Sleeping upright on a plane is never quite comfortable, but neck pillows and travel blankets try to solve the problem from different angles.
Neck Pillows: Targeted Head Support
A good neck pillow, especially memory foam or inflatable styles, prevents your head from lolling forward or sideways, which is usually what actually wakes people up mid-flight. The downside is they only address neck support and do nothing for feeling cold or cramped.
Travel Blankets: Warmth and Coziness
A compact travel blanket solves the near-universal complaint of cabins being too cold, and can double as a cushion or lumbar support in a pinch. It does nothing for head or neck positioning on its own.
Which Helps You Sleep Better?
They solve different problems rather than competing directly. If you had to choose only one for a short flight, a neck pillow generally has more impact on actual sleep quality. For overnight long-haul flights, most frequent flyers find both together, pillow for support, blanket for warmth, make the biggest difference.
Final Thoughts on neck pillow vs travel blanket
A compact, packable travel blanket takes up little space, so there’s rarely a real reason to choose one over the other when both fit easily into a daypack.