Wi-Fi on a plane: which airlines have it and how much it costs

Yes, you can use your phone during a flight but there are some limitations. First, you have to switch your phone to Airplane Mode. Before Airplane Mode was introduced, you had to switch off your phone after boarding.

Turning off your phone means no music, no games, or any entertainment at all, so Airplane Mode was definitely an important update to smartphones. What exactly does Airplane mode do? It turns off cellular communication but keeps the option for you to use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Not only that, but you can also use your phone for offline entertainment. Play games, delete photos you haven’t had time to browse through or read articles like this one that you can save for offline reading. I just hope you won’t regret not following our advice on choosing an airline with Wi-Fi so you can read something else.

Wi-Fi on planes works in two different ways. It uses either an air-to-ground system or a satellite system. The first one is better for domestic flights, mainly above land, since it uses cell towers on the ground. The other one uses signals from satellites and is more suitable for international flights, which mostly fly above water or areas without cell tower coverage.

Both systems are still being improved, and they don’t offer a consistently fast internet connection. Аt the same time, they are pretty expensive, which is one of the reasons not every airline offers Wi-Fi on its flights.

Using Wi-Fi on a plane with Airplane mode turned on is perfectly fine, of course, if the Airline you fly with provides inflight Wi-Fi. You have to turn on Wi-Fi after enabling Airplane mode. Some airlines provide free access to their Wi-Fi networks, while others give the option to purchase Wi-Fi on board. Still, there is a long way to go until inflight Wi-Fi becomes free and common.

And you should keep in mind that Wi-Fi networks on planes are public networks which make them not the most secure ones. If you don’t worry about security and use the internet only for browsing and not, for example, sending out top secret information to a CIA agent, it should work perfectly fine for you.

It is possible to get free Wi-Fi on airplanes, but in the US, the list of airlines with free Wi-Fi is short (we have them all listed below). The systems used to provide internet connection so high in the skies are pretty expensive, which is why most airlines have fees you have to pay to use or have full access to their Wi-Fi. If you just want to use messaging apps, you have more free options, including United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest, and more.

Probably we would have many free options in the coming years, especially with the big competition between airlines, but for now, most airlines that provide any Wi-Fi at all have a price list.

• JetBlue Airways
• Delta Air Lines

JetBlue Airways is the only airline that provides absolutely free Wi-Fi on board In the US. With the catchy name “Fly-Fi”, JetBlue’s Wi-Fi has high speed and is available in all their planes. JetBlue works with Amazon, and besides the free-of-charge use, JetBlue Wi-Fi provides its passengers with the opportunity to stream Amazon Prime videos.

Delta Air Lines, one of the oldest airlines in the world, is the other option for free Wi-Fi during a flight. The only catch here is that you first need to become a SkyMiles member, which is actually free. So, I am counting Delta Wi-Fi as a free service on board. Wi-Fi is still not available for all domestic flights, but the company is working towards covering all its routes and planes in the next 2 years.

And if your mobile plan is one of T-Mobile’s Go5G plans, you could also use free inflight Wi-Fi with some airlines, including Delta Air Lines, even if you are not a SkyMiles member, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and United Airlines. The option is available for selected flights to, from, and within the US. You have to check your plan to see if it covers this option for free Wi-Fi during a flight.

I guess covering all the airlines offering free Wi-Fi was pretty fast, but these are indeed all the options in the US for now. There are many paid options available, so I’ll focus on the cheapest and yet fastest ones.

With Spirit Airline, browsing starts at $2.99 and streaming at $5.99, making it one of the cheapest paid options available.

Southwest Airlines offers inflight entertainment with a free-to-use option to chat on WhatsApp and iMessage, but you have to pay $8 for just surfing the internet without streaming.

Many US airlines provide free chat options or inflight Wi-Fi for approximately $10, with some being cheaper and others more expensive. There are also options for people who travel a lot for work and need the internet all the time, and United Airlines has an offer for them with a monthly or yearly subscription starting from $49.

If the plane is equipped with а Wi-Fi enabling system, almost all airlines offer free Wi-Fi for their business-class and first-class passengers during international flights. But, if you are not traveling in one of those, you have to pay for an internet connection anywhere between $3 and $40 depending on the airline, the connection speed, and the time of the flight or the time you select to use the inflight Wi-Fi.

There are some free options with a few airlines, including Air China with permission to use only laptops or tablets, Air France and KLM, but only for messaging with iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp, Air New Zealand for selected flights, Norwegian Air on limited speed, and Qatar Airways for the first 30 to 60 minutes (depending on the flight).