It can be hard being stuck in a plane 36,000 feet above the ground and no Wi-Fi. Obviously, cell towers can’t reach you, so you’re stuck with whatever in-flight Wi-Fi solution your specific airline has. Some, like JetBlue, have completely free Wi-Fi for everyone, but most of them require some form of payment.
Now, your airline options for free Wi-Fi have widened—and all thanks to T-Mobile.
Southwest Airlines has announced a partnership with T-Mobile, where T-Mobile will provide in-flight Wi-Fi services on Southwest flights. The airline will provide complimentary, unlimited WiFi to all its Rapid Rewards loyalty program members (which is free).
Passengers don’t even need to be T-Mobile customers to access the service—any traveler enrolled in the airline’s free Rapid Rewards program will be eligible.
Passengers who are not yet Rapid Rewards members can sign up before their travel date or even enroll while in-flight to gain immediate access to the complimentary internet service. That’s probably a more decent use of your time than looking at the seat pamphlets awkwardly for two hours because there’s no seatback screen, so you might as well.
T-Mobile has partnerships with several airlines for in-flight Wi-Fi. For some, like American Airlines, it gives free Wi-Fi for T-Mobile customers, while in others, like Delta and now Southwest, the service is provided to all loyalty program members, with T-Mobile acting as the service provider.
Pretty cool. Keep an eye out for this in your next Southwest flight.
