How about just having a flat fee for mobile devices and a flat fee for computers? Say $3 and $6?

For people who fly a lot - can we pay a flat rate for a year's worth of internet?

Wifi is a great idea -- I, for one, would pay for it. However, please don't let it lead to allowing cell phones -- talk about air rage!

Why would you charge employees? And, $12 is too much for ANY domestic flight. Should be a single rate, flat fee. All that being said, this is exciting! Go Southwest!

I would love having the choice to connect to wi-fi on Southwest Airlines. The price point around $10 would be fine on longer flights. Make sure it works with connecting flights. In most cases, travelers would be reimbursed by their businesses. Great. Roll with it, you will not get very much price resistance.

What are the flights that this will be on July 9th and July 17th? (We are flying out and back from San Diego)

Follow the Apple App Store - if you price any length of trip at $12, you will remove a large number of impulse purchases. If you keep it to $2-3 no matter what, you'll get a huge number of people to pay for it for any device. I personally won't pay $12 for any length of flight (well, maybe international, but Southwest doesn't have those), considering hotel wifi and many other hotspot wifi locations are typically at around $10-$15 per *DAY* for a laptop or whatever kind of device you may have. So, for a 3-5hr flight, I think $12 would destroy impulse buy market and only suck in a few business people. Just like the inflight phone calls that nobody uses. If it's too much money, it's worse than nothing at all. In fact, I'd make the argument that in the long run, making it free would actually cause more people to fly Southwest simply because of the wifi availability, which would most likely yield much more money than the $2-$12 wifi tax.

Might it make more sense to absorb the cost of providing wi-fi service in with the cost of the fare thus offering free wi-fi to all passengers?

Imho this is definitely a must for Business Select passengers (given the cost of the ticket) at a minimum. This would also offer SWA an opportunity to further differentiate themselves from other airlines and capitalize on market share similar to the "Fees don't fly with us" campaign.

Another option you may want to consider is providing options for a monthly or annual wi-fi access key in addition to a per-flight rate if the cost of including the service with the cost of the fare would drive the price point higher than you want to take it while keeping margins.

It's a great idea!!! Definitely love the idea of monthly/annual access. Another great idea is adding it to your gates. Some airports have wifi, but it's a fortune! So, add wifi to the gate and the plane so that they can use it in both places. :D $12 is a bit expensive though. Maybe look more towards $3.

I LOVE SOUTHWEST AIRLINES!!!!! (I even love your stock!)

Personally I feel that $12 is too much for any length of flight. The price would have to be more competitive to encourage me to pull out my laptop and use it rather than wait to get to wherever I was going, or rather than pay approx. $7 to connect at the airport beforehand. In addition, I do not agree that the cost of wifi should be built into the cost of the flight unless the increase is nominal. As great as free wifi would be, I am perfectly willing to wait the duration of my flight to use the internet, and it is more important to me that the price of the fare remain as low as possible. I'm sure business travelers wouldn't mind a built in wifi cost since they are more likely to use it and are reimbursed by their companies, but not all vacation and leisure travelers are willing to pay an increase in fare in order to satisfy the business class (unless, as I mentioned before, the increase is nominal).

What would be ideal for people who are traveling long distances, and probably were at the first airport for over an hour and then got on a flight and then possibly have a long lay over before another flight, would be to coordinate the providers in the airports (often T-Mobile) and on the plane so that people who are traveling all day can pay for access all day.

My previous suggestion aside, It might be nice to give people the option to connect for half an hour, an hour, or the full flight. If I'm using my laptop I'll probably want to connect for the full flight, but if I'm on my phone I'll probably just check my e-mail, maybe send 1 or 2 replies and be done with it.

I would also agree with the people above who have said that it would be nice if the wifi was included in the price of the Business class tickets (which I never get nowadays...) or for premium frequent flyers (which I probably don't qualify for nowadays! either, dang!).

I think increasing your fare and offering this free to your passengers would be a bad policy because so many families travel on SW and they don't want to pay so that their kids, who don't have lap tops and internet-capable cell phones, could potentially use the wifi, etc. I think it's reasonable to ask people to pay for wifi if they want to use it - as long as you don't start charging for peanuts, soda, blankets, pillows, and checked luggage! :D

Looking forward to when WiFi is offered fleet-wide. I'm sure SWA is looking for the simplest way to price this. I would think doing a per day charge would be the fairest way, say $7.95 per day. I think a per day charge would be a good option for those folks who need to change plans or are on single-plane direct flights across the country and need to log on and off for landing/takeoff. It would also be a good value for those flying to and from a location in one day, i.e. Islip to Midway in the morning and Midway to Islip in the evening.

In addition, perhaps you could offer a multi-use discount, which could be purchased at time of use or prior to a trip and provide a discount for Rapid Rewards members.

Thanks for providing an opportunity for feedback.

I would pay $3 for internet access. I would also like to suggest free wifi in the terminal as well

This is a fantastic idea! However $12 is way too high to motivate me to use it, however I'd be willing to pay if it was under $10. An even better idea is John Miller's suggestion of distributing the cost among all the travelers.. I think $1-3/person is reasonable enough that SWA still makes some money, while passengers who may not use the feature are still willing to absorb the nominal cost. And the rest of us users will feel the LUV!!

