kind of trivial, but...
 

are you concerned about using airline pillows/blankets that are reused numerous times before being cleaned? Heard recently that after a flight, they are neatly put into a plastic bag looking as though they are fresh and clean. Yuck, I'm thinking of all of the unsanitary scenarios...drool on pillows, dirty from being dropped on floor...just use your imagination! I know it's kind of petty with SARS and all, but...

I have to admit the only place I ever put an airline pillow is at the small of my back. I would not put my head anywhere near one! And I don't even open the blanket..I wear a sweater if I'm cold or pull my own scarf or pashmina around me.!
YUCK!

I made a small pillowcase to keep in my carry-on. You could probably use an infant pillowcase. Problem solved.

Great idea JeanneB..and doesn't take up space.

I don't normally carry much on the plane, so for a long flight, I buy a cheap regular size pillow and get a window seat. I jam the pillow in the gap between the seat and the wall of the plane and have a comfy nest. I buy a cheap one because I just leave it when I exit the plane--don't want to lug a bulky pillow all over the world.

There have been a few threads about this , I have gotten good advice in the past about staying away from "contaminated" pillows and blankets!
I prefer to use the pillow for my back and my pashmina as a blanket.

I love the "cheap regular size" pillow idea. I took a travel feather pillow all over Europe in one of those bags you squeese everything down in, but didn't get it out on the plane.

How about a scene of crimes jump suit?
Get real or why travel!

After coming down with some disgusting conjunctivitis-like dripping-eye thingie a few years ago right after an Air France flight, I won't let an airline pillow get above my waist. I usually just make my own pillow out of a sweater or jacket - it doesn't matter because I can't sleep on planes, anyway.

LOL, derrinraw had a good idea! We should be issued throw-away jump suits that will keep us clean and wrinkle free for long flights!
I am like StCirq,I cannot sleep on a flight . Try as I might, there is no way I can do more than doze and feel worse, so I just stay awake and watch the bad airline movies.

Scarlett you sound ok to me I would rather watch the old movie than pine about what pernicious organism is lurking in the airline blanket....thats what happened to Howard Hughes. Before you know it you are holed up in a high rise hotel room sucking filtered air and growing 5 inch finger nails

OMG! derrinraw! what a picture I have in my mind now of my next flight ! Don't forget the long tanlged hair!!
I don't use the pillows or blankets though, nor do I use the bedspread on hotels:)

I can see why you like the scene of crimes jumpsuit idea! Be brave dive right in there unless you are staying in a dive! In 19 century London (and other major cities) "doss houses" would often put a rope accross a room for the guest to flop over if the beds were already full or infested. Does'nt bear thinking about. How did we get down this road anyway. I feel the need to wash.....

derrinraw-then this would be why they are called "flop" houses?
feeling kinda itchy, scratch scratch:s

LOL :)) @};-

I hope none of you are among those people who insist on putting your feet, with shoes ON, on airline seats!
I think there are many more serious things to be concerned about on an airplane than the pillows and blankets..and how do you know they haven't BEEN cleaned..perhaps to a greater degree than some of the items in your own home? What about rhe cleanliness of those sheets and PILLOWS in your hotel room, etc., etc. Get real!

The dirt in my house is MY dirt! :) :)

I've filled more prescriptions for lice treatments for people who have just been on a flight than I care to remember . Read the article in Mon WSJ if you want a real look at hotel beds and bedbugs!! We'll all be sleeping standing up !!!! I'm with scarlett on the bedspread thing too..at least the sheets are clean but they never change the bedspreads between customers.