PillowFix

Both my husband and I have neck problems, and when I travel by car, I always bring my own pillow. But more often than not, I am flying somewhere and can't do that. After a recent trip where I tried several different pillows at our rental condo before I got somewhat comfortable, I found out about the PillowFix inflatable pillows (might have been through an article on SmarterTravel.com, not sure). I read the reviews here and immediately bought two, one for each of us. We were out of town again last week and brought the PillowFixes with us. The pillows where we were staying were definitely too thin, so we blew them both up and put them under the regular pillows. We both ended up letting some air back out, and then we both slept great and woke up without neck pain! Since they pack flat, they literally take up no space in your luggage and can of course be folded. $20 seems like a lot for one of these until you wake up not needing a chiropractor. And it can be hard enough to get a good night's sleep on vacation or in a hotel. I plan to always travel with it and might get some for my teenagers too. This would be an ideal gift for someone with neck issues, or if you frequently host guests in your home!

Must have for travel or to fix a flat old pillow, especially if you like neck support and sleep with your head a bit raised with a bigger, firmer pillow. You can just let some air out if it's too much. It doesn't beat the real deal but that's not an option when traveling these days with weight limits and surcharges.

Before I bought this, I read all the reviews. Well, the reviewers who told us that PillowFix leaks and ends up flat after several uses were right. This is a major defect in a product that is a great idea. I bought 2 and both of them only worked for 4 or 5 days, then totally deflated. Even re-inflating them doesn't get you through the night. So disappointing and they are too expensive. I spent $40 for only several nights good rest. NOT good.

Worked great at the start. Now a few weeks of use it is useless, leaks overnight. Waking up in middle of night to inflate and still flat by morning.

I travel. A lot. In the past year I've been on the road approximately 320 days, which is a lot of hotels, hotel beds and hotel pillows. My usual practice at bedtime is to mash the hotel pillows into some kind of configuration that, while not pretty to look at, is comfortable for my head. Unfortunately at some point in the night my movements cause this configuration to fall apart and I inevitably wake up with a stiff neck, sore shoulders, or both. Still, when someone suggested I try PillowFix, I laughed. I really did not believe this product could help me sleep in comfort. But I decided to take the chance and I am glad I did. From the first night of using PillowFix I slept peacefully through the night and, best of all, awakened each morning without an aching neck or painful shoulders. I highly recommend PillowFix for a good night's sleep.

Pros: Folds flat, packs easily. Nice hybrid fiber material. Does what it says: provides stiff re-enforcement for too-soft pillows. Cons: valve is terrible and cheap. Hard to seal, with no internal membrane, after 10-12 uses the valve on mine stopped sealing entirely and I had to throw it away. Summary: good for 1-2 trips, but not durable.

It does make the pillow better in hotels, but I had to blow more air in it every night, it just didn't stay. Also, it wasn't as long as the hotel pillows, it was really short. Finally, the air intake doesn't push into the pillow, so it sticks out constantly.

This is my third PillowFix. Can't blame PillowFix for the 1st one - I accidentally left it in a hotel room. The 2nd PillowFix spring an air leak that I could not fix. Now to my 3rd PillowFix. The reason I purchased a 3rd one is because it it great. I absolutely cannot sleep on a pillow when at a hotel when my head goes all the way through it to the mattress. PillowFix solves that issue perfectly. Just quickly inflate it, slip it under the awful pillow and problem solved. You now have a pillow that is as firm as you want it. And in the AM it very quickly deflates. Two tricks - (1) Leave the plastic bag it come in on top of your suitcase so you don't forget it in the morning and (2) don't over inflate it. I give this product 5 stars for sure.