[cwoodward]

It was not so very long ago that I was paying a small fortune for a WIFI connection in aal major hotels. No more – almost overnight these charges have all but disappeared.

I strongly suspect that these charges are also soon going to disappear from most major airlines.

From what I have read it seems as though Jet-blue started the trend last year and has already been followed to a greater or lesser extent by such giant’s as Delta, Qatar and Singapore.

Probably as with hotels some large operators will hold out for a time but I suspect that the trend to fee WIFI now started is here to stay.

I find it interesting to speculate who will be next and who will hold out….. next perhaps Thai ?

[stevescoots]

Free in J would be a start. some airlines do, i seem to recall EK doing it for a while but its been 2 or 3 years since i last flew them. AY do 1 hour free, CX dont. QR used to , i will find out again in October. Considering most carriers charge around $20 USD for full flight it would be a nice perk for J class , especially with pricing as it is now!

[AlanOrton1]

Delta do in all cabins, as long as you are a member of their frequent flier programme. (I’ve only flown domestic US with them so can’t comment on international flights).
BA offer it free in F. Or paid options by the hour or for the entire flight in other cabins.

[christ]

Not sure if wifi has improved in the last 6 months but i found it appalling on BA to HK (i would not bother for short haul) and also i do not believe all the 787s have. Cathay to London was slightly better but still not great and i was only trying to do e mails.

However i found American and Southwest excellent.

Perhaps i am in the minority but unless it is super urgent for work, I sometimes find it nice to be disconnected from the world (though if you do have to send those few e mails, there is nothing worse than spending 90 mins doing something you could do in 20 mins on the group due to poor wifi.

[BackOfThePlane]

I am almost certainly the most techy-inept person on this forum, so excuse my rank ignorance, but is the availability and quality of wifi in part due to where one is flying or, more specifically, over-flying?

[cwoodward]

Yes it very much does depend where you are flying BOTP but not as much as it used to.

I am certain that many on the forum know much than I about this but here goes

Basically there are 2 types of operating systems for airplane Wi-Fi — air-to-ground (ATG) which bounces signals off ground-based cell towers, and satellite Wi-Fi which uses signals from satellites orbiting the earth. Most large international airlines now use satellites as the foot print is so vast that they are seldom out of range meaning that passengers receive an almost signal (I mention almost because often there is little of coverage around the poles and in one or two other areas of ocean.

ATG is the other system and it relies on the same system of relay towers and routers as does much home WIFI. the drawback of this system is that it tends to be very patchy due to the lack of cell towers in remote areas or over large expanses of water such as oceans.
Airlines need to pay to use ether system hence the charges that passengers are very often asked to pay.

[MartynSinclair]

Is free WIFI coming soon for all passengers – absolutely, as soon as the airlines know how to monetise the offering; from advertising to a share of whatever is being sold. It’s not just about the business people wanting to send or read that all important email, or the social influencer wanting to reach his audience – the world lives on being connected and people use connectivity for everyday living, shopping, bank balances, checking home alarms – even making phone calls – I am sure they day will come…. as soon as the airlines can monetise free connectivity sufficiently.

[Chris in Makati]

I feel that many airlines are charging too much for their in-flight wifi. When I flew LHR/AUH/BKK on Etihad I was able to redeem 1,200 Etihad Guest miles for wifi access on each sector, which I found quite reasonable. However, when I flew BKK-HKG-MNL Cathay Pacific wanted US$ 12.95 for each of those short flights.

If airlines must charge, it would be nice to be able to purchase a block of access time which you could use as and when you need it on various airlines. So if you just want internet access for 30 minutes to catch up with your emails you only need to use 30 minutes of the time you’ve bought.

[LuganoPirate]

I received an email that all Economy passengers with Swiss will have free WiFi for WhatsApp and those in the premium cabins will received full WiFi, unlimted for First, but not sure about Business or premium Economy.

I was miffed when I flew down First in July, to only receive a 50mb voucher. When I asked for another one as my flight was delayed and I wanted to rebook my onward connectio, I was told it was not possible! Stingy Swiss I felt!

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cwoodward

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