Originally Posted by
LaserSailor
Gotta chime in +1000 on Bose headphones....with a sidebar
I have listened to several highly confidential conversations on airlines over the years courtesy of Dr Bose. It's a misconception that the background noise on an aircraft covers up your conversation since generally you can't hear the person one or two rows away...well, the Bose equipment will nicely chop off the air sounds and let you eavesdrop 5-6 rows away.
So we have a consensus that noise-cancelling headphones are the answer, and also this post detailing how the noise-cancelling headphones will let you clearly hear conversations 5-6 rows away.