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Top Travel Pillows: the best travel pillows for flying

Jeremy B
best travel pillows for sleeping on planes - the top travel pillows

Sleeping on a plane is easier said than done for many travelers. The perfect travel pillow could make that a lot easier. But, before you spend your hard earned cash on just any old neck pillow for travel, let’s examine what goes into making a top rated neck pillow. 

In this article, readers will learn the following:

As you can see, we cover a lot of ground here. We’d like to think this is the most exhaustive coverage of this subject around. 

Why is it so hard to sleep on a plane and can the right travel pillow help?

I am always amazed at those travelers who can instantly fall asleep on a plane. These people are rare, though. For most people, sleeping on a plane is a difficult proposition. 

Sleeping on a plane is a difficult task but with the right pillow travelers can improve their chances of catching some shut eye on their flight. 

What makes a great travel pillow? Do travel pillows work?

What makes a great travel pillow? A simple search on Amazon.com reveals more than 60,000 travel pillow related offerings. Thousands upon thousands of products available to consumers. Sleeping on a plane is a problem companies have been trying to solve for years with more products than we care to look at. 

But, back to our original question, what makes a great travel pillow? And do travel pillows work? We think it boils down to a few key features and functions including:

Comfort – top travel pillows should be comfortable!

A travel pillow ought to be comfortable. This, in and of itself, is a hard task to accomplish because you are on a plane. Trying to sleep upright. By definition, the challenge is hard. But, a great travel pillow ought be comfortable. Today, that often means memory foam.

More than just the material of the pillow, the covering should be soft, and cool.

Travel-ability – travel pillows should be easy to travel with

This is a made up word, but we really like it. What we mean is, how hard (or easy) is it to travel with this thing? We like to travel light and smooth here at the CBoardingGroup. We don’t want extra gear and we don’t want stuff that requires an advanced mechanical engineering degree to use (or store).

The best flying pillows should be designed for maximum portability and usability. It should be easy to add or remove from it’s pouch (if it has one). It should be easily adjusted for various body types or seat configurations. It should be designed to easily clip onto backpacks or purses so that we can travel through the airport with it.

Durability – the best flying pillows are durable

A top travel pillow for flying needs to last. It should be able to survive multiple trips, frequent use and the typical abuse that travel brings. It should be able to survive having a suitcase dropped on it in the back of a rental car. Or a 3-year slobbering on it that one time you bring your family on a trip. And, it should be easy to clean!

Curious where to find those hotel pillows from your last stay? Check out our guide to finding the best hotel pillows: 27 Amazing Hotel Pillows – the Best Hotel Pillows You can Buy

Can you actually sleep with the pillow on the plane

The final test of a great travel pillow is simple (but oh so important). Can you actually sleep on the dang plane with this baby!? If you can’t, toss it and start again. Many travel pillows suffer from the common problem facing airplane sleepers: they don’t really truly deal with the neck and the fact you are sleeping up right. Your neck is either bulged out too far (causing discomfort) or there’s a gap behind it (creating the perfect recipe for a crick in your neck). The top travel pillows are built for upright sleeping.

Additionally, what are your unique body characteristics? Do you have a long neck? If so, you may need to locate a travel pillow for long necks – ideally one that is adjustable. 

Are you tall? If so, finding the best travel pillow for tall persons might be key for any chances at sleep. Do you get hot easily? Maybe cooling memory foam is going to be important to you?

These factors and more will ultimately help you choose the most comfortable travel pillow for you!

Top Travel Pillows: comparing the best travel pillows for flying

In the table below we’ve selected 4 unique travel pillows based on four different travel pillow categories including:

We’ve also compared and contrasted each of these best neck pillows for travel attributes, features, unique features, portability, weight, size, washability, material and more.

Later, following the table, we’ve answer several other important questions including:

We are confident you will be able to find the best neck pillow for airline travel for your next trip. Enjoy!

Comparison Table: best travel pillows for flying

Disclosure: After seeing someone else using a Trtl on a plane, we actually reached out to Trtl and asked for a Trtl Pillow Plus so that we could review it. Trtl was gracious enough to provide us one, gratis. However, no guarantee on the nature of the review as asked for, offered or committed to and our review (which you can read here) was unbiased. As always, we call ’em like we see em. 

