All the ideas are good -BUT the reason your ear hurt is that your eutachian tube is blocked by throat inflammation, thus you cannot equalize your ears
If the blockage is severe enough and the pressure change quick enough you could actually rupture your ear drum (and then the brief but BAD pain would NOT be pleasant).
If you can "pop" your ears even at home probably you'll be okay on the plane (unless you get worse in the interim). Obviously if you could avoid flying it would be better for you (and those whom you might infect!)
If you have to fly you could get Afrin nose spray to be used shortly before descent - it should shrink the inflamation pretty quickly. DON"T use it a lot on a regular basis - it is very addictive even tho over the counter (because when it wears off there is a bit of a rebound effect -eg your symptoms get worse so you think you need more, etc). For your particular problem, though, it is a good thing to have on hand.