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The 12 Best Travel Pillows of 2024, Tested and Reviewed

Sleep and relax comfortably on the go with these top travel pillows

In This Article

• Our Top Picks
• Other Pillows We Liked

Our Testing Process

• Tips for Buying
• Why Trust T+L

Travel + Leisure / Emily Johnson

Sitting upright for hours on end or sleeping on unfamiliar pillows can be incredibly uncomfortable, but a reliable travel pillow can make your trip a lot more tolerable. Whether embarking on a red-eye flight, going camping, or looking to get a good night's sleep in your hotel room, the best travel pillows will be comfy, supportive, and portable. 

We tested more than 40 travel pillows, looking at traits like comfort, durability, portability, and quality. We narrowed down the best options while using the accessory for road trips, long-haul flights, train rides, and even sleeping at home, making sure each option was comfortable for extended use. After catching some of the best Z's, we rounded up pillow choices for different types of travelers who are looking to get more rest on their future trips.

Best Overall

Infinity pillow travel pillow.

Infinity Pillow

The modular design of the pillow makes it easy to use to support the neck, chin, or back while sitting.

The cushioning is fairly soft, so the support isn't as stiff as memory foam.

Most travel pillows come in one shape and size, so we love that this one can contort in various ways to fit your needs. At nearly 40 inches long, the infinity design (yes, like the scarves worn in the early 2000s) can be wrapped once for less support or twice for the type of neck support found in traditional C-shaped pillows. We used the pillow during an all-day road trip and loved that we could wear it around the neck with a looser or tighter fit depending on how much neck support we wanted.

We also found that it's much easier to travel with the pillow since the closed ring shape makes it easy to wear around the neck instead of having to pack it away or risk it falling off. The bamboo fabric is extremely soft and breathable, so we never felt overheated or constricted, and the pillow is machine washable for easy upkeep after a trip. Our only note is that it's not a firm neck pillow like memory foam options, so it's not the most supportive if that's what you're looking for, but it still offers sufficient cushioning for keeping the neck upright. It also comes in a whopping 10 colors.

The Details: Bamboo, nylon | 39.3 x 6.6 inches | Machine washable

Travel + Leisure / Paige VandeWiele

Best With Seat Strap

Cabeau tne s3 travel pillow.

The seat strap system keeps the pillow in place to prevent it from slipping around or falling off.

It can feel stiff at first and takes some getting used to.

This soft and supportive travel pillow is the perfect accessory for long trips, whether you're in the car or in the air. The pillow itself can attach to any headrest with adjustable straps to prevent your head from sagging or falling into uncomfortable positions while sleeping. There's also an adjustable chin strap for added comfort and security. The pillow's exterior fabric is soft and cozy yet breathable so you don't feel too hot or constricted — though it can take some time to find your perfect position.

We also love that the pillow case is machine washable. We tested this pillow on a long international trip where it really got tossed around on planes, trains, and buses, so it felt great to wash the cover at the end of the trip, making it feel as good as new. Despite its fairly large size, the pillow is also quite portable as it rolls up into a compact carrying case that you can attach to a bag's exterior or slip into larger backpacks and totes.

The Details:  Polyester, microsuede, foam   | Machine washable | Carrying case included

Most Supportive

Ostrichpillow go neck pillow.

The pillow has an asymmetrical design that can accommodate neck, chin, and head support preferences.

It might warm your neck if you run hot while sleeping.

The Ostrich Pillow Go Neck Pillow feels like sleeping on a cloud. This travel pillow provided the perfect amount of neck support and comfort when we took it on a flight, allowing us to get more rest than usual. The plush memory foam filling and asymmetric design can be easily adjusted to support the neck, chin, or head with the taller or shorter sides. The materials appear high-quality and luxurious, and it is easy to roll the pillow up to fit inside its compact drawstring sack. The pillow held its shape after being in the bag for long periods of time, which leads us to believe that it will hold up well with prolonged use. The pillow cover is removable and machine washable, but we air dried it to ensure it didn’t shrink (and had no issues putting it back on the pillow). A must-have for those with higher budgets, this pillow allows for better sleep and more comfort on flights.

The Details: Viscosa, memory foam | 10.5 x 9.5 inches | Machine washable | Carrying case included

Travel + Leisure / Susan Brickell

Aeris Memory Foam Travel Pillow

It’s supportive and firm without feeling too stiff. 

This would be best for travelers who know they prefer a firm travel pillow.

We love the comfortable and supportive Aeris Memory Foam Travel Pillow for travelers that like a firmer neck pillow. The buckle strap adjusts accordingly to fit around your neck and offers 360-degree support on the chin, jaw, and back. We loved how you can lean back in the car or plane, and the back of the neck doesn't fall backward. In addition to having exceptional support, the Aeris travel pillow folds into a small ball and easily fits into the included circular carrying case that you can clip onto a backpack or suitcase without being a noticeable nuisance. The travel pillow also comes with earplugs and an eye mask, and features a frontal slip pocket that you can store them in. After a trip, you can unzip and remove the carrying case to machine wash it, although we recommend air drying it to prevent any possibility of shrinkage.

The Details: Velour, polyester, memory foam | 11.81 x 11.42 x 3.54 inches | Machine washable | Carrying case included

Travel + Leisure / Anna Popp

Pluto Pillow Pod

Pluto Pillow

It boasts a cozy hood and built-in eye mask for total darkness even on bright flights.

It's one of the pricer options on this list.

Like the black-out curtains of travel pillows, this option comes with a hood and an eye mask that shields your eyes from any light, which is incredibly useful when you're trying to get some shut-eye on a busy flight. It has a soft neck brace that wraps around the neck with light support, and the hood goes on like a regular hoodie with a drop-down eye mask. Once our head was fully cocooned in the hooded pillow, we found that it was a game changer for travelers who have a hard time falling asleep with light or ambient noise around since it muffles sounds and blocks rays. While the space-helmet-like shape looks quite different from other travel pillows on the market, it's still easy to put on and offers excellent portability. Plus, this newer model features an easy way to clip the pillow to a backpack or luggage handle. One thing to note is that the price point is quite high compared to other pillows on the market, but the unique design and high-quality fabric and construction make it worth it for those with higher budgets.

The Details: Alcantara fabric, WPS mesh | 12 x 6 x 4 inches (folded) | Machine washable

Travel + Leisure / Dera Burreson

Gingerlily Silk Travel Pillow

A silk pillow is the way to go to protect your hair and skin throughout your travels.

This pillow is 12 by 16 inches, so make sure you have plenty of room to pack it.

For those who love sleeping on silk pillowcases at home, this mini version for travel is an absolute must. Yes, it can be pricey to buy silk travel accessories, but it's also expensive to ruin a blowout and have to find a salon on vacation (and there's no price to be put on fresh, clean skin). This silk pillow is smaller than a standard pillow at 12 inches wide and 16 inches long, but you can still use it in a hotel bed, and it's perfect for trains, planes, and cars — just make sure you have the space in your personal item bag . After using this pillow for multiple long trips, it still shows no signs of loose stitches, fraying, or pilling. Rather, the pillow feels like it will last without ever going limp or flat.

The Details: Mulberry silk, cotton sateen, polyester | 12 x 6 inches

Travel + Leisure / Morgan Ashley Parker

TripSavvy / Morgan Ashley Parker

Best Cooling

Cabeau evolution cool pillow.

The mesh air vents make the pillow breathable to prevent overheating. 

It’s made of firm memory foam.

The Cabeau Evolution Cool Pillow is a great pick for travelers who get warm quickly. The pillow is designed to prevent heat from building up when you wear it as mesh vents in between two layers of cushiony memory foam filter in the air. We liked the breathability feature and moisture-wicking fabric and noticed that we didn’t feel overheated while using it on an airplane or road trip. While it took a moment to get situated, once the pillow was in the most comfortable position, it was extremely supportive and firm without feeling too hard. We especially liked the portability of the already lightweight pillow (thanks to its durable carrying case), as well as the mesh pocket for storing small accessories. Even after being rolled up and stuffed into its carrying case, this pillow quickly unfolds back to its original shape.

The Details: Memory foam | 9 x 7 inches | Machine washable | Carrying case included

Best Adjustability

Buyue travel neck pillow.

One side of the pillow has extra cushioning, and you can swivel it around to support any part of your head.

It comes with a drawstring bag to stuff it in, but the pillow still takes up a good chunk of space in a backpack.

With thick cushioning on one side of the pillow, the unique design of this travel pillow makes it easy to get comfortable in a small space where there isn't much wiggle room. No matter which way your head tilts when you sleep, you can adjust this pillow with the largest part of cushioning rotated to support the side or back of your head, or you can turn it to the front to prevent your chin from tipping forward or bobbing around. After testing the pillow on both road trips and long flights, we found that the fabric is breathable and soft for resting your head on, and we love that the cover comes off to toss it in the wash. Because of the thicker side of the pillow, it does take up a bit more space in a backpack, but it does come with a drawstring bag if you prefer to carry it outside of your luggage.

The Details: Polyester, spandex | 8 x 8 x 8 inches | Machine washable | Carrying case included

Travel + Leisure / Ava Wegner

Samsonite 2-in-1 Magic Travel Pillow

It has a modular design to shift from a U-shape to a rectangular pillow, offering versatility at an affordable price.

The neck pillow might not offer enough support for some since it's on the softer side.

This microbead pillow from Samsonite can be used as a neck pillow if you're sitting upright or you can shift it into a rectangular pillow for leaning against a window or laying on a tray table. The handy two-in-one design already gets bonus points for versatility, but the budget-friendly price makes it all the more better. In testing, it was an effortless process to switch from the U-shape to the rectangle shape by flipping the pillow inside out. Made with polyester and microfiber beads, this pillow is shockingly lightweight and feels nearly weightless to carry around an airport. Because the pillow is on the softer side with the microfiber beads, we discovered it's not as supportive as a memory foam pillow, but it still offered enough support to prevent the neck from uncomfortably craning too far to one side.

The Details: Polyester | 12.25 x 11.75 x 4 inches | Hand wash

Travel + Leisure / Anita Rutz

Best Splurge

Purple harmony anywhere pillow.

This supportive pillow is comfortable enough to sleep on at night and would make any hotel stay feel more luxurious.

At over three pounds, it's quite heavy but feels weightless if you attach the strap to a backpack.

If you're looking for a travel pillow that is just as comfortable — if not more so — than your pillows at home, then this luxurious one from Purple is the one for you. It's a miniature version of the brand's best-selling Harmony pillow, and it boasts the same cooling gel and bouncy, neck-supporting feel as the larger version. During testing, we found this pillow to be noticeably cooling, breathable, and moisture-wicking, which can come in handy for camping. We wouldn't use this pillow during flights because of the plush, rectangular shape that wouldn't work well when sitting upright, but it would be ideal when you're laying flat, like in a hotel room.

It comes with a machine-washable pillow cover, and there is a travel case sold separately . Because this is one of the priciest pillows on this list, we do wish the travel case was included, but we do think it's worth adding on for its carrying straps and compression features. The pillow feels quite heavy on its own, but when you attach the strap to a backpack, it feels weightless to carry. You can also compress the pillow in half if you have the travel case, making it much more portable. Although this is a splurge for a travel pillow, we think it's worth the investment for travelers in search of a comfortable pillow with luxe features like a breathable honeycomb design, a moisure-wicking cover, and strong neck support.

The Details: Talalay latex, knit | 16 x 13 x 6 inches | Machine washable

Travel + Leisure / Jackie Cucco

Best Breathable

Sleep number travel pillow.

Sleep Number

The memory foam filling and synthetic fiber exterior let air pass through for superior breathability.

The pillow is large and was cumbersome to carry, especially for light packers.

It can get hot and stuffy on an airplane, so we love that the synthetic materials used to create this Sleep Number travel pillow are light and airy. The memory foam filling is bouncy and lightweight, and the soft fabric pillowcase is cooling enough to prevent overheating while sleeping in a plane, car, or train. We used the pillow on a long-haul flight to Ireland and found it was ideal for leaning your head against the window or on the tray table since the pillow is on the larger side. While the size offers extra cushioning and support like a regular pillow, it did make it slightly annoying to carry through crowded airports since it doesn't come with a compact carrying case. However, it does come with a drawstring bag to carry it separately or you can use the clasp to attach it to backpacks, suitcases, or other luggage.

The Details: Lyocell blend, memory foam | 17 x 12 inches | Machine-washable cover | Carrying case included

Travel + Leisure / Emily Johnson

Best for Camping

Therm-a-rest compressible pillow.

This mini pillow is ultra-durable and fit for rustic adventuring.

It doesn’t offer neck support like a regular travel pillow.

If you’re not a fan of the typical U-shaped travel pillow, the Therm-a-Rest Compressible Pillow is a great alternative. It resembles the rectangular style of a traditional pillow, and you can compress it down to easily transport it to the great outdoors, making sleeping in a tent more comfortable than ever. The recycled polyester fabric is light and breathable, and the foam filling — made from extra polyurethane foam left over after producing REI’s sleeping pads — provides a soft cushion for your head. We also loved how durable it is, especially for various uses like camping, flying, or taking a nap at home. While the pillow doesn’t come with a carrying bag, it has a toggle strap that you can use to compress it into a smaller size and a built-in cover that you fold the pillow into for protection while traveling.

The Details: Recycled polyester, polyurethane foam fill | 15 x 11 x 5 inches | Machine washable

Other Travel Pillows We Liked

Some travel pillows we tested almost made the cut but didn’t due to a few weaknesses, though they still might make suitable options for some travelers.

Hest Pillow : This standard pillow is on the softer side yet still provides support and comfort while laying on it, but the fabric is slightly itchy, and it’s bulky to carry around, even when compressed.

