Who's Been Sleeping with Your Travel Blanket?
"... the frequency of which travel blankets are laundered is somewhere between 5 to 30 days."
Personally, I've always opted to bring my own travel blanket, wear extra layers or suffer through the brunt of the cold instead of using the proffered airline blanket or pillow—and that was before I started on this journey.
We all want to avoid getting the sniffles during our next flight. It's common to see passengers pull out their disinfectant wipes for armrest and tray tables. What about those complimentary blankets?
Here are the top 3 travel insights that I uncovered in my research around travel blankets as it pertains to the airline industry:
Freshly laundered blankets are usually only available during the first flight of the day
If it's not in sealed packaging, the travel blanket that you're offered has probably been used by several other passengers before you
This New York Times article reports that the frequency of which travel blankets are laundered is somewhere between 5 to 30 days.
Yes, some commercial airlines do have higher hygiene standards than others and things will continue to improve, however in a recent article for USA Today, John Gobbels, vice president and COO of Medjet Assist, is clear about his personal choice: "I don't use any of them."
So, bring your own! Whether it's a channaicouture.com traveling blanket - or JoeSchmo's, better be safe than sorry. It's a personal choice to limit your exposure to harmful germs—and if you happen to make a fashion statement all why being warm and comfortable, then you're travel is off to a great start!
Bon voyage.
