UNITED DREAMLINER AIRCRAFT - 17.5 HOURS SF > SINGAPORE

MYT Reviews - 17hr 25min United 'Dreamliner' flight from SanFrancisco to Singapore

When we explained to many friends and family that we were heading to Asia for our second vists we often were stopped on the duration of the flights to visit this region of the world. If flying scares you then we can’t really recommend the 17 hour 25 min Dreamliner United flight to Singapore. To be honest, we were both scared and intimidated by the duration of the flight; however we’ve learned while traveling you can’t let your fears get the best of you.
Here’s a peek at our travel itinerary for getting to Singapore:

EXPLORING SAN FRAN - DURING 10+ HOUR LAYOVER DAY

-Using train 2 plane from downtown Denver ~ 45mins ride to airport
-Flight from DIA to SF ~ 3 hours
-Layover in SanFrancisco (until 10PM) & action packed day spent visiting: Golden Gate Park, Haight Street and dinner in SF
-Relaxed in United Lounge (2 hours) to refresh for our long flight
-Board plane in SF at 10:40PM to start 17hour flight to Singapore
-Arrive in Singapore at 8AM the next day

The 17 hour flight on United’s Dreamliner 787 was not as terrible as we originally imagined; for most people 17.5 hours on a plane sounds like a nightmare (for most, anything longer than 8 hours sounds like hell). We had economy class seats (middle and window) which aren't terribly uncomfortable - this is a long flight for any seat on an air plane. I was genuinely impressed with United's Dreamliner aircraft and the staff on this particular flight did a great job. Fortunately for us the passenger sitting aisle seat was consistent with getting up to stretch his legs and use the bathroom. We mimicked these frequent stretches and breaks because we've learned this is an important part of ensuring comfort on any long flight. In addition to stretching frequently and getting up from your seat; my physician recommend a pair of Ames and Walker compression socks to aide with circulation for long flights. Here’s some other essentials that really helped me during that long haul flight:

-Small inflatable pillow from REI
-Essential Oil inhalers
-Vitamin-C
-EmergnC tablets
-Sleepytime tea
-Medical grade compression socks
-Baby aspirin
-United’s awesome selection of endless movies and entertainment
-Daniel Kordan tutorials
-11-hour meditation and sleep audio book (with relaxing white noise and music)

Perhaps the most difficult part of the flight is when I would enable the ‘Map’ screen - showing your location and how much flight time is remaining (try to avoid this screen if the long flight makes you nervous). Getting comfortable can be a real struggle for some people on a long flight, try buying a comfortable pillow from REI, sleeping pills, sleep music, small bottle of wine or other items list above.

TOP SCREENSHOT SAYS 10 HOURS 56MINS REMAIN

But United’s 787 Dreamliner seemed like a brand new air craft and was equipped with a touch screen loaded with: movies, games and even a meditation/relaxation section. Movies are a great way to chop away segments of long flights – I watched 4 movies: Baby driver, Dunkirk, Despicable Me 3 and Valerian: the city of a Thousand Places. In addition, I previously loaded Daniel Kordan’s photography workshops onto my laptop to break up the movie watching and get some learning done to further my photography skills. This would be a great opportunity to learn another language, learn new skills, build blog content and more – I didn’t pay for WiFi although this was an option on the flight if you needed to log on and get some serious work done. Sleeping on long haul flights isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world but it's best to try and get some rest; we knew our travel friends in Singapore would not approve of naps for jet-lag. To be honest, the worst thing you can do when you first arrive to a new location (especially at 8AM) would be to take a nap; instead rest on your flight and charge into the day when you arrive with intentions of making to night time to try to reset your sleep schedule to match the new time zone. If your in an unfamiliar place and your absolutely wrecked tired then stop at your hotel or accommodations for a BREIF nap and then try your best to carry on into that first day. Some of these tips will help lessen the effects of jet lag; which can really drag down the first few days of a trip.

Our first day in Singapore was a lazy one as we prepared to leave for Malaysia & Thailand the next day:

845 AM Breezed through customs and took taxi from Changi airport to our friends apartment
930 AM delicious bagel sandwiches to start the day off and Chemex coffee
11 AM Mimosas and relaxing pool side for a few hours
130 PM Our friends took us for a little stroll around Singapore our first stop was at a Hawker center (street food market) where we enjoyed some delicious Prata, fish curry and naan bread
230 PM A visit to the Mustafa mega shopping center (avoid this place if you don’t like busy centers) this shopping center has literally everything you would ever need (if you can find it)
4 PM A bucket of delicious Asian and European beers off Dempsey
called The Green Door
6 PM Dinner at delicious greek restaurant titled: Blu Kouzina
9 PM A few Netflix episodes and much needed sleep
(Based on travel plans, we were heading to Malayasia early the next day to journey to Koh Lipe, Thailand)
More content from Thailand and Asia coming soon.... ~MYT