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Oh I know I am going to get maybe one or two slightly negative comments about today’s post (let alone the title). So please bear with me before you start to type a comment.
Let me thus begin with the fact that I am not a fan of locked wifi speeds. For example, the Westin that is right next door to the main “A” Sky Club in DTW, locks the speed as you can see above. It is free wifi as a CrossoverRewards elite, but it is limited free just like many other hotels; if you want full speed you must pay more!
So just what am I going on about then and what is my idea. I tested as you see from the above speed test, the main Sky Club “A” WiFi speed very early in the day. At just past 6:AM the performance was just kickin’ fast. If Delta could keep this speed going all day long no one would ever gripe about the speed in the Sky Clubs.
Now let’s think about from both a user and Delta’s point of view. The plus side, if Delta were to limit the speed to say 1MB for free in the clubs no one user could slurp a ton of bandwidth (I would never do that like stream video from my TiVo)! From Delta’s side, they could still give away free WiFi, but also sell unrestricted speed access or give this perk away to Sky Club members giving some value back after #SkunkyGate!
It does not take many of us to impact Sky Club wifi performance. I moved over from the A club to the B/C club just a few hours later and you can see the difference in performance above. The club was also packed by this point so I really was impressed I was getting this much throughput.
So what do you think? Is this another source that Delta’s revenue management is missing out on or one more “enhancement” that would drive you away from the Sky Club. I have my bullet proof shirt on today, but all I ask is you keep it PG-13, as always, on the blog! – René
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Rene,
I think the real main point of your post is in one word “packed”. I find the clubs becoming almost unbearable because of the number of people packed into them. It is hard to find a seat and one near an electrical outlet forget it.
@Craig – yeah you are spot on there! 🙁
I think they are charging enough $$$ that the wifi should remain a component of our yearly fees. It’s not free!!! My gosh they charge for certain beers now. Enough!!
During the “packed” times in the club I know it will be a slug moment for speed. At times it has been so slow at SLC I have been kicked out of some websites. Do I think they should charge for mega speed? No, unless they can target the day pass people. Leave the Diamond, Platinum and Gold with free ultra high speed. They have taken enough away.
@PCB – you make my point a bit. A day pass or a single use pass would only get 1MB free. If you only give mega speed to Sky Club members it is a perk. Now, selling to others is the Delta “way” too 😉
Because of the way they offer unrestricted access you can often see people lining the terminal outside the Skyclub door using the “free” Delta Wi-Fi. I would think a good start would be to require some authentication to get online.
@wes – another good point! it would be a bit of a pain to have an extra step but yes it would end that. Or, they could like KLM does, make it the date plus the word delta as the code each day. Simple and quick and those outside would not know it (most not all)!
I think I pay enough for decent wifi (and Luxury Bar charges) with the Reserve card, even though. DL is the only airline with a club card product that doesn’t actually make you a member of the club. Besides, I travel with a 4G LTE MiFi nowadays, and typically don’t even bother with their wifi.
@MJ – Delta knows you are a pay-up kinda guy (no skunkygate for you) so why not get a few more $$$ 😉
You are starting to think like Delta. I would not consider keeping the wifi access I currently have as a perk even if others did had to pay. Isn’t Delta making enough money from us loyal fliers?
@john – maybe true but at the same time loyal fliers should get more than a 1x Sky Club pass. Yes or no?
I have a different view point. I paid for my access to the club, and every year the perks I paid for become less. IMO when I bought my membership they said we will give you “x” for “y” $. I thought it was fair and paid. Now they are saying you paid “y”, but we are only going to provide you with “x minus z” because we want to make more $, if you don’t like it leave.
This is a dishonest way to run a business. So using your topic of premium internet,it would be the same as saying, we used to give our BEST internet for free, now you can have crappy for free, but PAY for the best. Dishonest IMO, even if it is legal.
It is different to introduce premium services that never existed, but not to reduce ones we had a deal on. BTW, I have a lifetime membership from NWA days, so when I view this, I view it as a long term deal that both sides entered into. Furthermore, half the time the wifi is so bad, I use my phone as a hotspot instead, so they are already failing to deliver part of what they promised me when I bought a membership. Charging would only be a deliberate statement of “we hate our customers” from Delta IMO.
@Steve G – can’t say I disagree with what you say. It is even more forceful as one who has lifetime membership and would likely benefit from a change (if members got free top speed)!
I’m not sure what loyal fliers should get if they are not skyclub members. I just know that I would not view keeping the same wifi access I have now as a perk. In fact I’d view it as a likely precursor to charging me a fee, but maybe less than the the fee others are charged.
I can assure you that if you are in a Sky Club later in the day like I am right now with many people on-line the Internet speed is not blazing. So why should I pay for a rate that may or may not be provided or at the expense of others in the Sky Club. The continued unbundling of services is a scam on the part of the airline industry to squeeze the flying public and nickel and dime them for services one should expect to be covered when one buys a ticket. It is a plague that is spreading into other travel related businesses, i.e. cruise lines.