Yaatri

I have a few questions regarding Internet Access in World Clubs.

1. Is it Free, if you have a lap top.
2. DO you have to dial up local access number for your ISP in the city that the WC is in?
3. Or is it a high speed connection to the Internet and you can use it to browse and access your web based mail? In thios case do you just plug in to the power outlet and the network and go from there?

clarence5ybr

NW itself does not have wireless in any of the WCs. In at least some of the WCs (MSP & DTW for example), you can pick up the high-speed connection from the provider that has the concourses covered. If I recall correctly, it's $6.95 or $7.95 for 24 hours of access (I think you can buy a yearly membership). The WCs do have phones you can use to dial the local number of your ISP if you wish.

RobertH

Actually they have free WIFI access in the Chicago Ohare club - but that club is shared with Continental. It sure is nice!!

frequentfoulup

Continental has been classy about Wi-fi. I remember anxiously waiting for the rollout of the program at the now defunct SFO club. The dialup situation was limited to 2 phones, which was awful, so I was constantly asking about the wireless delivery date.

I was shocked that there would be a charge. There is very little cost involved here, so it was a reasonable assumption that NWA would offer Wi-fi gratis. After all, Starbucks does it in thousands of locations and you don't even need to buy a cup.

Club attendants were told that there was a T-Mobile contract throughout SFO, and NW was prohibited from putting in their own due to signal conflicts??

The President's club with free Wi-fi is a 3 minute walk from the old domestic WP club.

Cacophony

Since when was Starbucks wifi free? Last time I checked it was pretty darn expensive, billed through T-mobile.

The economics aren't nearly as simple as we'd like, there is real expense involved in deploying something like this...but I agree...it's ridiculous that given the purpose & cost of WC membership that it isn't offered. In the SFO PC you usually see something like 50%+ of the visitors using the wifi. I think that qualifies as a useful benefit.

RobertH

Yup, forget Starbucks. Go to Panera Bread/Cafe instead - free wifi at most (if not all) locations. I talked to the owner of a Panera franchise today - he said the cost of putting in wifi was "insignificant". The biggest cost is the $60 he pays per month to Comcast for the business internet connection. Two wireless access points cost him a total of about $100.

I can't understand why NW doesn't have free wifi in their clubs.

bostonbali

During a recent business trip, I went to lunch at Panera with my laptop. I was excited at the prospect of surfing FT while eating their yummy bread-bowl soup, but no dice... Turns out they turn off the wifi signal between 11am-2pm (to keep the traffic flow moving). Bummer...

gretchendz

One of the great mysteries of life is why there is no free WiFi in WCs.....with the huge fees we pay, it is a true mystery why they don't provide something you get free in a Panera or a Hampton Inn....

hoyateach

Can't speak for other airports but PDX has free wireless, accessible from the WC among other places.

RichMSN

Let's take this one step further -- forget WiFi. All the brand new WCs in existence, how hard would it have been to install a small network and place ethernet jacks next to the phones in the work cubicles?

But these days, sure -- free WiFi should be a standard thing and would let people work anywhere in the club. Having to pay $6.95/day on top of the $250-$350 fee for the club is ridiculous. Every hotel I stay at has free high speed internet, mainly wireless. The cost is minimal, like another poster said and mainly is the cost of the Internet access.

A more troubling trend, IMO, is the overcrowding I've seen in the WCs this week. Twice I walked in and there were no work areas available and I left the WC to find an empty spot in the councourse.

frequentfoulup

You may want to avoid SFO if overcrowding is a concern. NW closed the domestic WC and now members use Contintental's club. The problem is that the Worldclub was about 3 times larger than the President's club. I feel sorry for the Continental club staff that instantly inherited 4X the workload. It's a nice club, just not designed for the current traffic.

Something told me not to buy that Lifetime membership, I'm glad I listened.