Air Travel Kits

What to pack for air travel? Or how to survive long haul or red eye flight? Here are carry-on kit, gadgets and accessories you may find useful for that long flight. Air travel can be exciting and comfortable with the right kit and in-flight entertainment. Even if we fly economy we want to get to our destination fresh and jet-lag free. Airlines may give out amenity kit to long haul passengers but that may not be sufficient so we may want to pack some essential items in to make our flight more enjoyable.

A softneck pillow (and inflight entertainment) may help us snooze or be entertained in comfort. The neck pillow or head rest is useful too for long inter-city bus or train rides. For long haul or red eye flight airlines will usually provide a small flat pillow and we can find them on the seats together with a blanket and headphone. The little pillow is a standard airline comfort kit, but that may not be sufficient or comfortable enough to sleep on. Some airlines especially the low cost carriers do charge for pillows and blanket for extra revenue so you may have to bring your own comfort kit.

The neck pillow can be the inflatable type that you will need to blow air into and deflate for easy storage or the soft beady type that you can easily hook up to your hand carrier. It may seem odd having the neck pillow hanging from our bag but this is a common sight at airport these days. Of course if you are fortunate enough to travel in business class having a neck pillow hanging out from your briefcase may seem odd! You don’t even have to worry about blankets or amenity kit. But other items mentioned below like smartphone charger and plug adapter will still be useful to pack inside your carry-on.

If you have problem snoozing or not distracted by the many buttons and movies from inflight entertainment you may want to pick up a word or two of the language of the countries you are visiting. Get a phrasebook and dictionary if you do not speak the language. They come in easy to carry booklet. You want to be able to at least order a meal or buy a bus ticket, etc., when you are there. There is also the electronic dictionary and phrasebook but the paper booklet is handy to carry around. You can also read some travel guidebook to get yourself familiar with the places you are visiting. It can be in papercopy or stored in e-reader

A pair of earphone, headset or headphone for listening to music or movies on your own electronic devices or inflight entertainment. Full-service airlines will supply headsets to passengers but its better to use your own earphone rather than the airline supplied headset as the supplied kit tend to be of low quality.

A sleep or eye mask. For long haul or red eye flight airlines may give out standard amenity kit packed with mini toothbrush and tiny tube of toothpaste together with a pair of flimsy socks but cost cutting measures by airlines these days may mean you may not get this useful sleeping kit. Some travelers collect miniature airline amenity kit as souvenirs or for future travels. Those amenity kit are cute and handy. They are cute in sizes to comply with airlines liquid restrictions. We know liquid or gel cannot exceed 100 ml for inflight travel.

A pair of socks will be handy if you are not wearing one when you enter the cold airplane. Airlines usually supply a pair of flimsy and cheap looking socks for that one time use as part of the amenity kit especially for long haul or red eye flight but you may prefer to bring a thicker pair of your own. If you are worried about deep vein thrombosis (DVT) there are flight compression socks being sold at many pharmacies that can help to prevent DVT, swollen ankles and tired legs on long haul lights.
During very long flights we tend to take off our shoes. It is more comfortable to rest without our tight shoes on. Airplane cabins tend to be very cold so we still leave the socks on. Put on a pair of soft disposable cotton slippers over your socks similar to the ones found in hotel rooms. Convenient when we need to go to the washroom. You can always reuse it on your return flight or bring back a pair from the hotel room that you will be staying in assuming one will be provided.

E-reader. A handy and lighter way to store information and books electronically. Might be useful for that long flight especially if you are an avid reader.

Sweater, pullover or cardigan. Essential during air travel. We know how freezing cold the plane cabin can sometimes be. The airline supplied blanket is usually insufficient to keep us warm. Most travellers however can be seen wearing a sweater when in the airport. Some airports can be cold or the weather outside is already cold.

Compact travel size toothbrush, toothpaste, floss and foldable hair brush or comb. For long haul flight airlines usually will give out basic toiletries amenity pack which consists of a small foldable really soft toothbrush and tiny single use toothpaste tube and a flat comb but with cost cutting measures these days you may not get one unless you are sitting comfortably in business or first class in which case many of the items listed here may not be necessary. You certainly will not get one if you fly in low cost or budget carriers. Its good to carry our own basic toiletries kit as they can be useful during transit. We will sometimes see passengers brushing their teeth in transit area washroom. If we forget to pack them, at many stores including those in airport transit areas we can buy TSA approved small travel size toiletries kit which we can put in our carry-on. Dental hygiene is important and we do want to feel clean and fresh at all times. We love to carry small compact items that we can easily throw into our carry-on or hand carry luggage. Afterall that’s what carry-ons are supposed to be.

Facial or wet cleansing wipes. Handy to clean and moisturize face and hands. If you plan to clean your face get the ones suitable for face. Other than getting hydrated at all times in pressurized cabin, a travel size hand and face moisturizer will be useful too. Especially for ladies where beauty is important. We can expect more than just moisturizer in ladies handbag. We can find in stores miniature bottles of skin-care products, perfume, etc., which are great as carry-on.

Always carry anti-bacterial hand sanitizer. They come in easy to carry cheerful looking mini bottles with pleasant smell. There are also the individually wrapped hand sanitizing wipes. You never know what germs are stuck on those seats and inflight entertainment buttons. You may be able to find some hand wipes in the aircraft toilets but they usually run out very fast. Anyway you can also wash your hand with soap in the cramped toilets. The aircraft toilets have both hot and cold water. I have seen passengers wearing face mask on board but that is rare and most passengers do not wear one, hoping the air we breathe in the pressurized cramped cabin is clean. If the cabin is pressurized then it should be clean. Cabin crew will hand out hot towels before taking off but after a long tiring flight sitting in cramped seats and breathing recycled air we certainly do not want to get sick while traveling.