Cabeau Evolution Classic Travel Neck Pillow : While the memory foam is the perfect balance of firm and soft, we found this pillow to be just a bit too bulky for frequent travel.

Travel + Leisure / Daniela Galvez

Slip Jet Setter Travel Pillow : The silk material is luxurious soft and cooling, but the pillow itself is extremely bulky to wear and difficult to travel with.

Snugl Neck Travel Pillow : Made with soft and supportive memory foam, the pillow is ultra-comfy to use in-flight, but we had a lot of trouble getting it back into the carrying case.

Cushion Lab Travel Deep Sleep Pillow : The comfort level with this pillow is so high that we started using it to sleep on nightly at home. However, it's not very portable, and we had a hard time rolling it up into the case.

Our Travel + Leisure team tested more than 40 travel pillows to find the very best ones for every type of comfort-seekers. To thoughtfully curate this list, we researched and tested popular options, including pillows with the classic U-shape and rectangular ones, too.

Paying close attention to traits like comfort, quality, durability, and portability, we noted various features that stood out to us for both good and bad reasons. We looked for special features such as cooling designs, firmness, softness, or other claims by the manufacturer to check if they rang true. Our favorite pillows also kept their shape after being tucked away into a case and always sprang back into their original form with no signs of damage. 

After testing the pillows on journeys like cross-country road trips and long-haul flights, we continue to capture testing notes every few months to update our articles accordingly.

Tips for Buying a Travel Pillow

Prioritize neck support.

When it comes to sleeping in planes, trains, or cars, you should focus on your neck and head support. When your head drops during sleep, it can leave you with a sore neck or even a headache. Your travel pillow should be supportive enough that your neck stays securely upright without feeling as though you're being squeezed.

Portability is key 

Whether you pack light or stuff your suitcase full, a compact travel pillow that fits into a small carrying case is ideal for bringing along on trips. Of course, some travel pillows don’t compress, but they should still be easy to clip onto a suitcase or backpack and not bump into too many things if you’re traversing an airport or train station. It's always more convenient when a carrying case is included, especially if it has a luggage trolley sleeve or straps.

Consider the filling material 

Travelers who like a firmer pillow should opt for a memory foam filling that can offer more support than an inflatable alternative. Microbead pillows can be just as supportive as memory foam ones, but they tend to be on the softer side and are more suited to travelers that like a little less structure while sleeping. 

Think about how you plan to use it

Travel pillows are a relatively broad category, so you'll want to narrow down your intended use and travel habits before purchasing since they come in all different shapes, styles, and sizes. For example, if you often find yourself in the middle seat while flying, you'll want a pillow with lots of head support like a memory foam, U-shape pillow or an infinity style that you can adjust. However, window-seaters might opt for a rectangular pillow for leaning against the plane wall.

Travel pillows aren't just for flights, either. There are also rectangular options that can help make you more comfortable while camping or staying in hotel rooms, rental properties, or even friend's houses that might not have great pillows. They are also a road trip essential for every adventure.

Frequently Asked Questions

You can generally find washing instructions on the tag of the travel pillow when you buy it. Removable covers can usually go through a machine wash, but many of our team members opted to air dry the cover to prevent any shrinkage that could happen in a hot dryer. If a pillow doesn’t have a removable cover, you can spot clean the pillow by using a wet cloth dipped in soapy water.

Most standard travel pillows have a semicircular shape that you wrap around the neck to support your neck, head, and chin. These U-shaped pillows often have memory foam or microbead filling, but there are also inflatable neck pillows. There are unique J-shaped travel pillows that are perfect for supporting the neck and head of someone sitting in the middle or aisle seat. In addition, standard pillows make great travel pillows for certain situations, and plenty of rectangular-styled pillows compress down for better portability.

Most travel pillows will come with carrying cases to compress the pillow, making it more portable. If the carrying case doesn't have a handle, it should still pack down small enough to fit in a personal item such as a backpack or a tote bag. Some pillows have a luggage trolley pass-through sleeve, which you can slip over the handle of your suitcase, while others may have a strap or a clip that you can attach to a backpack to carry it hands-free.

Some pillows are specifically designed to be worn in multiple different ways, but in general, it depends on your comfort preferences. You can wear a travel pillow backward , forward, or you can lean on it in the window seat — the most important thing is finding the most comfortable position for you.

Why Trust Travel + Leisure

Anna Popp  is a New York-based commerce writer at T+L, where she writes most of the team's tested content. Anna participated in testing travel pillows and worked with travel editors to determine the results for the best ones on the market based on a series of tests completed during trips taken by plane, car, and train. We will continue to update this article as we test even more travel pillows.

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The Best Travel Pillow

By Sabrina Imbler

Short of scoring a row of empty seats—dream on!—your best bet for getting at least a little sleep while flying is a travel pillow.

After asking 10 panelists to try on eight travel pillows and after taking four cross-country red-eyes in window, aisle, and middle seats, we think the comfortable and easy-to-pack  Travelrest Nest Ultimate Memory Foam Travel Pillow is the best travel pillow for most people.

Everything we recommend

Travelrest Nest Ultimate Memory Foam Travel Pillow

The best travel pillow.

Its tall memory-foam walls let it offer more support than any other pillow we tested. It’s also shaped to sit flush against a headrest, and it compresses to a manageable size.

Buying Options

Cabeau Evolution Classic Pillow

A travel pillow available at airports.

This memory-foam neck-support pillow is highly adjustable, but without a contoured back, it can’t quite sit flush with the headrest. It’s available at many airport stores, though.

Trtl Pillow

A pillow for one-sided neck support only.

It’s a fleece scarf with a built-in plastic brace—like a one-sided neck brace, but softer and cozier. However, it’s not so great if you tend to shift position while you sleep, and it costs more than the other pillows we recommend.

Bcozzy Pillow

Great with large headphones.

Featuring an adjustable design that accommodates over-the-ear headphones, the Bcozzy is an excellent chin-support pillow for people who nod forward as they sleep.

The uniquely angled back on the Travelrest Ultimate sets it apart from other travel pillows because it can lay flat against the seat back. Most other pillows have a rounded back, which pushes your head away from the headrest. The Travelrest also has rubber grip dots to prevent slipping while sleeping. This pillow’s spongy memory foam cushions the entire circumference of your neck, preventing your head from leaning far in any direction, and its adjustable Velcro strap ensures it can fit most necks. The pillow’s cozy velour exterior is removable and machine-washable. Although it doesn’t pack flat, the Travelrest weighs less than a pound and compresses to a quarter of its size when rolled into its Velcro-strapped carrying case.

Our only complaint is that the Travelrest’s high walls, while supportive, can push over-ear headphones off of the ears of people with shorter necks. While the memory foam feels plush, it’s also quite firm; this offers excellent support, but not much give. It also doesn’t let you adjust the fit, like our two wrappable picks: the Turtl and the BCozzy . If the Travelrest fits your neck, it’s an excellent pillow. If your neck is much longer or shorter than this pillow’s 5-inch wall, though, you might prefer the fit of one of our other pillow picks.

If our top pick sells out, or if you find yourself pillowless past security, the Cabeau Evolution Classic Pillow is almost as good a pillow. It lacks the Travelrest’s angled, lay-flat back, but its U-shape, contoured memory-foam core and machine-washable velour cover still provide comparable levels of comfort. Its adjustable string closure also means that you can fit the pillow much tighter around your neck than you can with the Travelrest, making it a good choice for people with smaller necks or people who prefer a more constricted fit. Additionally, it’s the only one of our picks that we’ve regularly seen in stores located behind the security checkpoint at many airports.

If you typically lean to the same side while sleeping, the Trtl Pillow’s fleece-covered plastic frame provides unshakeable support to one side of your neck while remaining comfortable to wear. It’s basically a one-sided neck brace. The pillow’s cozy wraparound fleece will also keep your neck warm, making it a good choice for anyone who gets cold while flying (and a poor choice for those who sleep hot). But the Trtl’s winning quality is its tiny, packable size. Unlike any of our other picks, the Trtl does not need to be compressed or stuffed into a carrying case. It will always take up about as much space as a PB&J sandwich. (It costs a lot more than one, though.)

The Bcozzy , a variation on the hemi-doughnut theme, is our pick for anyone who wears large over-the-ear headphones on a flight or tends to nod forward while they sleep. The pillow’s overlapping ends form a snug cushion that holds your chin in place far better than do the Trtl’s plastic frame or the Travelrest and Cabeau’s chin-facing gap. While the pillow does not provide great support to either side of your neck, if paired with a large pair of headphones, the Bcozzy holds a head in place perfectly. While not as compressible as our other picks, the pillow has a small loop that can be clipped to the outside of most bags so it doesn’t have to take up space inside your bag.

The research

Why you should trust us, who this is for, how we picked our best travel pillow finalists, how we tested travel pillows, our pick for the best travel pillow: travelrest nest ultimate memory foam travel pillow, runner-up for the best travel pillow: cabeau evolution classic pillow, also great for portability: trtl pillow, also-great chin-support pillow for forward-nodders: bcozzy pillow, other good travel pillows, the competition.

I am a frequent flyer who often takes red-eyes from coast to coast—I now live in Brooklyn but fly home to San Francisco to visit my parents. I’m also an insomniac, so falling asleep on planes has never been easy for me. While writing this article, I tested eight travel pillows on two five-hour flights and slept with our four picks on two more cross-country flights. I also spoke with Rebecca Robbins, a postdoctoral fellow at the NYU Center for Healthful Behavior Change at the time of the interview, to see what she looks for in a travel pillow.

In addition, my Wirecutter colleagues as a whole are an exceptionally mobile group. We’ve worked remotely from every continent except Antarctica, so I asked some folks on staff which pillows they like and use regularly. (They’ve also since contributed some additional testing.)

Boarding a red-eye without a travel pillow in your bag is like choosing to sleep on the floor when there’s a perfectly good futon nearby. Sure, it’s no bed, but it’s a hell of a lot better than hardwood. In an interview she did in 2017 with The Atlantic reporter Kelly Conaboy, Dr. Mary O’Connor, then the director of Yale’s Center for Musculoskeletal Care, said that despite a lack of clinical studies that support the efficacy of travel pillows, “Many of us who travel have experienced falling asleep with our neck in a weird position and it bothering us thereafter. So, I think they can be helpful, but that depends on how they’re used and whether they support the neck.” In other words, using a supportive pillow may decrease the chances you wake up with an unwanted crick. It certainly has in our experience.

However, not all travel pillows are the same, and if you also happen to have a zealous hatred of your travel pillow, you probably have a bad one. So even if you have a generic pillow you picked up at some airport a few years ago, consider upgrading to one of our picks. And of course, these pillows work well on buses and trains, too.

So how can you tell if a pillow is likely to actually support your head? Rebecca Robbins, a postdoctoral fellow studying sleep at the time of our interview, says the best travel pillows will keep your head elevated and in alignment with your spine: “Look for something that would really be supportive. My one gripe with most travel pillows is that they’re too soft and not too full—you want something that will be supportive as you try to get comfortable in your limited space.” Robbins also recommends finding a pillow that can keep you cozy but not too hot, as she says it’s easier to sleep with a lower body temperature.

Robbins does her best to avoid one common travel situation. “My number one sleep tip is to not take a red-eye if you can avoid it,” she said. “If the flight is five hours, you’re going to only have three hours of true rest, because all the announcements—‘lower your window,’ ‘raise your window.’ Those can be significant distractions.”

We also looked at existing editorial reviews for guidance. Ethan Green , founder of the sleep resource blog No Sleepless Nights, compiled an extensive comparative review of popular travel pillows that we found helpful when deciding what models to test.

For people who want a travel pillow that will ease some of the discomfort of sleeping upright on a bumpy plane ride, we’ve identified the following key features:

• Comfort and support: The pillow should offer ample support for the weight of your neck and head but not restrict your movements or feel too tight.
• Portable (but not inflatable): You don’t want your travel pillow to take up so much space in your carry-on that you can’t bring other things you need, so it should compress to a smaller size. Barring that, there should at least be a way to clip it to the outside of your bag or luggage. Inflatable pillows are easy to pack but should be avoided. They inevitably spring a leak, often sooner rather than later.
• Soft: The material should feel plush against your skin but not trap so much heat that it’s uncomfortable to wear.
• Universal fit (or as close as possible): The pillow should allow space for people to sleep with a ponytail or accommodate bigger hair, as well as a whole variety of head shapes and sizes and neck lengths.
• Sleeping styles: It should also accommodate people who move their head in any direction while they sleep. It should also work in a window, a middle, or an aisle seat.
• Speed of compression/decompression: In case you need to quickly stow your pillow before exiting the plane, or if you want to catch some shut-eye in a moment’s notice, it shouldn’t take too long to stuff the pillow into its carrying case or unfold it to full size.
• Weight: Ideally, the pillow shouldn’t add undue burden to your carry-on. While inflatable pillows will always be the lightest option, memory-foam pillows don’t weigh much more and can offer significantly more comfort.
• Grip/traction: Your head will likely move around a bit while sleeping on a plane, especially if there’s turbulence. So any kind of grip or traction around the bottom of the pillow will help it stay in place and keep you snoozing.
• Machine washable: As you might expect from a vessel that ferries hundreds of people back and forth across the sky on a daily basis, planes can be filthy. So you’ll want to be able to wash the whole pillow—or at least its cover—before you take it on your next trip.

We researched more than 40 travel pillows—which ranged from variations on a hemi-doughnut to inscrutable crowdfunded designs—and after comparing hundreds of glowing and enraged Amazon reviews, we decided to test eight. We asked a panel of 10 people to try each of the pillows in a chair pushed against the wall of a conference room (the closest we could come to airline conditions in our office) and surveyed them on the fit, comfort, and support of each pillow. The panelists all had a variety of neck lengths and jaw sizes, and one even had a substantial beard. We also ran all of the pillows or their detachable pillowcases through a washing machine as instructed to see how well each stood up to a spin cycle and tumble dry.

