United airlines - wifi ?

[sdjen]

We are flying on United next month and have a fairly long flight. I'm willing to pay for the wifi service but have a couple of questions.

How much does it cost?

Is the speed good enough (and consistent enough) to stream YouTube or Netflix?

Thanks so much!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

They may or may not have it on your flight they are still rolling it out. For a long flight figure $20 at least and very slow service.

On none of them is the speed good enough to stream!

 

[sdjen]

Thanks, good to know. It looks like our type of aircraft usually has WIFI but it definitely has the personal seat entertainment. Since it sounds like the WIFI isn't good enough for streaming videos, we will just stick with the free movies and TV shows. I am fine with reading a book for a few hours but I know my daughter would be bored!

 

[DLgal]

The movies and TV are NOT free. It is $8.99 per seat to watch. I just flew United from the east coast to the west coast and back.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

The movies and TV are NOT free. It is $8.99 per seat to watch. I just flew United from the east coast to the west coast and back.

If you use United's Personal device entertainment system, which works quite well, it is free:

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...ertainment/personal-device-entertainment.aspx

 

[supersnoop]

Thanks, good to know. It looks like our type of aircraft usually has WIFI but it definitely has the personal seat entertainment. Since it sounds like the WIFI isn't good enough for streaming videos, we will just stick with the free movies and TV shows. I am fine with reading a book for a few hours but I know my daughter would be bored!

Generally, the in-flight wifi specifically blocks streaming services. There's not enough bandwidth on the whole plane to support a streaming video.

 

[DLgal]

If you use United's Personal device entertainment system, which works quite well, it is free:

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...ertainment/personal-device-entertainment.aspx

That was not an option on my last flights. Just the DirecTV in the seat was available. This was 2 weeks ago.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Thanks, good to know. It looks like our type of aircraft usually has WIFI but it definitely has the personal seat entertainment. Since it sounds like the WIFI isn't good enough for streaming videos, we will just stick with the free movies and TV shows. I am fine with reading a book for a few hours but I know my daughter would be bored!

Never assume the airline system will be available to entertain your daughter. I can't tell you how many times these things don't work! (Or have absolutely nothing worth watching)

 

[nacho113]

We usually load up a few movies, music and kindle books on our tablets so that we can keep ourselves entertained if the on board system has nothing to offer.
Even just some music loaded onto our phones can help a short flight "fly by" faster

 

[KLAIT]

I would caution you on high expectations with United. In the last few years they are the only airlines that fly into our local airport. I have been continually disappointed with them. This time I booked a higher price flight for only one connection as a regional airline flies to our small airport so one stop is necessary and booked it in advance because it is a busy time. Well, they have changed our flight to a 4.5 hour layover and cannot do anything about it. Even after I paid for our 3 seats a higher fare to avoid this long layover.

I travel frequently for work and have learned to have low expectations and I am never disappointed.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I would caution you on high expectations with United. In the last few years they are the only airlines that fly into our local airport. I have been continually disappointed with them. This time I booked a higher price flight for only one connection as a regional airline flies to our small airport so one stop is necessary and booked it in advance because it is a busy time. Well, they have changed our flight to a 4.5 hour layover and cannot do anything about it. Even after I paid for our 3 seats a higher fare to avoid this long layover.

I travel frequently for work and have learned to have low expectations and I am never disappointed.

You do have options. You can cancel the flight and get a full refund and look for a flight on another airline, or you can look for an alternate flight, if available on UA. Schedule changes happen on most airlines. Annoying, but nothing you can do about it.

As for the issue of personal entertainment options on UA, it's true this is not yet available on all their aircraft.

 

[jec6613]

All streaming services are indeed blocked, as well as VPN connections, and there's also a limited number of people on board who can use it at once (usually 10, but it varies). The Wi-Fi comes from a cellular connection to the ground over LTE, so everybody on the plane is essentially sharing a cell phone's worth of bandwidth. On a flight from LAX to DCA the Monday after Thanksgiving, I was blocked from using Wi-Fi for the whole flight as congress and their staffers were on board and jumped on it first thing, stayed on and locked everybody else out. That was a VERY boring flight ...

Depending on flight length, cost varies from $10 up to about $25. For that price, you can get some in-flight entertainment that you can use yourself - that's half way to a decent cheap tablet, even! (The HP Stream 7 is a $100 full Windows tablet, for instance).

 

[Capang]

United flights have either wifi OR the seat entertainment. You get one or the other but not both. The seat entertainment works much better imo. The wifi last week was a complete joke. The streaming through the app did not work and was in no way free. $2.99 for weak service per hour and $4.99 per hour for slightly less weak service. Nothing worked for streaming, not even their app. Take your own personal DVD players or laptop with dvd to entertain your daughter.

 

[KLAIT]

Lost*in*cyberspace

I don't think you read my complete post. United is the only airline that flies into my local airport. By local I am talking 2 hours away. To catch another airline it would be a 4+ hour drive. I travel A LOT for work and United is by far consistently the most disappointing airline I use. We have had others come in to the local airport over the years as is seems they change every 5 years or so. At times I travel with others so we do drive the 4+ miles where we have a smaller choice and do fly other airlines and yes! they are not perfect either nor do I expect them to be but it is a consistent thing with United. When I saw I travel a lot I travel about 30-35 trips a year.

Yes, schedule changes happen, but it is important how they are dealt with that matter.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Lost*in*cyberspace

I don't think you read my complete post. United is the only airline that flies into my local airport. By local I am talking 2 hours away. To catch another airline it would be a 4+ hour drive. I travel A LOT for work and United is by far consistently the most disappointing airline I use. We have had others come in to the local airport over the years as is seems they change every 5 years or so. At times I travel with others so we do drive the 4+ miles where we have a smaller choice and do fly other airlines and yes! they are not perfect either nor do I expect them to be but it is a consistent thing with United. When I saw I travel a lot I travel about 30-35 trips a year.

Yes, schedule changes happen, but it is important how they are dealt with that matter.

Actually, I did read your entire post; not sure of your point. In my experience, all airlines handle changes in the same way. If the flight time changes by a certain amount of time (depends on the airline), you can make a free change or get a refund.

If you take 30-35 trips a year on UA, surely you have pretty high status. I'm a UA 1K and they treat me pretty well.

 

[Craig Galun]

Anyone know what wifi wold cost on a trans-pacific flight such as San Francisco to Seoul, for example?

 

[jerseygal]

Newark to Honolulu had no Wifi when we flew May, 2014...GO FIGURE!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Newark to Honolulu had no Wifi when we flew May, 2014...GO FIGURE!

That was over a year ago. They are still adding to this service.

 

[DebbieB]

I flew American this month, PIT-DFW (MD-80), I think it was like $16 for the flight. No in seat entertainment. I brought my I-Pad and listened to music and played solitare!