Travel hygiene tips can help you avoid common hygiene mistakes while exploring new destinations, staying in hotels or travelling by air. From touching airport self-service screens to placing luggage on hotel beds, everyday habits can transfer dirt and microorganisms between frequently used surfaces and personal belongings.
Travelling exposes people to shared environments, including airports, aeroplanes, taxis, hotels and restaurants. These places are used by many people throughout the day, and not every surface is cleaned between individual users. Although this does not mean that every shared surface is dangerous, practising sensible hygiene can help reduce unnecessary exposure to germs and lower the risk of certain infections.
A survey by Quotezone.co.uk has highlighted five unhygienic travel habits that people may overlook during their journeys. The findings draw attention to hotel television remotes, luggage placement, aircraft seat pockets, walking barefoot and skipping hand hygiene after touching shared airport facilities.
Whether you are planning a weekend break, a long-haul holiday or a business trip, a few simple precautions can make your journey more comfortable. This guide explains the five habits to avoid, practical ways to improve travel hygiene and essential items to pack before your next trip.
Why Travel Hygiene Matters More Than Ever
Airports, hotels and aeroplanes are shared environments where people come into contact with frequently touched surfaces. Door handles, lift buttons, payment terminals, tray tables and check-in screens are examples of everyday touchpoints that travellers may use repeatedly.
Microorganisms can transfer from surfaces to hands and then to the face, food or personal belongings. The risk depends on several factors, including the type of microorganism, the surface, the time since contamination and individual hygiene practices.
Travellers may also experience changes in their routines. Busy itineraries, long journeys, limited access to washing facilities and tiredness can make it easier to forget basic hygiene habits.
Maintaining cleanliness does not require disinfecting every object you encounter. A more practical approach is to focus on hand hygiene, avoid unnecessary contact with potentially contaminated surfaces and keep personal items away from areas where dirt can accumulate.
Good travel hygiene also involves understanding the difference between reducing risk and eliminating it. No routine can guarantee that you will avoid illness, but sensible precautions can help you travel with greater confidence.
1. Forgetting to Clean the Hotel TV Remote
A hotel room may look spotless when you arrive, but some frequently handled items can receive less attention than larger surfaces during routine cleaning.
The television remote control is one example. Guests may use it repeatedly during their stay, touching its buttons after returning from restaurants, transport, sightseeing and other activities.
The Quotezone.co.uk survey highlights the remote as one of the travel items people may overlook when considering room hygiene. It also reports that nearly 17% of British travellers admitted they never clean the remote before using it.
A remote control is not automatically more dangerous than a toilet seat, and the level of contamination varies by property and cleaning practices. However, its frequent handling makes it reasonable to include it among the items worth checking when entering a hotel room.
Other frequently touched items include light switches, bedside controls, door handles, telephone handsets and desk surfaces.
How to Keep Your Hotel Room Cleaner
When you arrive, take a moment to inspect the room and identify the surfaces you are likely to touch frequently.
- Use a suitable disinfecting wipe on the remote control, following the product instructions.
- Clean frequently touched switches and handles when appropriate.
- Check whether the cleaning product is compatible with electronic devices.
- Avoid spraying liquids directly onto remotes, televisions or other electronics.
- Wash or sanitise your hands before eating, particularly after handling shared items.
Always follow the cleaning product’s instructions and allow the required contact time for disinfection. Some products are unsuitable for particular materials or electronic surfaces.
You do not need to clean every object in the room repeatedly. Prioritising frequently handled items is a more practical approach.
Travel tip: Keep a small pack of suitable cleaning wipes in your luggage so you can use them when needed without searching for supplies after arrival.
2. Placing Your Suitcase Directly on the Hotel Bed
After travelling through airports, train stations, taxis and busy streets, luggage can accumulate visible dirt and other material from different environments.
Placing a suitcase directly on the bed may transfer that dirt to bedding, particularly when the wheels or exterior of the case have been in contact with floors and public surfaces.