And because simulations are rarely enough, I brought eight travel pillows on two cross-country flights to see how the pillows felt in the specific back design of an airplane seat. As I was lucky enough to have unnecessarily kind and understanding neighbors (thank you, Mike and Deborah!), I wore each of these pillows in a window, a middle, and an aisle seat to see if they felt comfortable in each configuration. I also tried on Deborah’s Muji travel pillow (as she offered), but determined it had much less support than our picks. I also carried all of our picks on two more cross-country flights on a different airline to ensure the pillows did just as well in different seat designs.

The Travelrest Ultimate remains our top pick after several years because its plush but firm memory-foam core offers more support to your neck than that of any other pillow. It’s also one of the few pillows we tested that felt specifically designed for an airline seat, with an angled, grippy back that aligns perfectly to both upright and reclined positions and ensures the pillow won’t slide down as you nod off. The velvety-soft pillow supports heads and necks of all sizes and can be fitted with an adjustable cord and clasp. In the tried-but-true shape of a hemi-doughnut—imagine a doughnut with a bite taken out—the Travelrest Ultimate may look like other pillows, but a number of thoughtful details make it a softer, more supportive pillow than all the rest.

The Travelrest offers better all-around support than any other pillow we tested. Its broad, marshmallowy walls hug the whole circumference of your neck. It feels supportive but not stifling. The easy-to-fasten Velcro strap means it can be adjusted to a snug fit for necks of many sizes. There’s even a small crevice for curlier hair or a ponytail.

In addition to fitting your neck, the Travelrest’s back tapers up to a point to fit flat against an airline seat back. Most neck pillows lack this tapering on the back and the excess padding can push your neck away from the headrest, causing your neck to droop forward. Additionally, the Travelrest has grippy dots on the back that prevent it from slipping.

In addition to its excellent support, the Travelrest is very comfortable and cozy to wear. Its memory-foam core is wrapped in velour, which kept my neck warm without overheating it. The Travelrest’s velour also felt softer and smoother against my skin than similar coverings on other pillows, such as the Cabeau Evolution. It’s also easy to clean: The Travelrest’s cover is easily unzipped and machine-washable. The velour retained its softness after going through a wash and dry cycle.

While the Travelrest isn’t inflatable, it packs down to the size of a roll of toilet paper in its carrying case. Once you fold it cinnamon-roll style and it’s small enough to fit inside the bag, a Velcro strap on the pouch helps you compress it even further. If there’s still not enough space for it in your bag, you can always clip its drawstring to any exterior loop.

All of these thoughtful details were not lost on our testing panel. They gave the Travelrest the highest marks of any pillow in comfort and neck support, and two-thirds of our testers picked it as their favorite pillow.

How the Travelrest has held up

After over a year of use, this pillow had lost none of its supportiveness. The memory foam was just as firm and springy as it was when we bought it. Its velcro strap was still easy to secure. If it fits you, this is a pillow that stays secure and comfortable on your neck for the duration of a long flight. However, we’ve also heard from multiple travelers that this pillow doesn’t fit them. The memory foam is quite firm, which offers excellent support, but not much give. If a pillow of up to 5 inches doesn’t fit comfortably on your neck, we think you’ll be happier trying one of our other picks.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The Travelrest Ultimate will never compress to the thin, flat size of a tiny pillow like the Trtl. But its unparalleled, cushiony support can still pack down to a reasonable size, and its 13 ounces won’t make your carry-on noticeably heavier. And if saving space is your highest concern, we think the Trtl provides space-conscious support without the spit-filled fuss of an inflatable pillow.

While the Travelrest’s voluminous plush can support all heads that lean left, back, or right, the pillow may not hold up the chins of people with smaller faces. When my head bobbed forward, my small face sank into the gap between the pillow closure and my neck. You can adjust the Velcro strap for a tighter fit, but the short strap cannot be pulled as tight as the Cabeau’s adjustable strings.

The Travelrest Ultimate’s unbeatable support is in part due to the height of its sides, designed to come up to the jaw of the wearer. This means the pillow may be incompatible with larger over-the-ear headphones for people with shorter necks. For instance, when I tried to wear the Travelrest Ultimate with my noise-cancelling Bose headphones , the pillow pushed the headset uncomfortably far up on my head, taking my earlobes with it. However, my editor, who has a longer neck, didn’t have this problem.

If you want a tighter, more adjustable fit, the Cabeau Evolution Classic  (which used to be called just the Evolution) is the way to go. Its contoured memory-foam design offers almost as much neck support as our main pick does, albeit without some of the Travelrest’s luxurious height. But the Cabeau’s adjustable clasp allows a far greater range of cinching than the Travelrest. In other words, the pillow can fit as tightly as you like.

Like the Travelrest, the Cabeau’s hemi-doughnut shape offers 360 degrees of support for anyone wearing it. It also boasts a cushioned memory-foam core and a contoured top that will keep your neck upright and head in place. But unlike the Travelrest’s gently arched bottom, the Cabeau’s flat bottom won’t sit as securely on your shoulders and may move around during your sleep. The Cabeau also lacks the Travelrest’s smartly tapered, grippy back that helps keep the pillow in place during flight. The Cabeau’s velour cover is also machine-washable, but it feels less soft than the Travelrest’s.

Although the Cabeau’s fit and shape aren’t quite as good as the Travelrest’s, this pillow is more adjustable. It can be tightened or loosened with two adjustable strings that clip together, which results in a far more adjustable range than the Travelrest’s short strip of Velcro. If you have a smaller neck and know you find a tighter grip on your neck comforting, the Cabeau may be the way to go.

Like the Travelrest, the Cabeau also packs down to a quarter of its size, thanks to an adjustable strap bisecting its carrying case. But at 15.2 ounces, it’s a bit heavier than the Travelrest.

Unlike any of our other picks, the Cabeau Evolution is sold in many of those ubiquitous news stores inside airports. So if you find yourself lacing up your shoes after security and wishing you had bought one of our picks before your flight, look for the Cabeau’s contoured shape among the novelty hemi-doughnuts dangling off the travel pillow racks. It’s the best pillow you can buy at an airport. But if you have the chance to order online, the Travelrest offers more support.

There is a newer model of the Evolution Classic, the S3 , which has straps to hook onto a seat’s headrest. We think it’s a good choice if the Classic version is out of stock or otherwise unavailable. It’s still supportive and comfortable, but not as thick or soft as the Classic.

The Trtl Pillow , though odd-looking and unconventional, won a contingent of ardent fans with its firm support and slim, packable size. But it’s not our top pick because it works on only one side, and its warmth-trapping fleece can cause your neck to overheat. It’s also the most expensive of our picks. The Trtl consists of an arched plastic skeleton inside of a soft, fleece scarf that wraps once around your neck and then closes with Velcro to hold the pillow in place. You just lean your head against the convex end of the bendy frame, wrap the pillow around your neck, and your head has a soft but firm pedestal on which to rest while you sleep. It sounds weird, but it’s not that different from a neck brace—only it’s one-sided and softer.

Because the Trtl Pillow is little more than a scarf with a plastic plate in it, it packs down to the size of a sandwich and can lay flat against the back of your bag. This is the smallest travel pillow we tested and also requires none of the squashing or awkward cinching it takes to stuff the Travelrest or Cabeau into their holding bags, which are also easy to lose. Unlike any of the other pillows we’ve seen, the Trtl is small enough to fit inside a briefcase or handbag, making it the best option for people who don’t normally travel with backpacks. And at a featherweight 5 ounces, the Trtl is the lightest pillow we tested.

Though the Trtl can support your head from only one side, the tall, bendy plastic frame inside offered more support on that one side than either the Travelrest or Cabeau. Yet even with its soft, wraparound design, it lacks the all-around support provided by our top and runner-up picks. If you are an asymmetrical sleeper (if you prefer sleeping with your head leaning to one side), the Trtl may be a good choice. However, it’s not a good choice for people who nod forward—the plastic insert is too stiff. If that’s you, we prefer the Bcozzy, which we talk more about below .

Some testers found the Trtl’s quasi-corseted-turtleneck design off-putting. But then again, no one looks cool wearing any travel pillow. And on that note, the Trtl’s cozy fleece will keep your neck toasty. So if you know you run hot, the Trtl may not be the pillow for you.

Wirecutter’s Ganda Suthivarakom swears by the Trtl: “It packs almost flat, weighs next to nothing, and can be helpful for sleeping even when you are stuck in a middle seat. As someone who is always cold on the plane, I don't mind the whole fleece scarf design, either.”

Trtl has a more padded version of the pillow that claims to be more adjustable; one of our longer-necked staffers tried it and reported that it is indeed more comfortable for him than the original Trtl was. However, the same limitations of the original apply to the new version.

The Bcozzy is a snakelike spin on the traditional hemi-doughnut that’s perfect for anyone traveling with large headphones or people who tend to nod forward while sleeping and wake themselves up. It lacks the tall, supportive sides of our other picks, but the overlapping front is the perfect height to keep your chin from nodding forward as you doze off. It’s not as supportive on the sides, but this leaves ample room for big headphones.

The Bcozzy’s best advantage is its overlapping circular design, which allows you to adjust the pillow to degrees of personal preference. You can place the overlapping ends of the pillow around any point of your neck (though it only really makes sense in the front or on the sides), and wear the pillow as loose or as tight as you’d like. We think it’s most comfortable when the ends meet right under your neck—and in that position, it cushions your chin better than any other pillow we tested.

The longer, leaner Bcozzy lacks the plush, ensconcing neck support of the Travelrest Ultimate or Cabeau Evolution. It lays so low on your shoulders that it might not even touch your jaw. But this makes the pillow perfect for anyone who likes to wear over-the-ear headphones along with a travel pillow while they sleep on the flight. I personally like to fall asleep to music and drown out the dull roar of an airplane, so the Bcozzy works perfectly for me.

We still think the Travelrest Ultimate is a superior overall hemi-doughnut pillow, but the Bcozzy is an excellent choice if you plan to wear big headphones or know the feeling of that sharp, waking drop when your head falls forward on a plane.

The Bcozzy is also one of the least packable pillows, as it doesn’t come with a carrying case and does not compress particularly well. But its 7.4 ounces is around half the weight of the Travelrest or Cabeau, and it does comes with a little loop that clips onto the outside of a backpack or duffel. And even when squished down at the bottom of a bag, it doesn’t take up that much more space than the Travelrest Ultimate or Cabeau.

If you’re a back sleeper who can fall sleep sitting upright in your seat, facing forward, and not need to curl up or lean your head on the airplane window: You may want to try the Posture+ Travel Pillow, which is a U-shaped neck cushion, padded with memory foam, that looks like the back half of a cervical collar. When testing it, we slept surprisingly well, but it won’t suit all (or even most) sleep styles. It’s also not machine-washable, and it is pricy.

If you have a shorter neck and tend to run hot on planes and would prefer a pillow designed to keep you cool: Consider the ventilated Cabeau Evolution Cool —the combination of a silky polyester cover (similar to spandex) and vented design did feel mildly cooler against our necks. And we liked the pillow’s silky feel, packable size, zippered carrying case. But it was significantly smaller than the standard Cabeau Evolution and the Travelrest Ultimate, and it left the chins of long-necked testers totally unsupported. It’s also more expensive—now about $20 more than the Travelrest.

If you always lean to the same side when sleeping: Consider Travelrest’s All-in-One , which has a novel across-the-shoulder design that could be comfortable in such a situation. It has a similar fabric to the company’s winning Ultimate Memory Foam Neck Pillow, but in our tests its bulky inflated tube offered no structured head support, which could pose a problem in bumpy conditions.

If you tend to be a forward-falling head bobber: Consider the Caldera Releaf , which is less travel pillow and more neck brace. It does offer superior neck support, but it constricted the throat too much for our comfort.

The Trtl Pillow Plus , a later addition to the Trtl lineup, is more height-adjustable and has more padding than its older sibling . Our self-described “giraffe-necked” tester said that it did indeed fit him better than the original Trtl had. However, it still supports your head from only one side, making it not a great choice for sleepers who nod forward. It’s also bulkier than the original and costs nearly twice as much.

The Cabeau Evolution S3 is a newer version of our runner-up pick , the Evolution Classic. We liked it, and we think it’s a solid choice if the original Evolution isn’t available. It has added straps that you can hook onto a headrest to keep your head from falling forward while you sleep, but our runner-up pick is softer and slightly thicker, which offers a bit more support. We did find the S3 to be easier to roll up into its carrying case, however.

Intrigued by one of the stranger innovations that we’ve seen in travel pillow design, we tested the Huzi Design Infinity , but we can’t recommend it. Instead of cinching or clasping at the front, it is designed to be looped several times around the wearer’s neck like an infinity scarf. But the pillow failed to support our testers’ necks. Regardless of who tried it, testers found that looping it twice was too loose and thrice was too tight. It was also the largest and least compressible pillow we tested.

The J-Pillow offered a singular, three-pronged design that proved impossible for anyone to figure out without instructions. After some explanation, our testers could wear the pillow correctly, but they still felt that its squishy stuffing offered insufficient support, and only to one side of the head. It’s also impossible to pack away efficiently due to its pyramidal shape. If you want a one-sided pillow, skip this and go for the Trtl instead.

We tested the inexpensive Travelrest Curl because we loved its plush and contoured big cousin, the Travelrest Ultimate. But while the Curl contains the same luxurious memory-foam filling as the Ultimate, the pillow is so small that many testers found that it didn’t even come up to their jaws when worn. It does have an attractive price, but its skimpy size and unsupportive design could support only the shortest of necks.

