Though to be fair, I bought a pair of Audio Technica noise cancelling headphones for $130 a couple months ago - and they're wonderful for planes and subways.
There are a zillion threads in this forum about both kinds of headphones.
Originally Posted by
jezsik
Ah, there's your problem, Flyingmama. Forget noise canceling headphones, they only cancel a small spectrum of sound. What you want are noise blocking headphones. Check out the Shure line. They're a bit expensive ($100+), but worth it. I use mine to listen to audio books - in the subway - and I don't miss a word.