Are you a baby boomer traveler who likes to stay plugged-in? Now you can access the internet from your seat on the plane with Gogo Inflight Internet.
I first learned about Gogo Inflight Internet when I received a card for a free session while attending Travel Blog Exchange in Chicago last summer. At the time, my return flight on Southwest didn’t offer the Gogo service, so I saved my free internet for a Delta flight I had scheduled for December.
Once the plane was above 10,000 ft., I logged onto the internet where a page immediately directed me to Gogo. Using an account that I had created before leaving home, I entered the code from the complementary Gogo card. Soon, I was humming along the internet. The signal remained strong and speedy throughout the flight. I appreciated being able to work on My Itchy Travel Feet, answer emails, even twitter about the experience. For paying customers, the fee schedule varies depending on length of your flight. The internet price for my 3+ hour flight was $12.95.
The only downside to this inflight internet experience was the narrow seating space on Delta, which made it hard to open my Mac laptop. Luckily, the woman passenger in front of me barely reclined her seat. Of course, I could have connected through my ITouch, which would have been fine if all I wanted to do was read email or browse the internet. This baby boomer finds it hard to actually write with the smaller devices. That reminds me, passengers with smart phones can use Gogo to access the internet too, although voice service is not supported.
Will I pay to use Gogo Inflight Internet on my next flight? Yes, if the service is available. But first I’ll search on Google to make sure there aren’t any codes for free Gogo Inflight Internet being offered. On my flight, Delta was offering a free session to first time users. Also, I’m not sure that using the service on a flight that’s 1.5 hours or less is worth it. By the time the plane ascends to 10,000 ft. and then begins a descent from 10,000 ft., you’re down to about 45 minutes of internet time. Is 45 minutes of internet at $4.95 worth it? You be the judge.
With this week’s new stringent TSA security guidelines, we’ll have to see what happens to internet access on planes. Since internet is only offered on domestic flights, let’s hope we’ll still be clicking away in 2010.
Have you used Gogo Inflight Internet on a plane? What did you think? Post a comment to let me know.
Disclosure: This travel experience was provided by Gogo Inflight Internet.