We found the air-filled Sea to Summit Aeros Traveller Pillow to be similarly lacking. We liked how easy it was to fill—its dual-valve inflation mechanism means it won’t let air out between breaths—and we appreciated that it weighed only about a fifth as much as the Travelrest, but the Travelrest’s 360-degree support made it too hard to go back to an open-ring design that offers no support in the front. Also, one of our former freelance writers recently reported that when she pulled her pillow out of storage, after a few years of not using it, its internal bladder disintegrated in her hands.

This article was edited by Ria Misra and Christine Ryan.

Rebecca Robbins, postdoctoral fellow at the NYU Center for Healthful Behavior Change , phone interview , October 20, 2017

Meet your guide

Sabrina Imbler

Sabrina Imbler is a former staff writer for Wirecutter, where they covered kitchen tools and HVAC.

Further reading

Pluto Pod Travel Pillow: A First-Class Sleep Experience in Economy

by Dorie Chevlen

This travel pillow is so great you won’t even care if you look silly wearing it.

The Silly-Looking Trtl Travel Pillow Is the Only Way I Can Sleep on Flights

by Elissa Sanci

You might look funny while wearing the one-sided Trtl travel pillow in flight, but you won’t care when you land at your destination bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

The 31 Best Gifts for Frequent Travelers

by Samantha Schoech and Dorie Chevlen

Here we present practical and whimsical finds to delight any intrepid traveler.

The Best Pillow for Side Sleepers

by Jackie Reeve

We recommend the Xtreme Comforts Shredded Memory Foam Pillow for most side-sleepers. If you prefer a smoother cover, get Nest Bedding's Easy Breather Pillow .

The Best Travel Pillows for Long-Haul Flights

By Lauren Burvill

All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

If you travel regularly you’ve probably learnt to spot the difference between a frequent flier and a rookie—the most obvious tell-tale sign being a bulky travel pillow, typically carried by an inexperienced flier, hanging from a backpack or being worn (wrongly) around the back of their neck before they even get on the plane. Many of us are guilty of buying one of these beanbag worms from the airport duty-free shop, only to realize that they’re more trouble than they’re actually worth.

Do a little research though—as we’ve done for you here— and you might be pleasantly surprised to find that the humble travel pillow has upped its game recently. Specialized brands like  Trtl  and  BCozzy  have entered the market, while pillows that range in shape and materials have popped up on Amazon.

So which ones are actually worth taking on a flight ? We asked our frequent flying editors to test out the most reviewed styles.

How we choose the best travel pillows

Every pillow on this list has been independently tested and reviewed by our editors. When testing, we consider quality, price, unique design features, as well as overall function and visual appeal.

Our top picks:

• Best overall travel pillow: Cabeau Evolution S3 travel pillow
• Best for neck support: Trtl travel pillow
• Best for side sleepers: BCozzy neck pillow
• Best budget buy: Dot & Dot Twist memory foam travel pillow

Best travel pillow for: overall comfort

If you're looking for an upgrade to a basic does-the-job travel pillow or suffer from neck or back pain, Cabeau's Evolution S3 travel pillow is the best we've tested so far. The memory foam style has considered everything, from an adjustable toggle clasp to secure the pillow comfortably around your neck, to a handy side pocket—ideal for storing headphones or earplugs. What really sets this pillow apart from the rest are the velcro straps on the back, designed to loop around a plane seat's headrest, helping to keep your head upright and take any pressure off your neck.

Why we love it:  “The foam in this pillow is extremely comfortable, but what I love most is that the back of the pillow is flat, so you can sit right up against your seat, unlike the typical travel pillow styles which tend to be round and tilt your neck down slightly. The straps are a great idea, but if you're short it might not be possible to secure to the headrest, so keep that in mind. It also comes in a sleek cylindrical bag that, when clipped onto your carry-on , you’d never even know there was a travel pillow inside." — Sarah Allard , digital editor, Condè Nast Traveller UK

Best travel pillow for: neck support

Less a pillow and more a supportive wrap for your neck, this unique design from Trtl is ideal if you're short on space and weight in your carry-on luggage—it weighs only 4.5 ounces. The pillow is designed to look like a scarf and features a clever curved U-shaped neck support stand that sits under your jaw and is then secured in place by wrapping the fabric around your neck and connecting the velcro.

Why we love it:  “I often feel like most typical travel pillows are too bulky and hard to get comfortably on, so I was keen to try this style. It's perfect for keeping your neck upright and avoiding any of the nodding that can happen while asleep. I'll admit, it feels a little strange at first to put it on, but the hypoallergenic fleece is soft and warm. It's a great option not just for plane travel, but also long road trips or train journeys.” — Sarah James , deputy digital editor, Condè Nast Traveller UK

Best travel pillow for: upper body support

This clever crossbody-sling pillow offers neck and head support while allowing you to truly relax and lean to one side to fall asleep. The pillow comes with a cord at the top that can be secured in place by looping over your seat’s headrest. You can wear the pillow on either side across your body, or down one side, creating more of a barrier between you and the person next to you. The pillow is inflatable, too, so it takes up hardly any room in your luggage.

Why we love it:  “I really love the shape of this pillow, as it cradles not just your neck, but your whole upper body. Although I usually don’t like inflatable pillows, the rigidity of this style works to make you feel secure while sitting upright.” — Lauren Burvill , senior commerce editor, Condè Nast Traveller UK

Best travel pillow for: red-eye flights

More than just a neck pillow, the Pluto Pod boasts a lightly structured and padded hood, as well as a pull-down eye mask. Do you resemble a bobble-headed, 1950s-style alien when you wear it? Yes, you do. Is it, by far, one of the best travel pillows we've tested? Absolutely.

Why we love it : “The pillow has helped me cut down on my sleeping tools. With the Pod, I can eschew ear plugs and an eye mask because the padded hood dampens noise and the flip-down eye mask blocks almost all light. Sleeping with one is like being inside a mini sensory deprivation tank, except you don’t have to worry about getting wet.” — Juliet Izon , contributor

Read a full review here .

Best travel pillow for: flexibility

Made of memory foam, this twist style pillow can be bent and contoured to almost any shape. Its flexibility means it can be worn in several ways, from around the neck to under your head, shoulders, or even lower back.

Why we love it:  “I often toss and turn a lot when trying to get to sleep, so I find I’m particularly wriggly when trying to get comfortable on a flight. This kind of flexible twist style of the pillow was perfect for me, as I was able to shape it to exactly where I needed it to be. I ended up settling with it half behind my neck and half under my chin, so I could lie on my side and get a couple of hours of precious sleep.” —L.B.

Best travel pillow for: side sleepers

Similar to the Trtl pillow but padded with soft microfleece and covered with microsuede, BCozzy's wrap-around design offers plenty of flexibility in terms of how you wear it. The pillow comes in two sizes and when wrapped around the neck offers double the support for your head, neck, and chin. The real standout of this design is the flat back, which is not only great for maintaining a healthy posture, but also means you can fold the pillow in half and wear it on one side.

Why we love it:  “Even on a plane, I'm a side sleeper. My go-to way to snooze is angling the side headrest as far as it can go so I can rest my head in the corner. Headrests can be very hit-and-miss on planes though, so being able to fold the BCozzy pillow in half is ideal as it can prop my neck and chin up on one side without it feeling too suffocating.” —L.B.

Best for: warmth

This squishy infinity-style pillow is all about the soft and breathable bamboo fabric it’s made from. Coming in one large loop, the pillow is worn by wrapping around the neck twice and adjusting and scrunching accordingly depending on the level of comfort you’re looking for.

Why we love it:  “I’d say this pillow is less about neck support and more about soft and cozy scarf–meets–pillow hybrid. It feels like a sleeping bag for your neck—ideal if you get cold easily and are looking for something that’s more snuggly rather than stiff.” —L.B.

Best travel pillow for : Versatility

Slip this microbead-filled cap over your head and you’ll completely redefine the experience of sleeping on the go. From the outside, the wacky-shaped headpiece may feel a tad like a Teletubbies costume, but once you pull your head through the 27.5-inch opening, any place you find yourself in—no matter how bright or how loud—can turn into a sleep zone.

Why we love it: “And there’s no right or wrong way to use it: On a plane, use it to lean against the wall of the window seat, lie head down on the tray table of the middle seat, or tilt backward on the headrest of the seat.” — Rachel Chang , contributor

This article was originally published on Condé Nast Traveller UK .

The 9 Best Travel Pillows of 2024, Tested and Reviewed

Get some quality shut-eye on the go

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more .

TripSavvy / Alessandra Amodio

Comfort is key when traveling, whether by car, train, bus, or airplane. And not just for your happiness—sitting or sleeping for hours on end can put your cervical spine (C-spine) in an unnatural position as your head bends downward to read, sways back to sleep on a headrest, or falls to the side to doze off against a window.

A travel pillow can help provide cushion to make falling asleep in transit easier, and the support may also help your C-spine and keep you comfortable during long flights and car rides. There are two main kinds of travel pillows: a donut or C-shape pillow and a rectangular pillow that mimics the type you use in bed.

All travel pillows should provide support and comfort, and you should be able to pack them down small enough to carry with you through an airport or on a train. To see what products were up to par, we tested 21 travel pillows over four weeks as we spent time in planes, trains, and cars. We looked for comfort, quality, portability, durability, and overall value.

Final Verdict

How we tested, other travel pillows we tested.

• What to Look For

Why Trust TripSavvy

Best overall, cabeau evolution classic travel pillow.

• Comfort 5 /5
• Quality 4.5 /5
• Portability 5 /5
• Durability 5 /5

Highly supportive material

Helps maintain natural C-spine shape

Easy-to-clean cover

Attaches to carry-on

Not as supportive for taller people

Material runs warm

Doesn’t pack down

The Cabeau Evolution Classic Travel Pillow has a responsive memory foam core, which we determined is what makes this neck pillow rise above the rest. Whether it's propping your head up while sleeping or supporting your neck while watching a movie, it feels like a cloud of softness and comfort that conforms to support your shape. 

The design is your traditional C-shape, but with raised sides to keep your neck up and a flattened rear to avoid pushing your C-spine forward. We thought the memory foam felt neither excessively firm nor too soft, but worked well to hold our head up comfortably when sleeping. Moreover, it bounced back to its original shape after we used it for over two hours.

The pillow doesn't deflate, but it has a clasp that keeps it from slipping around your neck and makes it easy to latch the pillow onto your bag when not in use. It comes with a soft cover that's removable and machine washable. Not only is it affordable, it's also better designed than most competitors at the same price point.

Dimensions: 9.5 x 10 x 5 inches | Weight: 11.6 ounces | Material: Polyurethane core, velour cover

TripSavvy / Daniela Galvez

Best Overall, Runner-Up

J-pillow chin-supporting neck pillow.

• Quality 5 /5

Super comfortable with a memory foam core

Packs down (carrying case included)

User-friendly

Doesn’t secure in place to prevent slippage

Less intuitive for the middle seat

This neck pillow has a unique J-shape design meant to support your head and neck while leaning against a window or seat in a car, bus, or plane. We found it super supportive while napping on a 19+ hour car trip and quite intuitive to use—one tester's 6-year-old cousin figured out immediately how to position this pillow.

The J-Pillow is lightweight, easy to move around, soft, and plush. It features memory foam, which is why it feels so supportive, and it has a machine-washable, cuddly, soft cover. The pillow is also quite durable and maintains its shape no matter the damage: We squished it under all the luggage in a trunk and it bounced right back to shape and didn't get any snags. 

Bonus: It comes with a stuff bag that you can tie around luggage, making the awkward shape much easier to travel with.

Dimensions: 12 x 8 x 13 inches | Weight: 8.16 ounces | Material: Memory foam core, polyester blend cover

TripSavvy / Jennifer May

Best Budget

Cloudz microbead travel neck pillow.

• Quality 4 /5

Great quality for the price

Easy to travel with

Two fabric options for hot/cold

Cover isn’t removable or washable

During testing, we found this classic donut-shaped neck pillow comfortable, supportive, lightweight, and soft but sturdy. The core has millions of tiny microbeads and is covered with super soft, plush fabric on one side and cooling spandex on the other, depending on what you need most during your travels. 

The pillow features a snap closure in front that helps keep your neck from falling forward and makes the pillow easy to attach to your bag for transport. During our tests, we specifically liked this pillow for neck support while switching between napping and reading or using a computer on long flights or train rides. And, despite being just $20, it also felt very high quality. 

While it didn't tear or snag during our travels, it’s worth noting that if you were to catch this on a door or snag it somehow, the millions of microbeads in the filling would come pouring out. 

Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 4 inches | Weight: 7 ounces | Material: Polyester, polyester blend

Therm-a-Rest Compressible Pillow

• Portability 4 /5

Recycled materials

Flat design like a bed pillow

Versatile use

Doesn't specifically contour to the neck

Not the most compact when stowed

The Therm-a-Rest Compressible Pillow is ideal if you value having something akin to an actual pillow, but small enough for traveling. The traditional rectangle is filled with upcycled chunks of foam from excess camping sleeping pad material, with a soft insulation layer on top to keep the surface from feeling lumpy. You can pull the drawcord string to cinch the pillow to your desired firmness.

We found this pillow incredibly comfortable, with a real pillow feel that was ideal for everything from flights and camping to sleeping at home. We liked the soft and breathable exterior, which was perfect for warm weather and hot plane rides. The pillow packs down into itself and you can use the drawcord to tie the pillow onto a suitcase or backpack.

Dimensions: 15 x 11 x 5 inches (small) | Weight: 7 ounces (small) | Material: Polyester fiber core, polyester cover

Best Splurge

Ostrichpillow go neck pillow.

