five minutes to get there.

[00:05:48] Ryan Mellon: It's just super well laid out easy in my opinion. For us airports abroad, like some of the coolest airports I've been to has been like in, in Qatar or [00:06:00] Singapore of course has been known to be one of the most. Beautiful airports in the world. So yeah.

[00:06:07] Marvin Athey: Yeah, I, I personally also like soul, they actually, if you're transiting they give you a free shower and um, yeah.

[00:06:14] Ryan Mellon: I did not know that. Yeah, that's cool.

[00:06:17] Marvin Athey: A free shower and a free, depending on how long it is. If you have a, like a long layover, you get a free tour to the city.

[00:06:24] Ryan Mellon: Really, like they'll let you leave the airport.

[00:06:27] Marvin Athey: yeah,

[00:06:28] Ryan Mellon: That's awesome.

[00:06:29] Marvin Athey: Yeah. It's, [00:06:30] it's, it's great. I, I, I landed on Super Bowl Sunday there once.

[00:06:32] Marvin Athey: It was kind of funny, but yeah, the, I, yeah, these airports are great. 

[00:06:36] Ryan Mellon: the last time I was in Seoul was on my way to Bali and I had. Like 45 minutes to connect flights and I had to go back through security again. And of course my bag gets like rejected to be checked and I'm like freaking out. But I barely, I made it like barely like ran through that place. But it's a nice airport and they have, I just remember being in one of the lounges there when I first [00:07:00] started as a digital nomad and the lounge had the pour beers from the bottom up.

[00:07:05] Ryan Mellon: Have you seen that?

[00:07:06] Marvin Athey: I've seen that. Yeah.

[00:07:07] Ryan Mellon: That, and it was like, just like, go on your own. You know, like, and, and that was like the coolest thing ever. I was like, these, this should be everywhere.

[00:07:18] Marvin Athey: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. That it's a huge airport. They have nap rooms. You can get massages, you can do some painting. They have robots.

[00:07:27] Ryan Mellon: they have robots roaming the airport to [00:07:30] help you if you need something. It's crazy.

[00:07:32] Marvin Athey: Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing. Since you've spent a lot of time in Bali, what's your, what's your take on Denpasar Airport?

[00:07:40] Ryan Mellon: I like Deza. They have a couple good lounges there, like with good buffets. I got in trouble with immigration once there, and that was less than desirable, but I just, I had to pay for my overstay. But other than that, I really don't have any complaints. Like every time I get there, you know, just like the smell and the humidity hits you and [00:08:00] you are like, ah, I'm in Bali.

[00:08:02] Marvin Athey: I'm in Bali and you mentioned you, you're, you favor Delta. Is there any other airlines you recommend for the audience?

[00:08:09] Ryan Mellon: I love flying Cutter, or Qatar, as the Americans say. They're like top-notch for, for long haul flights. Recently been flying Lufthansa, which is Germany's airline. I flew the 7 47, which was a bucket list item. It's the old Boeing that has two stories home. And when I leave [00:08:30] Sunday to go to Bansko, I'm flying the A380, which is the other biggest double decker bus or air airplane.

[00:08:39] Ryan Mellon: It's an Airbus which is was also on my bucket list. So super excited for that. I'll be on the second floor.

[00:08:45] Marvin Athey: Oh wow. Well, I hope you take some good video and pictures. That sounds really, really exciting.

[00:08:50] Ryan Mellon: yeah, like planes with staircases, I mean, that's cool.

[00:08:55] Marvin Athey: Yeah. Yeah. The Cutter Airlines, I think they promote, was it them or Emirates that promotes [00:09:00] taking a shower on the plane.

[00:09:02] Ryan Mellon: Yeah. Yeah. Emirates, and I think Qatar has that. Etihad has like the residents, which is um. three rooms that you can get to yourself. So it's a bedroom, a living room, and your own private bathroom.

[00:09:16] Marvin Athey: Oh

[00:09:17] Ryan Mellon: It gets crazy

[00:09:18] Marvin Athey: I actually thought of one question too. Are you team. ESIM. So you have internet the moment you land, or do you rely on the internet at the airport to get you [00:09:30] through?

[00:09:30] Ryan Mellon: Neither.

[00:09:31] Marvin Athey: No.

[00:09:31] Ryan Mellon: So I have an international US plan through T-Mobile. T-Mobile is really good. For being able to be used all over the world, like 160 countries or something. So my, I have unlimited data, but it's slow. It's good enough to get around. And then I can pay like 50 bucks to a month to upgrade it to faster data.

[00:09:58] Ryan Mellon: But it's enough and [00:10:00] unlimited text. And then you pay for regular phone calls on like a. 20 to 25 cents a minute type deal. But, and I only use that for business here and there, so someone can reach me on my US number no matter where I am. So because I, I am a landlord and I have tenants calling me, they're gonna call me on my Virginia number and they're gonna have no idea that I'm across the world.

[00:10:26] Ryan Mellon: So that's super important for me. so I do have to pay a little extra for [00:10:30] those calls, but outside of that, I use like WhatsApp and FaceTime, which is all free which doesn't drive up the cost. So having the T-Mobile international plan where you, as soon as you turn your phone off, airplane mode, you're ready to go.

[00:10:45] Ryan Mellon: It, it's the best in my opinion.

[00:10:48] Marvin Athey: That's good to know. I, I use Airalo as an eim and so I have it activated before I land. But yeah, if you can, if you can swing the T-Mobile, that sounds really good. I might actually look, look into that myself. 'cause [00:11:00] Skype used to have numbers, but now Skype is gone 

[00:11:02] Ryan Mellon: Yeah. Yeah. No, I've been using it for years. And like, if you travel, like you're in a long place too much, or, or you're in another country for a long time, like you'll get like some like passive aggressive text from T-Mobile. Like, hey, you know, this isn't meant to be like, you know, a forever situation. Like you, you, you know, being out of the country on this.

[00:11:28] Ryan Mellon: Unlimited [00:11:30] travel Anywhere plan, but they never actually enforce it or do anything about it. So I just ignore the text.

[00:11:37] Marvin Athey: I love that. Passive aggressive T-Mobile's, passive aggressive. 

[00:11:41] Ryan Mellon: Yeah, I mean, it's a thing. It's funny though, they don't do anything about it.

[00:11:45] Marvin Athey: Thank you so much, Ryan, for helping us survive a long haul flight.

[00:12:00] [00:12:30]