What do you take on a flight

Think about what you will want on the plane itself (phone with headphones, book, tissues…). Put that in your handbag and that goes under the seat in front of you. Your luggage can then go in the overhead locker but you won’t need to get anything from it.

If you can’t fit plane stuff into your handbag (my handbag is small and my book doesn’t always fit) then put it in a tote bag or similar and put it in the top of your cabin baggage. When you get on to the plane get the tote bag out, that goes under the seat with all your plane bits in, and the cabin bag goes into the overhead locker and doesn’t need to be got down mid-flight to get something.

In some seats at the very front you will have to put your handbag and any carrier bags in an overhead compartment instead of under your seat. Put your devices on airplane mode before takeoff otherwise they can make the public address system crackle noisily during the safety demos.

I always take a kindle or a book, tissues and some sweets.

Just wanted to add TUI and Ryanair are fine with a bag from Boots/duty free as well. I got a largish Boots bag with 3 x meal deals plus some toiletries I had forgotten and a couple of magazines from WHsmith. We had checked luggage but also each had a small backpack that fit under the seat in front plus the Boots bag.
Most people on the flights I've been on in the last couple of years take a meal deal and/or have a meal at the airport- prices on board are outrageous for even a sandwich.
We had one flight home from Greece last year with Ryanair late in the day and they literally refuelled and cleaned the toilets - no time to restock food/drinks so no food available for the flight and very little choice for drinks. They only take cards for payment onboard no cash and it has to be mastercard or visa.

@Holibobsjoy take sweets you can suck. If you’ve never flown before, the pressure in your ears might get uncomfortable - sucking sweets can help. Take everything you need during the flight out of your overhead bag before you get into the plane. The put your bag in the overhead locker as soon as you can and before you sit down. Take a spare padlock for your overhead bag because the flights are often at capacity so they may insist you check it in (at their expense) ditto a luggage label for it. Don’t delay getting through security and know where your gate is and how much time you need to allow to walk to it.

Have a good holiday!

Once you've been through security, get some water. You can obviously buy bottled water but lots of airports now have somewhere that you can refill a water bottle.

The air on planes is really dry and I always end up thirsty

Not sure if you’ve paid for meals on the flight but if not, get some sandwiches in advance/in the airport maybe. I always get really hungry on flights. Have a lovely holiday!

You know that you can't take more than 100ml containers of liquids? So small travel bottles of shampoo, toothpaste, etc. And you need to have them in a clear small plastic bag (sandwich bag size). Some airports have the whizzy new scanners that were meant to do away with those rules but then the rules got reinstated again for some of them (eg London City).

You need to look at the badge limit rules on the website you booked with. But generally it's a bag under the seat in front (eg handbag, backpack) and an additional bag to go into the overhead locker if you've paid for it.

Most will also allow a carrier bag of things bought in the airport, eg if you buy some magazines and food for the flight.

Pretty standard to be allowed a small piece of luggage that fits under the seat. Even the crappiest most money grabbing airlines like Ryanair allow it.

Their website is very clear: your hand luggage case plus a small personal item (ie handbag).

Yes you can take a handbag. I usually take a tote bag.