Cool, minimalist design

Incredibly comfortable for long flights

Very compact when put away

Velcro might catch on clothes or hair

The Ostrich pillow is a simple and sleek design, with one sleeve of high-density memory foam that wraps around your neck with high sides to rest your cheek on and Velcro security in front. We found this design extremely comfortable, to the point that it felt like wrapping a marshmallow around our neck or sleeping on a cloud. We found it supportive for the neck, chin, and head while sitting in the middle seat on a flight, and it even kept our neck and back pain-free on a long international flight.

The memory foam is incredibly soft and plush, and the design is very accommodating among different-sized people who tested it. This pillow also has an appealing, modern design that looks more refined while wearing it than other options we've seen. One of us, who is already a hot sleeper, did report that the pillow was a little warm on a long international flight, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

What's more, it packs down super small, compressing to 60 percent of its size into an included stuff bag, which makes it easy to stash in your carry-on bag .

Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.7 x 2.7 inches | Weight: 14.8 ounces | Material: Memory foam core, viscose cover

Tripsavvy / Susan Brickell

Best Cooling

Cabeau evolution cool pillow.

Accommodates large headphones

Good balance between softness and support

Packs down small

May be too firm for some

The Cabeau Evolution Neck Pillow follows a C-shape design but with one significant difference: The top and bottom inch have memory foam for optimal neck support, while the middle is made with mesh vents to keep you cool.

Our testing found this design to be super supportive and firm without being too hard, and that the airy, cooling design worked as promised. The curved sections on each side are also designed to wear over-the-ear headphones comfortably. The pillow is lightweight and packs into a circular carrying case that's easy to attach to your luggage. Plus, the pillow maintains its shape even after being rolled and unrolled over and over. 

We found that even though this pillow runs nearly $60, it's worth it if you need firm support to sleep comfortably while traveling—especially in a middle seat.

Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 5 inches | Weight: 12.7 ounces | Material: Memory foam

Best Memory Foam

Aeris memory foam travel pillow.

• Comfort 4.5 /5
• Durability 4.5 /5

Super supportive

Compact when not in use

Comes with earplugs and eye mask

Requires effort to get into case

Made from ultra-supportive and contouring memory foam, it's no surprise that we found the Aeris Travel Pillow to be super firm and have excellent neck support. The memory foam is stiffer but still feels soft and comfortable to sink into. The sides come up high to provide an excellent chin rest when sleeping. We loved how we could lean back in the car or plane and the back of our neck wasn't against the headrest, which made for a comfortable nap. This neck pillow has a drawstring cord to secure it on any size neck.

The cotton cover is removable and machine washable. The whole pillow folds down small into a carrying case, which has the added feature of a side pocket to hold the included earplugs and eye mask.

Dimensions: 12.8 x 11.73 x 5.16 inches | Weight: 12.8 ounces | Material: Memory foam core; 80 percent velour, 20 percent polyester cover

TripSavvy / Anna Popp

Gingerlily Silk Travel Pillow

• Portability 3 /5
• Value 3.5 /5

Keeps skin and hair looking great

Big enough to use as a normal pillow

Quality materials and construction

Matching laundry bag, eye mask, and neck pillow available

Carrying case sold separately

Not particularly compact 

Retailing for almost $100 more than our overall winner, there’s no doubt that the Gingerlily Silk Travel Pillow is a splurge. However, it’s made from the finest mulberry silk, giving it an ultra-soft, smooth texture that helps to prevent wrinkles and protect your hair. We used ours on a five-hour Amtrak journey and loved that it kept a blowout looking sleek. The pillow may be expensive, but so is finding a salon on vacation (and there’s no price to be put on wrinkle-free skin!). 

The pillow is also made to last with high-quality materials and stitching. By the time we finished testing, it still looked brand new, and we felt that it would be a long time before it began to flatten. At 12 by 16 inches, this isn’t a full-size pillow, but neither is it the most portable option. This means you’ll need a significant amount of space in your carry-on or purse to tote it around, but on the flip side, being large enough to use for a regular night’s sleep at your destination adds to its overall value. Choose yours in sophisticated navy or pink and ivory stripes. 

Dimensions: 12 x 16 inches | Weight: Not listed | Material: Mulberry silk cover, silk and polyester core

Best Support

Cabeau evolution s3 travel pillow.

• Durability 4 /5

Unique chin strap for unrivaled support

Soft, washable cover

Folds compactly into included case 

Holds up well to intense travel 

Can feel a little restrictive at first 

Standing for “The Neck’s Evolution,” the TNE S3 from Cabeau features a patent-pending, totally unique chin strap designed to hold your head and neck firmly in place to prevent uncomfortable “bobblehead” syndrome. Other design features include raised side supports, a flattened back for greater comfort when leaning against your airplane seat, and an opening at the front of the neck for effective heat dispersal. Adjustable straps allow you to secure the pillow to any high-back seat. 

The interior is made from supportive memory foam, while the removable, washable cover features a soft, cozy fabric that held up well to our 12-day testing trip around Japan and South Korea . Despite using it almost constantly on different modes of transport, it looked good as new when we got home and only lost a slight degree of softness after washing. We especially liked that the pillow folds in half to fit inside a compact carry case, which has a clip for attaching it to your suitcase. There are seven bright colors to choose from. 

Dimensions: 7.5 x 6.3 x 11 inches | Weight: 14 ounces | Material: Memory foam core; polyester, microsuede, birdseye mesh cover

The Cabeau Evolution Classic Travel Pillow is exceptionally supportive, conforms to the natural curvature of the neck, and features a removable cover that is easy to clean. Also tying for the top pick, the J-Pillow Chin-Supporting Neck Pillow features an innovative design that delivers comfort and comes with an easy-to-carry stuff bag.

To determine the best travel pillows, we considered how easy the pillow was to set up and use out of the box, how the material felt to touch, how durable the material was against wear and tear, and how easy it was to clean. We put each pillow through a series of tests on plane, train, bus, or car rides exceeding two hours . During travel, we considered how supportive and comfortable the pillow was, how the fabric felt, how it made our neck feel, how easy it was to pack or compress, and whether it had any exceptional features that made traveling more comfortable.

Here are some of the other travel pillows we tested that fell short of our favorites list.

Trtl Pillow : For the price, this travel pillow didn't provide nearly enough neck support and not only felt flimsy but actually caused us pain during a 3.5-hour flight. Putting the wrap on was incredibly awkward and the fleece felt too stuffy riding in a car.

BCozzy Neck Pillow : This pillow has a unique wraparound design intended to create a double layer of cushion. However, it was too thick during testing to double up comfortably. It was definitely durable and well made, but not comfortable enough to recommend purchasing.

Ostrich Pillow Light Versatile : This pillow has comfortable, T-shirt-like fabric outside and a supportive, memory foam feel when you press on it. But the circular nature of the design just didn't work in testing to support the neck and head in a way that was also comfortable to sleep.

Cabeau Evolution S3 Memory Foam Travel Pillow : This memory foam pillow is supportive and soft, and it features mesh around the neck to keep you cool, as well as suede around the face to keep you cozy. Overall, this pillow is well made, thoughtfully designed, and comfortable enough for us to nap with on an 11-hour flight. It didn't fit into any single best category, but we recommend it nonetheless.

TripSavvy / Erin Johnson

Travelrest Ultimate Travel Pillow : This pillow's main selling point is that it rolls down super small for packability. But outside of that, we found little reason to buy it. It wasn't comfortable to sit or sleep with, caused us neck pain, the material was too plastic-y, and it's overall just confusing to use.

MLVOC Travel Neck Pillow Set : Our testing found this travel pillow too stiff to find a comfortable fit, not providing support to the head and neck, and allowing the head to bob from side to side. It also requires effort to stuff into the travel bag.

Samsonite Microbead 3-in-1 Neck Travel Pillow : This pillow features tiny beads, so it's not stiff like memory foam, but it didn't provide much support during testing unless our head was against a window. There isn't much support on the back of the neck, either. Overall, you can snag something more supportive for the price.

AirComfy Daydreamer Inflatable Neck Travel Pillow : This inflatable travel pillow isn't very comfortable once filled with air and was too small to fit in the crook of our neck comfortably. The surface gets dirty quickly and the plastic material was uncomfortable against the face. In short: Skip.

Everlasting Comfort Memory Foam Travel Pillow : This pillow has a soft, velvety cover and feels very firm with its memory foam core. We thought it might be too firm for some, but personally found it comfortable around the neck or leaning on for a window. For the price, it's well-made and a solid choice.

Dot&Dot Twist Memory Foam Travel Pillow : Filled with memory foam, this pillow has certain joints that twist into different shapes for personalized comfort. We found it to be thick and comfortable, but the bending nature tends to straighten slowly over time, so you'll have to readjust the position regularly.

Hest Pillow : This pillow packs down super small and then unfolds to be filled with shredded memory foam and polyester. Zippered access lets you adjust the loft to what you prefer, and we found it to be super comfortable and plush to sleep on. It's great for car trips and excellent for a full-size pillow versus a neck pillow, but we wish it came with a way to attach to luggage for air travel and that it was a bit lighter.

What to Look For in a Travel Pillow

You can find a comfortable neck pillow for just $20, but depending on your physiology, needs, and preferences, a pillow in the $40 to $60 range might be more comfortable. The price should correlate with design and features: A more expensive pillow should have a more streamlined design and features that make it worth more money due to better comfort, packability, and durability.

Most travel pillows come in one of two styles: Some kind of donut- or C-shaped neck pillow and a rectangular, small pillow that looks like what you use on your bed. 

A well-designed donut- or C-shaped pillow is ideal for keeping your spine aligned and preventing your head from jutting forward or falling back as you sit and sleep for hours while traveling. It should have support on all sides to keep your head from bobbing or your chin from falling. This style of pillow is ideal if you spend most of your travel time sitting up, whether working on a computer or trying to sleep in a middle seat (versus a window).

A rectangular pillow is ideal if you’re lying down in a car, train, or airplane, or if your head will be resting against a window. It’s also ideal if you want one item to do double duty, as you can use this travel pillow at home for a lumbar pillow or toddler pillow, or while camping. A rectangular pillow should feature materials that support your head and neck, and ideally have a customizable loft so you can adjust how thick or thin it depends on your sleep style to maintain that spinal alignment between your head and neck.

As we’ve said, a travel pillow’s primary purpose is to keep you comfortable and pain-free while in transit, which means it needs to be able to keep your head and neck in spinal alignment. That means the best travel pillow will be adjustable since some people need it tighter, looser, thicker, or thinner.

Your travel pillow should have a machine-washable cover that you can remove and clean like any pillowcase. Let the cover air dry to prevent any shrinkage.

Travel pillows make sleeping more comfortable, usually making sleeping easier. A good travel pillow should provide support for your head and neck in a way that maintains cervical spinal alignment. Being out of alignment (with your head jutting forward, back, or to one side) is associated with the neck, shoulder, and back, and can make it very uncomfortable to sleep (not to mention not great for your musculature).

The most common way people wear these classic travel pillows is with the clasp in the front and the back of the "C" at the back of the neck. If you reverse this position, you may find it much more supportive and comfortable. Whichever orientation offers you the most comfort—and therefore facilitates rest—is the correct way.

Rachael Schultz is a fitness and outdoor product journalist based in Carbondale, Colorado. Growing up in and around cities on the East Coast, she wasn't taught how to backpack or ski as a kid, which means that as she moved West and her passion for the outdoors grew in adulthood, so did her research skills around what exactly one needed to buy to get outside. Now an avid mountain biker, skier, hiker, and camper, she's endlessly fascinated by and knowledgeable about the nuances of materials, performance, and convenience of outdoor gear. She's lucky enough to test everything from women's ski bibs to ultralight backpacking gear to camping cocktail kits. Rachael is passionate about making the outdoors just as accessible to those who haven't spent much time under the stars as those who grew up enjoying it, and that includes having the right gear to stay happy and motivated to head out again as soon as possible.

Journal of physical therapy science vol. 35,2 (2023): “ Changes in neck pain and somatic symptoms before and after the adjustment of the pillow height .” 106-113. doi:10.1589/jpts.35.106

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Take a quick detour to dreamland.

A ride to the airport with no traffic, a plane that leaves on time, and a hotel clerk that casually offers you a free upgrade when checking in are all great ways to start a vacation. What doesn't equal a good way to start your fun in the sun? Waking up at your destination with a crick in your neck from snoozing on your less than first-class worthy travel pillow.

Best Overall Travel Pillow

Sleep number travel pillow.

Best Waterproof Travel Pillow

Sierra designs dridown pillow.

Best Travel Pillow for Camping

Hest pillow.

Most Versatile Travel Pillow

Huzi infinity pillow.

Best Travel Pillow For Napping At All Hours

Yogibo nap x pillow.

Best Travel Pillow That Also Moonlights As A Yoga Pillow

Yogibo zipparoll pillow.

Best Travel Pillow For Those With Allergies

Sleep artisan natural latex travel pillow.

Best Memory Foam Travel Pillow

Fosmon travel neck pillow.

Best Travel Pillow If You Want Extra Neck Support

Tallgo travel pillow.

Best Inflatable Travel Pillow

Povinmos inflatable travel pillow.

Lucky for you, WH did the work to search the internet high and low for the top travel pillows (and travel backpacks and best suitcases , should you be shopping for that too!). All you need to do? Have sweet dreams while you’re on your next long flight or road trip.

You might even find a pillow that's so comfortable you end up using it around the house. So, go ahead and keep your head in the clouds with these 16 amazing travel pillows. Your neck will appreciate the gesture.

"So comfy" is an understatement. One of the best travel pillows on the market, this little baby from Sleep Number features a unique blend of memory foam and down-alternative fibers. It’s plush, designed in an ergonomic shape for that extra comfy-cozy factor, and features a clasp to attach to your luggage. Its removable cover is machine-washable, too.

