I saw my first non-trial wifi plane yesterday.
Jun 12, 2010, 5:32 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: MDW
Programs: SWA EMP (the ultimate program)
Posts: 713
I saw my first non-trial wifi plane yesterday.
Looks like the WIFI implementation is underway. I've already seen a new plane other than the original 4 with the wifi dome on top.. It looks like the new ones are sporting a slightly more low profile dome on top. I believe it was aircraft number 910.
Jun 13, 2010, 12:55 pm
#2
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: WN CP
Posts: 6,360
Yes, N910WN is the first "official" Wi-Fi install, and it uses the Tecom/Qest antenna as opposed to the Aerosat antenna used on the four trial aircraft.
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/ru...ays-wi-fi.html
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/ru...ays-wi-fi.html
Jun 16, 2010, 12:09 am
#3
Join Date: Apr 2006
Programs: Platinum Ambassador Priority Club, Singapore Silver Elite, Hilton Honors Silver, Continental Silver
Posts: 85
yes, but is it reasonably priced? I was on a test flight with them several months ago from PHX to SFO. They wanted $6 for that 1 hour 40 minute in air flight. Too rich for my blood.
Jun 16, 2010, 10:29 am
#4
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: DFW/HOU/DAL
Posts: 611
Jun 16, 2010, 10:58 am
#5
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: USA
Programs: AC SE100K, F9 100k, NK Gold, UA *S, Hyatt Glob, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 5,207
people pay $9.99 for access at airports all the time, and they are often just checking emails etc for 30-45 minutes. Some hotels still charge $14.99 a day. It's all relative to what you will pay. It's just nice to have that option. I would be much more likely to pay $10-15 for a 5hr flight, than a 60 minute flight. But if I had a presentation due to win a client deal, I'd pay it!!
Southwest's pricing may not attract the facebook OMG Twitter AIM Iphone crowds with this product. Good! They want the business travellers, and that will leave more bandwidth for them.
In other threads we've dissected some of the pricing and capital costs that Southwest has to pay. Even at $10 per connection, they need a fairly high # of connections per aircraft, per day, in order to cover capital/interest costs, before even factoring in maintenance or profits.
Southwest's pricing may not attract the facebook OMG Twitter AIM Iphone crowds with this product. Good! They want the business travellers, and that will leave more bandwidth for them.
In other threads we've dissected some of the pricing and capital costs that Southwest has to pay. Even at $10 per connection, they need a fairly high # of connections per aircraft, per day, in order to cover capital/interest costs, before even factoring in maintenance or profits.
Jun 16, 2010, 11:14 am
#6
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: DFW/HOU/DAL
Posts: 611
people pay $9.99 for access at airports all the time, and they are often just checking emails etc for 30-45 minutes. Some hotels still charge $14.99 a day. It's all relative to what you will pay. It's just nice to have that option. I would be much more likely to pay $10-15 for a 5hr flight, than a 60 minute flight. But if I had a presentation due to win a client deal, I'd pay it!!
Southwest's pricing may not attract the facebook OMG Twitter AIM Iphone crowds with this product. Good! They want the business travellers, and that will leave more bandwidth for them.
In other threads we've dissected some of the pricing and capital costs that Southwest has to pay. Even at $10 per connection, they need a fairly high # of connections per aircraft, per day, in order to cover capital/interest costs, before even factoring in maintenance or profits.
Southwest's pricing may not attract the facebook OMG Twitter AIM Iphone crowds with this product. Good! They want the business travellers, and that will leave more bandwidth for them.
In other threads we've dissected some of the pricing and capital costs that Southwest has to pay. Even at $10 per connection, they need a fairly high # of connections per aircraft, per day, in order to cover capital/interest costs, before even factoring in maintenance or profits.
Jun 17, 2010, 6:23 pm
#7
Join Date: May 2006
Location: TUS/PDX
Programs: WN CP/A-List, AS MVPG75K
Posts: 5,798
Greetings from high above Albuquerque from a/c 910. I'm flying MDW-TUS (even got one of two empty middle seats!), and the wifi price for my laptop is $5. I haven't turned on my iPad or iPhone (yes, go ahead and laugh at me) to check out the price on those. I'll update a little later with those prices.
