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Our favourite gamechanger travel items under £1 for both adults and kids

Published on April 02, 2025 at 02:10 PM

IF you're travelling on a budget, don't forget these essential items.

From sick bags to travel sets, earplugs, and even balls, they will completely transform your travel experience, and everything comes in at £1 and under.

EasyJet Airbus A319-111 taking off.
These handy items will make your next travel adventure so much easier
A child's hand holding a tennis ball.
Using a tennis ball is scientifically proven to help increase blood flow around the body

Tennis balls

OK, so this one does sound strange, but hear us out.

We all know how flights an quickly become uncomfortable and long-haul flights can aggravate issues.

Long flights can increase the risk of blood clots, due to the lack of circulation in the legs when sitting for long periods of time.

Some suggestions include putting two tennis balls in a sock and then placing them in the middle of your back and then pushing back against your seat.

to ease sore muscles not only in the foot, but also in the legs and back.

It's medically proven to help, with professionals saying it will increase circulation and tension around the body.

You can pick up a pack of three tennis balls from The Works for £3 – which works out as £1 each.

Ziploc bags

, Head of Travel (Digital) has a travel item that she takes on every trip.

“As a travel writer, I'm regularly flying to foreign countries with my six-year-old, and few tips that I've picked up along the way have proved as useful as extra large Ziploc bags.

“I take about six of them with me in my backpack on the plane, and divide the important things among them.”

Clear plastic zipper bag with yellow zipper.
Ziploc bags are handy for carrying everything you need – especially if they're the extra large ones

Caroline continued: “Snacks in one bag, change of clothes in a second bag, all digital equipment like iPads and headphones in a third bag, non-screen activities for my son in a fourth bag, important travel docs, money, etc in a fifth bag… and anything I might want on the plane like a book, earplugs, etc in a sixth bag,

“This means that it takes me just 10 seconds to organise myself when I reach my seat on the plane and I know exactly where something is when I need to find it.”

You can buy these Ziploc bags from Amazon for £11.79 – which works out at 29p per bag.

Pair of pink and yellow earplugs.
These earplugs will block out all the noise on planes and by the pool

Earplugs

Our Assistant Travel Editor loves these earplugs and insists they're all you need to enjoy peace and quiet.

The best news is, they actually only cost 40p each.

From Amazon, these earplugs are perfect for blocking out all the noise on a plane, at the pool, or in a hotel room if you have noisy neighbours.

They're completely mouldable, so you just have to squash them down before inserting into your ear where they then expand.

They come in packs of 10 which you can buy from Amazon for £3.99 which is 40p per earplug.

24 pack of leak-resistant, portable barf bags.
These sick bags are ideal for anyone who suffers from travel sickness

Sick bags

For anyone with a sensitive stomach when it comes to travelling, these sick bags are a lifesaver.

We've all seen the paper sick bags in the seat pocket and have prayed we don't have to use them. Well, these K-Brands sick bags are an actual gamechanger.

In one packet you get 24 bags which all sit inside one another, so they're easy to pack.

And when you do need to use one, they have a plastic ring around the top to hold onto.

They can also be removed easily when you're done throwing up, so you can tie a knot in it – and the heavy duty plastic bag means absolutely no leakage.

You can pick up 24 K-Brands sick bags £14.99, so they work out at about 55p each.

Illustration of Beach Club small travel compression bags (2pk).
You can use these bags to save lots of space in your luggage

Compression bags

Who can imagine life before compression bags? Not us.

At 14 x 20 inches, these bags can fit more travel essentials than you think. For any over-packer, these could be really useful if you struggle to cut down on clothing.

By squeezing the air out of the compression bags, you can potentially save up to 80 per cent of volume.

Rolled up, you can then slot them into whatever bag you take on holiday from cabin bags, to hand luggage, even a handbag.

So they're definitely worth buying, and don't cost the world either.

These two compression bags come from B&M with two in a pack for £2.

Set of travel-sized bottles and containers.
No one has been on holiday without a set of these

Travel bottles

No one wants, or has the room, to take full size beauty and wash products on their holiday.

So the best option is to decanter your most loved products into travel bottles.

This set of five clear bottles from Primark even comes with labels so you can be an organised jet-setter.

This pack of five handy bottles in a zip lock bag can be bought from Primark for £1.

Pair of white slippers on a carpet.
Make sure to pick up the slippers at your hotel

Free travel slippers

Next time you stay in a hotel and spot some free hotel slippers, pick them up.

While they might not compare to the ones you have at home, they can be really useful for travelling.

Planes aren't the cleanest places, so if you want to walk around without your shoes on without dirtying your socks, these are a good option.

Similarly, they're great for when you visit hotels and holiday homes that don't give slippers out for free.

They're also light, flimsy and can fit into your handbag.

Woman packing a yellow suitcase and writing a packing list.
Our handy travel items come in under £1
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