Business travellers on Virgin Australia will have a better chance to charge up their laptops and tablets in flight, with a third of the airline's Boeing 737-800 planes now boasting AC power points in every business class seat.

Virgin Australia's rollout of in-seat power sockets now extends to 21 of the Boeing 737s fitted with business class, and the airline tells Australian Business Traveller that all its future 737s — the workhorse of Virgin's domestic fleet — will arrive with power in the pointy end.

"In-seat power is an important feature for many travellers on longer flights," Virgin Australia spokesman Luke O'Donnell agrees. "Over the next few years all of our Boeing 737s will be fitted with in-seat power."

You'll find the power points in the centre armrest section, between the window and aisle seats.

And there's good news for travellers with large 17 inch laptops which can sometimes trip the system's fuse and remove power for your seat – and potentially your row or the whole cabin!

Virgin's systems have enough juice to run just even the most powerful laptop, O'Donnell explains.

"The in-seat power systems have been designed for a range of consumer devices. The system is designed to accept laptops as well as other devices up to 150w."

17" laptops can suck down around 85w, with smaller ultralight versions sipping at a reduced 45w, so there's ample headroom.

Airbus A330s, too

In addition to these Boeing 737s, the newer three of Virgin's five Airbus A330 planes — used for trans-continental flights between the east coast and Perth— have at-seat power in business and economy.

There's no real way to tell which A330s are equipped with sockets when you book, but when you do online seat selection before you fly, check if the seatmap shows a 2-3-2 layout with a middle seat instead of a 2-2-2 configuration.

The 2-2-2 seating belongs to the newer power-packing A330s; the 2-3-2 layout means your tech will be running on batteries from coast to coast.

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