I love being on a plane, despite the fact that the legroom in coach seems to shrink centimeter by centimeter with every flight I take. But I don’t love how cold they are. Even with the little air conditioner above my seat twisted off, I’ll usually still need a coat and a blanket to feel like I’m not in the middle of the arctic. However, considering blankets aren’t always complimentary or available on flights, especially in coach, I rarely end up with one. While bringing my own airplane travel blanket seems like the most logical answer, I hate traveling with anything bulky. And a blanket that I have to stuff in my already overpacked backpack definitely counts as “bulky” in my book.
That all changed, though, when I found this: a four-in-one travel blanket on Amazon that you can fold up and zip into a small pillow-like shape when you’re not using it, which even includes a strap that can slide over suitcase handles. No need to attempt to figure out where to store it, or how to fold it up — it’s got all of that covered for you.
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Even better, the Let’s Innovate Life blanket also has two zippered pockets, which I don’t think I knew I needed in a blanket until now. They’re situated in places so that when the blanket is in its folded-up form, they’re still accessible, so you can store anything you need in there: your plane ticket, snacks miscellaneous papers, whatever. When it’s unzipped and in use, the pockets are still accessible, too. (The item page on Amazon recommends storing your phone in one of them for safe-keeping.)
When folded up, the blanket is soft enough that it can also double as a pillow, but there’s no need to choose, because it also includes an inflatable travel pillow so you can stay warm and comfortable all at once. A concept I will gladly get behind!
Amazon 4 in 1 Travel Blanket Credit: Courtesy of Amazon
To buy: amazon.com, $25 (originally $30)
Between its lack of bulkiness and its low price point — it’s only $25, on sale from $30 — the four-in-one travel blanket is without a doubt the first product to actually motivate me to think about bringing my own blanket and pillow on board a flight.
The only issue is, now I kind of want all my blankets to have built-in pockets, and that’s simply not where we’re at in life just yet.
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