These Genius (And Wildly Affordable) Travel Accessories Make Long-Haul Flights Way More Comfortable

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Long-haul flights can be brutal. And by "long-haul" we mean something like London to Tokyo (almost 14 hours) or some of the world's longest flights, like Shanghai to Buenos Aires (29 hours). If you're going to be crammed into a metal sky tube with strangers, breathing the same air, sharing the same toilets, and smooshed into sardine-can-sized economy class seats, you want to pack some things to be as comfortable as possible. Some folks can just steel themselves and deal with it — good on them. Others prefer hacks and accessories to make their time more bearable, beyond basic eye masks and horseshoe-shaped neck pillows.

Such long-haul flight accessories typically focus on hygiene and comfort. Disposable tray table covers, for instance, shield your laptop, hands, and food from the ever-dubious cleanliness of airplane trays, and can cost just $8. Some versions of this cover even have hanging pockets for your water bottle, phone, and other essentials. The foot hammock, such as this Basic Concepts airplane foot rest, meanwhile, straps around the arms of the tray table and allows you to elevate your feet for $15. Folks tired of those sad, individually wrapped airline earphones can buy a 3.5-mm adapter that allows you to use your own Bluetooth headphones to listen to in-flight entertainment ($30 for the Ugreen transmitter receiver). And of course, there are phone holders that clip onto your tray table (usually around $15).

Admittedly, no matter how relatively inexpensive, such products require shelling out even more hard-earned money on top of what you'll already be spending on your trip. Some folks will also dismiss these accessories as fidgety, gimmicky, gadget-dependent nonsense that takes up much-needed space. That's totally fine. However, for those who want every bit of help possible in making it through long-haul flights, affordable solutions await.

While many of the accessories we mentioned focus on hygiene and comfort, they don't address the sleeping problem that people on long-haul flights often contend with. The foot hammock could assist by lifting your feet, but it won't help with the whole sleeping while sitting up thing. Nor will the foot hammock prevent your head from lolling to one side, a problem that regular U-shaped neck pillows don't universally remedy. Thankfully, certain affordable products can help you get a decent night's rest, albeit an imperfect one.

Plenty of articles discuss and rank neck pillows, like wraparound pillows that encircle your neck like a python. Wraparound pillows, such as the Trtl travel pillow, are well-rated and come with personal recommendations from Redditors, but they're also not particularly affordable ($55 regularly). A more reasonably priced alternative could be something like a 360-degree headrest, which straps onto the small, wing-shaped flaps on your chair's headrest. This kind of accessory attaches to an eyemask that straps your head in place like a medieval torture device, while also blocking light. This is bound to make some people as uncomfortable as a wraparound neck pillow, but it's still a more affordable option ($20 for the Sarisun travel pillow).

As for blocking noise, you'll have to resort to noise-cancelling headphones or earphones. Headphones and earphones can vary widely in quality and price, but if you're primarily concerned about the noise-cancelling feature, some models are exceedingly cheap (you can find even a pair for less than $9). Just bear battery life in mind, as such headphones have to be left on to activate their noise-cancelling feature. Also, be sure to keep your seatbelt fastened while sleeping on the plane, in case turbulence strikes.

It falls on each and every traveler to make the personal decision about what accessory is and isn't worth the time, space, money, and effort to take on board a long-haul flight. But since money is an ever-present issue for most people, and comfort is a pressing issue, especially for those flying in economy class, there are ways to trim your flight costs from minimal to practically nothing. Take the disposal tray table cover we mentioned. Just pack a thin towel and drape it over the tray table to shield it from you and your stuff. You can even use some scarf-like material with a pretty pattern. Folks who don't care about looking weird can even grab paper towels from the airline bathroom and use those on the tray instead. Or, you can carry wet wipes or antibacterial spray to clean the table. 

Other cheap solutions are equally common sense. The foot hammock, for instance? Just use your bag (your personal item, not carry-on). If you don't mind kicking off your shoes, you can even go ahead and do that. Airlines like Japan Airlines (JAL) even hand out disposable slippers to customers because taking your shoes off is a common practice in Japan. Tech solutions like the 3.5-mm Bluetooth adapter may be harder to get around, but only if you care about in-flight entertainment. Why not just load up your laptop or phone with all the downloaded music and shows you actually prefer? There's no need for sad airline earphones at all, in that case. All in all, such tips can reduce your accessory costs from minimal to practically nothing.