nova08

I like the addition of AC outlets. Though if you are not in F and have a regular size laptop good luck trying to fit it on your seat back tray, let alone if the person reclines.

I really like the concept of the wifi and streaming content but as many have suggested the market for people to pay for these things has to be incredibly low, I know I won't pay. Will you have to pay for the wifi and then an additional charge for the content? I'm not going to pay ~$7 for so-so internet for 2-3 hours and then have to probably pay $5 for a movie.

At least DTV is free in F, wifi is not and I doubt any of the streaming content will be either.

IADDCA

Is liveatc.net an option?

FlyWorld

Does not exist. You haven't figured that out on your own?

I've never heard of such a thing, streaming WIFI video on a plane.

So, when do we get plugs? Is it one per seat?

Have you ever noticed how fast a battery is drained by using WIFI and watching a movie?

That is simply impractical unless the device is plugged in.

And, by the way, I thought WIFI was dangerous and would cause a plane crash? That's why they have lectured us for the last decade that we must turn off WIFI.

Now, all of a sudden, they've found a way to monetize it, so therefore it's become safe since they can make money off it?

As for the screens, they do turn them on, all the time, and the screaming advertising and other b.s. before the safety video is intolerable and they turn it back on in between each segment of screaming advertising before the safety video, which can be a long time.

And, I am bothered by the constant messaging that enters my peripheral vision from 20-30 other screens in my area. I hate it.

I've never once been bothered by the TV screens. They are out of my field of vision b/c I just don't look up, and as you say, they play content, not advertising.

CO has no class whatsoever. They're such money-grubbing cheapskates that they can't allow even a molecule of oxygen to be left in peace. Every fraction of every second, every single molecule of space on the flight, must be 100% devoted to selling, selling, selling, selling.

There's never enough money for them. Never enough. No matter what they get, they want more.

Can't they just let us sit down in peace and enjoy the flight in solitude? Is it so important that 1 in 100,000 flyers buys whatever junk they are peddling like snake oil salesmen on a 2am TV infomercial so they can irritate 100,000 people for 6 hours just to make 2 cents?

Is it ever enough?

So now there's nothing. We can either take a CR7 or a 737 or a Conified Airbus that's been converted into a new type of torture chamber.

And, the race to the bottom continues. They are determined to find the bottom. One way or another, they'll get there.

Exactly. I could not even envision it.

Amen! How much nicer would it be if everyone on the aircraft just opened a book? And that was it. But, $mi$ek can't make more money from your butt in that seat reading a book. If there's not enough in it for him, he's got to get more.

I think this new stupid plan is brilliant, exactly for that reason. It's a non-event. Nobody's gonna do it. Then we get peace. At most, we'll see 2-3 people on the entire flight pay for the streaming content, and then their devices will be drained within a couple hours. And, who knows when the electricity will show up.

Absolutely, I've had no luck using my laptop on the LH flights with Recaro.

Is it more or less pitch? I thought we have less?

I also do that with the literature on all flights.

tashi

Why dont you guys add the GPS/MAP option to your screens in your single aisle products? Some of us want to know where we are flying and want to know speed/altitude/ETA/OAT etc. I love the Air Canada product that has complimentary programming and Mapping built in.

FlyWorld

Because nobody would pay for it.

BTW: On NH, they have a camera on the bottom of the aircraft and there's an option to watch, live, the view from that camera. It's fun to watch the clouds, the terrain, and watching the landing is really cool.

But, NH is an airline that doesn't have to monetize every last thing. They're willing to spend a little money to do something that provides enjoyment.

bse118

Except that's not the position I'm taking. The position I'm taking is that if UA is moving to for-pay IFE domestically (which all evidence says it is) then:

This: "charge for wi-fi and provide some content to those that have a tablet and wish to pay $6.99"

is for me, in terms of cabin environment, preferable to:

"screen in the seatback that the uninitiated don't explicitly know how to turn off that you have to pay to get content or watch an ad loop"

because this:

Isn't likely to happen.


In the end I don't care what's best for the folks that fly once or twice and a year, and don't know to bring their own IFE. I care what's best for my own personal flying comfort. Which brings me back to this:

tashi

There are 3 cameras on the Emirates A380s and 2 on the rest of their fleet.

However while pmCO had DirectTV come in and install that worthless system, they could have added the Mapping option as well so if you are not paying for DTV you could watch the flight details.

edcho

It is -- but you have to pay for WiFi. Not only that, you can't hear it at the (IMO) most exciting parts -- when we are taking off or landing -- since we can't use the WiFi.

FlyWorld

Yes. They could have. It's it telling about their culture that, instead, they have a "default on" and "constant turning back on" that leads to an endless loop of screaming advertisements that never stop?

What does this tell us about how they view the world?

Duke787

Is United using Gogo or offering it "in-house" with their own payment plan? GoGo has some decently priced monthly passes aimed at FF that are reasonable for someone making multiple trips a month.

FWAAA

UA is not adding an additional inch of seat pitch; UA is taking away an inch of seat pitch.

Seat pitch is the distance between between rows of seats. For instance, measure the distance between a floor mounting bolt on your seat and the same bolt on the seat ahead or behind yours. That distance is seat pitch, and UA is removing one inch so that an additional row can be jammed in (just like Southwest).

The personal space alchemy touted by the airlines is that by making each seat an inch and a quarter thinner than before, we won't notice the reduced pitch and we'll have the same legroom as before.

It can be annoying, but the good news is that the eyeshades from premium cabin amenity kits are lightweight, easy to carry and block out that unwanted light when I want to sleep. I keep a couple of those eyeshades in my personal item at all times for just those times. That's an easily remedied annoyance.

edcho

"in-house" except for PS flights.

nova08

Certainly an option but until 75%+ of the airbus fleet is outfitted don't think I'll go for it simply because I may only end up with 1-2 wifi equiped flts a month.

mgcsinc

They're not using gogo.

FlyWorld

There are two relevant factors:

Seat Pitch

Seat Recline Angle

Why is it that nobody ever talks about the angle at which a seat can recline?

This topic is never mentioned. It's not even included in SeatGuru or similar sites.

Everyone talks about seat pitch as though it's the total story.

Recline angle is important in two ways:

1. The more recline, the more comfort for the passenger, and

2. The more recline, the less space for the other passenger to use a laptop and the less effective space from seat to their face and/or knees

I've never understood why every conversation about aircraft configuration talks only about pitch and not recline angle.