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Airlines With the Best In-Flight Wi-Fi (latimes.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the always-connected dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Los Angeles Times: In the heated competition between airlines in the U.S., JetBlue Airways offers an extra perk that is pretty alluring to most travelers: Free, high-speed wireless internet. For that reason, an internet comparison site named JetBlue as the top domestic airline for overall WiFi service, followed by rivals Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Virgin America. The ranking by Highspeedinternet.com considered not only the speed of the connection but the cost and the availability on every plane. JetBlue won the top spot because the New York-based carrier offers free WiFi with speeds of 15 megabits per second on 78% of its fleet, according to the ranking. Southwest Airlines ranked second because it offers WiFi at speeds of up to 10 Mbps for $8 per flight on 90% of its fleet.

If you want to be assured to have WiFi on your next flight, Virgin America is the only domestic carrier that offers internet connections on 100% of its fleet, for a price of up to $25, depending on the length of the flight. Virgin America's WiFi speed is 15 Mbps, which is considered fast enough to stream movies and television shows. Don't care about connecting to the internet? Frontier, Hawaiian and Spirit Airways are the only three major U.S. carriers that offer no onboard WiFi at all, according to the ranking.

30 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Alluring? by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    That the damn kid hitting the back of my seat can can do hour-long Skype/Whatsapp yelling sessions with his friends, while his dad is busy watching porn and mom pinteresting, 'alluring' doesn't quite describe it for me.

    I'd prefer free Ketamine, if not for them, then for me, PLEASE!

    If horses can endure castration with it, then it must be good for a flight in economy as well.
    And as a bonus you get memory loss of the flight.

    1. Re: Alluring? by Malc · · Score: 1

      It seems to me that a lot of parents these days spend all their time faffing on their phones and have no idea what their kids are doing right under their noses, let alone finding the time to teach them to be considerate of others around them in a confined public space. Iâ(TM)m with the OP on this: phone and data service on planes is a freakinâ(TM) bad idea. We could learn a lot from the Japanese, where for instance itâ(TM)s considered socially unacceptable to talk loudly on your phone on the Tokyo subway.

  2. Quality Story... [me checks address bar] by SeaFox · · Score: 2

    Ah, I'm still on Slashdot. Thought I'd gotten shuffled over to Buzzfeed for a bit there.

  3. read a book by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

    the dead-tree kind. or just kick back, look out the window and daydream. we don't need to be part of the Borg 24/7/365.

    1. Re:read a book by tepples · · Score: 1

      Good luck fitting many dead-tree books into your carry-on weight allowance. And it can become expensive to acquire dead-tree versions of public domain or purchased ebooks if you're traveling for more than two weeks, as you will lack opportunity to return to your local public library in time to return a borrowed book.

    2. Re:read a book by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      loan period is generally 3 weeks with two renews. total 9 weeks.

      as far as fitting books, I'm usually that guy who "cheats" with the laptop bag. no problem with TSA so far as long as I take the actual laptop out.

    3. Re:read a book by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      I bring dozens of books on my flights, and hundreds of albums. Kindle software on my Note 5, combined with Tidal offline playing, and I'm totally set for my monthly trans-Pacific flights, and weekly excursions to San Francisco, Minneapolis, or Boston.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  4. Any airline from Canada? by bogaboga · · Score: 1

    Do our neighbors to the north (read Canadians), have anything comparable?

    I doubt!!

    1. Re:Any airline from Canada? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      Air Canada has WiFi, yes.

  5. \o/ by easyTree · · Score: 1

    Frontier, Hawaiian and Spirit Airways are the only three major U.S. carriers that offer no onboard WiFi at all, according to the ranking.

    There you have it folks, if you don't want to be cooked, fly with Frontier, Hawaiian and Spirit Airways.

    Nice ad.

    --
    Requiem for the American Dream
  6. Hooked? by petes_PoV · · Score: 4, Insightful

    for a price of up to $25

    Unless your company is paying, I would have to say that spending that amount simply to have a few hours of internet looks more like a personality problem than a "must have".

    If you can't go that length of time without an internet fix, there is something seriously wrong.

    Personally I would give up ALL in-flight internet for an extra inch of leg room.

    --
    politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
    1. Re:Hooked? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      do they still have the lower rate for phones, which you can get on any device by changing the useragent parameter?

