How to sleep on a plane

An economy seat holds your body but not your head. As you fall asleep your neck muscles release, your head tips forward or sideways, and the sudden movement wakes you - over and over, for the length of the flight. That is the loop to break.

Which pillow works depends on how you sleep, which is why there is no single best travel pillow. Three honest categories:

• Head falls forward: you need something that catches the chin or holds the head from the front. Dense foam worn with the opening at the back, or an internal-support design.
• Head falls sideways: you need support between your shoulder and your ear. An internal-support wrap is the most effective shape here.
• Head rests back against the headrest already: you need the least - a simple contoured pillow to stop lateral drift, and nothing bulky.

Best travel pillows sorts the options by sleeping position, and best travel pillows for side sleepers goes deeper on the hardest case.

Cabin lighting follows the service schedule, not yours - and on a night flight the lights come up for a meal at a time that suits the galley. A contoured eye mask that does not press on your eyelids is a few ounces and it removes the problem entirely.

Noise is the other half. Foam earplugs are the lightest effective answer and they cut the cabin roar that keeps you in shallow sleep. The trade-off is real: they also block announcements, so if you are expecting a connection update, use noise-canceling headphones instead and accept the bulk and the charging.

1. Decide before boarding whether this is a sleeping flight. If it is, skip the meal service rather than staying awake for it - most airlines will let you ask for it later or not at all.
2. Set up once, properly. Pillow, mask, earplugs, water within reach, seatbelt visible over the blanket so a crew member does not need to wake you to check it.
3. Lean back at the first opportunity. Reclining when the person behind you is also settling is easier than doing it during the meal.
4. Treat interruptions as expected. Turbulence, a service announcement and a seatbelt check will happen. Being set up to fall back asleep matters more than sleeping through them.
5. Get up once on a long sector. One walk at the midpoint is better for how you feel on arrival than an unbroken seven hours in the seat.

On the aircraft side of comfort, the rest of the kit that earns its space is in long-haul flight essentials, which covers what to keep at your feet versus overhead.

In economy your only real degrees of freedom are head support, light, noise and what you do with your feet. Put the bag you need in flight under the seat and the rest overhead, because footwell space you can actually use is worth more than convenience - best personal item bags covers bags that fit the space without filling it.

In a middle seat, sideways head fall is the problem and there is no window to lean on, which makes an internal-support design the most useful thing you can own. Keep your elbows in front of the armrest line rather than on it, and accept that you will be woken by neighbours - the aim is to fall back asleep quickly rather than to sleep straight through.

Sleep medication, melatonin dosing, and anything involving a medical condition. Those are questions for a doctor or a pharmacist who knows your history, not for a travel gear site, and the honest answer here is that we are not qualified to give one.

The same applies to compression socks if you are pregnant, have a circulatory condition or have had a clot: the right compression level is a medical decision. We cover fit and comfort only - best compression socks for flying is written on that basis.