Originally Posted by dnw
Sennheiser PXC-250s for about £70 if you search hard online.
I had the in-ear sony ones from the duty free and noticed little improvement and returned them. The Sennheisers, whilst not Bose standard, are excellent and great value for money and although they are over-the-ear types they fold up into a sunglasses size bag. Very good.
Another ^ for the Sennheisers from me. I use mine a lot and they are a great compromise between effectiveness and usability. I find you can knock the volume down of whatever you are listening to by over half when using these compared to the normal airline 'phones.
Richer Sounds caries them in the UK for around £80