How to get FREE Live TV on FLIGHTS

  

On my last flight with Southwest Airlines, two things got my attention. When I entered the plane, I noticed that there was a sticker, next to the entrance, it had the Wi-Fi symbol with the text “Wi-Fi onboard”. On opening the in-flight magazine there was an advertisement labeled: “Enjoy free live TV on this flight”. Normally I leave the Wi-Fi to others, because it’s slow and expensive. I can manage without email for a couple of hours. So as soon as the aircraft was above 10,000 feet there was the “ding” signal for the flight attendant to announce that the use of approved electronic devices is permitted.

I got my iPad and followed the instructions in the Southwest Magazine; first went to settings, clicked on Wi-Fi, the “Southwest WiFi” network showed up, so I selected that network. Within a few seconds, my iPad connected to this network. After that, I launched Safari and to my surprise, the portal website showed up quickly.

Choice of $8 Wi-Fi or Free Live TV?

I had the choice of $8 Wi-Fi or Free Live TV, I choose the Live TV powered by Dish. Then I was offered this selection of TV stations:

• Bravo
• CNBC
• FOX 5 New York (WNYW)
• FOX Business Network
• FOX News Channel
• Golf Channel
• MLB.com (Major League Baseball), when games are available
• MSNBC
• NBC 4 (WNBC)
• NFL Network

In addition, there are lots of video on demand channels. I settled for Fox News, and clicked on the link for Fox news channel, within a few seconds the video streaming screen appeared on my iPad. I clicked on the Play Icon and Fox News started to stream to my iPad. The Quality was very good, in fact, it was as good as my home TV .

I also checked out the live flight tracker, which gives you a map with the aircraft, plotted at the location where you are presently flying. At the bottom, you can see the remaining distance, ground speed, altitude, weather conditions to arriving city and estimated arrival time.

I liked watching TV on Southwest Airlines, (on my own iPad), and it was the best flight tracker that I have seen onboard an airplane. I hope my next flight has a sticker with “Wi-Fi on Board”!