Tag: Wifi

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In-Flight WiFi Will Be Just One More Fee on Ryanair

May 17, 2013 at 11:12 AM | by | Comments (0)

One of the world’s best airlines (when comes to ancillary revenue) is getting ready to add another option for you to tack onto your flight total. Fair warning that this is still very much speculation, but Ryanair just might be flipping the switch on in-flight WiFi sooner rather than later.

There’s no decision yet, and they’re still working behind the scenes to determine what company would even provide the in-flight magic. It does sound like LiveTV is just one of the groups in the running for the contract. Apparently, Ryanair isn't exactly sold on the idea as they don’t know if the installation costs will be totally worth it in the long run.

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Etihad Elevates New York Service With Bigger Planes And In-Flight Wi-Fly

May 10, 2013 at 10:31 AM | by | Comments (0)

Here's some good news for Middle East-bound New Yorkers this summer: Etihad just upgraded one of its most popular routes, the 14-hour flight between New York and Abu Dhabi. The airline announced on Monday that it will increase capacity for the daily service by upgrading to a WiFi-enabled Boeing 777-300ER, the largest aircraft in its fleet.

The changes will go into effect on June 1, so, East Coasters, you've still got a little time to plan your Arabian Nights adventure. And hey, even if you haven't finished planning your trip on the day of your flight, you can continue planning it while you're in the air, surfing the web, making hotel reservations, and whatever else you need to get done.

The new aircraft will offer 328 seats (a 36.6% increase from the planes currently being used for the route), and represents a growing focus on one of Etihad's most successful daily service routes. The New York route has been around since 2006, and since then, they have shuttled over 800,000 passengers between the Middle Eastern and North American hubs. Etihad's CEO made clear that the US routes are ones in which they "see a need for more capacity."

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Will You Pay $5 to Watch a Movie on Your Own iPad? Southwest Hopes So.

February 27, 2013 at 10:46 AM | by | Comments (0)

Southwest Airlines hasn’t exactly been at the forefront of in-air technology, but slowly but surely they’ve been adding to their in-flight WiFi abilities. In-flight connectivity won’t be available on each and every one of your Southwest flights just yet, but they are boosting some of their offerings in hopes of keep passengers entertained at 35,000-feet.

The airline’s video-on-demand service just finishing rolling out to each and every one of the tech-enabled planes, so now you’re free to check out this and that from the comfort of your seat. It’s $5 per movie or $5 for television, and it sounds like that rate is the price regardless of whether or not you’re signing up for the full WiFi. Obviously you’ll need your own device, so please don’t ask the flight attendants where you can get an iPad with the TV on it like the guy seated in 18A.

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Aeroflot Preps to Flip the Switch on In-Flight WiFi

February 6, 2013 at 11:38 AM | by | Comments (0)

There’s a little bit of an arms race going on in the former Soviet Union, as the country’s carriers are going all in when it comes to in-flight WiFi. Last year Transaero flipped the switch on some up in the air connectivity, and now it sounds like another carrier from Russia is getting in on the in-flight fun.

If all goes according to plan Aeroflot will be wiring the necessary bits and pieces right into their planes, as they look to get the in-flight WiFi up and running on plenty of planes before the end of the year. In total there will be like 26 planes getting the new technology, as it appears the airline will be initially focusing on some of their long-haul aircraft. Airbus A330s are up first, and then some Boeing 777s will get into the mix as well.

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The Evolution of Cruise Ships, from 1975 to 2013: Technology

February 1, 2013 at 11:17 AM | by | Comment (1)

Imagine a cruise. Now picture yourself on that cruise. Are you playing shuffleboard and gobbling rum cakes? God, let's hope not. Over the next several days, we're going to dig back into the era responsible for creating these cruise stereotypes—the fun-in-the-sun 1970s, when ocean liners turned into cruise ships and voyages into vacations. In sharp contrast, we'll look at cruising 2013-style onboard the newest ship on the seas, the Celebrity Reflection.

The Cruising 1975 vs. 2013 Series:

1. Activities
2. Technology
3. Dining and drinking
4. Cabins and suites
5. The ships themselves

There were no cell phones in 1975, or personal computers. Of course this is huge "duh" fact, but let that sink in for a moment when you think of the hundreds of passengers onboard a cruise ship and their near complete break with communication when they stepped onboard. Sure, there were in-room radios and ship-to-shore calling, if you wanted to pay the per-minute price, but nothing like the connectivity they now offer.

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Why You'll Want to Stream While Scooting at 35,000'

Where: Singapore
January 30, 2013 at 10:28 AM | by | Comments (0)

Our winner of the 2012 best travel newcomer award has just given us even more reason to love them. This week, newish Singapore-based budget airline Scoot introduced their in-flight streaming of entertainment to passenger gadgets.

