Hello from somewhere over Eastern Tennessee!  I’m currently flying out to San Francisco – earlier, I flew from Greensboro to Charlotte, and am now flying from Charlotte to San Francisco.

Most major airlines these days are adding wifi to their planes, and many use Gogo as the service provider (including American, which I’m currently flying on).  Recently, in-flight wifi prices have been on the rise, and they can definitely add up, especially on longer flights, as the pricing naturally changes based on flight duration, so here’s a tip to save on in flight wifi prices:

The Greensboro to Charlotte hop is usually between 20-30 minutes in flight, which means that wifi will be available for a maximum of 10-20 minutes during flight (since it’s only available when the plane is above 10,000 ft)…but I made sure to hop on and purchase a Gogo day pass during this flight.  Why?  A mobile day pass purchased on this Greensboro to Charlotte flight was $16.95.  Now that I’m on board Charlotte to San Francisco?  $36.95!

On the short Greensboro to Charlotte flight, Gogo doesn’t necessarily know whether I’m connecting to another 30 minute flight, or to a ~6 hour cross country flight.  So even though I barely got to use the service at all between Greensboro and Charlotte, it saved me $20 by hopping on and buying the pass then.  Even the single flight pass for this Charlotte to San Francisco flight was $10 more than the $16.95 day pass I purchased on my first leg.

To save even more on in flight wifi prices, you can purchase your Gogo pass in advance, directly from the Gogo website.  Mobile day passes purchased in advance are only $16, and can be used anytime up to 1 year from purchase (you can purchase now for an upcoming flight, but you don’t necessarily have to use it then).

I know that United uses a different service for in-flight wifi, so I’m honestly not sure if this same tip would apply to their flights…if anyone happens to know, please leave a comment below!  Otherwise, the next time you’re flying and have a short flight connecting to a longer flight, it could definitely be worth grabbing your in-flight wifi pass on that shorter flight!