The other alternatives might be to :
- Use the flat fee, and allow travelers to pre-pay at a discounted rate for a wireless key (or discount attached to the Rapid Rewards #) during the airline ticket purchase... or pay the regular rate on the plane.

- Offer an hourly rate around $2-$3/ hour. This will address the fact that computer use ranges between 1-3 hours after you factor in the time frame when electronic devices can actually be used.

However, I think the win-win is for SWA to distribute the cost among all the travelers, so that the company is guarenteed to make a few bucks, and travelers have an added convenience to the traveling experience (which is bad enough between TSA & all the limitations!!!)

Also, will electrical outlets be available?

p.s. I second Lisa Lisa's comment on NO CELLPHONES!! Please!! Private computer use w/ earbuds is absolutely fine, but I don't want to hear my neighbor on the phone flapping his about how he's on the airplane and hasn't landed yet, blablabla.

seems somewhat complicated and sounds like it might be a little expensive. It would be good to have an account system for frequent flyers. Maybe a monthly membership like boingo does or something like that.

I hope SW keeps the cost only to those who want it. Don't raise fares....let the ones who want to use wi-fi pay and the ones who just want to sleep and relax not have to pony up any money~

How about this: $8 for 24 hours of WiFi tired to that MAC address?

Southwest does not have power ports in their aircraft. My Mac laptop lasts about 3-4 hours on a charge (w/ WiFi on), and for a flight I wouldn't want to bring spare batteries. I would hate to have to pay $12 for Laptop WiFi and only use 3 hours of it because my laptop battery died. A lot of older laptops generally have older batteries and I am sure not everyone is traveling with their most expensive computer.

Just a thought.

I find value in pricing differences for a one hour flight vs a five hour flight I suppose. But adding a price difference per type of equipment that I could use does nothing for me other than confuse and "nickel & dime" the experience. I would rethink this strategy and come up with something a little simpler. Additionally, I think the pricing of up to $12 is much to high. Even on a five hour flight, I would be hesitant to buy it. I would suggest a max of $8.

In regards to previous comments from others, I agree with adding free WiFi to Business Select customers and adding WiFi coupons in your frequent flyer program.

Thanks for experimenting and looking for the best value and program offerings. As always, I am happy that you look for comments from your customers.

you pride yourself on not having any add-on fees like other airlines. and you make a national advertising campaign out of that fact. make it free and stay true to your promise to your loyal customers to not have add-on fees!

I think Business Select customers should get free internet access reguardless of length of the flight. You people know the price of internet access. If you don't like the price, dont buy it. How hard is that? If people use it, don't expect Southwest to lower the price. If no one uses it, then the price will probably come down. Supply and demand!

Can you offer discounts for buying it in advance when you purchase a ticket? Or maybe some sort of bulk purchase discount? I'm very interested, but don't want it to be too expensive, which I think most of the hot spots from T-Mobile really are.

Business Select and A-List Customers should get WiFi as a perk (i.e. free). You might also offer it free when someone earns a Rapid Rewards award - as you do with the drink tickets.

Other Customers should get WiFi for a minimal charge - I'd be disinclined to pay more than $5 unless I were going to be traveling all day - and this should be per trip. If the Customer signs in with their PNR, it should be possible to know whether that Customer has already paid on a flight earlier that day and not charge them again (and if you also verify that the Customer is signing in aboard a flight that matches their PNR, then it's harder to cheat - not that we know anyone who would).

Yes, the revenue helps, but this is Southwest. And WiFi is free at Motel 6, the public library, etc.

anything more than a couple bucks would be prohibitive. I agree with the posters that say you should just wrap it in the price of the ticket. if you must charge, then offer it free for the business folks....and as a bennie for being a rapid reward member.

bottom line... don't start down the add-ons path the other airlines have been doing.

Thanks for moving forward with this...

SW Traveler

Please, NO CELL PHONES. Many travelers are weary and like to sleep on the plane. I don't want to hear people on cell phones and I don't want to hear the sound on someone's computer. How do I carry on a normal conversation with my traveling companion when people are gabbing (and, let's face it, they are ALWAYS talking as if everyone is deaf) on their phones? It is just as bad with undisciplined children.

Considering how packed in people are on planes as it is, I will NOT be responsible when I accidentally bump someone either reaching down for something or getting up to go to the restroom, or when the plane is flying through some bad air, and I inadvertently knock their computer. Will the airline tell people to stop all use of their electronic stuff if there is turbulence? Computers generate a lot of heat, so that will not be good for us flyers who are packed in to a small space.

Further, why should I have to pay for YOUR computer use if the the fee gets bundled into the airfare? There are actually some of us who do not feel they have to be reachable and connected 24/7, and there are tons of us who don't carry a computer when we travel or even have a cell phone. (When you get to be on a small fixed income, you will come to appreciate what budgeting is really all about.) There are a ton of retirees out there living on fixed incomes, who are not in the working world where you can't live without a computer or cell phone for a couple of hours. Really. What did you do before computers and cell phones, or perhaps you have never had a life where that existed.

$12 is a rip off SW. GoGo charges $9.95 max for 3 hours or more. Flights under 3 hours at $4.95 I believe. Why not copy there model? Also, I agree that $49.95 or $99.95 is a great idea for a yearly fee and all Rapid Rewards members should have a discount/free wifi.