Blog’n Sky High

When I go to Europe, I typically fly the non-stop SAS flight from Seattle to Copenhagen. I’ve always like this stop since it was non-stop and there are normal electrical outlets for PCs in business class. On my way to Europe, I saw the literature on the plane for Wi-Fi service. The SAS slogan is “You’ve surfed the waves, You’ve surfed the wind. Now surf the clouds.” I like to sleep on the way over as the flight from Seattle departs at 7 PM and arrives into Copenhagen around 1:30 PM local time. As such, I try to catch a nap after dinner. However, the return flight leaves at 4 PM local time and arrives in Seattle at 5 PM. As such, I’m typically awake the majority of this flight. As such, I thought I’d try to be productive by using the network access service. I was able to connect to the AP without incident. The sign-up procedure seemed excessive. I had to first create an account and then log in. During the log in I had to enter my credit card information. I’m not sure if the credit card information was tied to my account enabling a fast log on during my next flight. If not, then there isn’t any reason to create the log in account, but I could not tell if this was in fact the case. I trust that it is.

Once I spent the ten minutes or so creating an account, logging in, then entering my credit card information, I was online. I was able to connect to my email server and download mail. This worked great for about 15 minutes. Then the connection simply failed. I tried without success to reestablish connectivity. I could still connect to the AP and obtain an IP address from the DHCP server. It appeared the problem was getting out of the plane. The attendants on the plane stated this was because we were in between satellites. The pamphlet on the plane describing the service stated I would be connected the entire flight and didn’t mention anything about dead spots. After 30 minutes of being between satellites, I asked the SAS purser how I could get my $30 back. He stated there was nothing he could do and to contact connexion by Boeing. (1-800-522-2435) I’ll attempt to do that tomorrow, but imagine that effort will take more time than recovering the $30 is worth. I also found it very frustrating that SAS would not do anything to refund the money spent on a service they offer which didn’t work. When I suggested SAS take care of me, the purser’s response was simply that this was not possible.

The connexion service has great potential. However, I don’t think it is right that they are charging consumers $30 per flight for what is basically a beta service that may or may not work. (I’ve now been between satellites for over an hour…) This trial should be free and once they can guarantee quality, and then begin charging for the service. Not before. I know I will not try this service again in the near future and more importantly to SAS since they were unwilling to make this right by me, I’ll stop purchasing business class tickets on their airline. This vividly demonstrates how value-add services such as Wi-Fi hotspots put the establishment at risk. SAS offering this service while not standing behind it has the potential to cost them customers such as myself who pay substantially more than $30 for the flight. That could be a high price to pay for a very modest revenue on this service.

Update:
Connexion responded to my emails stating there was a problem with the service on the SAS flight. After they verified that fact, they credited my card the cost of the service for this flight. So, I have to believe that Connexion stands behind their service and will make things right by their customers if a problem occurs. It would have been nice if SAS could have conveyed that information to me on the flight. But, things worked out in the end.