Recommendation for noise cancelling ear phones

I bought expensive Bose noise canceling headphones for my wife. She has never taken them on a trip, she says she's not lugging them around.

Learn how to use simple earplugs (it's not as easy as you think). If you get good ones (which cost pennies) and - most critically - you know how to use them correctly - they will eliminate noise more effectively than any $300 headset, they are tiny and weigh nothing.

I have the Bose QC35 headphones and love them. They are super comfortable and worth the extra space in my backpack. My wife has the Bose noise canceling ear buds and they are Ok. I had very old Bose headphones that weren’t noise cancelling but with music on, you could not hear much noise. They were much smaller and easier to carry.

I bought some Bose noise cancelling headphones a couple of years ago. The first time I wore them on a flight I loved them and wished I had gotten them years earlier. Worth the weight IMO.

Nose QuiteComfort series are the size of a cellphone and are lifesavers for me on planes, won’t travel without them.

I bought some ear buds at staples that were on sale for $1, I don’t know the brand but they are the best noise canceling ear buds / headphones I’ve owned. In fact I have them at work and use them for online courses and when my coworkers are talking loudly and I need to concentrate.

I agree with dovetraveler. The quiet when using the Bose earbuds is amazing. They come in a small case. One of the few things I always take on a flight.

I have $50 Sony noise-cancelling earphones and don't mind packing them during the non-air portions of trips -- the good sleep is worth it!

I have a pair of the Bose QC20 earbuds. Normally, I don't like earbuds but these are so comfortable I hardly know they are in my ear. The noise difference is amazing.

My wife and I both have over the ear Bose headphones. They work great. As they are a couple of years old there may be better ones on the market.

They take up some room, but they are worth it.

I wanted noise cancelling earbuds for plane noise, but didn’t want bulky headphones or to spend much money. I shopped around, checked reviews and ended up on Amazon. Took a chance and bought for less than $45. I am quite happy. They block out most noise, have very good sound but if lost while traveling not a traumatic expense. They are :
Taotronics Active Noise Cancelling Headphones, Wired Earbuds Noise canceling.

Since purchasing these, I have tried wireless earbuds in the same brand ($35) for walking the neighborhood and also like them. They are not Bose but very good sound and a great value and I don’t worry about them.

I'm w David and joyful... haven't been willing to invest the $$$ and space,
I use the orange ear plugs on an orange cord that my brother has from industrial tours.....they are also quite useful if you get an excessively chatty seat mate

I have the BOSE noise cancelling earbuds...just saw them on Amazon for $219.00. They are worth every penny. They come with a little zipper pouch for traveling, smaller than my iPhone. I just throw them in my purse and they have been on many trips. My husband had the headphones and they were just too bulky to travel with. I also bought my daughter a pair and she also loves them for traveling.

I bought Beats active noise canceling over the ear style at costco because costco. Maybe $300-350 IIRC. Yes, big and a bit heavy, the large ear muffs are comfortable and are good isolators even with the NC off. Charge lasts three to four hours. Wish I had gotten them years ago. You do not need expensive and bulky technology to sleep on a plane or even to get some rest but these things allow you to ignore just about everything around you.

My husband and I both have the over ear Bose noise canceling headphones. I couldn’t imagine traveling without them. They are worth the space they take up. They easily fit into our backpacks. We also use them when we’re listening to Rick Steve’s audio guides. Sometimes it’s so noisy where we are it’s nice to have them so we can concentrate on what we’re looking at or where we’re going.

I have to add my two cents to this older thread because I have extensive experience with different headphones.

I bought the Bose QC 35 (over-ear model) a couple of years ago after having issues with the drone of jet engines over a period of hours causing splitting headaches. I heard of other people having this problem on another travel forum and was sceptical, but I had tried other solutions (hydration, ibuprofen, decongestants) with no help.

Amazingly, the active noise cancellation of the Bose totally solved my problem. Now I will not get on a plane without them. However, they are bulky and sit in my bag for the non-plane travel portion of any trip.

Recently, I different noise cancelling earbud models hoping to find a cheaper and smaller travel solution. After buying a couple of Amazon models such as Taotronics, I firmly believe that you get what you pay for. The earbud models were uniformly uncomfortable after more than an hour. More importantly, they did not offer an appreciable improvement over non noise cancelling models I have purchased and had laying around the house. The quality difference between the earbud and over-ear models was stunning.

A good test is to stand next to your dryer while wearing the headphones. A good active noise cancelling pair will minimize the motor noise to a minimum. A poor pair will simply lower the overall levels without attenuating the offending background noise.

Now I have not tried the Bose earbud models with active noise cancellation. I am afraid that I will find them uncomfortable over time as well (given that I have never been able to wear any of these type models for more than two hours) and this scares me out of spending over $200 on them. From research I do believe that they may offer about 75-80 % of the cancellation of the larger over-ear models. this may be worth the price for people that can tolerate them. Unfortunately, my issue with headaches requires that I go big or literally stay home.

Finally, I recently tested a pair of Taotronics over ear active noise cancelling phones that were $80 on Amazon. Surprisingly, these were about 75% as effective as the Bose. Given the price, they are a great value. My wife has taken possession of these for our next trip.