The Essentials

WiFi on Airplanes: Good News

Let’s face it.

We don’t change our lifestyles when we change our locations, and that especially applies to WiFi.

For airborne workaholics like me, not having WiFi on flights — or having to pay outrageous sums for slow or poorly working WiFi — makes for a frustrating and inefficient trip, especially on long-haul flights.

But there’s good news.

In the United States, JetBlue offers free WiFi.

Others, like Delta and Alaska, offer free onboard texting. And now, some international airlines are offering WiFi for free.

Air New Zealand, which used to charge up to $40 for WiFi, is now making the service free.

But the real challenge is how to upgrade the bandwidth. Want to make a long flight seem even longer? That will happen with bad WiFi!