There are various hacks which can make travel more comfortable and/ or affordable.
Back in 2017, I wrote a post asking, Do You Know About The Secret Button On Your Airplane Seat? In 2016, I shared a Budget Travel Tip: Save Money, Visit the Hotel Fitness Center.
We bring Ziploc bags on trips for a variety of reasons. I used to place my phone in a ziploc bag and then hang it from the clip for the tray table. This made watching shows on my phone much more enjoyable.
Smarter Travel recently shared another excellent way to use large Ziploc bags and they feel you should always bring them on flights.
Seatback pockets on planes can be filled with all kinds of garbage (and germs). Smarter Travel says that “seatback pockets definitely don’t get a thorough cleaning in (if any) between flights“.
If you’re afraid to use a seatback pocket due to cleanliness, ST has a simple hack for you.
Smarter Travel says you should “pack the Ziploc bag with everything you’ll want access to during your flight, and put it in your carry-on. When you sit down, place the Ziploc bag with all your stuff inside the seat pocket. The bag will provide a barrier between your stuff and the inside of the seatback pocket, providing a sanitary storage spot in-flight.”
Once you land, empty the items from the Ziploc into your carry on and throw the plastic bag away.
Simple enough!
Find out more from Smarter Travel here.
So here you have a clever idea for staying germless on airplanes and everyone throws rocks at your head for wasting a plastic bag. I know you meant ‘recycle’ instead of ‘throw’ it. It’s a clever idea, and one I will use on my nexttrip. For the truly eco-commited-traveller, you can use an indelible marker to put a number on the bag whenever you wash and reuse it.
No, there’s too much plastic adrift in our world already. I always travel with a small backpack (my wife carries a zippered tote) in which we keep those items we want to access. The bag stays on the floor below the seat in front. Keeping our items there is better at preventing the problem that plagues so many fliers–leaving stuff in those seat back pockets. I put NOTHING in those damn seat back pockets.
As far as not adding to plastic trash, I will save small paper bags, if not greasy or soiled (ie., from McDonald’s or elsewhere), and bring a few with me when I travel. I use them onboard as small trash bags since I can’t stand all the “litter” (empty cups, napkins, stirrers, and whatever other effluvia) that accumulates while waiting for flight attendants to come around with their big trash bags. At the very least it’s an effort to clean up for the sake of oneself and others after them.
You could ask for a second sanitary wipe and clean out the seat back pocket. Nowadays this happens.
Gail Young- For the reason of avoiding germs in the seat back pocket, it isn’t so stupid. Maybe there are reusable bags which can be washed or reused. I frequently reuse plastic bags/ bring my own bags for grocery shopping.
Billy Bob- LOL
GP Newman- I see no issue with this!
George- I don’t think it’s a waste but the bags could be washed/ reused like GP Newman suggested.
What a horrendous waste of bags.
Smart Traveler should save the bag (and the planet) by saving the bag, washing and reusing it.
Thank you. Great idea! After the zip-bag is emptied of your stuff, turn the bag inside out until you can wash and dry the bag. I reuse ziplock bags in my house doing this too.
I use it to stock up on lots of lotus cookies and anything else I can find during my frequent raids of the galley.
Yes—the world definitely needs more single use plastic bags in landfills—if they even make it there—just so some moron on a plane can access his/her stuff more “conveniently”. Your “simple hack” is simply horrendous.
Don’t be so arrogant. People are trying to minimize contact with filthy surfaces. There’s lots of ways to contribute to the planet and it’s really not the end of the world if a ziplock helps to prevent transmission of Covid bacteria.
Most people have never been to a landfill or garbage dump. You might be surprised what you see there! Anything and everything.
And BTW, those supposedly bins for recycle are all mixed together at the work station. I know it’s altruistic thinking, but people barely making minimum wage could care less. Recycle bins were set up to make elitist people (or those who think they are) feel good about themselves.