    2. Re:Hooked? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      I rather read a book and get some red wine.
      Everyone I know, knows I'm in a plane, and even with WiFi most likely have internet only sporadicly at best ...

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    3. Re:Hooked? by demonlapin · · Score: 1

      It's usually on a corporate account if you're paying per flight. If you're flying three or four times a month, though, it might be worth it on your own dime to stay connected to business. If you're flying three or four times a week, it's a no-brainer.

    4. Re:Hooked? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Personally I would give up ALL in-flight internet for an extra inch of leg room.

      Well fortunately most airlines let you buy that, often for far less than $25

  7. BS Article by jittles · · Score: 1

    I know for a fact that United has WiFi on 100% of its domestic and international flights, so I don't see how Virgin could possibly the only airline to offer that domestically. Now, unfortunately, United uses satellite internet, which can be a bit slow. It's also pretty expensive. But, for instance, if you fly from the US to China, you have internet from basically wheels up (10,000 ft) until you hit Chinese airspace. And that's only because the Chinese do not allow them to offer inflight WiFi over their airspace. As far as I know, their WiFi coverage spans the entire northern hemisphere. I haven't traveled to the Southern Hemisphere on United, however.

  8. Where Are We? by tquasar · · Score: 1

    My son used FlightAware to track our plane, I tracked a few drinks knowing where we were going and the rental car and hotel bills were already paid. Texas is a good place to visit. See the Alamo, shop at San Antonio Riverwalk.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  9. How does it works? by ELCouz · · Score: 1

    Just curious...how does a plane have access to a fast broadband connection? Let say 15 mbps per user on a Boeing 747 (366 capacity) yield over 5.5 gigabit wireless link!

    1. Re:How does it works? by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

      And what about a building of 300 persons? This is sharing, not everybody is using Internet at max speed at the exact same time t.

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    2. Re:How does it works? by ELCouz · · Score: 1

      If they allow netflix streaming this can saturate fast... I don't think they have netflix server on the planes.

      Now do they guarantee 15 mbps to each person who paid 25$ for the wifi?

      My question was what kind of link can keep on many users...what are the options at a 10 000 feet in the air?

    3. Re:How does it works? by bferrell · · Score: 1

      The have a.) compression and b.) handed off links ground side and or satellite. Both routes are asymmetric.... Decent in, cruddy out.

  10. Re:wifi and flying with a dog next to you by aaarrrgggh · · Score: 2

    Sure... can we also get guaranteed flights WITH dogs next to us?

  11. âoeFreeâ - you keep saying that word... by mattwarden · · Score: 1

    Second article today where slashdot ignorantly refers to something as free when itâ(TM)s just bundled into the price you are paying. Stop it.

  12. Re:JetBlue really is #1 by thePsychologist · · Score: 1

    It's not actually free if you're paying for the airline ticket. So you should still shop around for prices and what's important to you. However, included in this evaluation should be the convenience of not having to micropay for ten minutes of wifi.

    --
    "What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson
  13. Re:JetBlue really is #1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I think JB is cheaper than the legacy carriers by quite a bit.

  14. What's weird... by bferrell · · Score: 1

    They all use the same vendor and equipment!

    1. Re: What's weird... by Tiek00n · · Score: 1

      There are a few providers: GoGo - Delta, American, United P.S. routes, Alaska, most Virgin America Row44 / Global Eagle - Southwest Panasonic - most international ones, half of United Viasat - JetBlue, half of United, some Virgin America Some service vendors use the same hardware and spectrum suppliers, some don't.

  15. BAD Wifi by Khyber · · Score: 1

    My recent vacation I took SouthWest. Their shit tried to usurp my browser almost instantly and all I was doing was checking the flight status.

    The security on their wi-fi is incredibly weak. Don't trust their wi-fi.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  16. Re:hypocrite by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    Hey, someone has to make all the stuff that people love to buy...

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  17. Re:wifi and flying with a dog next to you by mapkinase · · Score: 1

    Humans are not animals. Treating humans as animals is one of the most inhumane practices through history. When one ethnic group was oppressing another, that other group is often compared to animals.

    Humans have a right not to be treated as animals, that is: transported separate from animals, live separate from animals, eat separate from animals.

    --
    I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.