Tag: Wifi

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The Coolest Travel Innovation of 2011 Is...

December 29, 2011 at 10:40 AM | by | Comments (0)

It's that time of the year again, the time when the year just plain ends. Alas, we can't just let 2011 go that easily, especially since travelers spent it both up in the air and up in arms over a crazy range of topics, encompassing everything from nudie scans to tarmac delays. Needless to say, we're ready for 2012, but first we're taking a brief look back at the best of 2011 with the Jaunted Travel Awards,—or as we fondly refer to them—The Jauntys.

Think back to 365-ish days ago. What was the hottest travel innovation then? Well, at the time we highlighted in-flight WiFi as the coolest thing, and not too much has changed for 2011. Or rather, everything has changed since now it's not just in-flight WiFi we're loving, but long-haul in-flight WiFi.

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Happy Happy Joy Joy: More In-Flight WiFi for More Airlines

December 15, 2011 at 11:11 AM | by | Comments (0)

Two huge bits of in-flight entertainment news dropped this week. Let's sum 'em up:

· Emirates A380s join the In-Flight WiFi bandwagon

Guess the airline with the largest amount of orders for Airbus A380. It's Emirates. Guess the airline with the largest amount of the superjumbo already flying the skies. Again, it's Emirates. Guess the airline that's already got in-flight WiFi on most those babies. Duh, Emirates. Still, the news that passengers may pay up and log on during A380 Emirates flights came in 2010 with the projected log-in date June 2012. They've arrived at their goal a whole seven months early!

The service is OnAir, the same long-haul WiFi provider for Oman Air, TAM, Singapore and more. Pricing begins at $7.50 and is arranged in service bundles of MB. And yes, even First Class will have to pay.

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Santa's In-Sleigh WiFi is Faster Than Your In-Flight WiFi

December 8, 2011 at 12:35 PM | by | Comment (1)

These days, with so many WiFi-equipped planes criss-crossing the skies, we definitely think twice before booking flights not equipped with it. In-Flight WiFi is just so...integral to keeping our mobile lifestyle moving, but also it's becoming expected. We're happy to report that someone else joins in this thinking—none other than the jolly elf himself, Santa Claus.

Earlier this month, Gogo gave Santa the Christmas gift at the top of his list: an upgrade to the newest ATG-4 onboard internet, including the new media platform to allow Santa to watch movies and TV shows while on those long, transocean crossings on Christmas Eve.

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A Warm and Fuzzy Story Featuring Cookie Cakes and Southwest Airlines

November 28, 2011 at 10:49 AM | by | Comments (0)

Hopefully you’re safely back in town after a weekend of holiday travels, and if you’re lucky you might have even been served a bag of peanuts by one of the best flight attendants around. Apparently she’s been hard at work—and extra friendly—aboard plenty of Southwest Airlines flights, and she’s so nice she even got the airline a customer for life.

On a recent flight, a passenger and his girlfriend were quite impressed with a flight attendant by the name of Holly. It just happened to be a WiFi-enabled flight, so the traveler logged on to Facebook to let Southwest know what a great flight it was. On a whim he suggested that someone meet them at the gate to give Holly a raise, a promotion, or even a burrito from Chipotle. He even agreed to sign a contract pledging to only fly with Southwest Airlines as long as Holly was in charge of passing out the peanuts and serving up smiles.

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So About That In-Flight WiFi Coming to Air China...It's Gogo.

November 21, 2011 at 9:52 AM | by | Comments (0)

We knew that Air China was testing out in-flight WiFi aboard some of its domestic flights, and it sounds like the initial tests must have gone pretty darn well. That’s because even more tests and trials are planned for additional flights through the first part of 2012.

Again, the in-flight WiFi is technically for accessing the airline’s entertainment system, so online holiday shopping high above China isn’t exactly an option just yet. However, we can’t imagine that it’ll remain that way for long, because it's actually our buddies over at Gogo providing the in-flight magic. Just like back at home in the nifty fifty, it’s Gogo that’s responsible for all the wires, transmitters, and other do-dads that makes the system hum along.

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China Gets Its Very First In-Flight WiFi Flights Thanks to Air China

Where: China
November 11, 2011 at 9:50 AM | by | Comments (0)

Alright this might not be as groundbreaking as United’s announcement to finally equip their planes with plenty of WiFi. However, it does have to do with airplanes and in-flight connectivity, so we think it’s a winner.

