British Airways now offers Unlimited Wifi to Select Fliers

Staying connected on a long haul (or even a short haul) flight is becoming more and more crucial. When airlines rolled out wifi years ago, you could expect large fees and slow speeds, and over the years the WiFi on board has been getting much better, albeit at a price.

It’s not uncommon for many airlines in the US to charge up to $30 per flight for mediocre wifi, while on some international flights you can expect to see packages ranging from $20-30 per device. British Airways is trying to buck that trend by offering free WiFi to a very small select group of passengers, and we just recently had the chance to try this out ourselves.

First Class means FREE

If you find yourself in the first class cabin on a long haul BA flight in the near future, you’re in luck. The airline is piloting (no pun intended) a program to allow all first class passengers enjoy streaming-level speed for free on the entire flight, with no restrictions.

Not just any internet, but the streaming level fast internet, enough to watch Netflix shows if you couldnt’t find anything on their inflight entertainment system.

Your BA Rewards

The thought, according to those that we’ve spoken to, is that they’re considering rolling this out to BA Gold and other travelers in the future, but for now, if you’re flying in First, expect to be connected. Here’s a step-by-step on how easy this really is.

Step One. Head to shop.ba.com from the browser (on your phone or laptop) and get to the landing page.

screens screenshot of an airplane

Once you get to the rewards page, enter your seat information to get the free Wifi. It’ll ask for your seat assignment and last name to verify you’re actually sitting in first class.

a screenshot of a wi-fi streaming application

As you can see, it’s a full flight streaming package, so you have the unlimited super fast option! Surprisingly, I was able to download videos, photos, and texts on my phone with almost no lag or delay.

screens screenshot of a phone

I decided to use my iPhone so I could have access to all of my favorite messaging apps and applications, and the speed was great. I don’t think I found myself competing with many people as the first class passengers all went to sleep pretty quick and the rest of the plane, I assume, did as well.

It’s about time…

Ya know what? Kudos to British Airways for doing this. It’s about time that airlines gave that little extra perk to the first class passengers. When we flew Swiss First a few months back, we were given a voucher for free WiFi. Emirates? You pay. Iberia? Here’s a few stray MB for you to check maybe ONE email if you’re lucky. American? Delta? You pay. United? Good luck getting WiFi that actually works.

This is no doubt a step in the right direction in order to get customers to fly First over Business (Club World) and I hope that this doesn’t stop at a pilot program. Since you’ve already paid multiple thousands of dollars for your flight, what’s $20 extra? Nothing, but from the passenger experience side of things, it’s just that little extra carrot that goes the extra mile in making the flight smoother.

What’s your take on this? Does this entice you to fly BA First? Are you happy about the change? Let us know!

Author: Jon Nickel-D'Andrea

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2 Comments

  1. I was on a BA First flight a few days ago and did not partake in this. I flew on a 789 both to and from London and never saw the option to connect to an inflight wifi network, other than a locked/password-protected network called “BA292″/”BA293.” Is there a guide out there to which BA aircraft actually have inflight wifi installed?

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