Long-haul flight carry-on essentials

On a long-haul flight, the bag at your feet matters more than the one in the locker. Pack for hydration, sleep, and the twenty minutes before landing when you want to feel human again.

60 items · 10-day city break, mild weather, carry-on only · tick them off, print, or adjust the list to your trip below

Cabin air is drier than most deserts

Relative humidity at altitude sits around 10–20%, which is drier than the Sahara. That's the reason for the headache, the sore throat and the shrivelled contact lenses. An empty bottle filled after security, lip balm, moisturiser, and glasses instead of lenses for the flight itself deal with almost all of it. Alcohol and coffee make it worse, whatever the drinks trolley suggests.

Compression socks for anything over eight hours

Sitting still for long periods raises the risk of deep vein thrombosis, and graduated compression socks measurably reduce it. They're cheap, they take no space, and the discomfort is minimal compared to the alternative. Walk the aisle every couple of hours regardless.

The last-hour reset

A toothbrush, a face wipe, deodorant and a clean t-shirt in your seat bag turn the final hour into something restorative rather than endured. It matters most on the flights that land in the morning and expect you to function — which is most long-haul eastbound routes.

The seat-back pocket rule

Anything in the seat-back pocket gets left on the plane. Passports, phones and glasses have all ended their journeys there. Use the pocket for a book and nothing else, and keep the irreplaceable items in a zipped bag at your feet. Also: medication times shift with time zones — work out the schedule before you fly, not at 3am over Greenland.

Packing List for International Travel: The Complete Checklist A copy-paste packing list for international travel: documents, carry-on essentials, the 5-4-3-2-1 clothing formula, tech, meds, and what to leave home.
Travel Checklist: Everything to Do Before Leaving Home The complete pre-departure travel checklist — what to do 2 weeks out, 1 week out, the day before, and the day you leave, from documents to door locks.

Frequently asked questions

Should you wear compression socks on a long flight?

For anything over about eight hours, yes. Sitting still in a pressurised cabin slows circulation in the legs, and compression socks measurably lower the risk of deep vein thrombosis. They are cheap, take no space, and the discomfort argument against them disappears somewhere over hour six.

Should I wear glasses or contact lenses on a plane?

Glasses. Cabin humidity typically runs between 10 and 20 percent, which is drier than most deserts, and lenses that are comfortable for a workday become genuinely painful across a long-haul flight. Pack the lenses for the destination and land in glasses.

What should you do in the last hour of a long flight?

Reset before you land rather than after. A toothbrush, a face wipe, deodorant and a clean t-shirt in your under-seat bag take five minutes in the toilet and change how the arrival, the immigration queue and the first hours at your destination feel. Keep nothing valuable in the seat-back pocket — it is where passports go to be left behind.

Each one is a full list with advice specific to that trip — and the generator underneath it, so you can adjust it to yours.

Long-haul flight carry-on essentials

Cabin air is drier than most deserts

Compression socks for anything over eight hours

The last-hour reset

The seat-back pocket rule

Your list