How common is wifi Internet on long-distance international flights?

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It is interesting to see how we somehow need to be entertained/connected 24/7.
It becomes more an issue when essentially trapped in a small chair (not even a rocker recliner!) for 12 - 13+ hours, where a trip to a sardine can of a bathroom is an outingo_O. Surrounded by strangers. Likely with a shorter flight before this one, and another scheduled after it. Plus the stresses of travel:no:. I don't sleep well on planes.

As an older Gen. X guy, I grew up predating e-mail, text messaging, web browsing, social media, the Internet and cell phones. But life has changed a lot. On a Galapagos liveaboard after learning we could get texts and notifications, I logged on and discovered there'd been fraudulent charge on my credit card.

I'm hopeful these long flight craft offer a range of inflight entertainment for which one simply needs a set of headphones to watch a display on the back of the seat in front of you.

Richard.
 
I'm hopeful these long flight craft offer a range of inflight entertainment for which one simply needs a set of headphones to watch a display on the back of the seat in front of you.
Absolutely, and I am among the first to check out the entertainment. On balance, I have to admit that if I could get a reliable reasonably priced wifi connection on a long flight I would probably sign up.
 
Delta has wifi on a lot, or now maybe all, of its international long-haul flights (and most Delta domestic flights of any duration now have $5 coverage gate-to-gate). Delta's CONUS-Australia flights have had it for several years, and I had a good connections between Atlanta and Quito this spring. I've been doing an unfortunate amount of domestic work travel on Delta this year and have noted improved (but still imperfect) connectivity and reliability on those flights, where I care more about it than when headed overseas.

At least some of Fiji Airways's nonstops (AA code shares) between LAX/SFO and Nadi have wifi, but this may be only on their A350s, which alternate between those two airports on a daily basis. The off-day flights are on an A330, which is far less comfortable than the 350 and seemingly does not have wifi over the ocean.

I don't mind not having an internet connection on a long flight, or for that matter at a far-flung resort or on a boat, but if it's easily available I sign up for it.
 
I’m on a 16-hour flight from Houston to Sydney right now. Can’t sleep, need to catch up on emails, answering WhatsApp messages & SB direct messages since I am setting up a group trip to Indonesia, as posted here: $742 off on White Manta, Misool-Triton Bay, 15-24 January 2025

So, what the hey, l check on the United satellite WiFi connection. The cost for the whole 16-hour journey ($20 or 22,00 frequent-flyer miles) seems reasonable. I paid the WiFi access with the 22000 frequent-flyer miles.

Now I’m sleepy. I’ll ccontinue it tomorrow.
 
Take a book. Or a sleeping pill. Both is best.
I always found that 2 beers and a Benadryl worked well.

Just remember to take the Benadryl after you take off. If you take your airline cocktail before you board and your flight is cancelled or delayed you become a terminal zombie.

And if you haven't had airport beers at 7 in the morning, have you even traveled? :cheers:
 
It becomes more an issue when essentially trapped in a small chair (not even a rocker recliner!) for 12 - 13+ hours, where a trip to a sardine can of a bathroom is an outingo_O. Surrounded by strangers. Likely with a shorter flight before this one, and another scheduled after it. Plus the stresses of travel:no:. I don't sleep well on planes.

As an older Gen. X guy, I grew up predating e-mail, text messaging, web browsing, social media, the Internet and cell phones. But life has changed a lot. On a Galapagos liveaboard after learning we could get texts and notifications, I logged on and discovered there'd been fraudulent charge on my credit card.

I'm hopeful these long flight craft offer a range of inflight entertainment for which one simply needs a set of headphones to watch a display on the back of the seat in front of you.

Richard.
I think you've received a lot of responses :) Different airlines also offer different services. Qantas for example have completely scrapped their music channels on all flights - including long-haul, which totally sucks! I have now downloaded all my favourite spotify playlists, in order to listen to them offline (I can only sleep on a plane if music blasts into my air, drowning out all the other noises around me, and no, noise cancelling and complete silence, I can't deal with either *lol* ) ...
Qantas for example have their "in-flight-entertainment-app" on all over-land flights, and their full entertainment suite on in-seat monitors on all overseas flights.
I actually don't remember if on over-seas flight they had internet-connectivity enabled, or just their entertainment system (I like to be disconnected on flights, so I did not check) .

TL;DR: If you're flying Qantas and like music, download your own!
 
