When should you eat on a long-haul flight, according to a flight attendant

Any air travel can be stressful, but facing down a long-haul flight can be especially intimidating.Should you prioritise sleeping or eating, or both? Should you attempt to exercise in the aisle? Is it ever acceptable to take off your shoes?Kris Major is a British flight attendant with 25 years' experience. He's worked short-haul hops and spent 14-hour stretches in the sky. He's endured journeys with an unenviable number of layovers, and he's become an expert in refuelling via power naps at 30,000 feet.As many of us prepare for long-haul trips over the summer, Major tells CNN Travel his tips and tricks on surviving multiple hours in the sky.READ MORE: Simple travel hack that can save you from 'stress and inconvenience'Should you eat before or during an overnight flight?If you're catching a night flight and you want to maximise sleep on board, Major suggests eating before boarding.This is particularly important if the flight is on the shorter end of the long-haul scale: if you're travelling from New York to London, for example, at best you're looking at around five or six hours sleep, so you want to make the most of that rest time.Major, who also represents European flight attendants and pilots as chair of the European Transport Workers' Federation's Joint Aircrew Committee, says it's telling that most business travellers shut their eyes as soon as they get on board."The seasoned travellers, after takeoff, you go down the cabin and you can see that they're gone – they've covered themselves up and they're asleep," he says.Still, Major admits that eating before flying isn't always doable, because of long security lines and busy airport terminals. Even if you have the best intentions, you can end up settling for a sad-looking sandwich as you run to the gate.If you're flying business or first class, you also might be tempted to make the most of food and drink offered on board – it's hard to turn down complimentary champagne, after all.But realistically, the cabin food and drink service can take a good two hours, so you're losing valuable rest time – and your Business Class ticket should give you access to an airport lounge, so max out those facilities instead, and board the plane well-fuelled and ready to rest.READ MORE: Mistakes that are exposing you to scams while travellingSo when should you eat on the plane?If you're flying long-haul, you'll likely be offered more than one meal during the course of the flight.Meal times start to feel a bit arbitrary when you're crossing multiple time zones, but should you eat whenever food is offered to you? Or should you turn meals down if you're not hungry or trying to sleep?Major says passengers should do whatever's right for their travel schedule. If you're exhausted, you're better off sleeping than forcing yourself to eat dinner at the equivalent of 3 a.m."Most airlines don't particularly plan their [food] service around the passenger and acclimatisation and time zones crossing," explains Major.Should you bring your own food and snacks?Absolutely, says Major."On most flights, people forget that you get on the plane, you're not going to eat for the first hour, at least – it's probably going to be an hour and a half after takeoff before you eat," he says.If you have a health condition like diabetes, bringing your own sustenance is particularly key. It's also important to pack snacks if you're travelling with kids.What are the flight attendant rest areas like?Crew rest areas exist on all airplanes, but what these rest areas look like depends on the airline, aircraft and the length of the flight."If we're going somewhere over, say, 13 hours, we need to have good rest areas," says Major, who explains flight attendants should typically be entitled to breaks that allow for 90 minutes of sleep. That way, they've completed a full sleep cycle before they're back to work."You need at least one sleep cycle scientifically to be of any use, to keep your ability to operate safely, your decision making processes, your communication skills," says Major.Flight attendants need to be alert throughout the journey, so they will take it in turns to refuel via mid-flight power naps.Major says he finds sleeping in crew rest areas pretty easy, but he knows flight attendants who find it tough to sleep in beds that Major calls "technically coffins.""There are some crew that really struggle with the bunks, they're not pleasant," says Major."You push yourself right in, so they're long and thin, because they're up in the aircraft, so there's not a lot of space. They are like what you'd imagine you'd see on a submarine."Flight attendants will usually opt to get changed out of their uniform and into loungewear before squeezing into the bunks. Major says he always packs a T-shirt and some comfortable lounge pants.As he's a senior flight attendant, Major will hang his tie on the exterior of his bunk's curtain before he closes his eyes."So that if there's any emergency whilst I'm in the bunk, they know exactly which one I'm in, even though there's usually one designated for the senior," Major explains.Should you exercise on a long-haul flight?Sitting in the same upright position for hours on end is uncomfortable, but it's not always easy to get up to stretch. The seat belt sign might be switched on, or you might want to avoid disturbing your seat neighbour.Major stresses that even just wiggling your toes while sitting in your seat is worthwhile."Do move around in your seat, move your legs, do what comes naturally – wiggle, move, get the blood flowing if that's what you need to do. For people that have got circulatory issues, talk to your doctor," he says.Should I invest in noise-cancelling headphones and bring my iPad on board?The way we consume TV and movies has changed drastically over the past decade, but inflight entertainment has largely stayed unchanged.While many of us still enjoy watching new movie releases on board flights, it's less of a novelty than it once was. Many passengers prefer binging a pre-downloaded streaming show on a personal device."Most people self-cater flights now when it comes to