06-18-2003, 04:00 AM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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United To Offer Internet Access On Flights
http://www.rednova.com/news/stories/3/2003/06/17/story001.html
"Hoping to get a jump on the competition in the scramble for business travelers, United Airlines is set to announce Tuesday that it will be the first commercial carrier to offer two-way e-mail capability aboard all its domestic flights. By the end of the year, passengers on all flights will be able to plug their laptops into jacks on the Verizon Airfone handsets, which will use technology by Tenzing Communications to transmit e-mails."
Yeah, that sounds good until you read the fine print. :deal:
� It is $5.99 per flight for instant messaging
� $15.97 per flight for email access, including attachment capabilities
� $.10 for each KB once you reach 2KB of data.
Yup. For a 250K Excel file, you will get dinged $40.77 ignoring the general overhead necessary for your client to negotiate with your email server. :roll: I can't wait until the first poor soul gets his laptop set up, enters his credit card number then proceeds to synchronize his Outlook inbox and gets hit for a few hundred dollars.
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06-18-2003, 04:12 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 102
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That is so typical of a company that charges you $5.00 to watch an in-flight movie on a really small TV with a pair of "headphones" that deliver sound through kinked plastic tubes....
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06-18-2003, 04:25 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 46
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absolutely ridiculous. i would expect it to be expensive as with all things associated with air travel, but that's absolutely ridiculous. not only is it insanely expensive, but the whole structure of the plan is stupid. at first, upon seeing that they were going to offer internet access, i though, cool, it's about time. then i read the rest... :roll:
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06-18-2003, 04:26 AM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 5,133
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Oh, what a tease. I just booked a European trip on United, and then I see this headline! I got so excited until I read the details.
STUPID STUPID STUPID.
They're only going to get emergency access, whereas if they made it anything like reasonable, they would have a TON of people paying them to get net access.
Oh well. Guess I'll keep to my usual technique of just trying to sleep as much as possible.
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06-18-2003, 04:30 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 623
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Yes, I agree. 2 kilobytes and 10 cents a kilobyte after that!!?! Oh brother, that is absolutely incredible. While this might have been fine back in the days of "160k is enough for anyone" (like anyone would have a laptop then, much less on a place), it is absolutely ridiculous today. I was hopeful when I read the headline, but then you get the the fine print. I think it is about time airlines started providing access like this, but at that rate they aren't going to get many users. :roll:
As a side note - Don't tell me the "thoughts effect" crashed United's site as well? It seems to be down right now... 8O
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~SpencerOwner-Editor of TabletPCBuzz.comMicrosoft MVP - Tablet PC
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06-18-2003, 04:37 AM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 5,133
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by spg
As a side note - Don't tell me the "thoughts effect" crashed United's site as well? It seems to be down right now... 8O
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Hah! They deserve it. They were trying to charge me $300 more for the same flights I could get on Expedia.
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06-18-2003, 04:46 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 77
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Connexion by Boeing will offer broadband speeds for full Internet access. The United email service using Tenzing Communications is probably an order of magnitude slower. Also the Connexion by Boeing wil be flat fee for ~$25-$30 per flight. Boeing is looking into providing 802.11b access for easy connections for passengers with WiFe enabled laptops and PDAs.
Also see Seattle Times article
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06-18-2003, 04:51 AM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,616
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Spaceman
passengers with WiFe enabled laptops and PDAs.
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:confused totally: 0X :microwave:  :twak:
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06-18-2003, 04:53 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 784
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If I wasn't laughing so hard I would've voted for "Really Dumb" or "Outrageously Dumb", if there was an option for that.
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06-18-2003, 05:01 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 21
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United is not getting a jump on the competition this way. The competition is already ahead. Lufthansa offered free wireless broadband access on its flights between Washington, DC and Frankfurt earlier this year on a pilot basis. I tried it on a couple of occasions; it was great. For those who didn't have wireless cards in their laptop the airline provided LAN cables -- which we could keep after using them. I am not sure what the pricing will be like after the pilot is over, but I understand it will be more liked a flat fee.
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