A new plan from the Wi-Fi hotspot company Skyroam will make getting high-speed data in more than 110 countries more simple and potentially save users from hundreds of dollars in roaming fees. Their newly announced unlimited plan offers unlimited Wi-Fi at 4G LTE speeds for up to five of your devices for a flat fee of $99 a month.
The plan doesn’t require a contract but you’ll need to buy a Skyroam hotspot for $149 to use the service (or rent one for $10 a day, which doesn’t really add up). So, say goodbye to higher roaming bills while staying connected overseas.
For those that don’t travel as much, though, Skyroam may not be as great a deal. The T-Mobile One Plus International plan includes data coverage in many parts of the world for no extra charge.
But none of these alternatives has the Skyroam Solis hotspot’s other useful feature: With 16 hours of built-in battery life.
What airlines offer free WiFi?
North American airlines
- JetBlue Airways: Basic service is free, and premium service is $9 per hour.
European airlines
- Norwegian: Free service on flights within Europe and between the US and Caribbean (no service on transatlantic flights).
- Finnair: Business Class passengers and Finnair Plus Gold members can enjoy complimentary internet access for one hour. For Finnair Plus Platinum members the service is complimentary for the whole flight.
- Aer Lingus: WiFi is complimentary for Business Class passengers.
Middle Eastern airlines
- Emirates: The airlineoffers 10MB of data free to all passengers, with an extra 500MB for $1 on Airbus A380 aircraft.
- Qatar Airways: Free for the first 15 minutes, then $5 for one hour or $10 for three hours. On longer flights, passengers can access wifi for the duration of the trip for a flat fee of $20.
- Turkish Airlines: WiFi is complimentary for Business Class passengers, and for Economy Class passengers who are members of its Elite or Elite Plus rewards program.
Asian airlines
- Philippine Airlines: The airline offers 30 minutes of free inflight WiFi across all cabin classes.
- Air China: The airline offers free download speeds of up to 30Mbps, but the service is only available on domestic flights and can only be used on a tablet or laptop – not a smartphone.
- China Eastern: The airline offers free WiFi but passengers are limited to 258 yuan worth of use on both domestic and international flights.
- Nok Air: The airline offers free WiFi for the duration of the flight, although it is only available on a small number of aircraft.