If you can remember back when we flew them, we noted how great it was to be handed an iPad loaded up with TV shows, movies and games to keep us entertained on our medium-haul flight. Now, if you are one of those travelers who wouldn't even think about traveling without your iPad or Android tablet, you can get the hours of in-flight entertainment streamed directly to that device.

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The Deal with United and Their Long Haul WiFi Options

January 18, 2013 at 9:09 AM | by | Comments (0)

In-flight WiFi is no longer the latest and greatest in airplane technology, but we still get a kick out of logging on and doing our thing miles above the earth. For some time the WiFi was limited, as it was only possible over larger landmasses due to the fact you needed antennas on the ground to beam the signal around. Thankfully satellite technology has now arrived as well, and United has started to give it a try aboard some of their international flights.

Earlier this week they launched their very first plane with the long-haul WiFi option, but it sounds like they’ve got more planned for sooner rather than later. For now it’s available on just one Boeing 747, but eventually they’ll get stuff installed, switched on, and available in like 300 of their airplanes. The goal is to have things ready to go by the end of 2013, so they’ve still got plenty of time.

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Plan for Better Airport WiFi, Thanks to the FCC

January 16, 2013 at 11:15 AM | by | Comment (1)

It seems that government agencies have been pretty busy this year, and we’re not talking about the boys and girls bickering with one another in Congress. Both the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Aviation Administration have been throwing in their two cents regarding the state of WiFi and electronic doodads up in the air, and now it looks like the FCC is moving their attention back towards the ground.

We’ve all experienced our WiFi access slowing to a crawl. We understand that we all can’t be watching cat videos simultaneously on YouTube, but when even our email is slow to load that’s a problem.

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In-Flight WiFi Could Be Free-Flowing Faster if the FCC Has Their Way

January 3, 2013 at 9:32 AM | by | Comments (0)

It might be a little early to predict—it’s only the third day of 2013—but we’re expecting in-flight WiFi to come on even stronger than ever this year. We’ve already heard rumblings about Uncle Sam and his various agencies debating the merits of turning electronics off—or leaving them on—during flight, and now it looks like the Federal Communications Commission is chiming in once again.

We’ve always kind of assumed that getting WiFi up in the air was a big pain in the overhead bin. Not the technology portion necessarily—although we’re sure that’s kind of tricky—but more so the paperwork and approval process. Well, the FCC is anxious to help move in-flight WiFi roll-out full speed ahead, as they’ve streamlined the process—efficiencies, synergies, and what not—to make it all a little bit easier on the airlines.

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We Haz a Sad: Qantas Unplugs Their In-Flight WiFi

Where: Australia
December 4, 2012 at 12:49 PM | by | Comments (2)

Booo. Some not so great news today from our pals down under, Australian Business Traveller...

While many airlines are scrambling to outfit their planes with WiFi, it comes with great sadness that we announce an airline that has stopped providing their passengers with the luxury to surf the web while surfing the clouds. After about 9 months, Qantas has deemed their trial of WiFi a failure and will not be offering on their flights between Australia and the US.

The Red Roo sited low utilization issues for axing the web browsing on their A380s to and from Sydney and Melbourne. The most interesting point of the story is the fact that they pulled the plug on the trail with very little notification to the public (unlike the launch) and just this week released a statement.

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Infographic Alert: Onwards and Upwards, American Airlines

November 27, 2012 at 12:33 PM | by | Comments (0)

Even though 2012 isn't quite over, we might all agree that it hasn't exactly been a banner year for American Airlines, with the bankruptcy and those seats that didn't like to stay bolted in. Come the calendar turn to 2013, they are ready to make sure everyone knows the last year is behind them and they've got an infographic to prove it.

From new and refurbished planes to improved cabin experience and in-flight WiFi, this infographic has a lot to say and it actually does its job of making us excited to try out all the new bells and whistles in the coming years.

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Rental Cars as WiFi Hotspots. It's Happening in Italy.

Where: Italy
November 26, 2012 at 10:16 AM | by | Comments (0)

Italy has a lot of good stuff we don’t have here at home, but the thing we’re missing most here—besides an abundance of gelato—is WiFi in our rental cars.

All the car connection magic comes from the folks over at Hertz and their rental car empire. It’s called Hertz Mobile WiFi, and it’s a little pocket-sized thing that’s offered up to rental car customers in collaboration with Wind Mobile. Basically it sounds like a mobile hotspot that goes right in your car and gives you all-the-time access to the internet no matter how many wrong turns you take or exits you miss.

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