Emirates is expanding its free inflight Wi-Fi service and linking it to Emirates Skywards, its frequent passenger scheme.
The changes to Emirates Onboard Wi-Fi mean that all Emirates Skywards Platinum and Gold members can enjoy free unlimited Wi-Fi during their Emirates flight, regardless of their class of travel.
Emirates Skywards members in First and Business class also get free unlimited Wi-Fi.
Economy passengers and non-Skywards members get only 20MB of free data usage within the first 2 hours of log in.
Additional data can be bought in 150MB or 500MB blocks, with tiered discounts for Skywards Silver and Blue members.
Concerns from economy passengers are already popping up with concerns about the cost on long haul flights, which are the basic business of Emirates.
Emirates says the 20MB of free data will suit passengers who are light Wi-Fi users looking to use email or check social media. Not much use then on a Dubai to New York flight of almost 15 hours.
Emirates.com says:
You can enjoy up to 20MB of free Wi-Fi within the first two hours of log in across all your devices on board most Emirates flights. That’s enough data to browse your favourite social networks and send messages.
But does that 20 MB cover ‘enough data to browse your favourite social networks and send messages’ for an entire flight, say the almost 15 hours from Dubai to New York?
Adel Al Redha, Emirates Vice President and Chief Operations Officer:
“Emirates has made significant investments in our inflight connectivity. Today, Wi-Fi services are available on over 200 of our aircraft, and it is a service that Emirates continues to subsidise heavily. Inflight Wi-Fi usage, already popular from the start, has grown tremendously. Our new inflight Wi-Fi plans reflect Emirates’ commitment to continue providing this as a free service for as many customers as possible, especially to our most frequent flyers.”
Emirates new service comes after the airline was exempted this week from a ban on carrying larger electronic devices onboard cabins on flights to the US.
Image credit: Emirates
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