Should a free WiFi plan on Delta Air Lines flights be a new Choice Benefit for Diamond and Platinum Medallions?
Free WiFi on Delta
Delta’s talked for a few years about offering free WiFi. The topic came up in March 2019. Later in 2019, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said he’s a “firm believer we need to make WiFi free.” But the technology for a quality product wasn’t quite ready.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Last year, Delta introduced Viasat high-speed internet on many narrowbody aircraft. Since then, we haven’t heard anything about Delta offering free WiFi on all flights.
I’ll believe free WiFi on Delta when I actually use it.
That’s not necessarily a dig at Delta.
It’s just that we’ve heard about free WiFi for almost three years. Various complications (like a pandemic and all its related problems) likely delayed things. So who knows when the plan will actually come to fruition?
Free WiFi as a Delta Choice Benefit?
Redditor EatSleepFlyGuy posted to the r/Delta subreddit a screenshot of a survey question he was asked. Delta asked his opinion on whether or not during his next Delta flight he’d (theoretically) watch a 15- to 30-second advertisement on a personal electronic device — in exchange for “free, fast-streaming WiFi” during his flight.
But Redditor StuckinSuFu (denoted as a Diamond Medallion member) said, “(I would) spend a Choice Benefit on yearly wifi access over the $200 credit.” (A $200 Delta flight credit is available as a Choice Benefit.)
Several other commentators agreed (including the thread’s creator, the aforementioned EatSleepFlyGuy).
I thought that was quite an interesting suggestion.
WiFi as a Choice Benefit vs. Paying for It
In order for free Wifi to be worth someone cashing in a Choice Benefit, that person would have to fly Delta fairly often — and actually use the WiFi.
Planes featuring the Viasat option currently offer gate-to-gate WiFi for just $5 per flight (at least, it was five bucks the last time I flew on a Viasat-equipped Delta plane).
Others Delta passengers are subject to the going Gogo rates which are, if I remember correctly, $16 for a flight or something like $25 for an entire day. For what it’s worth, GoGo’s 2Ku also is a gate-to-gate product.
There also are two monthly plans available: $49.95 for domestic and $69.95 for global.
So depending on how much someone flies, it’s entirely possible someone could get a lot of value out of free WiFi being a Choice Benefit.
And it may be a solid offer for Delta, too.
Given that Delta recently devalued upgrade certificates, free WiFi would give people another solid option for their Choice Benefits. And I can’t imagine it would cost Delta that much money. Plus, those who’d select free WiFi as a benefit instead of upgrade certificates give Delta that many more Premium Select and Delta One seats to sell.
An $840 annual global WiFi pass is probably easier on Delta’s wallet than swallowing a couple of Delta One upgrades that otherwise could’ve been sold.
Final Approach
In a perfect world, Delta would already offer free, streaming quality WiFi to everyone. And that seems to be the plan. But until then, I think the Choice Benefit route is a good option while phasing in free WiFi to everyone else.
What do you think? Please share your thoughts in the below Comments section!
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I flew on 7 narrow body DL flights in Nov/Dec. Only 2 were equipped with the Viasat WIFI. I hope this slow roll out is not indicative of Delta’s response to any benefit for its top tier fliers.
As a Diamond DL flier, I would certainly be interested in an annual Choice benefit of free WIFI. But based on the Viasat rollout, that I have experienced, any decision on a new benefit most likely would not occur much before 2024 or beyond.
They almost always get me with the $5 wifi. Most of my routes have had it lately (757, A321, 739) and it’s fast. I’m OK if they stick with that as a way to keep bandwidth high.
How about bringing back food and glasses, before free wifi. I’m a delta diamond, and I’m sick of the red boxes passed out in first class.
I’m now flying AA and upfront service is far better.
An alternative way for ‘free WiFi’ is switching mobile carriers (if you’re not on T-Mobile), or moving to T-Mobile’s Magenta Max (or Magenta Max 55+, if you’re over 55) as if you have 2+ lines they’re no more than $45/line/mo, or less than the all you can eat NoGo. I added their service to the eSIM slot of my phone just for that.
As for NoGo vs Viasat, I can say I guess ‘I got what I asked for’, being that in the early days (~2009 – 2011) of NoGo, it was still GoGo, but it progressively got worse over time with ever increasing slowness and outages along the route, the ‘we’re still deploying’ from the ATG -> 2Ku’ that’s been years in the making and the regular freeloaders of some promotion of free WiFi by someone like eBay, which all consumed b/w. GoGo never did anything with a DffServ-like service to separate out QoS between those that ‘paid’ and those freeloading, so the experience just got worse.
Of the dozen or so domestic segments I’ve been on in the past couple months (of which BR (before ‘rona) I was about 140 – 200 segments a year so a lot of sampling), the majority were on Viasat planes vs NoGo, so my NoGo/T-Mobile did me no good and it was pay the $5 for Viasat.
I’d be good with global WiFi being a Choice Benefit too as so many of the others have become near worthless.
I’m also for ‘real meals’ back in the up front area too, as the box food is b.s.
Funny that you feel they would clear the upgrade certificate instead of selling it. They won’t clear it unless they’re pretty darn sure it won’t sell.
If $5 is the new normal price, that would make it less attractive to have it as a choice benefit.
Beauty is in the eye of Choice Benefit holder 🙂 . Several are the time that Regional Upgrade Certificates went unused because space was so limited.
Plus, if you take, say, 60 flights a year, that’s potentially $300 in WiFi cost — perhaps more valuable than 20,000 SkyPesos.
The other point is that, in many cases, this is a business expense that can be claimed. For those that can’t claim, I agree that for the amount of usage you mentioned, it’s worth it. Also I would like to see it free eventually, as was promised, or as a benefit for Diamond and maybe Platinum without coming out of choice benefits.