...in fact, I need to bring my own seat. But we'll start with a neck pillow.

Has anyone a non-inflatable pillow to recommend? (the inflatables have not worked for me. They end up leaking.)

This looks interesting. Not too difficult to pack, by the looks of it (some pillows look comfy but I'm not willing to take up too much space. I know, I want it all...)

https://www.amazon.com/Trtl-Pillow-S...e9b86a5f17cbb8

Okay, I found this article which gives a lot of ideas.

Most are too big for someone traveling carryon only.

14 Best Travel Pillows - Neck Support for the Airplane | Travel + Leisure

On my last trip, I took the airline blanket provided, folded it lengthwise, and then rolled it up to make a neck support, as I'm too vertically challenged for the built-in headrest to be much use. As one cannot count on the blanket being provided, and one might in any case actually want to use it as a blanket maybe that's the best alternative - find a similar piece of cloth, say a large microfibre towel

https://www.amazon.com/109360-Kent-E.../dp/B0169BH466

I like this idea in theory because the towel would be more versatile in usage, and relatively easy to pack.

Opinions welcome.

Have you tried those U-shaped bean-bag ones they sell at all the airports?

I have one like Suze describes. It is filled with Buckwheat and is generally referred to as a "Bucky." I find it the most comfortable neck pillow I've tried. But it does take up space, so it depends on how much you are willing to carry. I bought mine at the local AAA office, but I'm sure they are available on Amazon as well.

Any non-inflatable will take up a lot of space. I carry two or three inflatables in the briefcase . Take almost no space and I've' had good luck with them not leaking if I buy good ones, If one leaks, I toss it and pull out the spare

In my Amtrak coach riding days, I packed an empty pillowcase in my carry on. When I was ready to sleep, I put my medium weight coat inside the pillowcase.

Suze and Kathie, they look comfy, in fact they look like they could double as a 'butt padder' as well as a neck pillow (those new Slimline seats are hard on the poor posterior) but I'm greedy and irrational, I don't want to sacrifice space in my bag for them.

Rich. Extra inflatables. Stop making sense, you're making me look bad.

Tom - I have in the past used my windbreaker folded up in a Ziplock as a back pillow, but I must admit the pillow case would make a softer and more pleasant covering. Thanks for the tip.

I don't want to sacrifice space in my bag for them.

I get it. I don't travel with a pillow at all.

DH, DD and I just flew transatlantic with 3 pillows - a small inflatable, a U-shaped bean bag one, and a full-size thin, floppy pillow. Towards the end of the flight we were fighting over the latter.

I carried it on for the long-haul flight but had put in our large suitcase for the shorter flight. Yeah it might seem like a pain because of the size but it was sure worth it. At one point, I bunched it up between me and DH's head and we both fell asleep. And we sat on it when not using it to sleep.

It's also come in handy here in Provence for an extra pillow. The one at our villa is too firm and my pillow adds a nice comfy layer.

Boots

The planes I have been on recently have had seats with adjustable headrests. They have revolutionized my Economy Class life.

Not sure if it is the best but I find Eagle Creek Exhale very comfy.

The pillow you describe sounds like the one supplied by the airline for our last trip - latter sounds a bit smaller. About the size of a laptop, maybe only slightly thicker, and 'floppy' meaning one could play with it a bit. The supplied blanket if folded would be about the same size and shape.

None of this of course substitutes for my idea that we Fodorites should all chip in for our own Air Fodors One, so that we can take turns flying in it configured with full size beds, armchairs, etc. etc.

Rodavid, I took a look at that product, it does seem as if the valve is robustly made. Other such pillows of cheaper make I've found have a high failure rate as the air pressure changes seem to put a lot of stress on the valve.

I don't know if this is crazy or not, but it works for me: I sewed a small woven loop onto my Bucky-type pillow and now attach to my "personal item" bag with a small carabiner.

I put the loop on the outside at the middle of the U curve. It doesn't flop around much but it isn't pretty.

So my college kids wear their big headphones to the airport, put them in the bin when for security and then back on they go, right onto the plane. I have seen a couple of people do the same with smaller neck pillows. Flight attendants are generally going to ignore it.

I sometimes have back pain, so I've taken a pillow I can either put my head on, sit on, or put behind my back depending on my need.

Somewhere I bought a bed pillow that was advertised as comfortable because it has an inner pillow that is chopped up foam encased in a zip-off outer case that is padded. I didn't like the pillow for sleeping at home, but found the zip-off outer padded case is enough of a pillow to work on the plane and can be squished/rolled into a compression bag to make it smaller or spread across the top of my stuff in my 22" suitcase expanded. I've carried it on in addition to my bag. Once at destination and traveling by train, bus, etc., I put it in my expanded case until needed for flight home.

Only time this approach caused problems is after a long flight to Seoul transferring to flight to Bangkok, I was tired and tried to stuff the pillow in my bag unexpanded. I broke the expansion zipper so my suitcase wouldn't compress back down.

I've used the bean bags mentioned and the inflatable neck pillows. When only taking an inflatable, I am now using Travelrest ultimate inflatable pillow thanks to someone on this forum. https://www.travelrest.net/products/...-travel-pillow It takes some getting used to, but I use it only partially inflated strapped on as shown or sometimes behind my neck.

I recently bought the J Pillow. It is a bit on the larger size, but I just hooked it on to my carry on bag and it was fine. I've only used it for 1 flight so far and I liked it. You can use it in a multitude of ways so you don't have to use it in the J shape if that doesn't suit you. I've had about 5 different pillows over the year and end up discarding them after a couple times of use. Tghe "Bucky" pillow described above worked for a while, but I found I needed more support for my chin. We'll see how this one goes.
https://www.jpillow.com

I think a lot depends on how people sleep (if they sleep - my airline seems to delight in scheduling "our duty free is now open" announcements just after I finally start to drop off...) My head never seems to drop forward, although I know a lot of people's do - for them, I can see the product Yestravel's mentions as being useful.

have you tried the tray table down, lean forward trick?