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A Warm and Fuzzy Story Featuring Cookie Cakes and Southwest Airlines

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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Row 44 Bringing Even More Content, And This Time It's TV To Your Tray Table

It was just last week when Row 44 was offering to take us out to the ballgame, and now it looks like the in-flight WiFi provider is adding even more content. They definitely have an uphill battle to catch up with Gogo, but we’ve got to give it to them for giving it the old college try.

What they’re planning to do is to offer live Internet Protocol television—that’s IPTV to its friends—at 35,000 feet right to your phone, laptop, or iPad. They’ve signed on channels and companies like FOX News Channel, MSNBC, and BBC World News, so news junkies will definitely be able to get their fix no matter where they are above the earth. For passengers that prefer suits to sweats there will be plenty of the business beat as well, as they’re signing on with CNBC, FOX Business Network, and Bloomberg Television.

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Play Ball! Row 44 to Bring Live Major League Baseball to Southwest Flights

Most of the country is ready for some football, but let’s remember that there’s still plenty of baseball to be played this fall. Southwest Airlines is sticking by America's pastime, and they’re bringing it to some of their planes. Now it’ll only be a matter of time before we’re reading about Yankees and Red Sox fans delaying flights due to in-flight arguments.

Row 44—they’re the ones that bring the in-flight magic to Southwest—has partnered with Major League Baseball to provide live streaming at 35,000 feet. That means live video and audio of the season’s best games right to the comfort of your tray table. We’re just hoping that the playoffs and World Series are an option as well, as we would love some in-flight peanuts and a cold beer along with some WiFi baseball.

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2011 US Airline In-Flight Entertainment Guide

Three cheers for in-flight entertainment! Hip hip, hooray! Hip hip, hooray! Hip hip, hoo...misses the days of crossword puzzle magazines and listening to your CD player on a flight? Not us! And thankfully, not the airlines either as the majority of US carriers engage in a race to see who can have the biggest seatback TVs or the fastest in-flight WiFi.

Like it or not, what the airlines offer can vary greatly, especially where movies or music is involved. Thus, in the interest of helping you to be the coolest and most informed traveler around, we've laid out exactly what to expect when you sit in your seat. Our annual guide (now in its third year) highlights domestic carriers, plus the bonus of Air Canada because they get around the US enough. Enjoy, travel happily, and let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Click Here to see a printable chart of IFE onboard the airlines

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Southwest Will Charge Passengers Only $5 for In-Flight WiFi

Southwest Airlines Media Day: when SWA gathers journalists at its Dallas Love Field HQ to give a sort of "State of the Union" of the airline. It's also a great time for journalists to get an inside look at how the airline operates, and that's what I, Steven Frischling of Flying With Fish, will be bringing to you, direct from Dallas, over the next few days.

Next: Southwest announces the future of their in-flight WiFi.

WiFi in the sky...who doesn't love WiFi in the sky? Apparently Southwest Airlines does, in fact, love WiFi and wants to make connectivity more accessible to passengers with a simplified pricing scheme, one that is attractive to those on a one-hour flight and a downright bargain for those on longer, transcontinental flights.

Southwest's new in-flight WiFi pricing plan is $5, no other catch. It's $5 for your iPhone or your laptop and it's $5 whether you're flying a short way from Houston to Dallas or a long way, such as Providence to Las Vegas. This pricing brings Southwest Airlines' low cost brand personality to another passenger offering, and it's sure to cause quite a stir among other airlines already offering or planning to offer in-flight WiFi (ah hem, attn: Gogo).

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2010 US Airline In-Flight Entertainment Guide

Ten years ago, back when JetBlue launched, In-Flight Entertainment was forever changed. Gone were the days when airline passengers expected screens to drop from the fuselage and play one movie followed by a couple episodes of "Everybody Loves Raymond." Instead, the norm became $99 flights each way between SFO and JFK and on each airplane, leather seats with personal music ports and seat-back TVs showing live satellite television.

Flash forward 10 years and while no airline this side of Virgin America has really been able to come close to JetBlue's LiveTV experience, the IFE gap between Jetblue and the rest of the pack widens, thanks to advances with in-flight wifi. Airlines who've been quick to join the Gogo WiFi party are working to now make internet-connected planes just as accepted and expected by passengers as in-flight TV.

All of this means that, in 2010, the IFE game is changing once again and the race is on to see who can provide the best domestic IFE package. We have packaged up the right now of IFE into a handy guide for you to look at on the web, or take with you.

Click Here to see a printable chart of IFE onboard the airlines

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Alaska Airlines Is Going Whole Hog With In-Flight WiFi From Gogo

It's been a year since Alaska Airlines began testing their in-flight WiFi and we wondered if they would ever just go whole hog and plug in the whole fleet, already. Well, we're happy to say that they've finally decided to do it, but not with Row 44 as they initially planned, but with the most popular provide of in-flight wifi: Gogo.

