On Transcon out of EWR.. and noticed DirecTV is now a whopping $7.99 to use (before the discount for using the branded CC). $8 seems egregious to me. My own perception is $3.99 is "CO is just being a cheap" (vs. offering it to passengers for free), $5.99 is "let's squeeze you since we have you", and $7.99 is "what is the maximum pain tolerance for our customers without having them laugh out-loud-loud on the plane".

Of course, these numbers do not include 1-stop flights. A round-trip flight would cost $32 for TV. Or $16 one-way!!

Now if at least 50% of the people who pay $3.99 also are willing to pay $7.99, then perhaps this is a dollar winner for CO. But I would imagine it is better to have a happier customer base.. i.e., have more people paying $3.99 and keeping relations with customers cordial.

JetBlue has been offering TV for free for a long time. I hear Delta offering it now. It's surprising to me that Continental is finding ways to raise the prices, vs. match competitor offerings.

I for one would buy it occassionally for $3.99. For the short segments it was annoying, but sometimes I would still buy it. At $7.99 I do not buy it and the pricing actually gets me upset (even when I don't even care to buy it at a lower price point). It also feels anachronistic to me.