Boingo Wireless is expanding its reach to the skies today with a new partnership with Gogo, a company that powers wireless internet connectivity on airplanes. With the new partnership, Boingo customers can now log in to Gogo using their existing Boingo account (as opposed to using or creating a Gogo account).
Boingo says that this Gogo internet access includes more than 1,100 planes. No on the Gogo home pages, users will be able to choose Boingo as their provider and log in with their existing Boingo username and password. Users who have Boingo’s Wi-Finder app can also log-in to Gogo as well by accepting the flight segment charge and entering a CAPTCHA validation phrase.
Of course, Boingo users (who pay a monthly or yearly fee for access), will also have to pay another fee for in-flight access. Users will be paid $4.95, $9.95 or $12.95 per flight based on the length of the flight. Smartphone users will pay $4.95 or $7.95, depending on the flight duration.
So the main benefit to Boingo’s million-plus users is that they can simply use their account to access the internet on flights, as opposed to creating a new account with Gogo (which I’ve had to do). The good news is that Gogo is powering wireless connectivity for most major airlines, including AirTran Airways, Delta Airlines, Virgin America, Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, United Airlines, and US Airways.