There is a way to accomplish this simply by booking a flight.
While it may sound unbelievable, a passenger plane that departed from Hong Kong on January 1, 2025, found itself landing back in 2024.
Imagine the thrill of celebrating New Year’s Eve twice within just a few hours.
That’s precisely what occurred.
Travelers journeying from Hong Kong, China, to Los Angeles International Airport arrived on New Year’s Eve 2024.
This phenomenon is due to our peculiar time zone divisions.
Cathay Pacific Flight 880 departed Hong Kong shortly after midnight local time and crossed over the Pacific Ocean, intersecting the International Date Line approximately six hours into the 12-hour journey.
Upon crossing the line, the aircraft (figuratively) traveled back in time, landing at LAX just before 8:30 pm on Tuesday.
The International Date Line (IDL) is an imaginary boundary running down the center of the Pacific Ocean, marking the separation between two calendar dates.
Those residing on one side of the IDL are a day behind those on the opposite side, and vice versa.
Understand?
Therefore, flying eastward results in losing a day, while traveling westward allows for a gain of a day, thanks to the line and time zone adjustments.
Picture this: It’s 2 am on New Year’s Day, you’re recovering from a night of festivities, and you wish to sleep for at least 12 hours without losing an entire day to rest.
By booking a last-minute westward flight, you can sleep during the journey, check into a hotel, and enjoy a full day’s rest while still technically remaining on January 1, thanks to the IDL.
Time and Date explains: “The International Date Line (IDL) is located at about 180° east (or west). It is halfway around the world from the prime meridian (0° longitude), the reference point of time zones, which runs through Greenwich, UK.
“The date line runs from the North Pole to the South Pole and marks the Western and Eastern Hemisphere divide. It is not straight but curves around landmasses and national borders. For example, it leans towards the east at the Bering Strait between Asia and North America, leaving Cape Dezhnev in Russia a day ahead of Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska even though they are only 80 km (50 mi) apart.”
There you have it – a strategic plan for gaining a few extra hours in your day when needed.