Soft-sided insulated totes beat hard lunch boxes for flying.

The best lunch box for a long plane ride is a soft-sided insulated tote you don’t mind squishing under the seat in front of you.

Yes, you can take an empty reusable lunch box through security. TSA doesn’t care about the container — it’s what’s inside that gets checked. Pack sandwiches, fruit, chips, cookies, even a dry salad. Just skip anything that counts as a liquid or gel: yogurt, hummus, dressing, that kind of stuff. If it’s spreadable or pourable, it goes in a 3.4-ounce container or gets left at home.

The important thing is the shape. Hard-sided coolers and stackable bento boxes are bulky and won’t fit in the cramped footwell. A soft insulated tote squeezes in next to your feet, handles strap over the seat-back pocket, and you can even shove it inside a backpack once you’ve eaten. Look for one with a shoulder strap and a size around 16–18 inches wide. Flexible is the whole game.

Save the hard cooler for the beach. For a flight, you want something that gives a little.