Airplane WiFi

(KC)

I was so excited to read about airplane WiFi becoming available! However, unfortunately, my experience has been nothing short of extremely frustrating.


I've been on several flights over the past year for personal and business, and none of them have offered inflight WiFi. When I asked the attendants prior to the flight, some gave me strange looks, while others knew what I was talking about but said that it wasn't offered on these particular flights. Needless to say, I was very disappointed.


I've been eager to try it out to see how good the experience is (i.e. getting connected and speed), as well as using it to productively pass the time. Also, had several coupon codes for Gogo Wireless service for a free trial, which I was never able to use.


Generally speaking, my main concern is the price. The airline experience these days is so horrible, that it irks me to give the airlines any extra money. If the industry weren't so regulated, no company offering such poor service would ever stay in business. Anyway, that's an entirely different topic!


If the airplane WiFi service is really good, I actually would consider paying for it nonetheless. I do think that flights with layovers should allow you to continue your access without having to pay for another session. For a short flight (ex. <5hrs), I'd pay $5, and for a longer flight, I think $10 would be reasonable. Anything more than that feels too expensive.


My only other real concern is access to power. While I do have two batteries, and my most recent computer can go 8-10hrs, it's a little large to be using in coach. I hear that Virgin Atlantic offers AC plugs in each seat; having that on every flight on every airline would be sweet! I can only imagine the power drain on the plane though.



Generally speaking, I believe the best business model would be to allow advertisers to display banners as you're logging in, and maybe even something unobtrusive at the top of your Web browser. I think most people would tolerate it for access to free airplane WiFi. Another approach would be for airlines to bundle it with the purchase of a ticket. Over the long run, if the advertising model doesn't pan out, I could see airlines offering free WiFi as a way to differentiate themselves, and eventually it will just become an expectation that it will be included as a free service. If it does remain a paid model, perhaps airlines would be wise to provide a discount if purchased at the time of making a ticket reservation. I imagine they'd find lot of people buying it and not end up using it! And overall, they would have more people using it, and finding good value in the discounted price.


So at the end of the day, I'm still waiting to try it out, but would love to hear what others who have actually had the chance to use it think!