Laptop batteries are like cheesecake—they run out fast, and you shouldn’t feed them to the lactose intolerant. Especially on a plane.

One of the major problems in our increasingly technology-hungry society is that lots of people are flying all over the world–for business, for pleasure, for reality TV shows—and they all have advanced communications devices that require lots of power. No, the in-flight magazine is no longer enough to keep our generation occupied (though the crosswords never get old); people need their personal computers, their iPads, their iPods, their portable DVD players, their gaming consoles, their automatic nose-hair clippers, and what have you. Not to mention the Wi-Fi, increasingly being offered on flights, that drains batteries like “Catwoman” drains your will to live.

But how to keep those gadgets running when you’re in coach and can’t reach the business-class seats with your extension cord? (“Sir, you’ve just taken down three stewardesses and a man heading for the bathroom. Can you please stow your plug of death until we reach our destination?”) Most major airlines don’t have power jacks in economy class, and this means that many already sardine-canned travelers have to suffer from abject boredom halfway through the flight—not to mention put off important presentation work until the hotel happy hour or five minutes before the meeting.

Would you want this on your lap?

Why? What’s the trouble? Well, according to Matt Daimler, founder of Seatguru.com, in a recent USA Today article, “They’re thinking it’ll help up-sell. They [the airlines] clearly see that it’s a differentiating factor for business travelers.”
That said, many airlines are coming around. American Airlines, for instance, caused a great huzzah to issue forth from the people when they announced in April 2009 that they were offering AC power outlets in every row of the economy-class cabins on their Boeing 737-800s. Every row! That’s two outlets for every three people! With about five electricity-guzzling gadgets each! But seriously, while this arrangement may complicate seatmate etiquette to some degree (“Ahem…I know we’ve never met, but may I reach across you and tie you into your chair with my iPod charger for the duration of the flight? Oh, you’re using it already? No problem. I’ll just clip my nose-hairs until my battery dies”), it’s a whole lot better than having nothing at all.

Without power, your iPhone is one of these

Who’s Got the Power?
In general, according to Seatguru.com and the aforementioned USA Today article, European and Asian airlines are better about giving power to the little people than American ones are; the only American air carrier to offer power jacks at all seats is Virgin America. Is this because folks in Asia find it harder to fly without their ear wax cameras and cat-language translators (honest to god, I’m not making this up)? Hard to say. One way or another, here’s a boring but detailed rundown of the airlines and aircraft that give you power in economy class

Aircraft Power Availability (Data from Seatguru.com)

Delta also offers power in the first several rows of Airbus A330, Boeing 767-400ER and 777 aircraft, and select Boeing 757s, according to its website.

What is Premium Economy Class, and What Does it Have to Do with This?
If you want to pay a little to a lot more for your seat in coach, you get a substantial number of benefits on certain airlines. This is called “Premium Economy Class,” meaning that it’s better than regular economy class. In practical terms, this translates to, among other things, extra legroom, slightly bigger seats, cooler in-flight entertainment, better food, and—you guessed it—power ports for your laptop.
Wow! you say. What do I have to do to get such a mind-blowing arrangement? Well, depending on when you book and for which routes, all you have to do is spend anywhere from 10% to 95% more than you would on regular coach seats (in some cases, it’s cheaper if you book closer to the flight; in other cases, it doesn’t matter much). Alternatively, if you’re a premium member of a frequent flyer program, such an upgrade might be available for no extra charge.
So it ain’t business class, but at least you can charge up your USB-powered butt cooler(once again, not making it up) for the long haul.

You can get a USB cup, however.

AC vs. EmPower—Fight!
Once you’ve figured out the problem of actually getting a seat with an outlet, you have to contend with whether or not your device can plug into it. In fact, people who don’t fly regularly might not even recognize the outlet if they saw it. This is because, while many planes do have AC power outlets–those familiar two- or three-holed spots we usually see in the wall–most airlines use EmPower® DC outlets, which look more like either a car cigarette-lighter or something you’d need an adapter to use. In fact, in most cases, you do need an adapter to use it. So it might be a good idea to look into buying one if you plan on flying any of the more than 40 airlines that run EmPower.
Of the above-mentioned airlines, all except Air Canada in the short-haul category run AC power, and in the long-haul category, Alitalia, US Airways, LAN (Airbus 340-300 Vers. 2), Etihad (Boeing 777-300ER), and Cathay Pacific (Boeing 777-300 and 777-200, and Airbus A330-300 2-Class Vers. 1 and 2, A330-300 3-Class, A340-300 2-Class Vers. 1, and A340-300 3-Class) are the only ones that use EmPower; the rest are AC.

So check your flight, check your electronics, check your luggage, and make sure to charge your semiautomatic bagel-tosser before you leave the house, just in case (okay, that one I made up. But I’m sure someone’s come up with it in Sweden).

photo credits (In order):

_lisamarie_

vizzzual-dot-com

csatch

Post icon:bradmontgomery

Tags: AC, airline, battery, in-flight entertainment, outlets, power, travel