Weight: Not provided

Dimensions: 12 x 17 inches

Care: Remove insert and wash cover only, tumble dry low

Rave review: "I travel a ton for work and struggled getting a decent nights sleep. My new travel pillow made all the difference. Consistent support no matter what city I’m in."

Thrill-seekers, it’s time to add this to your camping gear. You can use the DriDown pillow top with the synthetic insert for an extra plush feel, or save weight by leaving the insert at home and filling the pillow with clothing. Plus, it comes with its own sack for storage.

Weight: 4.2 ounces

Dimensions: 13 x 9 x 2.5 inches

Care: Hand-wash and air dry

Rave review: "I found it to be the perfect pillow for me while backpacking the Appalachian trail. I told everybody on trail that out of all my gear, this is the best purchase I made! Love it!"

This travel pillow checks all the boxes. It’s comfy, features a soft surface, and packs up small. Whether you’re using it in the air or on the road, you’re sure to love this delightful travel pillow that can be folded to half its size.

Weight: 2 pounds

Dimensions : 22 x 15 x 8 inches

Care: Cover is machine-washable

Rave review: "...The foam is so dense and contours to your head. I can see why other reviewers want to use this pillow at home too. My partner said they didn’t want me to get one for them, then after trying it out they tried to continually steal mine during camping trips."

They call it a "wearable cloud." I call it your new travel BFF. This amazing travel pillow features a patented loop design so you can arrange it to fit your various needs. It's a neck cushion, window pillow, back support, noise-muffling pillow—you name it. It’s also supremely soft thanks to the bamboo fabric, and the temperature-regulating microfiber fill is a winner.

Weight : 1 pound

Dimensions: 13.78 x 5.51 x 7.87 inches

Care: Machine-washable

Rave review: "I bought this pillow for a 2.5 hour plane ride and 5-night hotel stay to ward off neck aches induced by flat pillows. I’ve used it every night since, and also while watching TV."

Courtesy of its ergonomic design, this neck pillow adjusts like a glove to the grooves of your neck and delivers stellar support and comfort. Also, it has a built-in eye mask which is perfect for a daytime snooze.

Weight: 0.5 pounds

Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 6 inches

Care: Machine-washable cover, tumble dry low

Rave review: "I really liked this because the Yogibo beads allow you to adjust the support, it's got a built-in eye mask, and a place to store ear plugs and AirPods or similar. Plus you can wash it! We bought two!"

This smartly-crafted pillow for your back and neck zips from a round pillow into a flat pillow to suit your preferences (and space constraints). You can even use it between your knees when you're curled up at home on the couch.

Weight: 0.75 pounds

Dimensions: 13 x 15 x 3 inches

Rave review: "Fabulous, multi purpose cushion. Can be used as a seat cushion, a neck roll, for lumbar support or just to elevate your knees. Contents don't settle or shrink so it retains its shape after vigorous use. Seams are well sewn, so no bursting under pressure."

Sleep experts have designed this natural latex and down-alternative travel pillow to be customizable, so you can remove as much of the latex fill as you need to create the right amount of cushion for your noggin. Did I mention the proprietary fill is naturally hypoallergenic, dust mite-resistant, anti-microbial, and made with eco-friendly materials?

Dimensions: 18 x 13 inches

Care: Spot clean only, machine-washable cover sold separately

Rave review: "Searched for two years to replace my neck pillow and could not find one that would work like my old one. Found this one and immediately bought a second—it is fabulous and perfect!"

Why love this travel pillow? Let me count the ways...For one, it’s got the perfect amount of memory foam to keep your head cradled. For two, it’s made with breathable fabric and has a front closure so it stays in place while you doze. Oh, and one last reason—it’s got a machine-washable cover.

Weight: 11.4 ounces

Dimensions: 13 x 8.1 x 3.8 inches

Care: Machine-washable cover

Rave review: "I was out before the plane took off. Highly recommend this over anything. Especially the throw away pillows at the airport."

Neck relief awaits! This memory foam travel pillow is pretty in pink (other colors are also available) and delivers on the comfort front. You’ll want to bring it with you every time you leave home thanks to its ergonomic design that is meant to promote cervical spine health.

Weight: 10.4 ounces

Dimensions: 6.85 x 6.02 x 5.51 inches

Rave review: "I was so worried about flying overnight and early in the morning after being up all night, so I ordered this pillow to see if I could get comfortable enough to rest. It did NOT disappoint. I have several health issues that make sitting up painful, so I lay mostly and sitting through a flight seemed impossible. This pillow was so comfy, formed right to me, and I slept during each flight."

This "Amazon’s Choice" product comes in a variety of colors and features a large air valve for easy inflation and deflation. It easily packs into a small tote and may very well be the difference between ending your travels feeling exhausted versus fresh and restored.

Weight: 10 ounces

Dimensions: 11.8 x 13.8 x 21.7 inches

Care: Spot clean

Rave review: "I LOVE long distance driving. My daughter is my road warrior and is now 17 and can take turns driving. We both enjoy the pillow to catch some rest on the road. The design allows for several different sleep positions so you can shift to avoid stiffness. Durable, easy to inflate, and the finish keeps you from sticking."

Sunany Hooded Inflatable Travel Pillow

This travel pillow features an attachable hood—an ideal feature if you’ve got AC blowing directly down on you on a plane, train, or bus. The velvet fabric is also superbly comforting. Plus, it comes with an eye mask and earplugs.

Weight: 5 ounces

Dimensions: 6.9 x 5.1 x 2.9 inches

Rave review: "I love this pillow. It is very comfortable and the material of the cover is so soft. I love collecting travel accessories as I do love to travel long flights. This is a great addition to my travel accessory collection. It's the best travel pillow I ever had."

Wise Owl Outfitters Camping Travel Pillow

If you have a camping trip in the books, consider this memory foam pillow. It’s easy to clean, compact, and comes in a waterproof stuff sack. Choose from green, grey, or blue color options. Or, buy one of each and give as gifts to fellow tenting enthusiasts.

Weight: 11 ounces

Dimensions: 14 x 18 inches

Care: Machine-washable, dryer-friendly

Rave review: "I bought this travel pillow to use on a long flight with my family. First off, this compressible pillow is incredibly lightweight and so easy to travel with...It’s got an amazing memory-foam feeling, but with the sturdiness of a sponge pillow."

World's Best Feather Soft Microfiber Neck Pillow

Another "Amazon’s Choice" find, this wonderfully soft travel pillow comes in a wide variety of colors. It features a snap closure to keep it in place around your neck and is made with hypoallergenic materials.

Weight: 11.6 ounces

Dimensions: 12 x 4 x 13 inches

Rave review: "This is without a doubt the best, most comfortable pillow in this style I’ve ever tried!!...It’s firm enough to be supportive, yet super soft at the same time. Most importantly, the material does not irritate my very sensitive skin AT ALL."

Avocado Green Mattress Organic Mini Pillow

Made with safe, non-toxic fabrics, Avocado Green Mattress' pillow is filled with a mix of organic fiber and latex. Its moisture-wicking cotton outside will keep you cool and comfortable, all of which means it's perfect for you and your family wherever your next adventure takes you.

Weight: 0.9 pounds

Dimensions: 20 x 12 inches

Care: Spot clean, machine-washable cover sold separately

Rave review: "Exquisite. The only word for it. I like a flatter pillow, so [this] was perfect."

Rumpl Stuffable Travel Pillow

Campers love this lightweight pillow and pillowcase. If you want to leave the pillow at home to save on space, fill up the case with your hoodie or PJ's for the smartest and comfiest packing sitch.

Dimensions: 11 x 16 inches

Rave review: "This is awesome! I am older, so I need a pillow, but I also hate packing them, because most of them take up way too much room. So I've been just using my down vest stuffed under my head. But of course, the vest does not keep a nice pillow shape. But now it will!"

LilySilk Mulberry Silk Travel Pillowcase

Yes, it’s just a pillowcase, but that means you can fill it with the pillow of your choice (even better, no?). Made of 100-percent mulberry silk, it’s super, well, dreamy and oh-so-soft. The extra elasticity wraps around the skin while you doze, said to be good for helping your cells stay healthy and your complexion clear.

Weight: 5.2 ounces

Dimensions: 15 x 22 inches

Rave review: "I love these so much, I bought them for family & friends for Christmas. It's a luxury item you did not know you NEEDED until you try it. Excellent value for the price and they come wrapped beautifully in a pretty, high quality box."

What should I look for in a travel pillow?

In order to prevent neck pain when you've just set your out-of-office email, Hannegan suggests looking for a pillow that supports your head and neck in a mostly neutral position.

That means your head shouldn't be able to sag, but there shouldn't be so much support and padding in the back that your head is pushed forward when you lean against the seat.

But above all, Michael Khadavi, MD, a doctor who specializes in physical medicine, says your pillow should be comfortable.

"Everybody has a different body type, shoulder structure, and neck, and each of these plays a role in the thickness, firmness, and best positioning of any pillow you will use," he explains. "A pillow that feels 'right' feels this way because it places your ligaments, discs, and joints at ease."

Perri is a New York City-born and -based writer; she holds a bachelor’s in psychology from Columbia University and is also a culinary school graduate of the plant-based Natural Gourmet Institute, which is now the Natural Gourmet Center at the Institute of Culinary Education. Her work has appeared in the New York Post, Men's Journal, Rolling Stone, Oprah Daily, Insider.com, Architectural Digest, Southern Living, and more. She's probably seen Dave Matthews Band in your hometown, and she'll never turn down a bloody mary. Learn more at VeganWhenSober.com .

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Flying coach? Pack one of these for first-class comfort as well as a stealthy way to pack more clothing.

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Whether you're catching a red-eye flight , saying "all aboard" to a lengthy train or bus ride, or you're packing for a long car trip , a travel pillow can be that sweet sliver of salvation on dawn-to-dusk or simply slower-than-you’d-like travel days. So don't forget to bring your travel pillow next time you pack your bags—you definitely don't want to get stuck overpaying for an uncomfortable one at a rest stop or airport store.

These travel pillows are the best to have on hand since they're suited to a range of comfort preferences, packing capacities, and traveling styles.

The Best Travel Pillows

Best Overall

Tallgo memory-foam travel pillow.

Best for Stealthy Storage

Dot&dot twist memory foam travel pillow.

Best Splurge

Honeydew scrumptious travel pillow.

Best Support

Trtl original travel pillow.

Cushions and Covers

Ostrich light versatile pillow.

Effortless Inflating

Aircomfy inflatable neck travel pillow.

Cozy Comfort

Wise owl outfitters camping pillow.

Cheap, Yet Effective

World's best feather soft microfiber neck pillow.

Easiest to Transport

Chill-o travel pillow.

For Couch Surfers

Pillow cube sidekick pillow, what to consider, pillow design.

A lot of travel pillows fit around the neck so that you can just tilt your head slightly to feel cushioned by it. You may even be able to wear it from the front, back, or sideways, depending on your comfort level. Some can also be tightened, loosened, or bent into shape for a custom fit. Plus, if you don't already own an eye mask that you love , some travel pillows are sold in a convenient bundle with them.

However, if it seems impossible for you to get good sleep — especially while traveling — you can get a camping-style travel pillow like the Wise Owl Outfitters Camping Pillow or the Pillow Cube Sidekick Pillow . These are essentially smaller and more portable versions of regular bed pillows, and they can offer a little more support and softness, too.

Packing space

If you're a total travel minimalist, the idea of a plush travel pillow dangling off of your carry-on or taking up precious space in your suitcase might be irritating enough to make you want to leave it at home. The best solution is getting an inflatable travel pillow such as the AirComfy Inflatable Neck Travel Pillow that blows up when you need it and rolls up tidily in your suitcase when you don't. If you have slightly more space to spare, some travel pillow designs such as the Chill-o Travel Pillow now give you the best of both worlds with their cushy feel and compressible material that you can squish flat when you're not using it. Many of the picks in this guide even come with their own carrying case to help you transport and stow them a little more easily. There's even a new Tiktok #pillowhack where travelers are now stuffing their travel pillows with clothing to avoid checked bag fees. If you're a chronic overpacker, we recommend the Dot&Dot travel pillow for packing overflow.

How you're traveling

One final consideration that may differ from trip to trip is the seat that you'll be snoozing in. People who prefer the aisle seat — or frequently get stuck in the middle seat — of a train or airplane may not want to get a travel pillow that only works best when leaned against a flat surface. Luckily, there are numerous options in this guide that we (and scores of reviewers) really love.

How We Selected

Many travel pillows today are made with portability in mind, offering both a compact size and clips for hooking onto your backpack or other luggage when you’re on the move. Plus, many clock in with ultra light weights of only a few ounces or so. We logged hours on flights testing some of the pillows ourselves, tapped industry publicists from top travel pillow company brands to find out about the latest and greatest pillows available, and also looked at customer reviews, price, comfort, and other considerations to select the absolute best travel pillows for sale right now.

These travel pillows are soft, supportive, washable, and easy to carry with you from point A to point B. Here are the best travel pillows that'll have you ready for takeoff.

This memory-foam travel pillow combines soft velour with smooth, breathable mesh. And yes, the cover unzips to launder. Its unique contoured shape is meant to give the wearer the most support, no matter which direction their head tilts.

And because it's designed with traveling in mind, it comes with its very own drawstring travel bag. To store, the user can roll it up as tightly as possible, helping it take up less space in a carry-on.

Because of its cushy, supportive form and many versatile ways to wear it, it’s a great choice overall for nearly any traveler, especially if you live with chronic pain. Says one reviewer, “I have several health issues that make sitting up painful ... sitting through a flight seemed impossible. This pillow was so comfy and formed right to me, and I slept during each flight. Totally worth it — I don’t think I would have been able to rest without it.”

