POLL: What Do You Think of Internet on Airplanes?

American is suing Gogo Internet due to slow Internet quality. Have you used WiFi while flying, and if so, did you enjoy the experience?
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Julie Ramhold
BY:
Senior Staff Writer/Spokesperson
wifi

American Airlines passengers haven't really been pleased as of late with inflight WiFi offerings, and American itself hasn't been too happy either — enough so that the airline is filing a suit against Gogo, its current inflight internet provider.

American claims that Gogo is not as fast as competitor ViaSat, which can be found on JetBlue, Virgin America, and United. The suit could actually give American the ability to switch inflight WiFi providers for their aircrafts if they decide to.

How Much Would You Pay for WiFi in the Sky?

Presently, you can buy inflight internet for less than $20 per flight. Yet the question remains: Are the wireless speeds worth the investment?

SEE ALSO: WiFi in Your Whole House: Everything You Need to Know About Mesh WiFi and More

Inflight internet isn't necessarily expensive, but the cost is significant enough that most passengers will care about receiving their money's worth. With American, an all-day pass is $16, or you can buy into their American Airlines Plan for $49.95 per month, if you travel frequently. For international and select domestic flights, you can even pay for a two- or four-hour pass, or a pass for the length of your flight — $12, $17, and $19, respectively.

Have You Used Inflight Internet?

Readers, what about you? We want to know if you've ever used inflight WiFi, and if so, what was your experience like? Do you use it regularly when you travel, or do you prefer to unplug on your flights?

Take the poll below, then share your thoughts in the comments!

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Julie Ramhold
Senior Staff Writer/Spokesperson

Julie's work has been featured on CNBC, GoBankingRates, Kiplinger, Marketwatch, Money, The New York Times, Real Simple, US News, WaPo, WSJ, Yahoo!, and more. She's extolled the virtues of DealNews in interviews with Cheddar TV, GMA, various podcasts, and affiliates across the United States, plus one in Canada.
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6 comments
Sailnavy
Gogo is spotty. Sometimes webpages timeout. VPN is rough to get established. I try to use it to get things done via iPad, booking travel and cleaning up. Sometimes it works barely ok. Sometimes there are holes.
February 22, 2016
Dan de Grandpre (DealNews)
Ironically, I tried to read this article while at 30,000 feet on Gogo today. After about 2 minutes, Gogo gave me a blank page.
February 22, 2016
Rich_P
I used the in-flight WiFi on a recent Delta flight from Seattle to Detroit. It started out working well but as more people connected, it slowed to an unusable crawl. My advice: Get the 30-minute free trial or buy the one-hour pass, and get your online work done when the plane hits 10,000 feet.
February 22, 2016
auricle
I get 10 "free" sign-ons with GoGoInflight per year as a benefit of a credit card. Its nice to have but completely unnecessary for most, especially if you had to cough up the fees yourself. When the speed improves (it will) that may change the equation.
February 22, 2016
Lindsay Sakraida (DealNews)
@dono Yeah, I think it's decent but not good enough for the cost. For $20, I'd want to be able to stream...
February 22, 2016
don o
I was on a flight from DFW to Orlando, connected to the in-flight WiFi and was offered a 30 minute free trial. It was slow but worked fine for my needs, I was able to check my email, and took an in-flight picture of the clouds and posted it to Facebook. The free trial actually lasted closer to 40 minutes. The speed certainly would never had supported Netflix streaming video (sorry Jessica Jones) or Skype. Had I paid for it, I doubt I would have been satisfied with the performance. Dropping that much just to fill a 2-3 hour gap in Internet access is a bit much when my time would be better spent taking a nap or reading a book.
February 22, 2016