The Trtl Pillow Plus – the best sleeping pillow for a plane you can find (best new travel pillow)

That’s actually why we like the Trtl Travel Pillow Plus so much and why we consider it the best new travel pillow. It’s probably the most unique and innovative travel pillow on the market today. Unlike traditional U-Shaped pillows it provides a place for your chin to rest (it’s your cheek, really) which solves the “where do I put my neck while I am sleeping upright” issue.

Disclosure: After seeing this travel pillow on an airplane, we actually reached out to Trtl and asked for a Trtl Pillow Plus so that we could review it. Trtl was gracious enough to provide us one, gratis. However, no guarantee on the nature of the review as asked for, offered or committed to. Our formal review is published here.

It simply rests where it’s supposed to as you gently lean your shoulders against your seat back and slightly tilt your head forward onto to the Trtl. Works like a champ.

Unique Neck Support Trtl Travel Pillow

Check the Price of the Most Innovative Travel Pillow – the Trtl Pillow Plus

No sore neck. And, it’s adjustable based on your unique neck. With the cool scarf-like wrap it easily is dropped into place around your neck and you will soon be snoozing.

When done, it easily stows in a small mesh bag that can easily be clipped onto your bag pack for easy external transport, or stuffed into your backpack.

In our opinion, the Trtl Pillow Plus is truly the most innovative and functional travel pillow on the market…and oh yeah…you can actually sleep on the plane with it!

Check the Price of the Most Innovative Travel Pillow – the Trtl Pillow Plus

What is the best travel pillow for a tall person? 

Being tall is a both a curse and a blessing. When it comes to traveling it can definitely be a curse at times. Cramped legroom in coach seats, your head being taller than the headrest, and so on. It can also be difficult to sleep on a plane as a taller person.

But, what is the best travel pillow for a taller person? 

For our money, it is still the Trtl Pillow Plus. Here’s why: it’s adjustable! Meaning, travelers can adjust the height the neck pillow.

The Trtl Pillow Plus is not on the best rated travel pillow it’s also the best travel pillow for tall people!

Is there good travel pillow for long necks?

The best travel pillow for long necks is, once again, the Trtl Pillow Plus which comes out on top because of it can be adjusted! You can raise or lower the height of the chin support in the Trtl based on the height of your neck. 

What are the most comfortable travel pillows?

The most comfortable travel pillow is likely going to be a personal preference sort of thing. That said, anything with memory foam will likely be the most comfortable. I recommend you read as many travel pillow reviews as you can first with particular emphasis on reviews related to unique body characteristics (e.g. tall, short, etc). Then keep that receipt!

Is there a best compact travel pillow?

We are big fans of the travel light theory of traveling. We rarely check a bag and we try to pack as little as possible. Accordingly, it makes sense that travelers would want to know if there is a best compact travel pillow? You know, something small and easily transported. 

Well, there is!

The best compact travel pillow, for our money, is the CO-T Inflatable Neck Pillow. The operative word here is inflatable! When not in use travelers can deflate this top rated neck pillow and easily store it in your bags. Beautiful!

The smallest travel pillow we could find, however, was the CT Compact Technologies Memory Foam Pillow which smushes down for easy compact storage in a small pouch.

What’s the best neck pillow for long haul flights?

Long flights can be brutal. Sleep is an important element to a surviving a long haul flight and if you can’t afford a first class or business class seat (which often includes an actual bed!) you could be in for a rough trip. Find the best travel pillow for long haul flights is going to be an important part of building your travel kit. You may use a different pillow for a long flight than a short one.

The best neck pillow for long haul flights (assuming you are in a coach seat and sleeping upright) is the Trtl Pillow Plus. Its ability to be adjusted plus it’s unique chin rest feature makes it a cinch for use on a long flight.

Final Thoughts on the best neck pillow for air travel

We hope you’ve enjoyed our comparison of the Top Travel Pillows. More importantly, we hope you have found the perfect travel pillow for your next trip. Did you enjoy our list of the top rated travel pillows?

To review, here’s what you learned in this article:

What did you go with? We’d love to hear about it. Drop us a tweet or leave us a comment.

Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I may also earn commissions from other affiliate programs as applicable.

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