50 Best Boarding Songs for IG Reels & Stories

There’s a strange kind of buzz that happens when you’re standing in line at the gate or dragging your luggage through a terminal. It’s not full-on thrill, not total dread, something knotted in the middle. You’re juggling boarding passes, headphones, maybe a half-warm coffee, and a track hits that makes the whole scene tilt into something cinematic. The kind that makes waiting zones and airplane aisles feel like they’re part of some half-written story you stumbled into. These songs lean into that limbo, where movement is happening but nothing feels certain yet.

Airports aren’t smooth movie sets. It’s cramped seats, background chatter, the clank of rolling suitcases, and that faint smell of reheated food that hangs over everything. Then the right track slides in through someone’s Reels or Stories. It could be a pop anthem pretending to be breezy, a rock riff that shakes off the fatigue, or even a country ballad that sounds a little too honest under fluorescent lights. Some of the picks aren’t literally tied to flying, but they lock into that restless headspace all the same. They carry the weight of getting from point A to point B and let the mood breathe without forcing it tidy.

The best tracks for boarding feel messy, restless, sometimes even playful in ways that don’t make sense until the plane takes off. They bring together pop, rock, country, and R&B songs that hit in the middle of all the noise. These songs give the airport shuffle its own beat and make the wait feel less like filler. Here are the best boarding songs for Instagram reels and stories.

1. 'Good Life' by OneRepublic

2. 'Galway Girl' by Ed Sheeran

3. 'Send Me on My Way' by Rusted Root

4. 'I've Been Everywhere' by Johnny Cash

5. 'On the Road Again' by Willie Nelson

6. 'Road Trippin'' by Red Hot Chili Peppers

7. 'Kokomo' by The Beach Boys

8. 'Come Fly with Me' by Frank Sinatra

9. 'Born to Be Wild' by Steppenwolf

10. 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' by John Denver

11. 'Africa' by Toto

12. 'Adventure of a Lifetime' by Coldplay

13. 'Sugar' by Maroon 5

14. 'Don't Stop Me Now' by Queen

15. 'The Nights' by Avicii

16. 'Happy' by Pharrell Williams

17. 'Roam' by The B-52's

18. 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' by John Denver

19. 'Sweet Home Alabama' by Lynyrd Skynyrd

20. 'Here Comes the Sun' by The Beatles

21. 'Life Is a Highway' by Rascal Flatts

22. 'Free Fallin'' by Tom Petty

23. 'Homeward Bound' by Simon & Garfunkel

24. 'Tiny Dancer' by Elton John

25. 'Runnin' Down a Dream' by Tom Petty

26. 'Drive My Car' by The Beatles

27. 'Home' by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

28. 'Wagon Wheel' by Old Crow Medicine Show

29. 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

30. 'Walking on a Dream' by Empire of the Sun

31. 'Down Under' by Men at Work

32. 'Take It Easy' by Eagles

33. 'Ramblin' Man' by The Allman Brothers Band

34. 'Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay' by Otis Redding

35. 'Fly Away' by Lenny Kravitz

36. 'Island in the Sun' by Weezer

37. 'Walking on Sunshine' by Katrina & The Waves

38. 'Walking in Memphis' by Marc Cohn

39. 'Free' by Donavon Frankenreiter

40. 'Budapest' by George Ezra

41. 'Golden Hour' by JVKE

42. 'Midnight City' by M83

43. 'Daylight' by David Kushner

44. 'As It Was' by Harry Styles

45. 'Say So' by Doja Cat

46. 'Belong Together' by Mark Ambor

47. 'Unstoppable' by Sia

48. 'Waves' by Dean Lewis

49. 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA

50. 'Take Yours, I'll Take Mine' by Matthew Mole