re: Bose Noise cancelling headphones - do they bug neighbors on flights?

Your neighbors won't hear it. The point of the noise cancellation is to reduce the outside ambient noise that gets to your ear. When it's quiet, you don't have to turn the volume up much to hear over anything. Bose have the best noise cancelling, but not the best sound quality depending on what kind of music you listen to. Go to best buy or an audio store and try on all the different types to see what you like best.