No one would argue that modern airplane seats have the greatest designs, but I always thought the seatback pocket was a nice touch. A little extra storage to hold your in-flight reading material, empty coffee cup or stash your boarding pass? Yes, please.
It turns out I could not have been more wrong. I (and probably you) have been horribly misusing the seatback pocket. And we’re only hurting ourselves.
“The seatback pocket is basically the junk drawer of the sky,” said Kristin Freeman, founder and CEO of the women-owned travel agency FlyOver Travel. “But it’s not just a tidiness thing. It’s a real issue. If something sticks out past the top of the pocket, a flight attendant will” — or should — “make you move it before takeoff.”
To avoid this, and for the safety and well-being of your fellow passengers, your carry-on items and your own health, here is what you should never put in a seatback pocket (and a few things you can).
Any Valuable Essentials
That little pocket seems like the perfect place to stash small, important things you don’t want to lose track of, like your boarding pass, phone or keys. But it’s not a good idea to put any important or irreplaceable items there, even temporarily.
“I have watched so many people run back down the jetway because they left something on the plane (usually after a red-eye flight) and the crew is not allowed to let you get back on,” Freeman said.
Not to mention, you want those personal items on you in case of an emergency— the Federal Aviation Administration recommends it.
“I never put anything in the seatback pocket that I may need within two hours of landing,” said Andres Serra, a trip planner based in Seattle and head of operations at Optimise Travel. “My passport, phone, medication, wallet, house keys and onward ticket stay in a zipped pocket or a secure bag I keep with me.”
Illustration: HuffPost; Photo: Getty Images
Plane seatback pockets are convenient — but only if you use them properly.
Small Items
Again, it seems like the seatback pocket was made to keep track of things like earbuds or sunglasses. But, Serra points out, small items can slip behind the safety card or deep into the pocket and get left behind when you leave.
Bulky Items
Ever slip a laptop or tablet into a seatback pocket? It seems like a perfect fit. But no. “That pocket is only built to hold a couple pounds,” according to Freeman. “If it’s not fully tucked in, it can fly loose during turbulence or block the aisle if people need to get out fast.”
Tech With Batteries Of Any Kind
Even if your tablet or laptop meet the weight requirements, there’s another reason not to stow them in a seatback pocket: Anything with a battery heats up.
If the pocket is leather and has no ventilation, your device may overheat. “Be extra careful with power banks,” Serra said. “They should always be in the cabin, not in checked bags. I keep mine easy to reach, and never bury it under other things. If it ever overheats, expands, smokes or burns, I stop using it and tell the crew right away.”
Fragile Or Breakable Items
One more reason your laptop, tablet or smartphone should not go in a seatback pocket: There is no real padding or protection for breakable items. And the seatback pocket is likely to get bumped. The drink cart hits it. People squeezing by to go to the bathroom hit it. Your own knees hit it. “If you’ve got big headphones, sunglasses, or anything that can crack, it’s safer in your bag than in that pocket,” Freeman said.
Food And Drinks
I will never forget the flight I took with my Camelback flip-lid water bottle, and neither will the person seated in front of me. I had stuck it in the seatback pocket, not realizing it had gotten pressurized when we took off. I flipped the silicone straw up to take a sip, and a jet of water made a perfect arc into the lap of my fellow passenger. Not my best moment. But I learned something.
“If you’re putting a drink back there, the lid has to be on tight. No exceptions,” Freeman said. That goes for baby bottles, too. Airplane seatback pockets don’t get cleaned, so your spill becomes the next person’s problem. And you probably don’t want to keep food and drink in a space that doesn’t get cleaned anyway.
Personal Items You Don’t Want Exposed To Germs
“These pockets are some of the dirtiest spots on the plane,” Freeman said. “Some studies put them ahead of the tray table. A few even put them ahead of the toilet handle. Nobody’s wiping them down between flights. So I never put anything back there that I’m going to put on my face or in my mouth — no sunglasses, no lip balm, no snacks.”
If you wear a mask, definitely don’t put that in a seatback pocket.
Garbage
This should go without saying, but seatback pockets are not trash cans. “Don’t put food, open drinks, gum, or used tissues in the pocket,” Serra said. “Lots of people use it, and it’s not meant for trash or storing food.”
There have even been reports of flight crews finding used sanitary products and dirty diapers in these pockets.
What You CAN Put In A Seatback Pocket
If you’ve somehow gotten to the end of this list and still want to use a seatback pocket for its intended function, what can go in it safely? Hand sanitizer, a pen, or a paperback book are all options. But remember to take them with you, especially after a long flight.
“I empty the pocket as soon as the first descent announcement comes on, and I check it again before I leave,” Serra said. “For me, it’s just a temporary spot during the flight, not a place to store things.”
If you do accidentally leave something important behind, some airlines have policies in place. Freeman recounts that when her husband left his iPad in a seatback pocket on a work trip, the airline was happy to ship it to him— for $70. Convenience has a price.
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