MUST-HAVE Gadgets for Frequent Flyers

If you're a frequent flyer who spends substantial amounts of time at 35,000 feet above mean sea level. it's easy to justify few luxuries to make the experience more bearable.

These are some of my favorite gadgets that have eased the travel burden of my numerous hours in flight.

Noise Cancelling Headphones

Until I tried a set, I deemed noise-cancelling headphones a waste of money. Once you have actually listened to your favorite collection of MP3 music free of unwanted ambient sounds from the engine noise or inside of the aircraft cabine, you will change your mind. Engine noise is reduced to a mere background hum, making sleep on those long haul or red-eye flights seem possible. This is the gadget that separates frequent flyers from the in-frequent flyers.

My favorite is the Bose QuietComfort 3 Noise Canceling Headphones. They run on two AAA batteries, folds into a small pouch for storage, and sells for approximately $350 on the retailer.

Dual time watch 

If you travel across time zones, keep your home and away time on your wrist with a dual time wristwatch. Watches retail from $20 to thousands. I personally own a Jaeger le Coultre's Reverso Grande GMT and cherish it. You can flip its case front and back. On the front it features a small seconds hand, a large date and a day/night display. The hours and minutes of a second time zone are displayed on the back, along with a 24-hour indication, an 8-day power-reserve and the GMT time difference. (Picture shown the back of the watch)

Unlocked GSM Cell Phone

An unlocked GSM cell phone is gold for the international frequent flyer. Most cell phones sold by US carriers
are locked to their networks, which means you need to activate global roaming with that carrier to make phone
calls overseas. Global roaming rates are expensive. For the frequent international traveler, it may be prudent to purchase an unlocked handset and use a local SIM at your destination, avoiding global roaming charges altogether.

The advantage is clear—cheaper calls—many international countries charge only for calls you make, not incoming calls, but there is also one big disadvantage.

iPhone / iPodTouch

If you can purchase a unlocked iPhone you can find it absolutely versatile for your travels, which you can not only use a local SIM at your destionation as a local communication device but can you do a lot of things as well. Apple's venerable i Phone comes with tons of goodies and fun applications that will make your in-flight travels rather enjoyable. Oh, by the way, with a unlocked iPhone, you can easily keep up with your Twit friends real time anywhere you are. Needless to speak, i Phone / i Pod offers the best MP3 player features in the market. Coupling with the Noise Cancelling Headphone, you will find it inseparable for your in-flight travels.

Netbook / iPad

In the close confines of the coach cabin, you will want a small laptop if you intend to work on your flight. if you're concerned about prying eyes invest in a privacy screen. Even if you chose not to work on your flight, nothing passes time more quickly at 35,000 feet than your own entertainment options.

Every frequent flyer can not avoid travel connection flight especially when you are a frequent international flyer.
Unless you have a way to call out for chartered private jets, it is inevitable to spend sometime at the terminal waiting for your connecting flight to get ready to board you. Any one of the items above will make a frequent flyers life more pleasant. Newly released iPad  and Kindle offer eBook feature, which adds reading as a new option for your in-flight entertainment, unless you want to abide by your conventional paper back.

So next time the connection flight lay-over incurres or dreaded "canceled" or "delayed" flashes against your flight number, take your noise cancelling headphones, plug them into your iPhone, iPod, iPad or wifi enabled netbook, then watch the delayed hours pass quickly by (in two time zones) while catching up on your favorite movies, reading your choice of book among wide variety of e-book titles or listening to your iTune collection of MP3.



Followings are additional items I would like to add to the set of Frequent Flyers' Gadgets.

- Skype Headset or VoIP handset (Some place it is the "MUST")
- Extended Battery Pack for your iPhone/iPod Touch : Richard Solo offers a pocket-sized solution to top up your iPhone/iPod Touch, BlackBerry or Palm under $100.
- Your Beloved Laptop Computer (with the photo of your loved ones set as desktop background)