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Long-Haul Flight Essentials That Actually Make a Difference
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items Long-haul flights out of Cape Town are brutal: 11 hours to Europe, 15-plus to the US, and usually a connection on top. After plenty of red-eyes to shoots and holidays, this is the kit that turns a miserable flight into a bearable one, from noise canc...
Sections
3
Sleep & Comfort
Tech & Power
Pack Smarter
Sleep & Comfort
The single best upgrade for any long flight. Class-leading noise cancelling erases the engine drone, so you arrive far less exhausted, and they're comfortable enough to wear for 10 hours straight. Battery life easily covers a Cape Town to London trip...
Sony WH-1000XM6 Noise Cancelling Headphones
Forget bulky U-shaped pillows. The Trtl is a soft fleece wrap with a hidden internal support that holds your head upright, so you don't wake up with your chin on your chest. It weighs next to nothing and clips onto your bag. It takes one flight to ge...
Trtl Travel Neck Pillow
Soft, reusable silicone earplugs that actually stay in when you turn your head on the pillow, unlike foam ones. They take the edge off engine noise, crying babies and chatty neighbours, and they're far comfier to sleep in than over-ear headphones. Th...
Loop Quiet 2 Ear Plugs
Airline eye masks press on your eyelids and leak light everywhere. The Manta has adjustable eye cups that sit around your eyes rather than on them, so you get total blackout while you can still blink comfortably. Slide the cups to fit your face, add ...
Manta Sleep Mask
Not glamorous, but your legs will thank you. Graduated compression helps keep blood moving while you're stuck in a seat for hours, so you step off the plane without puffy, aching ankles. These look like normal socks and are comfortable enough to wear...
Bombas Compression Socks
Squeezable silicone bottles that don't leak all over your carry-on at 35,000 feet. They come in sizes that fit airport liquid rules, have a wide mouth for easy filling and a locking cap, and there's a label ring so you never mix up the shampoo and th...
humangear GoToob+ Travel Bottles
Tech & Power
Drop one in every checked bag and you'll always know whether your luggage made the connection, which is priceless when you're changing planes in Dubai, Doha or Johannesburg. If an airline loses your bag, you can show them exactly where it is. It work...
Apple AirTag
Seat-back USB ports are slow or broken more often than not. This compact power bank has a built-in USB-C cable, so there's nothing extra to pack, and 10,000mAh is enough to refill a phone twice. Always keep power banks in your carry-on (they're banne...
Anker Nano Power Bank (10,000mAh)
The gadget that lets you use your own wireless headphones or AirPods with the seat-back entertainment. Plug it into the headphone jack, pair it, and ditch the flimsy airline earbuds for your noise-cancelling pair. It also works with gym machines and ...
Twelve South AirFly Pro
One adapter for 150-plus countries, with built-in USB-A and USB-C ports so you can charge your phone, camera batteries and laptop from a single wall socket. Handy tip for South Africans: most universal adapters don't accept our big three-pin plugs, s...
EPICKA Universal Travel Adapter
Hundreds of books in something lighter than one paperback, with a warm adjustable light that won't disturb your neighbour when the cabin lights go down. The battery lasts weeks, so it never competes with your phone for the power bank. It's also water...
Kindle Paperwhite
Every cable, charger, adapter, AirTag spare and memory card in one zip-up pouch, instead of a tangled mess at the bottom of your bag. It opens flat so you can grab exactly what you need from your seat without unpacking everything. For photographers i...
Bellroy Tech Kit
Pack Smarter
Packing cubes sound boring until you use them. Compressing clothes into labelled cubes means more space, a tidy bag, and no dumping everything on the hotel floor to find one shirt. Pack a small ‘first night’ cube in your carry-on with a change of clo...
Eagle Creek Pack-It Packing Cubes
A carry-on that opens like a suitcase and expands from 35 to 45 litres, so you can skip checked luggage entirely on shorter trips. It pairs with Peak Design's camera cubes, making it a favourite with photographers who want their gear and clothes in o...
Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L
Cabin air is incredibly dry, and waiting for the drinks trolley isn't a hydration strategy. Take this empty through security, fill it at a fountain or ask the crew to top it up, and it keeps water cold for the whole flight. Staying hydrated is the mo...
Hydro Flask Standard Mouth Bottle