By Wendy Perrin

In response to my post about how three airlines have pretty much banned coach fliers from using their laptops inflight, reader joe_kayaker wrote:

"When are the airlines going to realize that a power port is not a luxury, but a business necessity??  Look at any departure lounge and you will see folks huddled on the floor just to be next to a wall outlet. The airline that puts power ports in all the coach seats (and their departure lounges) will have a real advantage.  It can't be that there's not enough power on the plane; there are two 90,000-horsepower generators hanging off the wings.  As a business traveler, I'd be happy to pay $5 or $10 per flight to get my coach seat's power port turned on.  Anyone from United listening?  I need my laptop on the flights, and I hate dragging enough batteries to keep it alive for 6 or more hours."

I'm with you, Joe.  I'm one of those people you see sitting on the floor near the closest electrical outlet, massaging a shoulder cramped from lugging 25 pounds of laptop case from airport to airport and hotel to hotel.  But here's my biggest pet peeve about flying in coach with a laptop:  You know when your laptop is open on the tray table, and then the guy in front of you decides to recline his seat, forcing your screen to tilt forward, and the only way to see what's on the screen is to slide your legs forward and slump down into your seat, forcing your tail bone into contortions?  That's why I try to sit in an emergency-exit row where there's more leg room and the seat in front of me can't recline. I've also asked for one of those laptop tray-table stands for my birthday.

As for lugging extra batteries, have you checked with Seatguru in advance to see if the plane you're flying has any power sources in coach?  Of course, even if you can nab one of those seats, the power port may not be functioning.