Anti-bacterial mouth or breath spray is a quick way to clean-up your mouth after meals. Useful during flight and on the road. Not a substitute for proper teeth brushing but for a quick refreshing clean breath after meals on the road.

Tablet or iPad. Many travelers carry one these days. We know the power and usefulness of these electronic gadgets. Not only to surf the net but we can listen to music and watch movies with it. With inflight entertainment we may not need devices but if we are flying in low cost carriers they will come in handy. Some full service airlines still do not have in-flight entertainment on individual seats so these handy tablets can keep us occupied in our cramped economy seats and not having to strain our neck looking up the faraway small monitor. Of course we need to load the tablets or iPad with movies before we fly. However we all know electronic devices cannot be used during take-off and landing so as not to interfere with flight navigation system. The cabin crew will make all the familiar important announcement during such times.

A retractable charger cable is a neat accessory to charge your mobile devices. The wire can be easily pulled and retracted. No more messy wires in your bag or on the floor. In some aircrafts you can find USB port so you can charge your electronic devices while up in the air. Electronic devices require power to run or be charged, so cables will be required.

A backup cell or smartphone battery charger or power or juice pack is handy and easy to carry just in case your smartphone runs out of battery while in the air or once you reached your destination. We know as soon as the plane landed and the switched on permission is given most travelers will start fiddling with their smartphone. The familiar sms messaging sound can be heard as soon as auto roaming starts to function. This gadget must be pre-charged for it to work. The battery pack can charge single or several cycles depending on its capacity. The higher the capacity the heavier and costly it will be. But don't forget to carry the charging cable as well. By the way, we all know by now that Samsung Note 7 is a no-no in airplane.

Power supply are not uniform worldwide. Some countries use 220V and some 110V but fortunately most electronic devices are built with dual voltages. Power socket outlets are also not uniform worldwide. So bring along a universal power plug adapter to charge your electronic devices during transit. We all know electronic devices and gadgets such as smartphones and tablets can’t work very long without recharging. And power will drain very fast if we play games or listen to music on our smartphones.

A non-prescription dietary supplement, melatonin, or homeophatic tablets may help with restful sleep and jet-lag or flight fatigue recovery. Please ensure you read the label.

A small blanket. One will be provided if you travel on full-service airlines which most will fly in for long haul flight. But if you travel in low-cost or budget airline you will have to bring one or purchase one on board. We all know how freezing airline cabins can be. Some airline charge for pillows and blanket for extra revenue. Blankets can be useful too during long bus or coach rides if we travel overland.

Fold-up travel stand for tablets, iPads and readers. It is a foldable, light, compact and portable kit that you can easily carry and place on the airplane seat tray to watch movies or listening to music or to read. Alternatively get a folio case for your tablet or iPad that can double up as a stand. Most tablet cases or covers are flexible and can be used as a stand.

MP3 player or iPod for listening to our favorite music. We can make use of our smartphone but listening music (and playing games) using smartphone can quickly suck-up the battery power. Or we can bring along spare power bank or juice pack. Some high tech airliners may have USB port for charging at the back seat. Which means we have to carry charging cable along. In any case many travelers carry along mobile phones charging cable and power plug adapter in their carry-on just in case their devices run out of battery. We can find mobile devices charging stations at many modern airports today.

A book. Or a couple of magazines or newspapers. We can sometimes find newspapers when boarding the entrance. To keep you occupied in the plane or during transit. A ebook is nice and handy but sometimes electronic device can’t beat holding the real paperback.

As bizarre or funny as it may look I have seen travelers bringing in bed pillows on board. Yes the real pillow that you find on your bed. Real bed pillow sure looks comfy but with the size not sure how these travelers can lay flat unless there are some empty seats available. They would probably just hug or snuggle them. The pillows can be really useful for that long layover in the airport transit.
Ear plug.

Airline may provide you a pair in their standard amenity kit together with eye or sleep mask and basic toiletries but you may want to carry a pair or two just in case. They are pretty small and tiny. Pretty useful too if you are staying in shared dorm to mask the noise of fellow travelers snoring.

Chewable toothpaste tablets. Alternative to conventional toothpaste. Great for airplane trip. Great for long road and camping trip too.

Travel digital luggage scale. The handy gadget is pretty accurate and can weigh up to 110 lb or 50 kg. Compact and lightweight enough to bring along in your travel if you are worried about excess baggage fees.

A small empty water bottle can be useful to be carried in the plane (but make sure your water bottle is empty before you enter air-side or immigration area). We can fill up in the plane or in the departure gate if water coolers are available. Alternatively we can purchase a bottle at the transit area (again depends on the transit layout). We need to keep hydrated at all time while traveling or sitting for long hours in pressurized cabin. There are water bottles that come with filters.

If you are traveling for business or need to get some serious work done during vacations, you may want to get a lighter weight ultrabook or mini laptop to shave off a bit of weight from your hand carrier. There are now available lighter and thinner laptops for ease of carrying around. Gone are the days when the laptops weigh five pounds. During those days and before tablets or I Pads are popular, I have seen travelers dumped their heavy laptops into their checked-in luggage bag because they are just too heavy to lug around. Ultrabook or thin tablet-style laptops are lighter because CD Rom disk drive is not built-in but can be connected externally if needed. But if you need to bring along all these extra components or gadgets then it is better to bring along a conventional laptop.