This habit is easy to overlook. Travellers often arrive tired, unpack quickly and place their bags wherever there is available space. However, keeping luggage away from sleeping areas is a simple way to maintain a cleaner hotel room.
Suitcase wheels and handles are frequently touched, while the outer shell may come into contact with floors during transit. These surfaces can collect dust and grime even when the luggage appears clean.
The concern is not that every suitcase carries harmful bacteria or that placing one on a bed will automatically cause illness. Rather, separating luggage from bedding reduces unnecessary contact between travel-worn belongings and the surfaces where you sleep.
Where Should You Keep Your Suitcase?
Many hotel rooms provide a luggage rack specifically for bags. Using it can help keep your suitcase off the bed and make unpacking easier.
If a rack is unavailable, consider these alternatives:
- Place the suitcase on a suitable hard floor away from the bed.
- Use a clean, designated luggage area if the room provides one.
- Avoid placing bags on pillows, blankets or upholstered furniture.
- Keep dirty shoes and laundry separate from clean clothes.
- Wipe visibly dirty suitcase wheels when appropriate.
If you are staying for several nights, organise your belongings so that you do not need to move the suitcase onto the bed each time you retrieve something.
It is also useful to keep clean clothing inside packing cubes or separate compartments. This helps prevent items from mixing with shoes, laundry and other belongings.
Travel tip: Make checking for a luggage rack one of the first things you do when entering your hotel room. It takes only a few seconds and helps establish a cleaner unpacking routine.
3. Storing Personal Belongings in Aeroplane Seat Pockets
Aeroplane seat pockets are convenient for storing items you want to reach during a flight. However, they may contain materials left behind by previous passengers and can be difficult to inspect thoroughly.
Travellers sometimes place phones, passports, books, snacks and other personal belongings inside these pockets. Because the compartments are shared between successive passengers, items placed inside may come into contact with surfaces that have not been cleaned between every individual use.
The supplied Quotezone.co.uk article cites research suggesting that bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), can survive on seat-pocket fabric for up to seven days. It also reports that 8% of travellers continue to use these pockets for personal belongings.
The exact survival time of a microorganism depends on the organism, the material and environmental conditions. The reported figure should therefore not be interpreted as meaning that every aircraft seat pocket contains MRSA or remains contaminated for a fixed period.
Nevertheless, avoiding unnecessary contact with a shared storage compartment is a reasonable precaution, particularly when carrying items that you regularly touch or use for eating.
Better Ways to Store Your Belongings During a Flight
Keep essential belongings organised in your personal bag rather than placing everything inside the seat pocket.
- Store your passport and travel documents in a secure, accessible compartment.
- Keep your phone in a clean pocket or suitable bag compartment.
- Use a small pouch for headphones, charging cables and other accessories.
- Avoid placing unpackaged food directly inside shared compartments.
- Follow airline instructions for storing bags and keeping aisles clear.
Your bag should be stored in an approved location and should not obstruct emergency equipment or other passengers.
It is also worth cleaning your hands before eating during a flight, especially after touching shared surfaces. If you handle your phone while eating, remember that the device itself can also accumulate dirt through frequent use.
Travel tip: Pack a small organiser pouch before boarding. It helps keep your essentials together and reduces the need to place loose items in the seat pocket.
4. Walking Barefoot in Hotels or Aeroplanes
Removing your shoes after a long journey may feel comfortable, especially when you are relaxing in a hotel room. However, walking barefoot in shared indoor environments can expose your feet to dirt, moisture and microorganisms.
Hotel floors may be cleaned regularly, but their condition can vary depending on the flooring material, cleaning methods and how recently the area was used. Aircraft cabins also experience frequent turnover, and floor surfaces can come into contact with shoes, luggage and dropped items.
Walking barefoot is particularly inadvisable in shared bathrooms and aircraft lavatories, where floors may be wet or contaminated. Bare feet can also be more vulnerable to minor cuts, abrasions and irritation.