More: The Smartest Things to Pack on Your Next Vacation

Dot&Dot Twist Memory Foam Travel Pillow

Look, memory foam is nice and all, but if you're all about utilitarian function, this pillow from Dot&Dot is an excellent choice. Simply remove the machine-washable cotton cover and stuff the neck pillow with shirts, sweaters, socks, and the like to help you avoid checked bag fees. One fan claims the pillow fit 3 days' worth of outfits.

Plus, the actual memory foam it comes with is super comfy so if you want to use it for your outbound travel you can snooze and relax in comfort; for the return trip if your bags are more stuffed to the gills with tchotchkes, you can part with the foam insert or push it down into a crevice in your carry-on and use the neck pillow to store an overflow of clothing.

This upmarket pillow is divinely doughy. Designed with an ergonomic shoulder cutout to lower upper-body strain, we love the compact size of this pillow too. This neck rest is also 100% CertiPUR-US certified and the copper-infused foam fill has naturally antibacterial properties.

It stays nice and cool and you can customize the feel by adding or removing fill to the ideal amount for you. But don’t just take our word for it, consider that Amazon reviewers find it so “amazing” that they use it as their travel pillow and at-home one, and say “I think I have slept better since I got this pillow ... no stiff neck, or red smashed ears.”

Trtl isn’t lying when they say “make the middle seat feel like first class” with their line of comfort-enhancing products and this travel pillow delivers. Fabricated with a patented design geared towards providing maximal neck support, the product is a breeze to adjust to customize to your personal preference.

What’s more, as you nod off while sitting up, the pillow’s internal support system keeps your head and neck in an upright position helping to ward off muscle aches and that dreaded neck-and-shoulder tension when you arise.

The Ostrich Light Versatile Pillow is an interesting hybrid travel pillow — it's both a head pillow and an eye mask. You can use it to block out the surrounding light while cushioning your head against the seat or window.

This travel pillow is one big loop that you wrap around your head, place gently over your eyes, and secure in place. It's covered with stretchy viscose material and filled with lightweight microbeads that feel just a little bit grainier than sand.

The piece is hand-wash-only, and though it doesn't come with its own carrying case, it's light enough to tuck into any suitcase or bag without adding a lot of extra weight.

This travel pillow from AirComfy checks off nearly every box: It's inflatable, soft and fuzzy, contoured, washable, and comes with its own carrying case. To inflate, simply open the air valve and then pump repeatedly on the raised dot. Then, close the air valve when it's inflated to your liking.

Even if the inflated pillow isn't quite as cozy as a memory-foam or fiber-fill pillow, its shape helps keep your neck propped up in a more comfortable way. Plus, you can even wear it upside down or right side up.

It’s also comfy enough to handle multihour trips. One reviewer says, “I had the opportunity to use the pillow on two recent 5-hour flights, and it performed perfectly. It took about 45 seconds to inflate and was easy to adjust. It was comfortable and remained cool throughout my flight. Deflation and storage back in the bag were equally easy. Once packed, it took up very little space in my backpack.”

If you need a travel pillow that looks and feels like a regular bed pillow, this one from Wise Owl Outfitters is a great option. Made of shredded memory foam with a microsuede cover, it feels very snuggly and soft and is sure to keep you snug throughout all of your travels.

It comes in two sizes — 12x16 and 14x18 inches — and three colors. You may want to make your choice depending on how light you prefer to travel. According to one reviewer, “The medium [is best] for a sleeping bag, car, and airplane, and when you need to pack small. The large [is best for] when you have more room.”

It's even bundled with its own drawstring bag, and everything is machine-washable. We think the compressed pillow inside of its carrying case makes an excellent bolster, too.

If all you want is a simple, traditional, and cheap travel pillow — this is it! This velvety-soft neck pillow comes in lots of different colors, and each one is filled with a cushy down-alternative material. It doesn't have a carrying case, but the cover does zip off to wash.

One other feature that reviewers like is that the internal fill is adjustable — you can unzip it to remove excess fiber if it’s too lofty for your liking. Says one reviewer, “I chose this pillow specifically because it has a zipper, which allows the user to remove some of the stuffing if needed ... My neck is now completely happy with this pillow. I recommend it for people who find other neck pillows too thick.”

The Chill-o is another travel pillow that eschews the C-shape for a more traditional pillow silhouette. This pillow is made of one piece of perforated, gel-infused memory foam that helps with head support and airflow while also easily compressing to stow.

Its furry cover is made of a polyester blend that's not only washable, but doubles as the pillow's carrying case. A drawstring and carabiner help it store compactly and attach to your carry-on.

Many reviewers use this for camping and traveling, but they also note that it is firm enough to use as a seat cushion or a back bolster — so it brings the support.

Says one reviewer, “Wow, what a great little pillow! It is very compact, weighing almost nothing, and we know how important weight is on a pack trip. The pillow is very comfortable and provides excellent support for the neck and head.”

You may not be able to sling the Pillow Cube Sidekick Pillow around your neck or compress it completely flat to easily carry, but if you're crashing on someone's couch or trying to get some shut-eye against a car window, it'll give your head a super cushy place to rest while you're away from home.

The Sidekick is recommended for side sleepers, and after trying it ourselves , we can definitely see why. Its reactive bamboo-charcoal memory-foam build has a lot of pushback, effectively cradling the head and neck but pushing a little too hard on the face when it comes to stomach-sleeping.

Its cube shape also slots right between your head and shoulder. You can order it in a 5- or 6-inch height — the taller height is better for those with broad shoulders.

Exped Premium Ultralight & Compact Camping Pillow

20D stretch fabric? Yes, please. To up the ante, The EXPED Ultra Pillow is also super lightweight and made of recycled fabric. Users will appreciate that the pillow's anatomic shape holds your head securely in place throughout your travels.

And, the low-profile FlatValve makes for seamless inflation and deflation, great for when you’re jolted out of counting sheep because your train has pulled into your destination station. Choose from a medium or large based on your pillow preferences.

Cabeau TNE S3: The Neck's Evolution

This recently released neck pillow calls itself the brand’s most comfortable and secure fit yet, and it doesn’t disappoint. For one thing, it’s got a patent pending chin-strap technology for a great fit. What does this mean for you?

A custom-tailored fit to keep the spine in neutral alignment while worn. Along with saving you from dropping your head and pesky neck strain, customers praise this travel accessory for its “nice-to-touch” material and the fact that it’s easy to clean .

Therm-a-Rest Compressible Pillow

We love this versatile pillow that you can take for a camping trip or long-haul flight and be content with your sleeping situation either way. It packs up wonderfully small (hence the “compressible” moniker) and the supremely soft, 60% recycled polyester cover is filled with supportive and compressible upcycled foam from the company’s sleeping pad collections.

Another nice feature? An extra insulation layer at the top of the pillow for a smooth surface and stellar snooze. For something more portable, check out Therm-a-Rest’s Air Head Pillow .

Mulberry Park Silk Travel Pillow

For those who like to travel in style, and to support their skin, silk is the way to go. A 100% pure 19 momme grade 6A silk travel pillowcase from Mulberry gets two thumbs up from us thanks to its high-quality natural silk. Plus, these pillowcases are particularly great for hot sleepers as they have a cool feel and are billed as helpful for regulating body temperature.

What’s more, silk pillowcases are said to help prevent sleep wrinkles, keep your hairstyle in tip-top shape, and keep pesky sleep lines at bay. The optional insert is made in the USA.

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THE WISE CHOICE FOR COMFORT

If you’re looking for a comfort boost, you’re right where you need to be. SNUGL memory foam products are the perfect combination of stylish and practical design, high quality materials and pillowy softness. Your comfort is our priority. 

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A combination of comfort, style and practicality you won’t find elsewhere

WIDE RANGE OF OPTIONS Whether you need support for your lower back, upper back or neck, we have the perfect product for you.

PREMIUM MATERIALS Get both comfort and support accross our product range thanks to our 70D visco-elastic memory foam and our machine washable outer covers.

FREE DELIVERY Enjoy free shipping on all orders within the UK. And don’t worry, we use recyclable packaging to limit the impact on the environment.

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If you’re having trouble getting comfy, whether in your office chair or on long haul flights, snugl has got you covered. and we’ve got the reviews to prove it..

What our customers say about Snugl

Best travel pillow ever!

"I travel a lot for work and always have trouble sleeping sitting up. I ordered this for two 12+ hour flights and was skeptical, but once I put it on it was really comfortable. I feel asleep easy as its really supportive and had possibly the best sleep I've ever had on a plane with it. It packs away nicely into a little bag which I clip onto my bag. If you travel a lot, I would highly recommend this pillow!"

NAINESH MEHTA

The most comfortable and effective neck support i have owned.

"I never usually sleep on long haul flights but this travel pillow was just the job. It is a little bit bulky, made of memory foam, but worth the extra baggage"

MISS J CONNELL

Working at home just got 100% better with the help of snugl.

"How could I have survived all the working at home in 2020 without this fantastic bit of kit. My comfort level during first working week of 2021 has gone thru the roof with this SNUGL lumber support cushion. Absolutely anyone who wants to be comfy and therefore productive during the day needs to get one. Don’t delay!!"

ANDREW MILLER

The back support ticks all the boxes.

"I have a fractured and have back pain most days. Since I have started using this product sitting in my armchair is do much better. I found driving my car made my back pain worse but now my posture is so much better and finding driving much more comfortable. I have now ordered the same product for my sister as she suffers has back trouble. The best purchase ever."

Great for the office chair

"Bought this due to having arthritis in both hips and now being a desk based... I was struggling and In agony at the end of the day. I put this on my office chair and all I can say is wow! It’s so comfortable and the shape helps to lift your hips which gives me instant relief. Obviously with it being memory foam it does flatten slightly after a while, but I literally stand for five seconds and it returns to its original shape and firmness. I absolutely recommend for hip arthritis and lower back pain for desk based jobs. Super fast delivery and well packaged with great information booklet x it also has a great strap which secured it in place onto any size chair."

So comfortable

"I don't normally leave reviews, but I had to with this product. I am sitting on my office chair for the majority of the day and this cushion is an absolute life saver. So comfortable, I don't feel any pain when sitting down anymore for long periods of time. Thank you for such an amazing product for an affordable price."

MISS SARAH L BLACK

Read more reviews

Our Product Range

Where comfort starts.

For your neck

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SNUGL Coccyx Cushion

Comfort & support.

SNUGL products come with a 60-day money back guarantee because we know you'll love them. Thanks to years of high quality feedback from our customers and our design team's attention to detail, we now have the UK's #1 travel pillow and more cozy things launching this summer. Watch this space.

Premium materials

Recyclable packaging, 24/7 support, free delivery, 2-year warranty, money back guarantee.

We accept all major credit cards (VISA, Mastercard, AMEX), PayPal, Google Pay and Apple Pay payments.

As we aim to process orders as fast as possible, you must request any changes/cancellations within 12 hours of ordering. All requests after this time will be denied. Your order can be returned for a full refund after it is received.

All orders are handled and shipped out from our warehouse. Please allow extra time for your order to be processed during holidays and sale seasons. We process orders between Monday and Friday. Please note that we don't ship on weekends and bank holidays.

Not yet. We currently ship in the UK only whilst we work on our logistics, but you will soon be able to order all our products from more countries.

We ship from the UK.

Orders are usually received within 2-3 business days.

You can email us at [email protected] where our customer service team will be happy to help you with whatever you need!

If you don't receive your order within 3 days after shipping, please contact us and we'll arrange a refund or an other product being sent.

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Please contact us if you have received merchandise that is incorrect, missing, and/or defective. Please include your order number, photographs of the item(s) and all related references upon receiving your package. We will resolve your case as soon as possible.

All refunds will be credited to your original form of payment. If you paid by credit or debit card, refunds will be sent to the card-issuing bank within 7-10 business days of receipt of the returned item or cancellation request. Please contact the card-issuing bank with questions about when the credit will be posted to your account. If you haven't received your refund and it's been 7 days since you started your return, contact the bank/credit card company and they'll be able to tell you why there's a delay.

"SNUGL by name, snuggle by nature, this cleverly designed memory foam neck pillow aims to mould to your individual shape, to help reduce aches and pains with appropriate support." GQ Magazine, May 2023

"The SNUGL Travel Pillow is made from conforming elastic cationic fabric that’s designed to relieve neck pressure and tightness, so you can sleep easier and better." Mashable, June 2023

"Made from thermo-sensitive memory foam, it stays at the perfect temperature no matter where you are, plus it has a reversible cover and can be worn in a multitude of ways, including over the shoulder." The Hotel Journal, April 2023

"The versatility of this pillow is only matched by its high-quality. Whether your favourite sleeping position is with your head back, forward, or to the side; the shape is cleverly designed to fit all preferences." TheDozyOwl, May 2020

"The memory foam molds to the shape of your head and neck, providing personalized support and reducing pressure points. This helps alleviate discomfort and pain caused by prolonged sitting or sleeping in awkward positions." Travellon, March 2023

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The crucial link: sleep posture and chronic neck pain.

Discover how your sleeping habits might be contributing to chronic neck pain. This post delves into the critical role of sleep posture in managing and potentially alleviating neck discomfort. Learn about the different sleep positions and their impacts on neck health, and gain insights into how the right pillow and mattress choices can make a significant difference. Understand how day-to-day habits and stress management play into the broader picture of maintaining neck health for a pain-free, restful sleep experience. Join us in uncovering the key connections between sleep and neck pain, and start your journey towards improved well-being today.

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Founder’s Note

SNUGL is a small independent business founded by CEO, Luke, who has a passion for travel and was fed up with endless shuffling trying to get comfortable on flights. After developing what became one of the best-selling travel pillows into the world, Luke added two life-long friends to the core team. Mark worked as a digital nomad for 10 years so knows a thing or two about air travel. Ludo mostly just likes sleeping a lot, making him the lead guinea pig for travel pillow improvement testing.

