The Perfect Gift for the Germaphobe Traveler who has Everything!

Review written by Dave the Traveling Music Man.

Note from Kathy: I received the Seat Sitters kit on a complimentary basis for an unbiased review. Dave the Traveling Music Man has a bit of an obsession a passion for cleanliness, so he gladly accepted the assignment to review Seat Sitters. 

Whether you are a New Yorker like me (or live, work or travel to places filled with many people in close quarters), there is the constant day-to-day battle of trying to avoid germs so as not to get sick, especially in enclosed surroundings such as subways (or airplanes). For example, when I get into a subway car to commute to work, I try to steer clear of people who are sneezing, hacking and coughing. For me, it’s a three-cough rule. If someone coughs more than three times next to me (or directly opposite me), it’s time to move to another area or to another train car.

So, as you can see, I take my sanitary surroundings very seriously. Therefore, when I was told about the product called Seat Sitters, it sounded like this review was right up my OSD (obsessive sanitary disorder) alley. I was eager to try it clean hand (I meant first hand) to test it on my next travel trip. So, before I tell you about my experience using Seat Sitters on my recent flight, let me take a moment to talk about the product itself.

Seat Sitters comes in a its own carry case. It is light and compact and even has a shoulder strap attached to it. This enables the traveler to either carry it on his or her shoulder or store it in a carry on bag (to be taken out after boarding the plane).

Upon opening the Seat Sitters bag, you will instantly see that the bulk of the contents inside the bag is the seat cover that fits over an airplane seat.

I was thinking when I saw this that someone could easily say to me that you could do the same thing with blanket provided by the airline. However, I assure you that putting a blanket over a seat wouldn’t work as well as a Seat Sitters cover.

The Seat Sitters advantage is that it has a headrest cover that makes the Seat Sitters not slide down like a blanket would (and headrests have been shown to be full of germs and filth). The seat cover is a great peace of mind if you tend to obsess about the fact that a stranger had his butt (or barefeet) in an airplane seat for ten hours before it became your seat.

photo: pixabay

As you can see from the picture I took, the Seat Sitters cover sits well over the airlines seats. I note that I boarded the airplane before it got crowded and was able to put the Seat Sitters on my seat and adjust the back of the cover so that it didn’t affect the television monitor for the person seated behind me.

The second part of the Seat Sitters package contains miscellaneous items.

The most noticeable item is the tray table cover. After cleaning the on board tray table and arm rests with the antibacterial hand wipes, you tape down the provided tray table cover. There are two adhesive strips that keep the cover on the tray.

In addition to the wipes, the Seat Sitters kit contains a small bottle of hand sanitizer for keeping yourself (and your loved ones around you) germ-free during the flight.

Concerned about the germs in the air? The kit contains an allergy mask.

Allergic to peanuts? Seat Sitters has you covered.

The Seat Sitters kit comes with a Peanut allergy sticker – a good way to alert or remind others of a passenger’s peanut allergy.

Speaking of children, Seat Sitters also has a children’s edition that comes with crayons to draw on the tray cover.

After taking Seat Sitters on my recent flight from New York to Cartagena, Colombia, I have a few thoughts. First, the seats on our JetBlue flight were leather (or leather-like) rather than fabric. I think that the product is particularly useful on fabric seats. For leather, It might be possible to use a sanitizer to clean a leather seat without utilizing a seat cover. Also, I thought that this product might be better to use on a longer flight. However, if you are a big germaphobe, having Seat Sitters along for the ride might give you the peace of mind you need for any distance flight.

Overall, I think that Seat Sitters is a great product for someone like me who enjoys having a germ-free experience when traveling. Leave it on the seat when you’ve landed or put it in your bag and clean it for future use.

Even if you’re not concerned about germs, Seat Sitters would make an excellent gift for the germaphobe traveler in your life.

WARNING: Your germ mileage may vary (YGMMV)!