Jaunted

Why McCarran International in Vegas Went Free
With a lot of free-spending passengers coming through, we sort of thought it was strange that LAS gave away WiFi. But we always appreciated the service, even going so far as to name the airport one of the best in the country for wireless. So why do they offer passengers free internet? We asked public information administrator Chris Jones:

The decision to offer free wireless internet was made primarily for customer service. Las Vegas is largely a discretionary travel market so we take great pains to make sure people enjoy their time here, lest they choose not to come back on another vacation or business trip.

Given the relative ease and low costs associated with installing the Wi-Fi system, there wasn't a pressing need to make the system pay for itself through paid access. People like the free WiFi, and it lets them arrive or leave with a good impression of our airport. We value such impressions.

We're currently seeing about 4,000 users per day, and there are no plans to eliminate the free service now offered.

LAS was fortunate in that it had a previously installed data network for use at the gates, for ticketing systems and for other airline operations. The airport was then able to install wireless on top of that.

How Long Beach Airport Is Different
At LGB, the free wireless came about a different way. Airport spokeswoman Sharon Diggs-Jackson explains:

The initial installation of the system was part of our city's Hot Spot campaign and the installation was provided free of charge. The Airport has continued to maintain and upgrade the system over the years.

Long Beach also had help from JetBlue and local tech companies, proving that government agencies and the airlines can work together to make airports more comfortable and marketable. It's a lesson that Denver International recently implemented with a switch to free wireless.

What Denver's Doing
Last November, DIA switched its paid access to free, deciding to recoup its lost revenue with an ad-supported connection. Once the number of people logging on increased almost ten-fold, that ad money more than made up for the $8 per person the airport was charging. It also garnered DIA lots of glowing press as an example of how to make the switch from fee to free.

Tricks for When You're Stuck in the Dark Ages
If despite your best efforts, you end up at an airport that still wants to charge you for wireless access, what can you do? There's always the bite-the-bullet approach. We've done it, you've probably done it and honestly, we'll all probably have to do it again sometime. It doesn't feel good to pay $8 to log on, but sometimes you just have to.

Alternatively, you can go the semi-sketchy route and camp out in front of an airline loyalty club, sniffing out a free connection. Wendy Perrin first reported this trick, and we can verify that it does work. The airlines may be able to keep you out of the lounge, but they can't keep their free wireless signals bottled up.

Lastly, we'd tell you to bust out your iPhone. This summer, Boingo is giving away 15 minutes of access at 28 airports in the US, Canada and the UK. It's not much, but hey, it's free!

Related Stories:
· Free Wi-Fi, but Not for All [NYT]
· Web Surfers Makin' Waves [RMN]
· WiFi coverage [Jaunted]
· Hotel WiFi Week 2008 [HC]