Flying with no noise in Business Class

Noise canceling headphone or earbuds won't cancel out all talking. Only machine sounds.

You could get a good pair of ear plugss or plug into a white noise machine.

Business class is usually quieter than coach.

Is this a nighttime flight? You won't get much talking once the meal service is over. People tend to settle in and sleep or watch a movie. And in Business Class the seats are far enough apart that really the only talk you hear is from the person next to you, like your travel companion.

Engine noise however can be worse than in the back of the plane (Economy), as you are closer to the engines. We try to sit in front of the engines rather than over the wing.

I once flew first class from San Francisco to London. I thought it would be a pleasant flight only to discover a toddler that cried for the entire duration was also in first class. Unfortunately my Bose noise cancelling headphones weren't effective although strangely the child's mother's earplugs were. The unfortunate and ineffective husband wasn't afforded such comfort.

As long as you don't suffer such a child I'm sure you'll be fine. I've never found aircraft noise to be a hindrance to sleep on a flight, particularly in business class, I'm just too tall to get reasonably comfortable. One product that did help on a couple of flights was Valium!

Earplugs- inexpensive and reliable.

Active noise cancelling earphones will reduce the level of noise but there's no solution I know of that will allow "no noise". As you noted they will be uncomfortable for sleeping. There are also noise cancelling ear buds which will reduce noise but those will allow more noise than headphones.

One caveat to keep in mind...... Be sure to keep your seatbelt on while sleeping, or you could get a "rude awakening"!

These Bose earbud noise-cancelling headphones work great for me. I can sleep in them. You'll still hear some noise but it's faint. Canceling out literally all noise is impossible.

On intercontinental biz class, you will be able to lie flat, but rolling over is unlikely. The headphones the airline provides, or your own, really should not be that much of a discomfort. I usually have some music at a low volume to muffle the outside sounds. I have gotten to where I usually use my ipod. The system in the seat is linked to the pa system and really dislike the middle of the night announcement of "turbulence ahead --fasten your seat belt" I just always have mine on.

Biz class with fewer people and seat pods spread out is, with the exception of a screaming child, a quiet, easy place to fall asleep for an over night flight.

Total silence is probably impossible, but you can reduce the background to 'white noise' with simple ear plugs or other earbuds, and be able to sleep

Poor child. Probably had ear problems.

Contact your local hearing center and ask if they can do ear molds for custom fit ear protection (ear plugs). I had a set made 5 years ago for $95 and they have been worth every penny. They don't block out all sound but enough that I can sleep on planes, trains, cruise ships, in noisy hotels, and they muffle my husband's snoring at home. (I did wear them once in Business Class to Europe with noise cancelling headphones and that was heaven.) I found the custom mold ear plugs work much better than cheaper foam ear plugs and I'm so glad that a friend who also uses them recommended them to me.

There are plenty of white noise apps for smartphones. You would be able to plug your phone in to charge for the whole trip so listening nonstop won't be a battery-draining problem. White noise + a good pair of earbuds with reasonable noise blocking should go pretty far to making it quiet for you. The thing is, you'll still be able to feel the noise. It's just not that easy to sleep on a plane.

That is impossible.

You are in a metal tube filled with hundreds of people. There will be sound. No matter how much they all attempt to move around quietly (and some apparently do the opposite), there is always someone bumping your seat, talking to a flight attendant, crying babies and engine noise among other things. Unless you sleep in a similar environment at home, it is difficult to tune all of that out. The best solution I can suggest are the in ear noise canceling ear buds and running a white noise app on your smart phone or music player.

Good luck.

As others have said, there's no guarantee of 100% silence - there's nothing that will completely eliminate all the sound from a screaming baby (the high-pitched sounds are the toughest to eliminate) - but you can get pretty close. And if there's no screaming baby, IME it can be essentially silent.

