These days, flying long haul isn't the chore it once was. Typically, you'll get lots of free drinks, decent food and a vast array of in-flight entertainment. However, if it's morning when you arrive at your destination, you'll want to spend at least some of your time in the air asleep. After all, arriving in an unfamiliar destination and suffering grogginess and disorientation of jet lag is no one's idea of fun.
In practical terms, though, sleeping on a plane is about as far from a proper nights' sleep on the best mattress as you could imagine. Most of us are, quite frankly, no good at sleeping while sitting up. Add that to endless distractions such as seat alarms, crying babies, passenger conversations, flight attendants, turbulence and altitude sickness, and getting some decent shut-eye starts to look like a very difficult task indeed.
