I was sitting in Virgin Atlantic’s Clubhouse at London Heathrow the other day on the way out to Washington. I had just ordered a full English fry-up – well you do, don’t you? If it’s there, you have it. That’s why so many people get there hours before there flight – to get a free haircut, facial and shoe-clean. Anyway, that’s beside the point. I had just ordered my slap-up (second) breakfast when I realised I needed to do some last-minute work on my laptop.

Hunt-the-electricity-socket is a game I have come to loathe when travelling through the world’s airports. Some airports seem to have none at all. Some have them but use bizarre sockets that you never see anywhere else in the world – plugging in anything other than the airport’s own vacuum cleaner is impossible. Others have sockets but they don’t appear to be connected as if to taunt you.

As a result, airport coffee shops have become a necessary port of call for me, like many other laptop-toting travellers. Baristas around the world have come to recognise our ilk – we walk in, look around shiftily and then leave when we realise there are no sockets.

I am beginning to suspect that having used Starbucks’ electricity for years without buying anything, they are now issuing baristas with a photofit of me. The next time I plug in, I’m sure a firm hand will clamp down on my shoulder and lead me to the exit or, worse still, the counter where I’ll be forced to buy a venti latte with all the trimmings. “We don’t sell small Nescafés,” they’ll say as they demand $26 or whatever those things cost.

Anyway, this didn’t happen in Virgin’s Clubhouse. I have become so used to the idea that I won’t find a socket in an airport that I was staring at the one right next to my table for ages before its existence registered. And, even better, it didn’t have funny-shaped pins. Better still, it worked when I plugged in my adaptor.

It is this sort of attention to detail in their lounges that sets certain airlines way above the average. What happened next just underlined that. As I opened up my laptop, a member of the Clubhouse staff raced over and asked if I needed a password for wireless access. Without being asked. An airline that can do that effortlessly can have my money any day.