Google is offering free in-flight wi-fi using GoGo and Chrome on three airlines and 700 planes in the U.S. from Nov. 20 to Jan. 2. Image: CC davitydave/Flickr
Google is offering free in-flight wi-fi over the holidays. To promote the Google Chrome browser, free in-flight wi-fi on select airlines begins Nov. 20 and runs through Jan 2, 2011. Free in-flight wi-fi from Google will be available on any wireless device.
Free GoGo In-flight Internet
Google will be offering free GoGo in-flight wi-fi for the holidays on Delta, AirTran and Virgin America. GoGo Inflight Internet service usually costs $4.95 on flights of one-and-a-half hours or less. The cost goes to $9.95 for flights up to three hours and $12.95 for flights longer than three hours. Gogo Inflight Internet is the most popular in-flight wi-fi service in the U.S. GoGo said that free wi-fi will be accessible on more than 700 airplanes and the company expects 15 million air travellers to take advantage of the offer.
How to get free in-flight wi-fi
When the Google free in-flight wi-fi promotion begins, any passenger with a smartphone, tablet or laptop can go online by logging on at a special gogoinflight.com landing page sponsored by Google. Once logged in, users are directed to a second page loaded with links that sell Google’s Chrome browser and a Chrome download link. Last year Google offered free in-flight wi-fi during the holidays solely on Virgin America. A Virgin America spokesman told CNN that passengers have been steadily increasing in-flight wi-fi use since the airline made GoGo available in 2008.
Millions will take Chrome for a test flight
Last holiday season Google also sponsored free wi-fi in dozens of U.S. airports, but not this time around. Of the three airlines participating in free wi-fi for the holidays, Delta is the largest, with about 550 GoGo-equipped planes worldwide. The airline said it expects more than 11 million of its passengers to take advantage of Google’s Chrome promotion. Google Chrome has nearly doubled its market share to 8.5 percent in the browser market since last year’s holiday wi-fi promotion.
Sources
