This Under-$10 Travel Gadget Fixes Wobbly In-Flight Outlets In Seconds

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

If you've ever spent half of your flight babysitting a charging cable, making sure it won't fall out of the socket, so your laptop doesn't die at 35,000 feet, you're not alone. Airplane outlets are notoriously loose, especially on older aircraft where the socket is often worn out, causing grunts of frustration in cabins everywhere. Even in business class! But one small, inexpensive gadget can make sure your plug stays in place all flight long: a U.K. travel adapter.

A favorite hack among Redditors, U.K. plugs tend to fit much more snugly into charging points on airplanes, meaning you can avoid the annoying jiggle to keep your device charging. Regular travelers to the U.K. will likely already own an adapter, as U.S. devices (which use type A or B plugs) won't fit in outlets across the pond, where the type G plugs have three fairly thick, rectangular pins.

For those who don't have one yet, this U.S. to U.K. Plug Adapter 3 Pack costs less than $10 on Amazon. That's one for you, and a couple of extras to hand out to your fellow frustrated passengers. It might just make you the most popular person on the plane. One thing we don't recommend is a universal adapter. These don't convert voltage, and while that's less of an issue on planes, they could fry your U.S. device when you plug it into higher voltage outlets in the U.K. or Continental Europe.

It's not just standard power sockets that cause problems on planes. Passengers across the land often board a plane to find that the USB chargers aren't working either. You can, of course, charge your phone via a regular plug with a U.K. adapter to make sure it fits tightly. But another option is an absolute must-have for travel: a portable charger. Even reasonably priced models, like this one from Veektomx, claim to be able to fully charge an iPhone five times before the power bank itself needs plugging in again. Unless you're playing a battery-devouring game on the world's longest direct flight, that should be more than enough power.

You can also use a power bank to charge a laptop, but there are a couple of caveats. Older laptops might not support USB-C power delivery, and laptops require more powerful chargers than cell phones, but the Federal Aviation Administration places limits on how much power portable batteries can carry. Be sure to check that your device complies before you fly. To be on the safe side, a U.K. travel adapter can fix your wobbly socket woes in seconds.