Originally Posted by
cxfan1960
A few questions and notes:
* As others already pointed out, vacuum packing machine may not get pass TSA. Even if it can get pass TSA, it may be stopped by securities elsewhere.
* Is the size of the vacuum packing machine smaller than your pillow? Otherwise, it may need to be softer than the pillow to make sense.
* Can the machine inside the carry-on be oversized?
* If on AC, make sure the power requirement is below the maximum the aircraft outlet can provide.
* If on AC and you need to use it in another country, make sure it can run on dual voltages (appliance may be single voltage) or you will need a large enough transformer. I am also not sure what voltage CX outlet is providing.
* How about bringing a thin pillow, which together with CX-supplied pillow, make a thick pillow?
To the OP:
cxfan1960 is quite a bit more thoughtful than me when it comes to addressing these questions.
Honestly, I bring a
huge fully sized regular feather pillow from one of our beds at home every time. It is a great idea so I'm pleased someone else is doing so, nod to yourself and
APeverell. Although I never see anyone else in my section with them, which surprises me because I consider it such a great idea.
In the off chance I leave my pillow on the plane, for the return sector I ask the hotel I'm staying in to keep one of theirs. We're talking full sized pillows I just want to make clear you don't have anything to worry about or overthink. I just smash the pillow into my carry on bag, zip it closed, and then fluff it up on the plane. Presto. I go so far as to cut down on my regular clothes to make space for the pillow when it comes to deciding what gets taken on a trip.
Obviously this is a lot easier in F because you put the carry-on under the buddy seat, and pull out the pillow pre-flight and just sit it on the seat with you. There's so much room sideways in those seats obviously. In J, my usual strategy is pull the pillow out at boarding and place my carry-on in the overhead bin. Then, I awkwardly place the pillow down by my feet during takeoff, and stow it back in the carry-on before landing. Pillows, no matter how damn large, are not a problem to have flopping around at your feet for takeoff. I often ask for (another) extra pillow and duvet from the FAs, and so on takeoff in J class I usually have quite the ensemble of fluffiness down at my feet.
One thing you'll want to be careful about is your pillow case, presumably you want it clean to sleep on. In some cases my pillow is too big for my carry-on and I carry it separately. I recommend taking a large shoe-bag from home or something else specifically for carrying the pillow. The biggest risk for "dirty" is at the security checkpoint...you don't want those disgusting rubber things flopping on it. But don't worry about smashing the pillow, although Mrs. QRC hates this I just figure smash the hell out of it, fluff it on the plane (never had any issues), and over the long run we buy new pillows. I turned to YouTube to learn about how to best fluff my pillows up.
And if you're worried about scorn or weird looks on the plane, don't. Your bed is downright proper...especially in F....when you bring your own pillow. The countless FAs who have helped me with it all remark at what a good idea it is. Because it is!
I love FT for threads like this