Flying for work, economy, premium economy and business class

I’m almost 10 years into my current job, well my title and responsibilities have changed but same company. Diagnosis came after my 9 year anniversary. Masking/ getting over it has been engrained over that time but I’m finding post diagnosis that accommodations are making the world of difference.

When i started it was economy and 8-14 hour flights every 6-8 weeks or so. It was hard but I could work from home a lot so I was ok with that. Eventually we got business but after COVID, it’s back to premium. 

Overtime, I found I hated timing showers, the feeling of being sweaty or unclean I struggle with big time. Lack of sleep is another. At both ends of the trip sucks. 

My travel in recent times has reduced a lot, that’s mainly my role changing too but it’s still there. I’m actually planning a trip to India in August which is a good 18 hours away (including stopovers), which is what lead me to find others in the same boat, and here we are. 

I fly several times a year for work but it’s mostly domestic flights (1.5 hours or less) so business class wouldn’t make any difference. Even short haul euro flights to Paris or Amsterdam there’s no meaningful difference.

But I do have a long established routine to cope with it. I always book a window seat and make myself a little nest when I board, put my noise cancelling headphones on and watch someone on my iPad. I can pretty much block out the fact that I’m on a plane.

Fascinated no one has gone through this before. I can’t be the only one that find flying surrounded by people (and babies crying) stressful.

Its worth asking your employer - I mean they can say yes or no,
If it's the latter, then at the very least challenge their decision.

I used to work for an American company and did a lot of flying around Europe and the US.
Initially it was quite exciting, I flew business, so nice & comfortable - I loved flying (used to).

Then 9/11 happened and air travel became a really PITA with all the enhanced security checks.
Business started to go downhill, so everyone had to fly economy.
They did want me to fly to San Francisco.....economy, but I told them where to go!

Good luck with getting them to pay business.
Let us know how you get on.

I haven't yet- I've only flown once for work since getting diagnosed (or twice if you count getting home again!) and it was only a 2-hour flight. I know the company will pay for business class for long-haul flights though, so I might ask if they'll extend that policy to shorter flights as a reasonable accommodation.

I can’t help with the flying part, I’ve never turned left when entering the aircraft.

The airport side can be made a lot easier, I wear a small Autism badge, I normally travel with my wife, we get ushered through most of the check-in part. You just need to let the airline know beforehand.

We always use the private lounge, it’s quiet and has food that I can eat. Newspapers and only sky news with subtitles, no sound . They have their own toilets as well.

Some airports offer this free to autistic people, I find if I get onto the plane in a good frame of mind, then I’m okay.

I always take noise cancelling headphones and listen to music or watch a film. Sometimes I need a nudge to keep hydrated, that can affect me a lot. My wife will often pack a small picnic so it’s familiar food. I also look on the internet beforehand to see exactly where I’m going to be sitting.

I never tried. for me its the narrow seat and lack of legroom thats the real issue anyway. But economy is all I am allowed / can aford.