Air China is testing out their own flavor of in-flight WiFi this week, and that makes it the very first airline in China to do so. It’s even free for all passengers while the airline works to test it out, so that’s definitely a step in the right direction.

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Free WiFi Scheduled to Arrive in London This Week, More to Follow in 2012

November 9, 2011 at 12:48 PM | by | Comments (0)

London is the best when it comes to all kinds of stuff, but the city is unfortunately not too great when it comes to finding free WiFi. It just really hasn’t made the push for large hotspots or other all-encompassing connection options, but that might be changing soon. This is especially good for those visiting from abroad, because those overseas roaming charges—especially for data—can quickly ruin your travel buzz.

It sounds like Nokia and the city are working on a plan to bring hotspots to several popular areas around the city. In total there are plans to bring WiFi to 12 different spots including places like Oxford Street, Sloane Square and beyond. The first installations will be part of a pilot plan, but eventually the goal is to expand elsewhere.

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United and Continental Finally Get Their Act Together for In-Flight WiFi

November 7, 2011 at 9:07 AM | by | Comments (2)


Yes, that's a 787 Dreamliner with WiFi

In-flight tech envy has ended for those who fly United and Continental. Hooray! Just days ago, United announced that more than 300 of its aircraft will be outfitted with in-flight WiFi capabilities, starting rather soon in mid-2012; that's just in time for the summer travel season.

Partnering with Panasonic to make both domestic and international WiFi a reality, United will first connect up their Airbus narrow-body fleet—319s and 320s—eventually finishing on the rest of the Boeing fleet by 2015.

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Amtrak Rolls WiFi onto 12 More East Coast Routes

November 1, 2011 at 10:00 AM | by | Comments (3)

SCORE! With the horrible air travel news from over the weekend, it's time for great news on the train travel front. Amtrak just announced yesterday that they've added WiFi on 12 more east coast routes, bringing the percentage of riders who can access it up to 60%.

The WiFi service is called AmtrakConnect and before now, passengers opting for the train over the plane only found it on the high-speed Acela and the normal-speed Pacific Cascades trains. The new routes are short and limited to the east coast—no New York to Chicago or DC to Chicago routes with WiFi yet—and where available, AmtrakConnect will make use of 4G connections.

And the new routes with on-track WiFi are:

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JetBlue's Very Special Wednesday Departure from Kazakhstan

Where: Kazakhstan
October 17, 2011 at 11:24 AM | by | Comments (0)

The folks over at the JetBlue Blog already stole our plans for a Borat reference, but the airline does have some exciting stuff departing from Kazakhstan this week. If you remember back a few months, it’s actually all part of JetBlue’s $30 million investment to load some in-flight WiFi onboard their entire fleet.

This week the ViaSat-1 satellite is scheduled for blastoff, and if everything goes as planned it’ll be JetBlue's first step towards getting some of the most advanced onboard connectivity to their planes. If the weather remains as expected, the plan is to launch the ViaSat-1 satellite this Wednesday around 2:45pm—east coast time. All the fun will take place from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan—you know—just in case you're, like, in the neighborhood.

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Gogo Totally Kills It With Their First TV Ads for In-Flight WiFi

September 22, 2011 at 2:21 PM | by | Comment (1)

Oh my god. Oh my god. Our little addiction to in-flight WiFi is reaching new heights as Gogo launches national advertising spots.

In short, they're brilliant. We're all about Trav Lehrman and his Zach Galifianakis-in-The Hangover attitude, plus that velour sportcoat/turtleneck combo sure is something. We're also completely blown away by the sheer simple excellence of Gogo's new slogan, "Land on top of things." We're borrowing it as our new mantra. Of course we can't forget to point out that "It's the internet, in the sky" is just as slick. We'd carry a totebag printed with that, for sure.

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TAM Tweaks Their In-Flight WiFi to Include Long-Haul Flights

Where: Brazil
August 4, 2011 at 8:43 AM | by | Comments (0)

It’s been some time since we heard about TAM Airlines and their new in-flight technology, but now is a perfect moment to revisit the topic as they’re beginning to expand their travel tech.

While in-flight WiFi is available on certain short-haul trips, the big news is that TAM is now bringing the magic of in-flight accessibility to some of their long-haul flights as well. They’ll be using OnAir to provide all the behind-the-scenes magic, as they start to equip their Boeing 777s along with Airbus A330s and A350s. In total there should be roughly 80 jets when the mechanics, electricians, and engineers finally hang up their wrenches and wire cutters.

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