A recent USA Today article stated that “perhaps less than 10% of the passengers who could use Wi-Fi to log on to the Internet actually are doing so.”
The article posited that price is the factor, as many travelers don’t want to pay the fees.
But considering what travelers grumpily pay for in terms of other additional optional fees and charges – $10 and up to board earlier, $9 for a mediocre sandwich, $20 and up for an extra checked bag, I don’t think the cost is the issue.
In-flight internet service, for one thing, is not THAT expensive. On domestic flights Gogo, the leading airline provider, charges between $4.95 and $12.95 to connect depending on the length of the flight. With a $34.95 monthly rate. Many hotels still charge up to $20 a day for connectivity.
Besides, presumably for business travelers, their company would reimburse them for staying connected in the air.
Personally, I’ve always thought of the plane as the last refuge of being unplugged. As a Blackberry user, I’ve mostly joined the ranks of the always online. And like many travelers, I don’t turn the thing off until the flight attendants tell me I have to do so.
But then, even when I’ve been thinking, “One more minute, one more minute,” I must admit, when the airplane door closes, I feel more than a little relief.
I’m beginning to realize I’m not alone.
These days, many of my friends and clients have come to realize that weekends are relative. One client was in a panic over the Fourth of July weekend because HIS boss had been musing over changing travel for a number of staff traveling internationally and sent an email to that effect.
The boss decided to leave things as is, but I had to wonder, would he have called all the employees on the weekend to tell them he was thinking of the change? Probably not.
But in the smartphone age, any thought an employer or client has can be instantly communicated. No matter how trivial it is, it usually requires an answer.
My personal record for such an email might be a bored executive who emailed from a meeting asking how many treadmills her London hotel had. Because she wondered if she would ever have to wait if she wanted to do an indoor workout. (And of course I emailed the hotel, got the answer and sent it back. Not exactly the best use of everyone’s time.)
I think, for an increasing number of people saying, “Sorry, I’m unavailable,” is an ever-increasing blessing. Since wi-fi on planes is still not the status quo, there isn’t the assumption that someone will be online in the air.
Now of course, once upon a time, not so long ago, staying in touch while traveling at all required payphones and hotel phones. Later, expensive dial-up computer connections were necessary. So, this could change. But for now, the more travelers that just say “no” to inflight internet, the longer one of the last respites from technology lasts.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