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The best travel pillows to add to your packing list – recommended by Good Housekeeping editors

Sleep like you're on a cloud, in the clouds

The fear of waking up snuggled into the stranger in the next seat can be very real. And don’t even get us started on the neck ache that can strike if you fall asleep in the wrong position. That's if you even manage to drift off in the first place.

Luckily, travel pillows exist to help make hours spent on a plane or train much more comfortable . But how do you know which will actually stop your head from lolling and leave you feeling refreshed?

Enter team Good Housekeeping. These are the travel pillows our frequent flyers love to pack , but keep scrolling for their full reviews below.

Best travel pillows to buy in 2024

Editor's pick

Trtl travel pillow.

Our pick for memory foam

Cabeau tne s3 travel pillow.

Our pick for the middle seat

Travelrest all-in-one ultimate travel pillow.

Our budget pick

Mountain warehouse memory foam travel pillow.

Trekology Inflatable Neck Pillow for Travel

What to consider when picking a travel pillow.

This is obviously the number one criterion for travel pillow shopping. Most are memory foam or inflatable designs – the former will have a bit more give, whereas an inflatable design lets you adjust the firmness a tad. Also, consider breathability if you get hot (memory foam tends to trap body heat).

Portability

Luggage restrictions are getting ever tighter, so try and find one that will pack away small and fit in your carry on bag with ease.

This ties in with support really, but one crucial question to ask is whether the travel pillow you're looking at will work with your headphones – you don’t want the pillow to get in the way of your in-flight entertainment.

Product care

Some have washable covers, helping you keep your travel pillow fresh for adventure after adventure.

How we picked these travel pillows

Our list below has been curated by the GHI homes editor, who regularly writes reviews of luggage and travel essentials, and the travel pillows featured have been tried by our editors here at Good Housekeeping, who all jetted off on their holidays over the spring break.

When they got back, they shared their honest reviews, telling us what they liked (and what they didn’t), so you can find your perfect pillow.

Here are our top buys.

Love Good Housekeeping and want more of our Triple-Tested recipes, home tips, fashion inspiration, essential consumer advice and so much more delivered to your inbox? Sign up to our FREE weekly newsletters, sit back and enjoy!

When we asked the Good Housekeeping team for their favourite travel pillows, this one was the most recommended . So what makes it so great? Deepti Mistry, our SEO manager, found out why.

“I'm a frequent long-haul traveller, and suffer from neck problems, but this travel pillow provided me with comfort and support during my latest 9-hour flight.

Initially, it took a while to get to grips with how to wrap the pillow around, but once I found a comfortable spot, it supported my neck nicely, and I managed to get a few good hours of sleep.

With other travel pillows I've used, I would wake up with a crooked, stiff neck, but this wasn't the case with the Trtl pillow as it provided stability, preventing my head from nodding, which usually causes my neck stiffness during sleep.

It's also portable, very lightweight, has a soft fleece feel, and is compact, so it can fit in your carry-on luggage. It also comes with a handy travel case to keep it clean, which I loved.

Trtl has got its motto right: ‘Loop, Wrap, and Nap – It’s That Easy’. It’s been a game-changer for me and I don’t think I would travel without it now.”

Tested by Amanda Marcantonio, Fashion Director

“At home, I’m not a particularly great sleeper; on a plane I’m even worse. So when I was asked to try the Cabeau TNE S3 Travel Pillow on an 8.5 hour overnight flight, I jumped at the chance – anything that might help me catch a few hours' shut-eye!

I normally pack a very bog-standard travel pillow that I’ve had for years, which usually sits round my neck like a necklace and is not supportive at all.

This couldn’t be more different. Don’t be put off by the instruction booklet – it simply shows how to clip it onto the seat headrest and how to secure the chin strap correctly. The chin strap is the main selling point of this brilliant travel pillow, which is held in place with a velcro tab so it fits any size – it completely stopped the 'nodding dog' head-rolling that happens when you’re trying to sleep sitting upright.

The only downside was that it pushed my headphones upwards. But to be honest, because it worked its magic by helping me sleep on the plane, that didn’t bother me much.

It can be squashed down to a compact size, which is great while in transit, but not for long-term storage (30 days max is recommended). If you’re travelling overnight and need a sturdy but soft travel pillow to help you sleep, look no further.”

Amanda's Cabeau TNE S3 Travel Pillow packed up for scale

Tested by Emma Justice, Good Housekeeping Travel Expert

“I’ve never found a neck pillow that works for me on long-haul flights and hate carrying around those bulky U-shaped ones. So, keen to get some sleep on an overnighter to Boston recently (and assigned the dreaded middle seat), I put this long, thin banana-shaped contraption to the test.

It inflates easily in a few seconds with just two to three blows and is best described as having a soft, friendly shoulder to lay your head on. Its rather odd shape made me giggle but you can adjust its position to go across your body or down one side and the detachable strap it comes with can be looped over the headrest to stop it from slipping. You can also wear the pillow like a guitar or messenger bag (which also attracted strange looks).

It comes in a soft, plush, washable fabric you can snuggle into and provides proper ergonomic support for your head and neck. It deflates quickly, too, and rolls up into a croissant shape for storing in your hand luggage. I’m not sure the person next to me appreciated the cushion occasionally bumping into them (or my snoring!) but then I felt far more rested than usual when I arrived so didn’t really care!”

Tested by Priyankaa Joshi, Senior Health and Wellness Writer

“I tried the Mountain Warehouse Memory Foam Pillow on a 10-and-a-half-hour flight from the UK to St Kitts in the Caribbean. It was my first experience with a travel pillow and I’d say it definitely enhanced my flight. The outer fabric was extremely soft and felt lovely against my skin and I loved the squishy memory foam.

For the first time, I actually managed to get some decent sleep on a flight – my neck felt properly supported and I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.

Coming in at under £20, I think it’s excellent value for money and I’ll most definitely continue to use it on all my flights going forwards.

If I had to think of a downside, it is a little bulky (it seems larger than other travel pillows) but I didn’t find this a problem – I just hooked it onto my rucksack (note, it doesn’t come with a carry case).”

Laura Cohen, head of accreditation at the GHI, swears by her inflatable travel pillow. “It has a removable soft cover and deflates down to nothing, which makes it ideal if you’re tight on luggage space, and don’t want to lug a bigger pillow around with you. It's very affordable, too.”

Note, this isn't Laura's exact pillow (she's had hers for a while) but we've found one with a very similar design.

Hannah is our homes editor, specialising in reviewing the latest kitchen appliances, cleaning products, mattresses and bedding, and crafting equipment. Hannah has written about hundreds of products, from air fryers to smoothie makers to pillows , and is committed to finding the most reliable and best value for money buys.

Hannah is also interested in sustainability in the home and has completed a course with the University of the Arts London in sustainable textiles, so she can help cut through the noise on what’s green and what’s not. Hannah has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously worked as a freelance lifestyle and women’s sports journalist , working for Stylist , Sky Sports and more.

Hannah has also previously worked in a florist and can normally be found caring for her house plants or sewing something new for her home or wardrobe.

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Recently viewed

A Flight Attendant Designed This Oddly-shaped Travel Pillow to Help You Sleep, Even in the Middle Seat

Amazon reviewers say the J-Pillow “tops them all.”

Like noise-canceling headphones and compression socks, a travel pillow is another one of those things you almost can’t survive a long-haul flight without. Leaving it behind means arriving at your destination tired, probably cranky, and with a sore neck that could linger throughout the first days of your trip. So, regardless of how decidedly uncool it might look dangling from your carry-on, the prospects of getting half-decent rest on the plane make the funny optics all worth it. 

Even flight attendants agree. According to Amazon reviews, the stewards of the sky opt for this oddly shaped J-Pillow — one that they say “tops them all.”

J-Pillow Travel Neck Pillow

Buy on Amazon

While your typical neck pillow is shaped like a doughnut and wraps around the back of the neck, this one is made to sit higher up near the crown of your head. It has an extra hook-shaped “trunk” that curls around to support the neck and chin — that’s where the “J” in “J-Pillow” comes from — so you don’t succumb to any embarrassing head bobbing in public.

Related: The 12 Best Travel Pillows of 2024, Tested and Reviewed

The cleverly engineered travel pillow was designed by a former Virgin Atlantic flight attendant, Gemma Jensen, who developed more than 200 prototypes before getting the J-Pillow just right. Her objective was to make the “world’s first chin-supporting neck pillow” so travelers always feel like they have a window to rest against, even when they don’t. In 2012, it won the British Invention of the Year award. Now, the pillow has a loyal flight attendant following and more than 15,000 ratings on Amazon, almost 9,000 of which are five stars.

“Skip the other pillows you see in the inflight magazines,” one says . This one “stays put and keeps [their] neck upright,” is “very comfortable and easy to pack,” and is just “by far the best,” they wrote. Another Amazon reviewer whose daughter is a flight attendant said they like that the pillow doesn't take up a lot of room. On Tiktok, the flight attendant xoblondevoyage also included it in a list of “travel must-haves,” along with a portable charger, hanging toiletry bag, Twelve South AirFly SE bluetooth transmitter , and selfie stick tripod.

Reviewers describe the pillow as squishy and velvety. It’s perfect not just for airplanes, but also for long car rides, train travel, and couch napping, too. It comes with a carrying case that protects it from airport germs and keeps it compact in your luggage. Lots of reviewers say gate agents didn’t count it as an extra personal item or mind that it was poking out of their carry-ons (it’s a little chunky).

The J-Pillow normally retails for $60, but it’s $50 at Amazon. It has thousands of positive reviews, including one that sums up the collective sentiment : “it was the bomb and you should buy one. Today. Now.” Shop more top-rated travel pillows, below.

Related: Flight Attendants on TikTok Reveal the 10 Products They Won't Travel Without — Starting at $9

More Top-rated Travel Pillows:

Mlvoc memory foam travel pillow, dot&dot twist memory foam travel pillow, bcozzy double-support neck pillow, cabeau evolution s3 travel neck pillow, tallgo travel pillow.

At the time of publishing, the price started at $50.

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Eli & Elm Side Sleeper Pillow Review: A Supremely Supportive Design

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Let me start this review by saying that I’m an incredibly frugal person, and the idea of spending over $100 on a single pillow still seems positively absurd to me. But after a few sports injuries and countless restless nights, I’m a little more willing to do whatever it takes to get that coveted full night of sleep. After researching my options and reading review after review, I came across the Eli & Elm Cooling Side Sleeper Pillow —a pricey but popular choice among those suffering from neck pain. And suffice it to say, I fell in love on the first night.

The Eli & Elm Cooling Side Sleeper Pillow is a pricey but popular choice among those suffering from ... [+] neck pain—and I, too, fell in love with it.

Before investing in the pillow, I’d wake up each morning with a headache, a crick in my neck or both. That’s likely due to the fact that I was stacking up three budget pillows in a somewhat haphazard fashion in order to get the support I needed. Eli & Elm’s pillow , meanwhile, has me waking up rested and clear-headed. Ahead, read my full review and learn more about some of the pillow’s standout features.

Eli & Elm

Eli & Elm Cooling Side Sleeper Pillow

Fill:  Latex, polyester fiber |  Trial period:  45 nights | Firmness:  Adjustable

What you’ll love:  

• Cut-out shape offers ideal neck support
• Multiple firmness levels
• Great for side sleepers

Keep in mind:

• Not ideal for some combination sleepers

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Keep your devices going with the best portable chargers, eli & elm cooling side sleeper pillow features, a design that promotes proper spine alignment.

Featuring a large, “U”-shaped cut-out, the Side Sleeper Pillow is designed to encourage your neck to stay in line with the rest of your spine. I was skeptical at first—I figured the shape was just a marketing ploy. But I ended up really enjoying the shape, which does, in fact, conform perfectly to my head and neck with a comforting feeling, adding a gentle incline from my spine all the way up to the base of my head. I’d describe it as a gentle “hug” for your neck, but not a cloying one; it truly offers just the right amount of support.

Height And Firmness Customization

One of the other standout features of this pillow is the fact that it can be customized to your preferred height. Just unzip the interior liner to carefully add or remove fill—you can buy additional fill if you like a firmer feel, and in fact, when I called to inquire about doing exactly that, the company sent me some free of charge. That fill is also perfectly buoyant and supportive: It’s comprised of 75 percent “latex noodles” and 25 percent polyester fiber. And because the case that surrounds it all is OEKO-TEX certified, I know I’m not breathing in any harmful substances—which adds yet another reason to fall asleep faster and with less anxiety.

High-Quality, Machine-Washable Materials

Eli & Elm offer a custom pillow case that conforms exactly to the Side Sleeper Pillow’s shape. It’s made from a high thread count cotton with a sateen weave texture, and both the case and the pillow are machine-washable in cold water (they can also both be tumble-dried on low heat). And an interior liner on the pillow itself adds to the ease of laundry day. I’ve been a hot sleeper my entire life, but I no longer feel hot and sweaty during the night, which I have to owe in part to this pillow and its accompanying case.

Is The Eli & Elm Side Sleeper Pillow Worth It?

For side sleepers and those with concerns about overheating, yes. This pillow actually lives up to the hype: It’s an ideal choice for most shoppers. But even if you’re not yet sold on its many benefits, note that the company offers a 45-day trial period with free return shipping. For that reason, I’d recommend that all side sleepers give it a try.

At the time of writing this article, I’ve now used the pillow for a full seven months, and I can officially say I’m no longer waking up with a stiff neck. When I recently let my spouse try the pillow, it alleviated some neck discomfort and curbed a snoring episode in one night. I immediately purchased a second one—I wanted my pillow back.

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