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I keep seeing reddit and TikTok posts of people using their boarding pass as mobile phone holders so that they can enjoy the in-flight entertainment without using their hands. From what I can see, it is still kind of uncomfortable because the device is hanging down below eye level and you can't tilt the screen to a better viewing angle either.

I haven't travelled overseas for a while, but I used to remember when the seats were designed to be more device friendly for travellers, and it is disappointing to see that you have to either use your hands to hold the device for hours to enjoy a movie. I seem to recall that some airlines had seat where the back of the headrest folds out a little bit so you can rest BYO devices on it (don't think I can find a reference to it now).

I looked up a few websites to see if there are good phone holders that might be compact enough say to fit into your wallet or passport, but most of the phone holders I have see are designed to fit on cars and have pretty big form factors so you can't just tuck it away somewhere. I guess this is why people are using boarding passes or even the sick bag.

For the seasoned travellers out there, do you have a favourite gadget or solution for this?

EDIT: I just saw something on Amazon called Trek Stand Hands Free Cellphone Holder & Tablet Stand that looked reasonably practical to use, so I have just put an image here without the link

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    Who watches a movie on a phone screen that far away from your eyes? At this distance a tablet seems like a better option. Or a VR/AR headset of course (which has other drawbacks). But indeed most options have you end up with back or neck pain…
    – jcaron
    Commented Mar 23 at 12:14
  • I sat next to someone on a domestic flight who was doing exactly this, and even though it is probably a little bit less straining than putting the phone on the fold-out table, it is probably not that much better.
    – Michael Lai
    Commented Mar 24 at 0:44

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There are many ways to manage and what you are seeing is not typical. Perhaps it was posted because it was novel but I've never seen anyone do this on hundreds of flights. Frequent travelers have, by definition, plenty of opportunities to try different workaround, and will figure out what works better for them and their devices.

One major concern of travelling whether to take something or not. It means one more thing to pack and unpack, added space, weight, etc. On regional jets sometimes people have to figure out how to lose even a small item due to size or weight. With that in mind, I can see why some got creative. A much more common approach is to use the tray table with a laptop or using a tablet or phone case that has a builtin stand. If you haven't seen one, do a Google search for '[Insert Phone/Tablet Model here] case with stand'. This adds minimal bulk plus replaces a normal case.

To get better support and having control over device angle, you can get a dedicated phone stand. Search for a foldable phone stand. It seems like the one I use is discontinued but it looks very similar to this one on Amazon. It is not superlight but it folds small enough that it can fit in a pocket.

It is unlikely you will find something to hold a device at eye level which is easy to travel with, specially that would work with airplane seats and in cases where there is no seat in front of you. With some trial and errors, you can find the least uncomfortable way to watch your entertainment. Eventually, I suspect that head mounted displays will be more common and affordable and then entertainment will always be at eye-level.

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  • It is amazing what you can do with a bit of string and knowledge how to use it. Takes almost no space. (Falls in creative uses frequent travellers think up.)
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Mar 23 at 7:21

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