Hi. From a U.S.-based perspective, trips to highly praised far flung great dive destinations such as the Philippines, Raja Ampat, Komodo and others (I'm guessing Fiji would qualify?) have one major #1 barrier in place; those horrible-sounding very long flights, sometimes before or after (or both) other flights. I'm talking 12+ hours on one non-stop flight. Coupled with the high up-charge one may see with business or first class, it sounds like torment in economy class is just part of the price paid.

One thing that might help ameliorate that a bit is in-flight wifi Internet service. I get that some modern aircraft have a selection of movies and other things which is fine, but many of us are used to engagement with online activities rather than hours of passive viewing (note: if you want to access their content on some planes, you need the airline app. on your phone; consider downloading it in advance). But in Jan. 2020 on my Galapagos trip, once we left the U.S. on an international flight, I encountered a rude surprise...in-flight wifi was not an option.

So, those of you who fly American Airlines (or whichever other airlines take you for the long international flights to/from Indonesia, the Philippines, etc...), how common is it to have the option of in-flight wifi Internet service, and roughly what does it cost? Note: I did some online searching seeking an answer myself, but I'd like to hear from those who've traveled recent what your real world experience was, and maybe this thread can help other people considering a trip, too.

I did a little Googling for American Airlines and found "International Wi-Fi is available on all Boeing 777-300ER flights. Wi-Fi can be purchased once on board; currently there is not a pre-purchase option for international Wi-Fi." But are all the AA long-distance international flights in that class? A couple of American Airlines trans-Pacific flights I looked at were for Boeing 777-200 planes, not 300 or 300ER. Wonder what they have?

Airwayswifi.com has an article, Complete Guide to American Airlines WiFi 2022 | AA WiFi. It says they use 3 providers, Gogo, Panasonic and ViaSat, and Panasonic is the provider for international flights.

Panasonic In-flight WiFi For American Airlines Plans and Price​

The plans for aircrafts using Panasonic as providers are,

DurationPrice
2 Hours$12
4 Hours$17
Entire Flight$19

Also did a little searching on Delta. It's my understanding which provider is used (e.g.: Gogo, ViaSat) may change over time, so I'm not sure how relevant a 2017 article is, for example.

Airwayswifi.com has an article, Complete Guide to Delta WiFi 2022 | DL WiFi. It says "If you’re traveling internationally, you can buy the $28, 24-hour global day pass. If you fly frequently you can choose the domestic monthly or domestic annual pass ($49.95 and $599.99 respectively)." Also "The Wi-Fi is provided by much-admired Wi-Fi provider Gogo. Almost all the flights of Delta Air Lines are now equipped with Wi-Fi facilities."

Further, is the availability of wifi Internet service something that varies strongly across airlines for major trans-oceanic international flights?

Richard.


Sorry no real experience on AA (I got sucked in the Star Alliance black hole) but I would assume it is similar to most of the other major carries. I fly United the most but also a lot of Turkish, Singapore, Asiana, Lufthansa and Thai airlines and have found wifi to be very common. Heck even on many of the Singapore airlines short flight they have it and a lot of times they give you an ipad to use (in business class not to sure how it works in economy). I have also found that pretty much every airline has there own entertainment app so you can use your iPad to watch movies, music, etc. from the carriers system if you want to use your own devise instead of the built in screens.

Recently I have found myself using airline wifi a lot more I guess because it has become very common now on long haul flights. Yeah its not lighting fast but its enough to keep up on emails and Whatsapp chats to make the time go by. I also appreciate that most carriers now offer some sort of free wifi to business class.

As for price I think what you have listed is pretty standard for mostly airlines.

If your worried about if you will have wifi I would assume the AA app will tell you. I know most of the airlines I fly with tells you if your flight has Wifi or not.
 
You probably know already but many apps allow you to download video on your device. I preload Netflix videos before a long flight … in case I don’t like the selection of movies

I watched this one during my last flight lol

C584DE48-0DF8-456A-A4CF-33D9AF166653.jpeg
 
Flying back and forth to Guyana on AA I frequently purchased the WiFi. It was cheaper if you were a gold member, maybe$7-$10.

I did find that the service dropped somewhere just north of Trinidad. There was a map that showed world wide coverage and there were gaps along some flight routes. You just have to check the route against the map .

As far as quality of service it wasn't bad. Streaming buffered a bit but surfing and what's app we're fine.

Also, you can stream movies to your device from some planes. Usually you can find something to watch, at least for a couple hours.
 

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