I recommend the Bose for flying. I also had the Creative Aurvana for a while until they broke, which were decent too, but not quite as good. For just walking around town, I like my Etymotic in-ear phones, but those are uncomfortable on a long plane trip. When plugged in though, they have great isolation.
An open headphone like the HD 600 (which I'm wearing now) is really unfair to compare against noise canceling; I use Beyerdynamic DT770 for "closed", and in-ear from etymotics or ultimateears, rather than active noise canceling -- the only active noise canceling headphones I have are Pro Ears and MSA Saladin (shooting/military ear protectors which take radio input).
I'd be upset if my home environment were loud enough to warrant noise canceling, though.
Here's what the wirecutter says about it: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-noise-canceling-headph...
At home I also have the Sennheiser HD 600. I usually use the Bose -- the noise cancelling is nice even if you're not in a plane.