Packing for a summer holiday raises a question that surprises many first-year hearing aid wearers: what do you actually need to do when travelling with hearing aids? The short answer is not much, provided you prepare. Airport security is straightforward, flying is comfortable with a couple of simple techniques, and heat is manageable with a basic care routine. This checklist covers everything worth knowing before a summer 2026 trip, whether that is a fortnight abroad or a long weekend on the British coast.

Travelling With Hearing Aids Through Airports and Flights

Keep your hearing aids in and switched on through security. Scanners and metal detectors will not damage them, and staff see hearing aids every day. Hearing well in an airport is genuinely useful, since gate changes and boarding calls are easy to miss in a noisy terminal.

Pack all hearing equipment in your hand luggage, never the hold. The cabin is temperature controlled, your bag stays with you, and spare lithium batteries and rechargeable devices are required to travel in the cabin anyway under UK hand luggage rules. That means charger, spare batteries, cleaning kit, and any backup aids all go in your carry-on.

During the flight itself, the pressure changes at take-off and landing can make ears feel blocked. Swallowing, yawning, or gently blowing with your nose pinched and mouth closed usually equalises the pressure. Hearing aids do not make this worse, although some wearers prefer to lower the volume during descent when cabin noise peaks.

Protecting Hearing Aids From Heat, Sweat, and Sand

Summer’s real threats to hearing aids are environmental. Heat degrades batteries and can warp casings, so never leave aids in a parked car, on a windowsill, or in direct sun. A glovebox in July can pass 50 degrees Celsius within an hour.

Sweat and humidity are the quieter problem, because moisture creeps into microphone ports and receivers gradually. Wipe your aids down each evening with a dry cloth, and store them overnight in a drying pouch or electronic dehumidifier rather than on the bedside table. Most holiday faults trace back to moisture, and most are preventable this way.

Sand is abrasive and finds its way everywhere, so on beach days keep aids in a hard case inside your bag when you are not wearing them. If you wear your aids on the beach, a brimmed hat reduces both direct sun and airborne sand. Should an aid stop working despite your best efforts, our hearing aid repairs service handles most common faults quickly once you are home.

Water, Swimming, and the Limits of Moisture Resistance

Modern hearing aids carry impressive water-resistance ratings, but those ratings cover splashes, rain, and sweat, not swimming. Remove your aids before the pool or the sea, every time. Store them in a brightly coloured case so they are hard to leave behind on a sun lounger, and never wrap them in a towel, which is how many aids end up shaken onto the floor or lost.

If you are choosing new aids ahead of a trip, lifestyle is worth discussing at the fitting stage. Rechargeable models remove the need to carry batteries, and some styles cope better with active, outdoor summers than others. The full range of hearing aid types differs more than most people expect, and an independent audiologist can match the technology to how you actually live.

A Pre-Holiday Checklist Worth Doing in June

A 10-minute service appointment before you fly prevents most mid-holiday problems. Have your aids cleaned and checked, replace wax guards and domes, and confirm your settings still match your hearing. If your last test was over a year ago, this is a sensible moment for a review.

Think about your destination too. A humid beach resort calls for a drying pouch and daily wipe-downs, while a walking holiday means secure retention and perhaps a sports clip. Travelling somewhere remote? Spare batteries or a power bank for your charger matter far more when the nearest audiologist is hours away rather than minutes.

Pack a small travel kit: charger and travel adaptor or spare batteries, cleaning brush and wipes, spare wax guards, drying pouch, hard case, and your audiologist’s contact details. If you have an older pair of aids from a previous upgrade, bring them as a backup.

Ongoing support makes this easier all year, not just in summer. Our aftercare packages include regular cleaning, checks, and adjustments, so your aids are always holiday-ready rather than needing a last-minute rescue.

For wider advice on travelling with hearing loss, the independent charity behind RNID’s information and support pages covers everything from alerting cabin crew to accessible hotel features, and it is worth a read alongside this checklist.

Insurance, Spares, and What a Replacement Really Costs

Hearing aids are among the most valuable items most wearers ever pack, yet they are easy to forget when arranging travel insurance. Check whether your policy covers hearing aids at all, and look closely at the single-item limit, which often sits below the replacement cost of a modern pair. Some home contents policies cover personal belongings away from home, so it is worth checking both before paying for extra cover.

Keep a note of your aids’ make, model, and serial numbers, along with your audiologist’s details, and take a photo of them before you leave. If anything is lost or damaged abroad, your insurer will ask for exactly this information, and having it ready saves a stressful scramble in a hotel room. An older backup pair packed in your hand luggage also turns a potential disaster into a minor inconvenience.

A few minutes of paperwork is far cheaper than an unplanned replacement. If you are weighing up new aids before a trip, our guide to what hearing aids cost in Leicester sets out prices and what is included, so you can plan with clear numbers rather than guesswork.

Frequently Asked Questions

Set for a Relaxed Summer of Travel

A little preparation in June buys a relaxed summer of travel. If your hearing aids are due a clean and check before you fly, or you would like advice on a travel kit, book a visit to the Leicester clinic and head off with everything sorted. You can contact Hear With Ish to arrange your pre-holiday appointment.