This does not mean that walking barefoot in every hotel room will cause an infection. The aim is to reduce avoidable contact with shared surfaces, especially where moisture or visible dirt is present.
How to Protect Your Feet While Travelling
Indoor footwear is a simple addition to your travel routine. Lightweight slippers, sandals or clean socks can provide a barrier between your feet and the floor.
Consider these practical habits:
- Wear slippers or sandals when using shared bathrooms.
- Avoid walking barefoot in aircraft lavatories.
- Keep indoor footwear separate from outdoor shoes.
- Dry your feet properly after showering.
- Cover minor cuts with an appropriate dressing.
- Choose footwear with a secure fit to reduce the risk of slipping.
If you prefer wearing socks in your hotel room, make sure they remain clean and dry. Wet socks can become uncomfortable and may contribute to skin irritation.
Travellers using communal showers, swimming facilities or spa areas should follow the venue’s hygiene guidance and wear suitable footwear where recommended.
Travel tip: Pack a lightweight pair of washable slippers or shower sandals. They take up little space and can be useful in hotels, hostels and shared accommodation.
5. Forgetting to Sanitise Your Hands After Using Airport Touchpoints
Airports involve numerous shared touchpoints. Travellers may handle passports, baggage carts, check-in kiosks, security trays, ticket machines, fingerprint scanners and payment terminals within a short period.
The Quotezone.co.uk survey reports that 15% of people do not sanitise their hands after handling passports, while 10% skip hand hygiene after using airport touchscreens or fingerprint scanners.
These figures highlight a possible gap in everyday hygiene routines. However, sanitising after every single touch is not always necessary. The priority is to clean your hands at appropriate moments, particularly before eating and after using shared facilities or touching visibly dirty surfaces.
Hand hygiene helps reduce the transfer of microorganisms from your hands to your face, food and personal belongings. It is especially useful during long journeys when access to a sink may not always be convenient.
When Should You Clean Your Hands?
Build hand hygiene into your travel routine rather than relying on memory alone.
- Wash your hands before eating or handling food.
- Clean them after using the toilet.
- Wash or sanitise them after touching visibly dirty surfaces.
- Clean your hands after handling waste.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Follow any hygiene guidance provided by airport staff or healthcare authorities.
Soap and water are generally preferable when your hands are visibly dirty or greasy. When these are unavailable, an alcohol-based hand sanitiser containing at least 60% alcohol is a useful alternative.
Use enough sanitiser to cover all hand surfaces and rub your hands together until they are dry. Follow the product label and keep sanitiser away from flames or other ignition sources.
Hand hygiene should complement, not replace, other sensible precautions. Keeping food covered, avoiding visibly contaminated surfaces and following relevant health guidance can all contribute to a cleaner journey.
Travel tip: Carry a travel-sized sanitiser in an accessible pocket of your bag. Check airport security and airline rules for permitted liquid sizes before departure.
Expert Advice on Staying Healthy While Travelling
Helen Rolph, identified in the supplied article as a travel insurance expert at Quotezone.co.uk, highlights the importance of simple precautions in busy airports, hotels and aircraft.
The central message is that travellers do not need complicated routines to improve everyday hygiene. Washing hands at appropriate times, cleaning selected high-touch surfaces, keeping luggage away from bedding and wearing indoor footwear can all help reduce avoidable exposure to dirt and microorganisms.
It is equally important to maintain realistic expectations. No cleaning routine can eliminate every microorganism, and exposure does not automatically result in illness. Good hygiene is about reducing risk through consistent, practical habits rather than attempting to create a completely germ-free environment.
Travellers should also pay attention to their general wellbeing. Staying hydrated, getting adequate rest, eating safely prepared food and following local health guidance can support a more comfortable trip.
Travel insurance is another consideration when planning a holiday abroad. A suitable policy may provide cover for eligible medical emergencies and other specified travel disruptions, depending on its terms, exclusions and limits. Travellers should read the policy carefully to understand what is included and whether any pre-existing conditions or planned activities require additional cover.
