Airline Guide: Free or Cheap In-Flight WiFi
For some of us, myself included, a flight without WiFi is pretty much a tragedy. Yes, I realize that’s a very millennial thing to say but for some reason I’m really productive on flights, so a flight without WiFi is a wasted opportunity. I was also recently stuck on a 16 hour with no internet and it was a horror. Prices for WiFi can be outrageous if you don’t have some type of discount or pass. Especially if you’re flying multiple segments because without a day pass you’re often paying per flight. So here’s a list of options to help save you money. I’m sure I’ve missed a few so if you see any left out leave a comment.
Credit Cards Offering In-Flight WiFi Benefits
- Amex Business Platinum: Gives you 10 GoGo in flight passes
- US Bank FlexPerks Visa Signature: 12 one-time passes per calendar year
- Discover It Miles: $30 Rebate for In-Flight WiFi purchases
- American Airlines AAdvantage Credit Cards: 25% discount for in-flight WiFi purchases
Buy WiFi Passes with Miles or Purchase Day Before
Certain airlines will allow you to purchase Wifi with miles. I don’t have a list for you but I know Iberia and United offer this option. I’m not sure I recommend using miles for WiFi unless you have a ton of miles or you’re unlikely to make use of some stranded points because the redemption value is probably unfavorable.
You can also save a significant amount on your Wifi passes by buying them the day before you travel.
Airlines with Free Wifi
Of course your best bet is to have free WiFi in the first place. This is probably why I’m most partial to JetBlue for my domestic travels. They offer free WiFi and live tv on pretty much every flight. Pro Tip: Fly Sundays during football season, I swear you won’t even realize you’re stuck on a plane.
- Jetblue
- Qantas
- Vueling
- Norwegian
- Turkish
- SAS, Finnair, Emirates and Aer Lingus offer free wifi for premium cabin classes
- Soon to be Delta!!!
Consider T-Mobile
T-Mobile subscribers get one free hour of in-flight WiFi on GoGo serviced flights. That’s a pretty nice perk for anyone who flies regularly.
Conclusion
We are definitely moving toward greater connectivity and less costly (if not free) options. For now, these are the best ways I could come up with to save money, albeit a small price to pay to keep myself occupied. Heaven forbid I pick up a book.
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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Note on T-Mobile: to get the free hour of wifi to work, you have to call any person from your contacts on a wifi call first for it to work (before you depart). It sucks to find that out mid-flight, but you do get free texting all flight with T-Mobile.
Wow… great tip thank you! How’d you figure that out btw?
I used JetBlue during the summer, and I found the free wifi was so slow that it was worthless.
TMo texting is free all flight long.
Us bank altitude reserve also has 12 free annual passes.