How To Charge Your Laptop From 20,000 Feet

Yes, it’s true. On many major airlines today, you can, if you know how, charge your laptop in-flight. Finding out which airlines (or more importantly, which airplanes) offer in-flight power is easy. SeatGuru, a company that provides what it calls The Ultimate Guide to In-Seat Laptop Power Ports, provides a handy online “Comparison Guide” to help you determine if laptop power is available, and if so, whether it is available in every seat or only in select seats. The service will also help you find the adapter type you’ll need to get plugged in.

Can you really operate your laptop using in-seat power?

According to SeatGuru, that depends.

“Most airplane power systems are limited to approximately 75 Watts of power draw per seat. This means that your new 17” laptop, with the power-hungry processor, might not get enough juice to operate,” says SeatGuru. “On a recent flight we were able to remove the laptop battery before plugging the device into the EmPower unit and we were able to successfully use the laptop on EmPower. The only drawback was towards the end of the flight the EmPower system was shut-off and the laptop abruptly lost power (good thing we saved our work!).”

And, while in-flight may help you finish your work before you land, don’t expect it to charge your laptop battery. According to SeatGuru, “Because of the limited amount of power draw per seat, it is possible that your laptop won’t get enough power to both operate and charge. Some airlines, like Continental Airlines (see their In-seat Power Guide), specifically state that battery charging is not allowed and ask you to remove your rechargeable battery from your device.”

SeatGuru also offer lots of other useful travel information, including tips on booking the best seats and advice on selecting the best noise-canceling headphones.