EK's understanding of digital age
Jun 17, 2017, 9:07 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,941
EK's understanding of digital age
So I want to log onto internet on board, as usual, and guess what: where the whole world is moving towards implementing free WiFi (hotels, restaurants, cafes, anybody), Emirates is hiking up its WiFi pricing by 1499% to USD 15,99 for 500MB.
Shame on you, Emirates. Charging this amount for a deficient product is just appalling. Greed is taking over, it seems.
Shame on you, Emirates. Charging this amount for a deficient product is just appalling. Greed is taking over, it seems.
Jun 17, 2017, 9:21 am
#2
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Scotland, Spain
Programs: Skywards Gold, Amex Plat, SkyTeam Silver
Posts: 1,165
Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes are moving towards free wifi. Not sure airlines are going at the same rate (at the moment). What airlines offer 500MB free for nonFF, Y customers?
Jun 17, 2017, 10:06 am
#3
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
They must've be been massively subsidizing the WiFi programme and this is their attempt to make it break even, considering the still reasonable pricing compared to other carriers. Sad, but understandable given their current financial pressure. People clearly weren't choosing EK for just the cheap WiFi so they must've figured they got to cut the cost now.
Jun 17, 2017, 11:19 am
#4
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: EK Gold, A3 *G, AB Gold, Jetblue Mosaic
Posts: 1,386
So I want to log onto internet on board, as usual, and guess what: where the whole world is moving towards implementing free WiFi (hotels, restaurants, cafes, anybody), Emirates is hiking up its WiFi pricing by 1499% to USD 15,99 for 500MB.
Shame on you, Emirates. Charging this amount for a deficient product is just appalling. Greed is taking over, it seems.
Shame on you, Emirates. Charging this amount for a deficient product is just appalling. Greed is taking over, it seems.
Jun 17, 2017, 11:30 am
#5
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
Before it was "free" I used it and it was fine but since they stopped charging people much money, I have never found it usable so I welcome the change where only people who really need wifi will be using it until EK upgrade the system to support more users. The first free 10MB is still good for people who just may need to send a whatsapp to people on the ground etc.
Jun 17, 2017, 11:49 am
#6
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: AUH
Posts: 8,267
So I want to log onto internet on board, as usual, and guess what: where the whole world is moving towards implementing free WiFi (hotels, restaurants, cafes, anybody), Emirates is hiking up its WiFi pricing by 1499% to USD 15,99 for 500MB.
Shame on you, Emirates. Charging this amount for a deficient product is just appalling. Greed is taking over, it seems.
Shame on you, Emirates. Charging this amount for a deficient product is just appalling. Greed is taking over, it seems.
2. It's "deficient" because it's free and everyone is using it. Like, up to 500 people trying to log on into a relatively small bandwidth satellite link. Charging more means only people who really want it will use it, meaning more likelihood of a useable service.
Jun 17, 2017, 2:29 pm
#7
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: EK Gold, A3 *G, AB Gold, Jetblue Mosaic
Posts: 1,386
I agree that airlines are a long way off from there but Jetblue does offer free wifi to all passengers and it is interestingly the fastest wifi I have used on a plane (as in stream HBO fast). It is a satellite service btw.
Jun 17, 2017, 3:14 pm
#8
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Europe
Programs: EK plat, ex-FB gold, Accor plat
Posts: 1,076
Jun 17, 2017, 3:39 pm
#9
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 5,454
Isn't the digital age where if things are free, the users are product - but since in this case the users are the customers, they have to pay...
There is a freemium element like the digital age too - pay them (lots) of money and you get Skywards status which gives you some benefits like free wifi with certain tickets.
That said, if it makes casual users of bandwidth who don't really care stop using it, so there is more for people who actually want the service, I think that's fine.
More satellite launches can't come soon enough, imho.
There is a freemium element like the digital age too - pay them (lots) of money and you get Skywards status which gives you some benefits like free wifi with certain tickets.
That said, if it makes casual users of bandwidth who don't really care stop using it, so there is more for people who actually want the service, I think that's fine.
More satellite launches can't come soon enough, imho.
Jun 17, 2017, 8:09 pm
#10
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHX, SEA
Programs: Avis President's Club, Global Entry, Hilton/Marriott Gold. No more DL/AA status.
Posts: 4,422
Any time a benefit is no longer included, the experience suffers. But I guess, if EK has to start breaking out costs, I'd rather see it be for Wi-fi than baggage fees (or worse, overhead bin space like UA/AA/6A basic fares).
Jun 17, 2017, 8:23 pm
#11
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 909
No, and the difference is the types of technology. Jetblue has gone with a higher bandwidth limited coverage option whereas with the EK fleet reaching every corner of the globe they've instead had to look at a slower more expensive solution.
Jun 17, 2017, 9:07 pm
#12
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Somewhere
Programs: AS MVP, EK Silver, Bonvoy Plat
Posts: 921
I'm for anything that will increase the bandwidth to something usable. Dialup performance would be an improvement!
My work is mostly just code (github) push/pull and some light web surfing, but when a code push takes 5 minutes, if it succeeds at all, while on the ground it's half a second, there's a problem.
My work is mostly just code (github) push/pull and some light web surfing, but when a code push takes 5 minutes, if it succeeds at all, while on the ground it's half a second, there's a problem.
Jun 18, 2017, 1:38 am
#13
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Europe
Programs: EK plat, ex-FB gold, Accor plat
Posts: 1,076
You cannot judge that. Very often, wechat or instagram is nowadays a real "emotional support" companion.
Joke aside, I got once a very upset FTer when he asked "my children NEED bandwidth, how can I get it at XXX hotel ? (exotic city)" to which I answered "wifi is not good there, go out, enjoy tourism".
Priority is a relative concept.
Jun 18, 2017, 4:30 am
#14
Ambassador: Emirates Airlines
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 18,618
So I want to log onto internet on board, as usual, and guess what: where the whole world is moving towards implementing free WiFi (hotels, restaurants, cafes, anybody), Emirates is hiking up its WiFi pricing by 1499% to USD 15,99 for 500MB.
Shame on you, Emirates. Charging this amount for a deficient product is just appalling. Greed is taking over, it seems.
Shame on you, Emirates. Charging this amount for a deficient product is just appalling. Greed is taking over, it seems.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/emira...y-14-june.html
Jun 18, 2017, 5:27 am
#15
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 5,454
You cannot judge that. Very often, wechat or instagram is nowadays a real "emotional support" companion.
Joke aside, I got once a very upset FTer when he asked "my children NEED bandwidth, how can I get it at XXX hotel ? (exotic city)" to which I answered "wifi is not good there, go out, enjoy tourism".
Priority is a relative concept.
Joke aside, I got once a very upset FTer when he asked "my children NEED bandwidth, how can I get it at XXX hotel ? (exotic city)" to which I answered "wifi is not good there, go out, enjoy tourism".
Priority is a relative concept.