Bring your own earphones when you fly

Here's an easy way to avoid one pesky airline charge: Bring your own earphones to listen to in-flight music, TV, and movies. A number of U.S. airlines charge economy-class passengers a fee to purchase or borrow headsets, including

American

($2),

Continental

($1),

Delta

($2), and

US Airways

($5). These airlines generally provide free earphones in economy on some international flights, and always in business and first-class, but most coach passengers are out of luck.

By carrying your own earphones, not only will you avoid these fees, you'll likely have a better headset than the airline's flimsy, poor-sound-quality models. I myself like the

Bose noise-cancelation headphones

($299-$349), which are also great for blocking out noisy seatmates.

If you'd rather not have one more item to cram into your carry-on, some airlines do offer free (albeit mediocre) earphones. This group includes

AirTran

,

JetBlue

(you can upgrade to nicer earphones for $1), and

United

.

Northwest

(except Asia service) and

Southwest

don't offer in-flight entertainment in coach, so there's no need to worry.



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