Exciting news for people who people looking to kill time on airplanes.
People complain, with good reason, these days that air travel is just getting worse all the time.
Flights are abruptly canceled more and more often, luggage is getting lost more frequently and let’s not even get started on the epidemic of people constantly getting into fights on flights. (We used to live in a society.)
And yet, we all have family members to see, business trips to partake in and vacations to attend to. (Take those vacation days, people. Gotta do the self-care.) So we’re stuck with air travel whether we like it or not.
And while the industry has seemingly little ability to make the necessary changes to make travel more pleasant (or at least not aggressively unpleasant) T-Mobile is doing its part to make things a bit easier for its customers.
What Is T-Mobile Doing For Traveling Customers?
T-Mobile (TMUS) – Get T-Mobile US Inc. Report recently announced a new program called Coverage Beyond. Starting this summer, it has partnered with Wi-Fi providers to give customers free high-speed connectivity with streaming devices on several airlines.
So customers will be connected both overseas and domestically, at no extra cost. Customers can not only text, e-mail and doomscroll on Twitter (TWTR) – Get Twitter Inc. Report, they can also stream to their heart’s content. So if you have a long-flight, maybe this is your time to check out the movie-sized episodes of “Stranger Things” on Netflix (NFLX) – Get Netflix Inc. Report you’ve been putting off, or check out some new podcasts.
Additionally, T-Mobile has plans that come with a discount on YouTube TV and, depending on the price tier, a subscription to Paramount+ (VIAB) – Get Viacom Inc. Class B Report.
The company has touted that this savings is a stark comparison to its chief rival AT&T, which can charge up to $2.05 per megabyte, abroad, which can very quickly add up.
“Our mission is to be the best in the world at connecting customers to their world, and that means making sure your phone just works wherever you go – even if you travel beyond our signal,” said Mike Sievert, CEO, T-Mobile in a statement. “We pioneered coverage in-flight and abroad, and today we’re going full throttle to change the game again. This is what the Un-carrier does – hunts down pain points, smashes them, and changes the game for good.”
What’s The Catch?
While this sounds like a nice way to while away the time, especially if the in-flight movie options aren’t doing it for you, there are a few caveats here.
Obviously, you have to be a T-Mobile customer, but you also have to have the Magenta MAX or Magenta plans, which run between $60 to $70 a month. And the lower priced plan only covers four flights per year, with a free hour for every flight after that.
So far the deal only extends to Delta (DAL) – Get Delta Air Lines Inc. Report, American (AAL) – Get American Airlines Group Inc. Report and Alaska Airlines (ALK) – Get Alaska Air Group Inc. Report, with United Airlines (UAL) – Get United Airlines Holdings Inc. Report expected to follow.