If you're not familiar with Gogo, you should know that they already have outfitted Virgin America's fleet, AirTran's fleet, and many planes for the likes of American, Delta and United. Although there's no date yet set for the completion of fleet-wide installation for Alaska Airlines, they are already working to install it on the first 737-800.

Hopefully soon we'll all be able to make bad puns from 35,000 feet: "Juneau where I'm flying now?!"

Related Stories:
· Alaska Airlines to Offer Gogo In-Flight Internet Service [Aircell press release]
· Jaunted's 2009 Airline In-Flight WiFi Guide [Jaunted]
· WiFi is Working on Alaska Airlines, But How Much Would You Pay? [Jaunted]
· In-Flight WiFi news [Jaunted]

[Photo: Drewski2112]

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Southwest Wants Their 544 Planes Plugged Into In-Flight WiFi ASAP

For everyone who relies on the cheap fares and consistent service of Southwest Airlines, we've got some great news for you today. According to SWA's official blog "Nuts About Southwest," they have concluded their year-long testing phase, which only had four aircraft (of their 544) flying around with WiFi.

They've just signed the contract with in-flight internet provider Row 44 to begin equipping their entire fleet with the gizmos necessary to get us passengers connected at 35,000 feet. Installations will begin in the second quarter of this year, beginning at the pace of 15 aircraft per month and hopefully quickly ramping up the pace to 25 per month.

After the jump...yea, but how much will it cost to use?

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In-Flight WiFi Meets SkyMall With New 'SkyTown Center' Service

It was only a matter of time before in-flight WiFi was used for evil. Well, not exactly, but we aren’t totally thrilled that we might be subjected to some hardcore in-flight advertising while we are trying to get some work done. There’s a new service called SkyTown Center and it’s sort of like an online version of the SkyMall catalog. Sure it will bring free WiFi to many passengers, but it will also bring loads of advertisements and access to websites only related to buying stuff.

Thankfully entertainment will also be built into the online shopping service so that passengers will be able to watch some TV, play some games, and read about where they are going. All this will be free, and probably filled with ads, but navigating away to check your email will cost you a little bit. Anything to keep people entertained—and hopefully quiet—in the cabin is a good idea.

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The FCC Is Cool With Row 44's In-Flight WiFi Satellite System

Most of our in-flight WiFi coverage has been focused on Aircell and their Gogo Internet service. However, there is another kid on the block, and Row 44 has been trying their best to gain some market share.

It's too bad Row 44 has had a slower start than their competition; after all, they have been teasing us with their goods for some time. At least they have partners like Alaska Airlines and Southwest, so they definitely have attracted some big business.

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WiFi Is Working on Alaska Airlines But How Much Would You Pay?

While we have no idea what the heck is up with Air Canada's WiFi, we do know that Alaska Airline's internet service is real and it is mostly spectacular. Harriet Baskas, who writes Stuck at the Airport tipped us off to her in-flight WiFi experience yesterday as she rode Alaska Airlines from Seattle to Orange County and back.

The first day online (courtesy of Row 44) wasn't worthy of any Branson-style celebrations and in fact, the only way passengers knew that the service was on the plane was by noticing the big WiFi decal plane by the door or if they read the card in the seatback pocket. However, those who used it seemed to like it very much:

Once folks did discover the service - which is complimentary during the test period - they used it, talked about it to their seatmates and across the aisles and, of course, sent e-mail messages: “Guess where I’m writing from.”

The service was a bit sluggish on the return trip, which got folks talking even more, but generally once travelers got connected, they seemed delighted to have this new amenity as an in-flight option.

Stuck at the Airport then wrote that the airline is asking travelers to fill out a survey with an important question being: "How much would you pay for this service?" Ah, a loaded question indeed.

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Remember, Alaska Airlines Kicks Off Its WiFi Service Today

It’s only a matter of time before we’ll look back on the year that was, and realize that 2009 was the year of in-flight WiFi. We’ll start taking it for granted, complain that it’s too slow, and demand it on all flights. However, for now, we’ll take what we can get, but we’re getting one step closer today when Alaska Airlines starts their first WiFi flight.

If your traveling from Seattle down to San Jose today, then you’ll have a shot to test out the latest offering from Row 44. The WiFi service will be launched on Boeing 737-700 planes, so we’re thinking that it’s lucky Flight 328 that leaves Seattle at 2:20 PM, PT. As long as there’s no equipment swap, that’s the only flight between the two cities that will use that type of plane.

The service will be free for the first two months while they work out all the bugs, so if you’re on board there’s no reason not to check it out. Most importantly, if you are able to experience it first hand, you have to tell us. You can send a tweet, send a tip, or just throw a comment below. You’ll be our hero—at least for this week.

Related Stories:
·Alaska Airlines Offer In-Flight Wi-Fi [Coolest Gadgets]
·Alaska Air Starts WiFi Trials, Gives It Away For Free [Jaunted]
·Alaska Airlines coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Drewski2112]