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What’s the Right Price for Wi-Fi in the Sky?
By Dave Peterson | June 24, 2008
That painfully long cross-country flight might get a little shot of Wi-Fi anesthesia if all goes well on an American Airlines test flight tomorrow. It was widely reported today (CrunchGear, Electronista, Engadget) that the airline recently most renowned for charging extra for any checked luggage will test their new “Gogo” in-flight Wi-Fi service on a round-trip flight between New York’s JFK and Los Angeles’ LAX on June 25. The service is to be based on AirCell technology. The data-only service (no voice yet) will be free on the test flight, but is expected to be priced at $9.95 for short flights and $12.95 for longer ones. I don’t know where the break point is between “short” and “extended”, but on anything over three hours, I’d definitely spring for either of those prices. What about you? Does the pricing scheme seem reasonable if airlines can deliver service with a reasonable Wi-Fi data speed? As airlines seem poised to begin charging for breathable air, it’s a bit refreshing to see an optional charge for something we haven’t been getting for free up until now.
Topics: Networks |
June 24th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
I only travel cross-country a few times a year, but those 5 hours disconnected is valuable time lost. It depends how fast the internet is, if it is painfully slow, I wouldn’t use it or even pay for it. But if its fast enough to do web-browsing nicely, I wouldn’t mind paying $9 a flight. But what about power? Laptops only last for so long, I am not sure about American’s newer fleet, but their old planes don’t even have power in First Class! Its a great idea, but its a part of a bigger puzzle that they need to solve.