When you are flying budget economy on a legacy carrier, the in-flight experience isn’t much different from regular economy (though your odds of getting the middle seat skyrocket). But on an ultra-low-cost carrier — such as Allegiant, Frontier, Ryanair or Spirit — you pay for food and drink, plus any bags beyond a personal item, and, at the moment, there’s no onboard entertainment or Wi-Fi. So, along with your collapsible water bottle, add these items to your packing list.
Small enough to work as a personal item, this water-repellent bag has a place for everything (including a laptop), and its straps detach for under-seat stowage.
With 64 gigabytes, this tablet has enough memory to hold the hours of content you downloaded at home, and it’s sized for teensy, budget-airline tray tables.
Without outlets, you’ll need a way to recharge your devices, and this high-capacity power bank is about the size of a bar of soap. (Don’t forget cables!)
Pack your meal at home in this insulated bag — sandwiches, packaged bars and cookies are O.K. to bring through security, though soups or stews are not.
This comfortable-to-wear pair effectively cancels airplane noise, coils up for easy transport and allows you to listen via Bluetooth or an included cable.
This pillow won’t support your head as well as a traditional travel pillow, but you can sit on it if necessary — budget-air seats can be hard.
Wearing compression socks can help prevent deep vein thrombosis on flights, budget or otherwise. These shouldn’t bunch up and even manage to look somewhat stylish.
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