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After almost a month of travelling, our flight from San Francisco to Nadi presented us with one final challenge: an overnight long-haul flight followed by a very early arrival into Fiji.
Our Fiji Airways flight left San Francisco late in the evening and arrived in Nadi at around 5am.
We'd learnt a few lessons from an overnight flight the previous year, when we'd travelled from Vancouver to Sydney via Nadi, so this time we went in with a plan: eat before boarding and make sleep the priority from the moment we got onto the plane.
It turned out to be a very good decision. All three of us managed around four to five hours of sleep, which made that 5am arrival considerably more manageable.
There was still one slight problem.
What do you actually do with two kids at 5am when your accommodation won't be ready until the afternoon?
Thankfully, I'd planned for that too.
We Ate Before We Got on the Plane
One of the best decisions we made was eating at San Francisco Airport before boarding.
This was a lesson we'd learnt the hard way on our Vancouver to Sydney flight the previous year. Waiting for the meal service, eating and then waiting again for everything to be cleared can chew through a surprising amount of the time you could otherwise be sleeping.
This time, we ate properly at the airport so that once we were on the plane, sleep was the priority. We didn't need to stay awake waiting for dinner or worry about trays being collected before we could get comfortable.
And it worked.
All three of us slept reasonably well and probably managed around four to five hours each. That's certainly not a full night's sleep, but on an overnight flight with two kids, I'll happily take it!
By the time we arrived in Nadi at around 5am, we were tired, but we'd at least had enough sleep to function.
For us, eating before boarding made a much bigger difference than I expected, and it's something I'd definitely do again for a late-night flight.
The 5am Arrival Problem
Arriving early sounds fantastic until you remember that hotel check-in is generally many hours away.
After clearing the airport, we essentially had an entire day ahead of us after an overnight flight.
I'd anticipated this when planning the trip and booked us a day room at Fiji Gateway Hotel, conveniently located right near Nadi International Airport.
This turned out to be one of my better planning decisions.
Instead of trying to entertain tired kids for hours, we had somewhere to stretch out, shower, change clothes and generally make ourselves feel human again.
We'd slept reasonably well on the plane, but four or five hours is still only four or five hours. Having a proper bathroom, some privacy and somewhere comfortable to lie down for a while was very welcome.
Don't Try to Start the Holiday at 5am
There's always a temptation when travelling to make every hour count.
You're in Fiji! Go exploring! Find breakfast! Hit the beach!
Nope. 😂
We'd been travelling for almost a month and had just flown overnight across the Pacific. Nobody needed an itinerary at 5am.
The day room gave us somewhere to properly relax for a few hours before moving on to our accommodation at Wailoaloa Beach later in the day.
For us, the aim wasn't to squeeze an extra half-day of sightseeing into Fiji. We had several days ahead of us for that.
The aim was simply to make the transition from an overnight flight to our Fiji stay as painless as possible.
And Then We Discovered "Fiji Time"
Later in the day, we left Fiji Gateway and made our way to Smugglers Cove at Wailoaloa Beach, where we'd be staying for the next few days.
We arrived a little before our room was due to be ready.
And this was where we had our first proper introduction to Fiji Time. 😂
We quickly discovered that "a little while" can be a fairly flexible concept in Fiji.
We waited.
And waited a little longer.
To be clear, the staff were lovely. At no point did anyone at either Fiji Gateway or Smugglers Cove make us feel like we were an inconvenience, and we certainly weren't expecting our room to magically become available before it was ready.
But after an overnight flight, a 5am arrival and what was starting to feel like a very long day, we were so incredibly happy when our room was finally ready.
There's tired.
There's long-haul-flight-with-kids tired.
And then there's we've-been-awake-since-somewhere-over-the-Pacific-and-just-really-want-our-room tired.
Once we could finally drop our things and settle in, we were very happy to slow down and get used to a few days of Fiji Time ahead of us.
What I'd Do Again
If we were taking the same flight tomorrow, I'd plan it almost exactly the same way.
I'd make sure everyone had eaten properly at the airport before boarding, then make sleep the priority once we were on the aircraft.
Four to five hours might not sound like much, but it was enough to make a noticeable difference when we arrived.
And with such an early arrival, I'd absolutely book a day room again.
Having somewhere to shower, stretch out and rest meant we weren't wandering around Nadi at 6am wondering what on earth to do with ourselves for the next eight hours.
The one thing I'd probably change?
I'd leave the day room a little later before heading to our next accommodation.
We were comfortable where we were, and after our introduction to Fiji Time, we quickly realised there really wasn't any need to rush. 😂
Our Tips for an Overnight Flight with Kids
- Eat before boarding. Particularly on a late-night flight, it means you can make sleep the priority from the beginning.
- Get comfortable as soon as you board. If sleep is the goal, don't spend the first few hours treating it like a daytime flight.
- Learn from previous flights. Our Vancouver to Sydney experience helped us work out what we'd do differently the next time around.
- Don't plan too much for arrival day. Even if everyone sleeps reasonably well, an overnight flight still takes it out of you.
- Check your accommodation's check-in time. A 5am arrival and an afternoon check-in leaves a lot of hours to fill.
- Consider booking a day room. Beds, a shower, a bathroom and some private space made a huge difference for us.
- Don't rely on getting an early check-in. If it happens, fantastic. If it doesn't, have a comfortable Plan B.
- And when in Fiji, start adjusting to Fiji Time. You might as well get used to it. 🌴
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