Must-have gadgets to make your flight more comfortable
Traveling by air can be a serious pain. With cramped cabins, loud passengers (and often, their kids) and hours with little or nothing to do, it’s no wonder that most people don’t seem to really enjoy flying the friendly skies.
Getting the most out of your flight, including an experience that’s not awful, can often come down to what you bring with you. It’s not always possible to will yourself more leg room or better in-flight food, but you can control some important factors for your own comfort and entertainment. With the help of a few gadgets, flights can go from unbearable to fairly pleasant, if you know what to bring with you.
Keep yourself entertained
Probably the single best item you can bring with you on a flight is a mobile tablet. The versatility of an Android tab or an iPad from Apple allows you to watch movies, listen to music, read books and play games all with the same device – which makes it perfect for flights.
And the good news is, you can find tablets just about anywhere. Apple offers 1 percent Cash Back to buyers of its various iPads, and you can find 2.5 percent Cash Back from Best Buy and Walmart. Stores such as Target, Dell and RadioShack offer 3 percent Cash Back.
Another necessity for on-flight entertainment is a good pair of noise-canceling headphones with which to enjoy your tablet. Any of the above retailers are a good place to look for a set. Look for a pair like the Able Planet Extreme line, which includes a battery to power the noise-canceling tech. If you opt for a USB-powered set of headphones, make sure your tablet includes a USB port you can plug into.
Keep yourself comfortable
The seats in planes are not notoriously comfortable, so one easy and relatively cheap way to seriously improve your flight is to bring your comfort with you. Hit up Brookstone — which offers up to 5 percent Cash Back — and snag a massaging neck pillow like the Nap Massaging Wrap. It’s less than $40 and can make sleeping on the flight a much more viable option. Check around at other retailers like Target and Walmart for more travel neck pillows.
—By Phil Hornshaw, Appolicious