Direct TV price
Apr 14, 2011, 11:25 pm
#31
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 227
I found it funny last week when the EWR to BOS flight had the "free preview" right up through final approach. Flight attendants took their seats, and then the screens all went blue asking for six bucks when we were no more than 120 seconds from touchdown. Great revenue generator if I've ever seen one.
Apr 15, 2011, 4:32 am
#32
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Good look with $5 wifi on a long haul. More like $8-12, maybe even more.
Apr 15, 2011, 6:47 am
#33
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So if you're a high frequency flyer, you can easily get it down to $5/flight with one of those options.
In addition to the whole DTV fee being uncompetitive, the pricing model is rather inflexible. In this day and age where people pay different prices for the same thing, it's really surprising to see that CO doesn't offer different price options (e.g., connecting flight pack -- four (4) flights for $20; monthly pass for $30; bundles; etc.).
Apr 15, 2011, 7:51 am
#34
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Why is it a Sofie's choice between TV and Internet?
Apr 17, 2011, 2:22 am
#35
Join Date: Apr 2009
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Posts: 211
I always find it strange when companies raise the prices for a service that I already think is too overpriced for me to pay for.
I wouldn't pay $6 per flight segment, so perhaps I'll pay $8? Or is the service so popular with flyers that CO feels it's underpriced? Not sure what's going on here.
I wouldn't pay $6 per flight segment, so perhaps I'll pay $8? Or is the service so popular with flyers that CO feels it's underpriced? Not sure what's going on here.
Apr 17, 2011, 5:02 am
#36
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For those of you who don't know where the "off" switch is, you press down on the button that lowers the screen resolution untill the screen cuts off.
Apr 17, 2011, 6:40 am
#37
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For those of you who don't know where the "off" switch is, you press down on the button that lowers the screen resolution untill the screen cuts off.
Hitting brightness down until the screen fades out is their way of technically providing "off"-like functionality but deliberately making less likely that people will figure it out so that the ads stay on.
Apr 17, 2011, 6:50 am
#38
Join Date: Mar 2005
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When I saw the headline for this thread I thought "oh, great, they finally realized their incremental costs is minimal and they are going to lower the price and go for volume"... surprise for me.
I always find it strange when companies raise the prices for a service that I already think is too overpriced for me to pay for.
I wouldn't pay $6 per flight segment, so perhaps I'll pay $8? Or is the service so popular with flyers that CO feels it's underpriced? Not sure what's going on here.
I wouldn't pay $6 per flight segment, so perhaps I'll pay $8? Or is the service so popular with flyers that CO feels it's underpriced? Not sure what's going on here.
Apr 17, 2011, 4:31 pm
#40
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: New York / Hawaii
Programs: UA Global Services, HH Diamond
Posts: 5,178
Fee Not to Watch?
Maybe they'll charge a $2 fee to turn-off the display if you're not watching it? 
CO made the wrong decision to deploy DirectTV in planes instead of WiFi from the get-go. People are going to consume media through their tablets/phones/notebooks...and as broadband increases and technology costs go down, those DirectTVs will become used much less if at all.
CO made the wrong decision to deploy DirectTV in planes instead of WiFi from the get-go. People are going to consume media through their tablets/phones/notebooks...and as broadband increases and technology costs go down, those DirectTVs will become used much less if at all.
Apr 17, 2011, 5:32 pm
#41
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CO made a good decision to deploy DirectTV in planes instead of WiFi from the get-go. People are going to consume internet once they get off the plane and will enjoy the break from being tethered...and as technology costs go down, those DirectTVs will become better utilized by those who want a break from the internet. 
Apr 17, 2011, 7:10 pm
#42
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Apr 17, 2011, 7:55 pm
#43
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 1,685
Maybe they'll charge a $2 fee to turn-off the display if you're not watching it?
CO made the wrong decision to deploy DirectTV in planes instead of WiFi from the get-go. People are going to consume media through their tablets/phones/notebooks...and as broadband increases and technology costs go down, those DirectTVs will become used much less if at all.
CO made the wrong decision to deploy DirectTV in planes instead of WiFi from the get-go. People are going to consume media through their tablets/phones/notebooks...and as broadband increases and technology costs go down, those DirectTVs will become used much less if at all.
I don't think CO made such a bad decision as folks think here.
At the time when asked DTV or WiFi, I remember replying...why not both? At the time LiveTV had promised CO a WiFi product on the horizon. So CO really thought they had the best of both worlds, with an opportunity of a wait-and-see as DL aggressively rolled out GoGo.
Unfortunately for CO and their pax, the LiveTV WiFi product didn't come to market.
As for tablets...they're really a more recent product offering that consumers have just begun to embrace. So it's tough to criticize CO when the tablet didn't even come out at that time.
Apr 17, 2011, 8:09 pm
#45
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Well, the issue is more A) that CO management thought WiFi was less important than entertainment which they could still easily provide via their state-of-the-art overhead screens. B) that they implemented a pricing model that ensured that the vast majority of flights would be overpriced for most people. $3 for EWR-FLL is probably fair. $6 isn't, 8 certainly isn't.
Its certainly not the most hare-brained move they made (IMHO counting on the super risky 787 as the sole widebody to expand with was) but its something that passengers see and get upset about every day.
Its certainly not the most hare-brained move they made (IMHO counting on the super risky 787 as the sole widebody to expand with was) but its something that passengers see and get upset about every day.