My last wifi flight was LAX-SFO where they charged $12(!!!!!!) for a 45 minute flight. For a 3:40 flight, I think $5 is more than fair. Heck even $10 would be worth it on this flight. I still want a reasonably priced yearly pass once more planes come online.
Speed was 3.62 mb/s down and 0.19 mb/s up.
My last wifi flight was LAX-SFO where they charged $12(!!!!!!) for a 45 minute flight. For a 3:40 flight, I think $5 is more than fair. Heck even $10 would be worth it on this flight. I still want a reasonably priced yearly pass once more planes come online.
Speed was 3.62 mb/s down and 0.19 mb/s up.
Jun 17, 2010, 9:29 pm
#8
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Houston (HOU/IAH)
Programs: WN, UA, DL, AA, Chase UR, Amex MR
Posts: 2,269
If it ends up being $5, perhaps WN could offer you the choice of wifi coupons or drink coupons for reaching an award or BS travel? Something like printing a one time use code that you would type in on the opening page?
Jun 21, 2010, 11:24 am
#9
Join Date: Jun 2010
Programs: Amex Platinum; Southwest A-list; BW Diamond; Hilton Gold; CO Silver; Hertz President's circle
Posts: 405
My biggest question is whether there are plans afoot to comp this to A list members.
Per a previous thread, I think Southwest could go a little further to reward their most loyal customers, and because (I assume!) 99% of A-list members are business travellers, this would be a really appealing benefit- and may even entice legacy elites over to the good cause.
it's actually kinda comical that I give a crap about this, as any wifi/food/drink costs I incur are just thrown through my expenses and paid back to me by my company, but I guess it's just a showing goodwill thing.
Cheers,
Paul.
Per a previous thread, I think Southwest could go a little further to reward their most loyal customers, and because (I assume!) 99% of A-list members are business travellers, this would be a really appealing benefit- and may even entice legacy elites over to the good cause.
it's actually kinda comical that I give a crap about this, as any wifi/food/drink costs I incur are just thrown through my expenses and paid back to me by my company, but I guess it's just a showing goodwill thing.
Cheers,
Paul.
Jun 21, 2010, 1:03 pm
#10
Moderator, Southwest Airlines and Choice Privileges
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 3,039
Could someone with onboard WiFi experience have a go at writing something for the FAQ? If you aren't comfortable editing the Wiki itself, post here or send a PM to a moderator. (It would be helpful to at least volunteer publicly so others don't duplicate the effort.)
Jul 10, 2010, 3:34 pm
#12
Join Date: May 2006
Location: TUS/PDX
Programs: WN CP/A-List, AS MVPG75K
Posts: 5,798
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; U; CPU OS 3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/531.21.10 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.4 Mobile/7B367 Safari/531.21.10)
So there are now 6 wifi planes floating around? How many installs are they doing a month?
Originally Posted by curbcrusher
I spotted another non-trial aircraft yesterday at DEN, N455WN.
Jul 10, 2010, 4:56 pm
#13
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: ORD, MDW or MKE
Programs: American and Southwest. Hilton and Marriott hotels primarily.
Posts: 6,463
I think that is in the ballpark with other airlines.
Jul 24, 2010, 10:41 am
#14
Join Date: Apr 2006
Programs: Platinum Ambassador Priority Club, Singapore Silver Elite, Hilton Honors Silver, Continental Silver
Posts: 85
Sorry folks, take your 3 business travelers at 9 bucks or 20 business travelers at 4 bucks. Many airports are free but most business travelers (myself included) have aircards our company pays for so this is not an issue. Again, if they price this correctly, they will have a chance at making it. 3-4 bucks for a 2 hour or less flight and 5 bucks for a 3-4 hour one make sense.
Jul 24, 2010, 4:39 pm
#15
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 465
COnsidering a cocktail is only 5 bucks, I don't see why this could not be used as a BS incentive. With a unique combination on each coupon. It would also stop reprinting coupon fraud, which is running rampant.
Sorry folks, take your 3 business travelers at 9 bucks or 20 business travelers at 4 bucks. Many airports are free but most business travelers (myself included) have aircards our company pays for so this is not an issue. Again, if they price this correctly, they will have a chance at making it. 3-4 bucks for a 2 hour or less flight and 5 bucks for a 3-4 hour one make sense.