Photo by Robert Scoble.
Apart from taking advantage of your seat's personal TV and AC power ports (where available), the article also details how best to snag an extra seat by focusing your search on middle seats. (As we've previously mentioned, you can also score some extra leg-room by booking with low-fare carriers.)
Middle seats tend to be filled starting from the front of the aircraft and moving toward the rear—which means that if your flight isn't full, you're likely to get an empty seat next to you if you request an aisle seat in the center section in the back.
If you happen to be flying solo this holiday weekend or in the future, you can also up your comfort level by selecting carriers with the fewest number of middle seats. 767s, for example, only have one middle seat per row, which lessens the odds that you'll get stuck between two people.
If you want to get really specific, we'd suggest trying something like previously mentioned SeatGuru to help you find the best available seat in coach. Whatever you decide, the article advises to always book a ticket with a seat assignment. If you do your bidding online and seat options aren't available at the time of purchase, pick up a phone and reserve one through the airline. You can always try to change it at a later date, but it's important to go in with something.
Check out the full post for more ways to make coach comfortable, and feel free to chime in with your own non-alcohol-related tips to get through a flight. Or, if you prefer to upgrade, hit up our previous post on how to get to first-class.
Getting Comfy in Coach [Condé Nast Traveler]