Looking for Southwest Wifi? One of the many benefits of traveling with Southwest Airlines is access to WiFi now on ALL of their flights. While the airline does not have completely free WiFi for computer usage, playing video games or texting, you can purchase it for a reasonable cost. You can, however, access Southwest’s in flight entertainment network via your personal device that you bring on board for FREE.
Their free entertainment network allows you to access live TV for many networks, as well as certain TV shows via your smartphone, iPad, etc. (see full list of supported devices). This always helps entertain our kids, so we like to log into the WiFi as soon as possible. Plus, I always like to work while flying Southwest (I consider it my flying office :)), so I enjoy access to the WiFi for surfing the Web and email.
What Activities Can You Do on Southwest WiFi?
- Access to 19 live TV channels and 75 episodes from popular TV series. Southwest has also added ESPN, ESPN2 and the Disney Channel to their line-up of television options. Travelers can catch ESPN sports nearly from take-off to touchdown. That’s great news for sports fans who may be missing a key game when flying. I remember watching the World Cup games on network TV on a Southwest plane a couple years ago!
- Surf the web on your computer or personal device. Note: The airline does attempt to filter indecent content.
- Watch a movie.
- Play a game.
- Track your flight’s location.
- Watch live or on-demand TV.
What Is the Cost?
- For $8 per day (it works on multiple flights over the course of a day, which is very helpful if you have to change planes), you can get connected to the Internet for email, browsing, work, etc. NetFlix and HBO Go are not available due to high bandwidth required. If you pay for Internet access with your Southwest credit card, you will earn double points, though really that’s only 16 points ;-).
- Rent a movie for $5 per movie.
- A-List Preferred members get WiFi on Southwest Airlines FREE!
How to Connect to the WiFi on Southwest Step by Step:
- Before you board the plane, download the Airtime app or computer plug-in if you think you may want to watch a movie.
- Set device to Airplane Mode and then turn on WiFi.
- Select Southwest WiFi and connect.
- Open your browser and if not automatically connected to the system, type: www.southwestwifi.com.
- Select your TV show, movie, etc. or pay for Internet access.
What’s Coming for Southwest Airlines WiFi?
Southwest’s entire fleet is now WiFi enabled as of October 1, 2017. They say they are also working to triple the speed by the end of 2017 by working with several companies to increase bandwidth. Hooray!
They are planning an even greater speed increase by mid-2018. I’ve noticed the quality of the wifi on Southwest does seem to be improving.
Have more Southwest WiFi questions? Here are Southwest’s FAQs on the topic.
Plus, here are 9 Things to Know Before Boarding a Southwest Plane.
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Read More:
- Southwest Early Bird Check In FAQs
- Tips for Smooth, Stress-Free Southwest Check In
- 9 Tips for Traveling on Southwest Airlines
- What is Southwest Business Select?
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