When you’re stuck at the airport and trying to get some work done, keeping your devices charged becomes a top priority. We were flying Southwest, so I knew there was a good chance the plane wouldn’t have power outlets—meaning this airport stop was probably my best shot at topping off my phone before the flight.
I found a seat with an outlet nearby and pulled out my trusty Anker USB charger—one I’ve used countless times before. But when I went to plug it in… it didn’t stay. The plug was too loose, and the charger just kept falling out of the wall.
I flipped it upside down to see if gravity would help. No dice. Then I remembered—somewhere near the bottom of my tangle of cords and chargers—I had a tiny old Apple power adapter. You know the one: the little square block that’s basically just a plug. I swapped it in, and like magic, it stayed in place.
Not fifteen minutes later, someone asked to share my table—and tried plugging in their laptop charger. You can probably guess what happened. Their charging brick immediately dropped out of the outlet and hit the floor. I told them I had the same issue, but unlike me, they didn’t have a small backup charger. They gave up and moved to another table to try their luck elsewhere.
This little moment reminded me of something I read a while back—about how airplane power outlets are often worn out and don’t grip plugs very well. Gary Leff from View From the Wing once wrote about how UK-style plugs (with their big three prongs) tend to stay put better in airplane outlets. These days, USB charging ports have made that less of an issue on flights. But when it comes to airport outlets, that problem still exists—and no one wants to babysit their charging brick.
The Takeaway
It’s a small tip, but one worth remembering: keep a compact, lightweight power brick in your travel bag. Especially if you travel with larger charging bricks or plan to rely on wall outlets at airports. You never know when a worn-out socket is going to leave your phone or laptop hanging—literally.
And if you find yourself in a situation where your plug won’t stay in the outlet, dig around. That old Apple adapter might just save the day.
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