Good (inexpensive) foam ear plugs (you must know how to insert them correctly, this makes a huge difference!), plus noise canceling headphones will get you near silence under most conditions. With a roomy, lie-flat bed in a semi-private business-class "pod"...it's a blissful way to fly to the other side of the world (best experienced with a non-US airline).

"....Poor child. Probably had ear problems...."

According to her father she has problems sleeping anywhere, including at home. All she wanted to do was to be with her mum but she was too concerned about getting her own sleep.

Poor child. Where was the binkie? Babies don't know to swallow to relieve ear pressure, so a pacifier helps.

I was recently on a flight with a crying infant, and the other infants formed a sympathy choir. Oddly, the multiple voices weren't as bothersome as the singular wailing.

...Is there such a product that cancels out all the sound (talking, plane sound, etc.)...... NO. Reduce it some, yes. You can read the number of testing reports on different sites. The best will be an over the ear noise reducing head phones, next are ear buds but they really require a good fit. Many of the off brands work as well or better than name brands. Check around.

The noise cancelling headphones on KLM and Air France business class are very effective and comfortable. They also give you a little bag with toiletries which always contain some ear plugs. As someone else mentioned...after the meal everyone goes to sleep and it's usually pretty quiet.

There are loads of headphones that are marked as "noise cancelling", but the actual ability to deliver on that promise varies widely. About the best I've experienced were the ones from Bose (and not the Bose noise cancelling earbuds, which to me, still let in a good amount of sound - the headphones that covered your full ear were the ones that seemed to work best). You can go to any Bose store and test out their various models - they even have some machine that mimics the plane sound so you can test how the headphones work with that. But the Bose headphones are not cheap by any means and even the best ones don't fully block out every single sound.

And I disagree that sitting in Business Class helps reduce the amount of noise you will have during the flight. Totally depends where you are sitting in Business Class. If you've got a seat near the galley or bathroom, you'll hear noise throughout the flight, even after dinner service is over and most have settled in to watch movies or sleep. Pick your seat carefully and do the best you can with ear plugs, noise cancelling headphones or, you could be like some kooks I've seen on flights that are using that horrendous "ostrich pillow" (although not sure that thing is effective at completely blocking out all sound - it might muffle it, but seems more for trying to ensure light isn't filtering in and waking you up).

Try Sleephones, linked to a soft repetitive music channel of your choice. They double as an eye mask and are comfortable in any sleeping position.

The best earplugs I've found are swimmers earplugs - the silicone kind that mold to your ears. They block out a lot of the sound - not perfect but better than any others I've found. Speedo makes a set of 4 for about $5.

We recently flew to London in Business Class. The earphones provided by the airline muted the sound of talking so you only heard the engines, which really didn't keep me awake. The best thing about Business Class is being able to get your meal quickly so you can go to sleep earlier. If this appeals to you, see if the menu mentions it or ask the flight attendant. My husband, a Platinum Flyer on Delta, asked me how I got my meal so quickly-apparently he didn't know about this service!

High quality ear plugs..the squishy ones, they have to be inserted properly to work otherwise they fall out. You will just hear the low hummmm buzz of the plane moving...but not much else. Mine kept falling out ( I sleep with them nightly) and my mother recommended the PINK ones that are made for women LOL, they are much smaller in diameter and fit my ears perfectly, rarely fall out. A good eye mask and neck rest.

If it is an overnight flight...consult your doctor for a safe sleep aid.

Starting the flight well rested, hydrated...this means no alcohol for 24 hours before you fly...and definitely none if taking a sleep aid.

I wait until we are at a crusing altitude..and take an Ambien....drool all over myself for 6 hours and start my first day in Europe feeling pretty well rested....I take one the first night to avoid the 3 a.m. wake up and then just go it alone....sleeping by exhaustion and good food.

I swear by wax earplugs. You can get them at CVS or, I imagine, Walgreens or similar. For me, they are more comfortable and more effective than standard earplugs. That plus a good eye mask is usually enough to block out the world.