Before departure, it can also be helpful to review destination-specific health advice and ensure that necessary medications and travel documents are packed securely.
Essential Travel Hygiene Items to Pack
A small hygiene kit can help you maintain your routine without taking up much luggage space. The items you need will depend on the destination, trip duration and available facilities.
Consider packing:
- Hand sanitiser: Useful when soap and water are not readily available.
- Disinfecting wipes: Suitable for selected high-touch surfaces when used according to the product instructions.
- Travel-size soap: Helpful for trips where personal toiletries are preferred.
- Indoor slippers or sandals: Useful in hotel rooms and shared bathrooms.
- Tissues: Convenient for everyday personal hygiene.
- Small laundry bags: Keep worn clothing separate from clean items.
- Personal toiletries: Include a toothbrush, toothpaste and any products you normally use.
- Basic first-aid supplies: Appropriate dressings can help protect minor cuts and abrasions.
Check airline restrictions for liquids, gels and aerosols before packing. Keep products in suitable containers and store them so they cannot leak onto clothing or electronics.
Avoid carrying unnecessary products that duplicate one another. A compact kit containing a few useful essentials is often more practical than a large collection of hygiene items.
A Simple Travel Hygiene Routine for Every Journey
The easiest way to maintain hygiene is to establish a routine that works across different parts of your trip.
Before leaving home: Pack sanitiser, suitable wipes, indoor footwear and personal toiletries. Check that your supplies meet airline requirements.
At the airport: Clean your hands at appropriate moments, particularly before eating and after using shared facilities. Keep documents and personal items organised.
During the flight: Store belongings in your bag rather than loose in shared seat pockets, follow cabin instructions and clean your hands before meals.
On arrival at your hotel: Use the luggage rack or a suitable hard floor for your suitcase. Consider cleaning frequently touched surfaces and keep outdoor shoes away from bedding.
Throughout the trip: Wash your hands regularly, keep clean and worn clothing separate, and use suitable footwear in shared spaces.
Before returning home: Organise dirty laundry separately and clean visibly dirty luggage when appropriate.
The goal is consistency, not perfection. A small number of sensible habits can make hygiene easier to maintain even when you are tired or following a busy itinerary.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most unhygienic habits travellers should avoid?
The five habits highlighted in the supplied Quotezone.co.uk survey are failing to clean hotel television remotes, placing suitcases on hotel beds, storing personal items in aircraft seat pockets, walking barefoot in shared environments and neglecting hand hygiene after using airport touchpoints.
Should I disinfect everything in my hotel room?
No. Focus on frequently touched surfaces and follow the instructions for any cleaning product you use. Avoid applying liquids directly to electronic devices, and do not mix cleaning chemicals.
Is hand sanitiser enough while travelling?
Hand sanitiser is useful when soap and water are unavailable, but washing with soap and water is generally preferable when hands are visibly dirty. Clean your hands before eating and after using the toilet.
Is it safe to use aeroplane seat pockets?
Seat pockets are shared storage areas that may contain items left by previous passengers. Keeping your personal belongings in your own bag is a simple way to limit unnecessary contact with these surfaces.
What should I pack for travel hygiene?
A compact kit can include hand sanitiser, suitable disinfecting wipes, indoor slippers, tissues, personal toiletries and small bags for separating laundry. Choose items according to your destination and travel plans.
Final Thoughts
Maintaining good hygiene while travelling does not need to be complicated. Simple habits can help reduce unnecessary contact with dirt and microorganisms in hotels, airports and aeroplanes.
Avoid placing suitcases directly on beds, keep personal belongings out of shared seat pockets, wear suitable footwear indoors and pay attention to hand hygiene. Cleaning selected high-touch surfaces when appropriate can also help you maintain a more comfortable environment.
Before your next holiday, prepare a compact hygiene kit and make these habits part of your regular travel routine. Small precautions can make it easier to focus on what matters most: enjoying your destination, discovering new experiences and returning home with positive memories.
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