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Southwest Airlines Offering In-Flight iMessaging for $2 Per Day

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,554
30,882



Southwest Airlines is offering passengers the ability to send and receive iMessages from their iOS devices in-flight for $2 per day. In-flight Wi-Fi access for all applications is available for $8 per device per day.

It's likely that the airline is opening up iMessage related ports to users who pay the $2, while users who pay more receive access to in-flight email, social networks and the like. For a limited time, all users receive access to 13 live television channels on laptops and iOS devices for free.

imessagesouthwest.jpg
Beginning today, Southwest is enabling iMessage for $2 a day!

Any Apple user that has iOS 5 or later with the iMessage feature pre-loaded on their device can take advantage of this option. Now you can stay powered up and connected to friends and family like you never left the ground.
Click to expand...
In-flight Wi-Fi is not yet available on all Southwest flights, but the airline has a Wi-Fi finder on its website so flyers can check if their aircraft will support the service.

Southwest Airlines flies within the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Thanks to MacRumors Forum member Lumpydog for the screenshot!

Article Link: Southwest Airlines Offering In-Flight iMessaging for $2 Per Day
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/11/southwest-airlines-offering-in-flight-imessaging-for-2-per-day/
C

Col Ronson

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2008
619
2
funny ive been able to imessage for free on southwest by connceting to the wifi and not paying. Have they blocked the imessage ports after discovering this trick?

shame lol.
 
E

edk99

macrumors 6502a
May 27, 2009
859
1,409
FL
I don't get this. Every airline that I've been on that has wi-fi I've been able to iMessage. :confused::confused:
 
S

Scott90

macrumors 6502
Jul 14, 2008
273
0
The idea here is that if you only want WiFi for iMessage, you only have to pay $2. If you pay more, you get full-fletched access, including iMessage.
 
shardey

shardey

macrumors 6502a
Jan 28, 2010
710
45
Colorado
Wow, paying $2 to send kilobytes worth of data? I thought paying per text message was enough of a rip off.
 
C

Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,553
While good if you just want to imessage, it could set a bad precedent in the future. "Want to use your Netflix app instead of our in- flight TV? That'll be an extra $2 on top of your $8 wifi fee."
 
WildCowboy

WildCowboy

Administrator/Editor
Staff member
Jan 20, 2005
18,390
2,829
Cougarcat said:
While good if you just want to imessage, it could set a bad precedent in the future. "Want to use your Netflix app instead of our in- flight TV? That'll be an extra $2 on top of your $8 wifi fee."
Click to expand...

Netflix, HBO GO, VoIP, and other services are already excluded from the Wi-Fi access on Southwest.
 
K

kyacker

macrumors newbie
Dec 11, 2013
4
0
iEnvy said:
What a joke.
Click to expand...

I think the joke is how much information was missed or misleading in this article. I fly SWA weekly. Essentially they're giving you a way to pay $2 rather than the normal $8 to just get iMessages rather than paying full boat for wifi if you don't need it. Seems pretty fair to me if that's all you're looking for. Gogo inflight on the other airlines doesn't offer the same option. (monthly subscriber)

Also, you don't have to pay for wifi to get the television channels on your devices for free. Dish Network has been sponsoring the television channels for the last 3-5 months at no charge.

I'll look around to see the real number but it's my understanding that only a few of the 737-300 jets are the only that remain that don't have wifi. I haven't had a wifi-less flight on SWA in about 8 months. The article makes it sound like there aren't many with wifi.

Last, a-list preferred members get wifi for free. It's a great perk for frequent fliers and not offered by the other airlines...
 
L

Lumpydog

macrumors 6502
Aug 3, 2007
373
108
From my Southwest flight right now

Yep. Am on a Southwest flight now. See pic
 

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nutmac

nutmac

macrumors 603
Mar 30, 2004
6,059
7,332
shardey said:
Wow, paying $2 to send kilobytes worth of data? I thought paying per text message was enough of a rip off.
Click to expand...

For some, $2 for just iMessage (other types of messaging will be added in the future) is a superior value than paying $8 for the entire Internet. I am all for Southwest giving choices.

I only wish I can use Rapid Reward points toward these add-ons.
 
W

winston1236

macrumors 68000
Dec 13, 2010
1,902
319
Two dollars isn't terrible I guess. So how do they know you just didn't turn your phone on your own carriers network?
 
K

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
Great, for $2 I can message only my friends who use iMessage!

They'd be better including all messaging apps (excluding voice). Ability to use WhatsApp for $2 during the flight is more appealing.
 
T

ToomeyND

macrumors 6502a
Sep 14, 2011
563
378
The point is not paying $8 for internet if all you want to do is iMessage. This is a good thing, not a rip-off. It gives the smaller users a smaller package to purchase.

And you don't need to pay for internet to get the tv channels. Those are provided free from Dish Network.
 
O

otakuon

macrumors member
Jun 18, 2009
50
9
They have had this for awhile now. I was on a SWA flight a few weeks ago and noticed the option to pay $2 for iMessage only access. Also noticed that they raised the price of in-flight WiFi from $5 to $8...which for a 1 hour flight is not really worth it (there should be options to pay by the hour...like $1/hour).
 
L

lwood1

macrumors 6502
Aug 2, 2008
254
1
SoCal
Col Ronson said:
funny ive been able to imessage for free on southwest by connceting to the wifi and not paying. Have they blocked the imessage ports after discovering this trick?

shame lol.
Click to expand...

I thought I was the only one that knew about this. HAHA!

By the way, this has been available on Southwest for about two months now...
 
bigjnyc

bigjnyc

macrumors 604
Apr 10, 2008
7,856
6,769
Cougarcat said:
While good if you just want to imessage, it could set a bad precedent in the future. "Want to use your Netflix app instead of our in- flight TV? That'll be an extra $2 on top of your $8 wifi fee."
Click to expand...

It's not $2 on top of the $8.... its either $2 for just imessage or $8 to get everything including imessage. this is an option for those who dont want to get everything and just need to or want to send messages. they are not stuck paying the full $8
 
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