TravelSkills reader E.B. contacted us last week about an email he received from Gogo. It said that his unlimited inflight wi-fi subscription would increase a hefty 50%– from $40 per month to a painful $60 starting in July.
We contacted Gogo, and a spokesperson confirmed that the price increase was announced last year, and is just now going into effect for existing members who had signed up on the old rate.
Gogo’s current online prices.
Is having unlimited Gogo worth $60 a month? Or does that price point push you out of the market?
Gogo has been doing much experimentation with pricing over the last year, and its current strategy seems to be to raise prices to the point where fewer people actually use the system. We’ve seen the price of day passes bought onboard rise to a whopping $50, which definitely discourages casual use on the plane.
With fewer users draining bandwidth, the service performs better– right? Have you noticed more reliable connection speeds? I have to say that we’ve definitely noticed fewer complaints about Gogo in recent months, so maybe the strategy is working?
For some power users with a nice expense account, $60 per month might still be worth it. But for me, the most economical strategy is to always have a few day passes pre-purchased online in my account and ready to use when I need them. Day passes bought online are just $16 each– still a bargain!
Gogo’s prices when purchased onboard. Do you follow Chris on Twitter? @cjmcginnis CLICK!
My strategy: Don’t buy Gogo on the plane. I was surprised to see the price for a Gogo wi-fi day pass on a Delta transcon flight at a whopping $50 recently– the highest I’ve ever seen it. I’m very glad I took the minute or two while waiting in line to board to buy a day pass in advance on Gogo’s website for just $16, saving $34. If you are a inflight wi-fi freak like me, buy your passes ahead of time. It’s quick and easy– buy one or more passes online before the flight, save them to your account, and when you sign on from the plane, access your pass and you are on. For $16 instead of $50. Buy Gogo passes here.
Southwest offers wi-fi for just $8 per day per device, but we hear regularly that service is very spotty.
Regrettably, United still does not offer a pre-purchase option yet– here’s a shot from its inflight wi-fi FAQ page:
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I stopped buying in-flight wifi long ago. I tend to be on lots of relatively short flights; connections have always been slow and spotty; and prices are too high. I can always spend time catching up on reading or writing, neither of which require me to be online. Fortunately, my colleagues and clients can usually bear without me for an hour or two if they must.
What a joke.
You mean that people really need to get on line at these prices on a airplane?
They can’t go an hour or two without???