 Viggen93Premium,VIP
join:2002-04-16
Hamilton, ON | In-flight highspeed, yes please... I saw this a few months ago, and even read a post on another board from a user who was on the first Lufthansa flight with broadband, and he booked the flight specifically. Anyone want to check out the service, go to the Boeing site here and read up on it.
As far as how many people have laptops on a flight, I was surprised to see "economy" passengers forgo the pleasure of the wonderful in-flight movie (ughhhh, The Royal Tanenbaums) on a recent Toronto-London, Heathrow flight, a few even had the new iBooks (Apple hardware is not cheap, either made or to purchase) so I thing it may take off (no pun intended). It seemed to be a reasonable price (I seem to remember $30-$40 per flight) so maybe on an 8+ hour flight, I'd have me some of that action but otherwise, a short internal flight would have to be priced lower or I wouldn't use it.
My only question is, why is it okay to use an 802.11b compliant wireless card and not a cellphone? I figure the strength of the Tx/Rx hardware and range won't affect the avionics like a cellphone, just my thoughts.
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Isn't air travel wonderful? Breakfast in London, dinner in New York,luggage in Brazil. |
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 RoundelBlau Und WeissPremium
join:2002-03-24
Westport, CT | Hmm, $30 to $40, thats pretty expensive, was that Canadian? Really, that is one months broadband for people, I would buy the service as long as it wasnt more than $20.
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You can still call me Volks |
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Viggen93Premium,VIP
join:2002-04-16
Hamilton, ON | reply to Viggen93
I "think" that was the price quoted (dunno if it was Canadian or not. Lets consider, you use one of those phones in the seat back and it's $12 (Canadian) a minute from international airspace, so there has to be quite a hit on the airline for data transmission, on a long-haul flight, I'd jump on the chance to do some surfing, beats the consistantly crap movies they have.
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Isn't air travel wonderful? Breakfast in London, dinner in New York,luggage in Brazil. |
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RoundelBlau Und WeissPremium
join:2002-03-24
Westport, CT | reply to Viggen93
I would do it too, considering if the price was reasonable enough
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You can still call me Volks |
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| reply to Roundel
Also keep in mind that people pay for convenience. Alot of flights could be foregone by driving, however, it's not as convenient. You could milk your own cow, but it's easier to grab a gallon at the store.
I think it should be rolled out for business class as a mainstay, perhaps first class. It could always be worked into the standard fare for these classes. Chances are not everyone would use it, so it would even out amongst the total flights/customers. I can't really see wasting money on making it accessible to the "coach" section. I guess if it were available to the whole plane, then a surcharge would be best. |
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Viggen93Premium,VIP
join:2002-04-16
Hamilton, ON | From the Boeing website, it's actually a wireless network connection with some seats having an Ethernet connection, so it's just a series of hot spots throughout the cabin.
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Isn't air travel wonderful? Breakfast in London, dinner in New York,luggage in Brazil. |
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RoundelBlau Und WeissPremium
join:2002-03-24
Westport, CT | reply to Viggen93
Well Considering how I am a plebian  I would be very mad if this service were not available to the whole plane. I think it should be optional everywhere, nobody should have to pay for it, if they dont want it, but everybody who wants it should be able to use it, regardless of where they are on the plane.
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You can still call me Volks |
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| Although that would be ideal, nothing is ever really "free" anymore, is it? |
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Viggen93Premium,VIP
join:2002-04-16
Hamilton, ON | reply to Viggen93
I honestly wouldn't care if there was a $10 maximum increase in the cost of a ticket if it meant everyone could use the service, but some may, especially since the current Lufthansa implementation required (for the most part) a wireless NIC, not many people have them and laptops on flights are still the realm of the business/first class traveller or the poor techno geek in coach. I for one can barely find a place for my meal in coach, let alone to comfortably use a laptop, and upgrading to business class is not an option.
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Isn't air travel wonderful? Breakfast in London, dinner in New York,luggage in Brazil. |
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