3 Unique Travel / Airplane Neck Pillows for Your Sleeping Style
Trying to sleep while flying can be very uncomfortable, as seen here with woman sleeping on her suitcase. Buying the proper neck pillow for air travel can provide great relief to uncomfortable situations.
Image: Mikhail Starodubov/Shutterstock.com
There are many different ways to sleep on an airplane. Which one are you?
The tray-table sleeper
The window seat-side wall sleeper
The forehead-on-seatback in front of you sleeper
The leaning sleeper
The perfectly-upright sleeper
You’ve seen them all, and perhaps even tried them all. Yes, we’re talking about sleeping positions on a plane. Sleeping comfortably in an airplane seat is no easy feat. Most airplane sleeping positions contort and place pressure on your neck and spine, so having a proper neck pillow that is designed for your personal sleeping style on a plane is key to having a comfortable flight.
Sleeping well on a plane, especially on a long, overnight redeye or international flight will leave you waking up well-rested and more importantly, help keep your neck and back sore-free. The last thing anyone wants is to deal with a strained neck while on vacation!
When someone mentions a neck pillow, the image that we often conjure up in our minds is the bulky, plush, horseshoe-shaped pillow that goes around your neck.
Many stores inside airports sell these. But the conventional, horseshoe shaped neck pillow may not always be the best type of pillow for how you prefer to sleep on an airplane. They also tend to take up a lot of space in your carry-on baggage.
We’d like to share several unique and innovative airplane neck pillows that we found that can cater to your unique and individual sleeping style on an airplane.
ADVERTISEMENTAirplane neck pillows for upright sleepers
If you prefer to sleep upright on an airplane, or need to out of necessity (i.e. middle or aisle seat), the trtl® Travel Pillow is your best solution. A very popular item on Amazon, it is a scarf-style pillow that wraps a thin, fleece material around your neck.
You may be wondering how a thin wrap can provide any neck support whatsoever. Its secret is the pillow’s removable…we’ll get to that later…internal plastic support which works almost like a neck brace, gently cradling and conforming to the shape of your neck, without letting it tilt too far. The support is on one side of the pillow only so it won’t constrict your head like a literal neck brace. This also gives you to the flexibility to choose which side you want to sleep on/lean to – left, right, or even forward onto your chin.
The slim fleece material, along with the thin plastic support, means the overall size of the trtl® Travel Pillow is very compact. While it won’t pack entirely flat, due to the shape of the internal support, the thinness of its components does reduce its volume versus a bulky, more traditional memory foam neck pillow. This can help save a lot of space in your luggage. More space for souvenirs!
Additionally, if you’re the type of who typically likes to strap a neck pillow on the outside of your bags, another advantage of the trtl® Travel Pillow is that because it’s a scarf-style pillow, it can securely wrap around a bag strap or a handle in a closed loop. This is way more secure than a traditional horseshoe pillow that can only “hook” onto the outside of your luggage – believe us when we say that we’ve seen more than our fair share of horseshoe pillows in airports and on planes that have seem to have lost their owners.
Lastly, you’ll recall we mentioned the internal support is removable. This leaves nothing but the fleece wrap, which leads us to the best part. The pillow is easily machine washable, which can’t be said about a memory foam neck pillow. The plastic support can also be wiped down.
Airplane neck pillows for side-wall sleepers
If you love the window seat, you most likely also like to lean on the side wall of the airplane to catch some sleep. Airlines used to (like 20+ years ago) provide pillows that could be placed between your head and the wall. However, those days have been long gone, and traditional horseshoe neck pillows haven’t really replaced that function. There’s a reason why they are marketed as neck pillows and not head pillows.
However, this innovative pillow by Dot & Dot, called Twist, is a memory foam tube that can be – you guessed it – twisted into multiple configurations to adapt to your needs. If you want a traditional horseshoe, you can bend it into a horseshoe. If you want to sleep against the wall, you can take one leg of the horseshoe and twist it upward toward the side of your head…an instant head pillow!
The pillow is also great for lumbar support and is versatile, able to be used not just on airplanes, but at home as well.
Airplane neck pillows for forward-leaning sleepers
Every time we see people sleep like this on a plane, we wonder how uncomfortable it must be. Putting your forehead against the hard seatback in front of you can place a lot of pressure on your neck and face. Then for those who are shorter and able to fully lean over, we often see them sleeping on tray tables. The low height of the tray table, almost at lap height, can add a lot of strain to one’s lower back.
We would probably recommend the trtl® pillow that we mentioned above that allows to you to tilt your head forward and cradle your jaw. But if you want or need a little bit more forward lean, the best solution we’ve found for this is an inflatable column-style pillow that lets your bury your head in front of you.
The 45-degree “shelf” at the top of this pillow has a hole for you to pop your face into, similar to the head rest on a massage chair. On the sides of the pillow are two large holes that you can stick your arms into.
Aesthetically, it is purely a functional object. The sheer size of the pillow in its inflated form is sure to draw the attention of your fellow passengers. But hey, on an airplane, who cares. Fellow passengers will probably envy your comfort, and this unique pillow might even be a good conversation starter with your seatmates.
Airplane foot rest for kids
While we’re on the subject of inflatable pillows, one additional accessory that might be worth looking at is an inflatable foot rest. This may not be too practical for adults, given the limited legroom in economy class, but if you have small children whose feet don’t quite touch the ground yet in an airplane seat, this could be a lifesaver.
At just only 9” wide, it should be able to easily fit in the leg space between your row and the row in front of you. The pillow comes with two chambers, allowing you to inflate the pillow to three different heights depending on the age of your child.
Conventional Horseshoe Travel Neck Pillows
Conventional horsehoe-shaped neck pillows for sale at the airport.
Image: The Window Flyer
We hope you’ve enjoyed the different unique travel/airplane neck pillows we’ve shown you in this article. Sleeping on a plane is complex, and these pillows can help match your preferred sleeping style on an airplane.
But if you decide to opt for a more traditional horseshoe style neck pillow, here’s a few that we’d like to highlight.
Memory Foam Neck Pillow
The MLVOC Travel Pillow is a memory foam neck pillow with a string tie. It incorporates a breathable cover and is machine washable. The kit even comes with a carrying bag, ear plugs, and eye mask, helping block out noise and light in an airplane cabin.
With over 20,000 reviews averaging 4.5 stars, it’s a popular item at Amazon.com.
Inflatable Neck Pillows
This inflatable pillow by BestMaxs features micro-velvet fabric and includes a carrying case and machine washable pillow case.
One of the best features of this pillow is its built-in pocket, allowing you to carry things like credit cards, wallets, and phones right in the pillow.
The UROPHYLLA Inflatable Travel Pillow also features a soft micro-velvet fabric outer layer.
Unlike most neck pillows, this travel pillow includes added humps to help support your neck, helping prevent the inevitable head tilt that often results in a strained neck.
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