Travel Adapters

2025-05-12

There are several approaches to deal with travel adapters when traveling.

Some technical details

Universal Socket
Universal sockets typically have a loose fit, vibrations on airplanes will cause chargers to fall off.
For instance, on Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft with universal sockets, a Schuko adapter fits snugly.
    

Typical Electrical Sockets Available in Cruise Ships Staterooms
 

Bringing a Schuko or Europlug adapter on a cruise can increase the total number of available USA sockets in the stateroom.

Type A (2 pins) and Type B (3 pins)
USA, Canada, Mexico, Central America
   

Type G    UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, etc.
     

Type I    Australia, New Zealand, China, Argentina and Uruguay.
      
Type-I sockets have shuttered and non-shuttered versions.
Fancy designed universal adapter-charger may not insert smoothly/peacefully in shuttered sockets because the ground pin is used to push open an internal shutter to allow the "live" and "neutral" pins to be inserted. Don't use force, the wall socket or your universal-charger could break. Always use a 3-pin Type I adapter as best practice. If you are without a 3-pin adapter and drifting towards a full-blown panic, check this photo hinting to a very bad idea (a dry, wooden coffee stir stick). Bring a 3-prong Type-I adapter for smooth charging experience when visiting Australia, New Zealand, China, Argentina and Uruguay.

China (GB 1002-2024) For more details, see this note.


Europe Type E and F sockets  (4.8 mm pins with a 19 mm spacing)
France, Belgium, Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, etc.
 
Schuko adapter is designed for a perfect fit in Type E and F sockets.
By careful design, type E and F sockets are compatible with Type C Europlug

Europe Type C compatible sockets (4.0 mm pins with a 19 mm spacing)
 
Type C (Europlug adapter) is designed to work with all Type C compatible sockets.
Therefore a Europlug adapter is an excellent choice for travel across Europe and South America (except Argentina), South Africa (for constructions built after 2018) and some countries in Asia.

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Type M South Africa's Type M socket is being slowly replaced by the safer SANS 164-2 sockets in new (after 2018) constructions.
Good news is a Europlug adapter is compatible with modern SANS 164-2. but not the old Type M sockets.

Type O Thailand's sockets have unique physical dimensions. See this note for more details.
Good news is a Type C Europlug adapter can be used in Thailand.

Type D India's sockets have distinct physical dimensions. For fire safety reasons, Europlug adapter should not be inserted into Type D sockets. To safely connect chargers to Type D sockets, consider purchasing a Type D adapter before travel, unless the hotel you plan to stay is equipped with Type A, F, G, I, C sockets. 

References:
Power Plug and Socket
International Electrotechnical Commission
Precise plug dimensions: Plug dimensions
World Standard  worldstandard.eu
Plug Socks Museum https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/