kauppias

As the subject says as of April 1( how fitting a date) AY no longer offers free wifi for business class nor OWE for the entire flight. ONLY 1 hour is complimentary for AY Gold and J pax! OWE gets nada!

AY platinum still gets free wifi for the entire flight so this is AY showing a definate advantage to being a AY elite vs OW elite! While I do think its smart to reward your own elites I do dislike this change and I will booking even more SAS flights where Wifi is still free all flight and cheaper flights as well...


Just FYI! If this was covered before I apologize but I did not see it... since I am on mobile.

NoWindowSeat

This has been discussed in another thread but good to highlight nevertheless as it seems to be an issue to many. Something I personally (no matter plat or not) do not really understand...in the context of things it's peanuts to me and if someone really needs/wants the wifi why not pay a bit for it, very simple. But, as always, opinions vary..

TTL

Would that provide more bandwidth for AY plats? I do not oppose this change .

kauppias

While this is indeed peanuts in the grand scheme of things its still a devaluation AND with AYs higher prices some may (me included) just book SKs PLUS product that is often close to AYs price. SK still offers free wifi to golds AND Plus/J pax.

Over all hard to see this as anything but bad news... where will this devaluation lead?

But good for Plats of AY, but also good for Plats to rememeber that they also get soft benefits elswhere, if OW airlines all start to reward ONLY home program elites the whole benefits start to erode

I am keeping a close eye on this, as it is I fly very little on AY but I did book some AY flight with this wifi benefit in mind so a bummer on those but not the end of the world a few extra Napue before the flight to ease to pain

kauppias

First SK raises the upgrade miles requirment and now AY yanks free WIfI a bad month ��

niksal

I prefer airlines without wifi. One place where I cannot be reached!

aama

Yeah I posted about this in the 350 wifi thread.

How about AA excluding OWEs from their domestic free drink & snack in the Main Cabin? Or Exclude MCE seats?

edit: They could've at least give the 1 hour free for OWEs. IMHO only thing wrong here is that AY Gold is treated better than OWE.

lkrt

I don't think these are necessarily comparable. Finnair still offers OWE's free Economy Comfort seats as well as complimentary drinks.

aama

Ok remove snack only then. And MCE from short-haul flights.

Better?

kauppias

For how long though

kauppias

Just because theres WiFi doesnt mean you have to be reachable

I missed out on the viking fares because I was flying without WiFi on ba 😁

intuition

I am torn on this issue. But first let me state the obvious - unless Finnair gets the internet reliably working the discussion is moot. Sure they are not charging me as a plat, but it isn't fakking working either.


I am coming from the "no internet on my flights" camp. Just like niksal said, flights are one place I can't be reached. And it is not about "if you don't like it don't use it" because the pure existence creates the expectation. Either from others or from myself. Without internet it doesn't even cross my mind, but when there is connection I will start optimizing time. ie start to use private hours for work.

Also, there is the risk of circus internet - I've seen people in business class (not on AY though) doing skype video calls on their laptop. On speaker. How obnoxious and bizarre. So while I am enjoying my pre-dinner drink, I am forcibly informed that someones hubby did the laundry and that Al and Sue are coming over for dinner on saturday.

My position has soften somewhat though. I see the internet connection as an entertainment/pastime option similar to IFE/magazines and if it is provided for free, I might use it.
So AY providing it for free to me is a minor perk that has a small influence on my travel purchases. But to promise me this perk and then not deliver it makes me really irritated, with a severe negative effect on my loyalty.


I do see the point of making a distinction between different tier members. I am torn on making the distinction between AY+ and OW members. OneWorld is falling apart and why should AY be a good team-player when all the others screw partners over? Yes, in theory OWE should be treated equal to own members on all airlines, but in practice it isn't so, so let's stop pretending there is an alliance "working as one" for a global seemless experience.

From an airline perspective I am sligthly surprised AY is taking this route. "Free wifi" has become the "free bag" perk of today, ie the one thing that makes people buy your tickets even if prices aren't the lowest. Today, people apparently don't care if a bag costs 15-50€ per segment, but if there is no wifi then you are out of the game. They don't care if there is no food at all or if soft drinks costs 7€ a pop, but without wifi they are going to realise how boring LCC flying is.
So the wifi is a decisive thing in the target group for the cheapest fares, and this group is what every airline is going for, including AY.
So if anything, this move will put even more pressure on lowering Y-prices than before.

In J free wifi is of less importance for ticket sales, but it is very odd to think that someone on a business trip needing internet is going to purchase it as an add-on. Not because of the cost itself but for the inconvenience of having to account for the business expense. Heck, people are even getting scrutinized for using their company phone abroad these days.

Trav1970

This is actually quite sad, but the logic unfortunately follows many other devaluations of OneWorld. It wasn't that many years ago when point earnings were the same irrespective of which airline one flew. In most cases today, one only earns a fraction of points when flying a "non-home" airline vs. flying the carrier who issued the OW card. Difference is nowadays most notorious on business class fares, where the code on the ticket can make the difference of 2x to the earnings. As a customer, I am quite annoyed about this trend. I can't help thinking how much business Oneworld has actually driven away with this kind of changes to other alliances.

kauppias

Until last year I actually flew 95% on OW, only enpugh starbflight to requalify for A3 Star gold...

In 2017 I am flying 50/50 Star and OW. Luckily I am in no way hub captove and do not mind flying the field

I dislike something about most airlines so no loss there either I have found myself onboard AY ALOT more this year then previous years infact in the next 2 weeks I have 12 AY flight segments BUT very hard to justify uso g AY plus as my home program, and if they keep paring down OWE treatment then to be honest I will find myself booking other carriers as there just is NOT alot of sense paying more for less. I do realize I am NOT the target audience for AY but I am sad to see them go in this direction since it seemed like AY was on a toll towards a good direction

AA has seen a big hit to AAdvantage, people will only take so much before moving.

Lets hope more does not follow...

Purjelentaja

That is quite hard statement, and I cannot agree with you. On my 6 last long haul flights (3 on A350, 3 on A330), on 5 internet was working very well, on one A350 flight antenna broken and thus no internet. After giving feedback got quite good conpensation for that non-working internet. Yesterday measured the bandwidth on A330, it varied between 2-3mbps, so not as good as broadband at home, but adequate and allowed normal surfing fine. One big change into better is new log in, just seat number and surname and you are in, no need to register account or any of that crap previously.