An In-Flight Internet Virgin Talks About Her First Time

January 13, 2009 at 12:00 PM | by shiralevine | Comments (0)

Shira Levine just gave Gogo wireless a spin and has this first-hand account of what her first time was like.

A few years ago, I accidentally left my cell phone on during a flight and nothing happened. Once I realized that my little phone wouldn't bring the plane down if it was turned on, I became a bit cavalier with shutting it off. I'm even guilty of leaving the phone on to see at what point in the air it gets service. (Occasionally bars appear in the air, but it only works minutes before the plane lands.)

So last Friday, while working on my laptop on an American Airlines flight from LAX to NYC, I discovered the most magical thing ever. Not only will your phone not crash a plane, surfing the internet in mid-air won't either!

The $12.95 connection was strong. So strong that as soon as I discovered such a technological achievement truly existed, I signed onto Google Chat and changed my away message to read: Shira is on the internet while flying! wow, technology.

American Airlines started offering Gogo back in August, and it's now available on flights between NYC and SFO, NYC and LAX and NYC and MIA. Virgin America launched Gogo back in November, and its WiFi enabled planes can be tracked in real-time via Google Maps. Delta went Gogo on December 15, 2008. Air Canada is also scheduled to start making the service available.

Just how many people are using it, though, is still fuzzy. I emailed Aircell, which runs Gogo, to ask about how popular in-flight really is. Gerald Kimber White, a PR rep for the company, told me "At this point, we are not able to publicly release our usage statistics (they are proprietary to the airlines) but I can say that usage of the Gogo in-flight internet service has exceeded our expectations."

At certain seats you'll find power outlets, so you can charge the battery of your laptop, iPod and, yes, even your cell phone. (Check which seats have outlets on SeatGuru.) A warning: You need one of those car/cigarette lighter cords to get the juices flowing.

Jaunted

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