entertainment," says Major.Your own devices are also a good back-up in case there are issues with the in-flight entertainment system, which Major admits "might not always be working."Flight attendants usually have handbooks that advise how to operate the inflight screens, but they're not always able to fix the problem."There's only so much we can do on the aircraft to kick it back to life if it starts to play up," says Major. "There's very little we can do, apart from the usual scientific 'turn it off, turn it on again.'"Most aircraft today have USB charging sockets, but a portable charger could also give you added piece of mind.As a flight attendant, do you judge passengers' movie choices?Major says in his experience, crew aren't paying too much attention to what you've opted to watch on board, but occasionally he'll comment on a traveller's choice."We can use it as an ice breaker," he says. "If I've seen a movie and it's good, it's something to use to strike up conversation."Major does recall once noticing a Business Class passenger reading a book which included some graphic descriptions."The words were pretty pornographic although I couldn't see enough to follow the thread," Major says.The man was reading the book quite openly, and made no attempts to hide the contents."I was quite shocked," says Major. "Turned out we were taking a group of sex therapists to a conference."I'm taking my kids on a long-haul flight, what should I do?Major has young kids of his own, so he says he can answer this question both as a father and as a flight attendant."If you're tense, your child will be tense, it's as simple as that. If you're stressed, and you're feeling anxious, your child will be anxious," he says.Flight attendants are experienced at talking kids and parents through the flying process, Major adds."Because we're just generally very relaxed, we can calm them down very quickly," he says.When babies are crying, parents are panicking and other passengers are sighing, Major says he'll always handle the situation in the same way."I'll make sure it's audible for everyone else to hear, I'll say: 'Please don't worry about it. Don't worry about your child crying. It's helping your child re-balance their ears. It's the only way they can do it, through screaming. We've all been children, we've all cried, don't worry about it.' I'll try to put the parents at ease. By putting the parent at ease, we can hopefully settle the child."Major says bringing favourite toys and blankets on the aircraft can also help calm a child, as it helps the alien airplane environment seem more familiar and comforting.How do you deal with nervous passengers on long-haul flights?Those with a fear of flying are, in Major's experience, worried about one of two things. Either it's the "lack of control" and the "alien environment." Or it's fear of the airplane crashing.Some people are reassured by Major walking them through the mechanics of the aircraft – explaining that unknown engine noises are normal, or that air travel is generally very safe and there are many fail-safes in place.Others would rather not know the ins and outs, they just need distracting. Major once spent two hours on board a flight chatting with a nervous passenger in the galley, taking their mind off the situation.Even for those who aren't generally afraid of flying, long-haul journeys present their own set of pressure points that can drive people into panic mode.Crying babies might be viewed as more of an annoyance on a short flight, but passengers can "freak," as Major puts it, if they think that's set to be their soundtrack for the next 12 hours.Delays to any flights are frustrating, but on longer flights, delays can suddenly hammer home "the reality of distance and time," says Major.But Major says it's important to remember that "there's always taxiing time built into the flight time.""You can make up time on long-haul a lot easier than short-haul," he adds. "You can pick up a good half hour."What's your opinion on AirTags?Major's never used an AirTag, but he understands the attraction – especially for passengers who've dealt with a lost bag in the past.Although it's a different story when he travels with his family, Major says he usually travels carry-on only, even on long-haul flights.That's less because he's worried about losing luggage, and more for ease and speed."On my own, I've got one bag that I can live for a week out of, it's so finely tuned," he says. "I fly with hand luggage only so I can get through the airport as quickly as possible."If you've got a layover, how should you maximise that time?If you've got several hours before the next leg of your journey, it could be worth booking a hotel room to catch up on sleep, says Major, who also advises stretching your legs and walking around as much as possible.If there's enough time to leave the airport and get some fresh air, that's worth doing too.Major knows what he's talking about, he once did a mammoth journey with multiple airport layovers, "from Cairns - Brisbane, Brisbane - Sydney, Sydney - Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi - Vienna, Vienna - Frankfurt, Frankfurt - [London] Gatwick.""When I got off, I was nearly dead," he jokes.What's your perspective on the super long-haul flights that could be a thing of the future?The longest flight Major's ever worked was around 14 hours. The longest scheduled flight currently in operation is Singapore Airlines' New York to Singapore flight, which lasts 18 hours and 40 minutes.Australian airline Qantas is preparing to launch its ultra long-haul "Project Sunrise" flights, which would span upwards of 19 hours flying passengers from New York and London to Sydney, Australia. For flight attendants, Major says, that will involve working over periods in excess of 24 hours."You're missing two nights of sleep," says Major. "The impact of that we don't fully understand."It's still early days, says Major, and these details need to be ironed out. But he sees ultra long-haul as the "evolution of flying.""We've got the aircraft to do it now, so we need to find ways of doing it," says Major. "And we will. There's a lot of work going on to do that."