What are some good inexpensive travel gifts for a 26 year old female who will be taking a 15 plus hour flight in March?
A massage on the other end? It's hard to make "travel" recommendations because everyone's style is so different, so what works for me might not work for other people. I usually have a small pillow for long flights, small HBA kit - face wipes, moisturizer, & lip balm to use during flight. I have some great eye shades but I don't always carry them - I don't usually have a problem falling asleep on an overnight flight. Ambien helps with that ;-) Some people don't like to carry anything extra. Music or other entertainment could be good (itunes or amazon gift card to use on music or kindle books & magazines) (gearing up for a 15 hr flight in a month - doing my packing list now ;-)
A busy book crosswords, word find,etc.. Mad libs as an adult is fun, a snack pack of her favorite candy
Check with the airline and find out what in flight entertainment or food is offered on that flight ,is it complimentary or do you have to pay for it then go from there.
My #1 recommendation for an inexpensive but very useful travel gift for long flights is the Travelrest Pillow: http://www.amazon.com/Travelrest-Inflatable-manufacturer-Airplanes-Wheelchairs/dp/B001DYDAEK Don't worry about the size, it deflates and you can fold it around a luggage handle as one of the pictures shows. It makes for really comfortable sleeping and way better than the U-shaped pillows in my opinion, plus a lot easier to carry unless you use one of the inflatable U-shaped pillows. Another thing I'd suggest as an inexpensive travel gift is compression socks. I haven't used them myself and I don't know if giving someone socks is dumb looking, but I know after getting off those long flights and my feet feel like they are breaking out of my shoes and my ankles feel like they are about to pop I wish I had compression socks on.
Id just buy her a $25 gift card to the airline in which she is flying. Based solely that she can buy a couple drinks and some food with eat. That way she isnt starving when she lands. Nothing worse then coming off a flight really hungry knowing you have to get a ride to your hotel, check-in, and then locate some grub.
On 15 hour flights, you are going to get food. You are probably going to get free drinks because you're going to be flying internationally. I wouldn't worry about that (that said, I always, ALWAYS travel with snacks - granola bar, packs of nuts, whatever - something packaged that I can bring through customs into another country, that won't melt or need refrigeration) I think entertainment & comfort are more important. I also have compression socks, but I didn't get them until I started flying more and got older. DVT - deep vein thrombosis (clots) is why you wear compression stockings, and unless you have underlying medical conditions, it's not terribly common in younger people....
Slippers of some sort. You don't really want to take off your shoes but you don't really want to wear them the whole time either.