Wi-fi on flights: But will passengers pay?

[Northeast News]

I'm reading the Wall Street Journal this morning about in-flight wi-fi.  Will more passengers pay for costly in-flight wi-fi? Why do you pay up, or why don't you pay up? 

[Anil]

I was an early adopted of gogo's inflight internet service. I have used it on occasions when I feel I have to upload or retrieve some document. My threshold of pain is about a manhattan drink worth - i.e less then USD8 for a 4-5 hour flight.

As an independent consultant, sometimes we have last minute documents to exchange, and as I mentioned above, more than 8USD to me is not worth; since I have access to internet on the ground most of the time to communicate with folks when I am away from my hub.

Hope this helps.

[Mary Jo Manzanares]

I recently used Go-Go on a couple of flights that eventually took me across country. The all-day price was $12.95. I was reluctant to pony up the money, but did so -- and found that it was some of the most productive working time that I've had in a long time.

The connection was strong, I didn't have a lot of interruptions, I got lots of work done, and perhaps most importantly -- I didn't have to spend a few hours upon landing catching up on email and taking care of putting out fires. I could spend that ground time to more enjoyable things.

I probably wouldn't pay the money (the price varies on length of flight) for a shorter flight, but if I was traveling all day I wouldn't hesitate to purchase it again. Now, if only they can find a way to make that work for those transatlantic and transpacific flights!