MBP on airplane. Sleep or shutdown?

[KidLoco]

I have a 7 hour flight tomorrow.
Is it best to keep my MBP on standby or leave it off until use?

When I say best, I'm referring to maximizing battery life.

 

[miles01110]

If you don't plan on using it just turn it off. Why even ask....

 

[KidLoco]

Maybe I wasn't clear hence your odd response. I intend on using it in-flight. So the more elaborate version of the same question would be;

What would drain the battery more?

A - Sleep/standby for approximately 3 hours (commute to airport, board plane etc.)
B - Turning on the machine from being off completely.


Turning on the machine uses a great deal of battery power, but would it be less than 3 hours worth of sleep?

 

[NC MacGuy]

I always use sleep unless the battery is at <10% or so. Not sure about which one you have but the newer MBP's don't have nearly the drain using sleep as the older ones.

 

[KidLoco]

I always use sleep unless the battery is at <10% or so. Not sure about which one you have but the newer MBP's don't have nearly the drain using sleep as the older ones.

I have a MBP Unibody 15" from the previous generation (early 2009 model).
Thank you for your input! I'm going to opt for the standby/sleep mode.