Skip to main content

Google teams with airlines for free holiday Wi-Fi

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Ever felt the urge to try in-flight Wi-Fi service to (let’s face it) keep up with your friends and favorite sites or (the horrors!) try to get work done, but were put off by the added cost and the fiddliness? Now Google aims to solve that first problem—at least for a limited period of time. To promote it’s Chrome Web browser, Google has made deals with air carriers Virgin America, AirTrans Airways, and Delta Airlines: from November 20, 2010 to January 2, 2011, Go-Go Inflight Wi-Fi is free on U.S. domestic flights.

“Not too long ago, flying home for the holidays meant disconnecting for several hours until you touched down at your destination,” Google product management VP Sundar Pichai wrote in the company blog. “Today, Wi-Fi technologies allow us to stay connected even at 30,000 feet above the ground, so we can read the news, browse the web (to beat the long-haul boredom) and send that last-minute planning email before the family reunion. This holiday season, there will be more connected flyers than ever before.”

Recommended Videos

The program is a followup to a similar effort last year where Google made in-flight Wi-Fi free on Virgin America domestic flights from mid-November to mid-January.

The addition of Delta and AirTrans to the promotional offering might significantly increase its appeal: Delta operates the largest commercial fleet of Wi-Fi enabled aircraft in the world. The Wi-Fi service can be used by everything from traditional notebook computers to smartphones, media players, and gaming devices—although Internet users are likely to find that the bandwidth available at 30,000 feet isn’t enough to tap into streaming HD video—especially when a few other dozen people on the same plane are “testing out” the free Wi-Fi by trying the same thing.

For Google, the promotion is a chance to promote its Chrome browser—build for speed and simplicity—to travelers who do their darndest to stay connected on the road. For the airlines, the promotion is a chance to get travelers hooked on the idea of keeping up with tweets and making purchases using in-flight Wi-Fi service, on the notion that if they get to try it for free over the holidays, they’ll be more likely to pay for it during other times of the year. And who knows? Maybe the promise of free in-flight Wi-Fi will cause some passengers to choose Virgin, AirTrans, or Delta over competing carriers for holiday travel.

Geoff Duncan
Former Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
The robot takeover comes another step closer — at Amazon
An Amazon robot working inside one of the company's warehouses.

Amazon is close to having more robots operating inside its warehouses than humans after the e-commerce giant announced this week that it now has more than a million robots working at its facilities around the world.

Over the years, Amazon has spent billions of dollars on the development and deployment of warehouse-based robots, which handle an array of tasks once performed by human workers.

Read more
This Lenovo ThinkPad laptop is over $1,400 off — hurry while stocks last!
The Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 Intel laptop on a white background.

Now's an excellent time to take advantage of laptop deals from Lenovo, which has slashed the prices of a wide range of devices for its Black Friday in July sale. Lenovo's ThinkPad laptops are up to 45% off, and here's one of the most interesting offers available with such a discount — the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 at $1,440 off its estimated value of $3,199, so you'll only have to pay $1,759. That's an excellent price for this fantastic productivity tool, but you're going to have to push forward with your purchase as soon as possible because stocks may run out at any moment.

BUY NOW

Read more
Early Prime Day deal: Samsung’s 27-inch Odyssey G3 at its annual low price
Samsung Odyssey G3 gaming monitor on desk with keyboard and headset.

If you're ready to upgrade your monitor, this Samsung deal over at Amazon just might be your best bet. The 27-inch version of Samsung's Odyssey G3 is $130 right now, a full $100 off its regular $230 price and its lowest price of the year. It's a part of early Prime Day deals and a good sampling of what we can expect for the shopping holiday, which officially lands on July 8th. Tap the button below to see it for yourself or keep reading to see why we like this deal and why this should be your next monitor.

Buy Now

Read more