Finally: American Airlines will make Wi-Fi free on most domestic flights
American Airlines has the most expensive in-flight internet in the United States. Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways offer it for free. United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and Southwest Airlines charge $8. American Airlines Wi-Fi costs between $17 and $29 per flight, or $49.95 per month. I fly regularly, so I use the internet on almost every flight, and most of the time it’s quick to pay my monthly fee.
American Airlines is now introducing complimentary internet and mileage redemption options on select aircraft.
- Redeem miles to pay for internet on ViaSat-powered aircraft. Several aircraft will be available “in the coming weeks,” with options for the aircraft to be fully available “by the summer travel season.” This is not a great value for miles.
- Free Wi-Fi with ads onboard ViaSat aircraft: Ad-supported Wi-Fi will also be introduced on Viasat domestic narrowbody aircraft.
By contrast, Delta Air Lines uses free internet to get people to sign up for SkyMiles and convert them into co-branded cardholders.
American Airlines has three internet service providers, and aircraft with only one of those providers will have these options at this time.
- Via satellite: Boeing 737 (and 737 MAX). Airbus A321; Legacy American Airlines A319
- Intelsat 2ku: Airbus A320, Legacy US Airways A319
- Intelsat Air-to-Ground (“SlowGo”): Embraer E-170 and E-175, Bombardier CR7 and CR9 regional jets.
- Panasonic: Boeing 787_-8 and -9), Boeing 777 (-200 and -300ER)
- No Wi-Fi: Embraer E-145 regional jet (Americans really need to fix this)
American Airlines’ large regional jets, the Embraer E-175 and Bombardier CR7 and CR9, will now utilize Intelsat’s high-speed Wi-Fi. Therefore, the announced free advertised and mileage redemption options will not apply to these aircraft, just as they do not apply to current Airbus A320 and widebody aircraft.
T-Mobile customers receive free Wi-Fi from American on domestic aircraft outside of these plans. A T-Mobile Magenta Plan customer receives four passes per year and his one hour of unlimited use of American Viasat-powered aircraft. Magenta Max customer plans include unlimited internet on Intelsat-powered machines in your region.
At American’s Media and Investor Day in fall 2017, the company announced free messaging. A year later, they acted confused as if they had never said it. This idea was rejected internally as too expensive.
Two years later, in the summer of 2019, American Airlines thought it might be forced to offer free Wi-Fi. They prepared themselves for anything Delta Airlines had to offer. Although the two did not match, most vehicles in Japan are now moving to advertising models.
However, the key here is to ensure that the aircraft has sufficient bandwidth. When Wi-Fi becomes free, usage increases. I realized that the internet in America is very expensive and not many people use it. And it works better than when you fly on Delta Air Lines, where there are no fees.
