In-flight Wi-Fi is one of our favorite modern technological advancements. Now, you no longer lose a day of work when flying to a business meeting; you can keep friends, family, and followers informed of the flight's progress; and you can even communicate with whomever is on the ground about when to pick us up from the airport.
But travelers often complain about the price of in-flight Wi-Fi. The solution is simple, particularly if you're flying on American, United, Virgin America, Delta, Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, or Japan Airlines, all of which use Gogo In-Flight Internet: Be sure to buy beforeyou fly.
Purchasing an all-day pass for in-flight Wi-Fi from Gogo's website costs only $16. But once you're in the air, the price jumps to $27.95 or higher, a rather large mark-up. On flights shorter than six hours, Gogo has additional options, such as one-hour passes, but these prices are also inflated. Buying before flying will cost you $5 for the one-hour pass versus $5 for 30 minutes when you're already in flight. You can even buy passes from your smartphone while still on the ground waiting for the boarding process to finish if you want to avoid the higher price.
Fortunately most airlines, like Virgin America and Delta, offer the option of adding an all-day Wi-Fi pass to your ticket at the time of booking, typically for a fee of about $16. But if you forget to add it on, at least be sure to buy your Wi-Fi before you get on the plane.
This post originally appeared on Jaunted on May 12, 2015; it has since been updated.