T-Mobile customers now get free in-flight Wi-Fi on United Airlines flights, making it the fourth airline the carrier has partnered with after Alaska Airlines, American and Delta.
Customers get the same deal on United as on the other airlines as part of T-Mobile’s Coverage Beyond perks: subscribers of T-Mobile’s priciest Magenta Max tier get unlimited Wi-Fi and streaming, while the cheaper Magenta plans get access for the first hour of flights — or four passes per year for unlimited data for the entire flight. All tiers get unlimited texting.
T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi giveaway is just the latest perk offered as the carriers increasingly compete for your business with add-ons on top of the core wireless service. T-Mobile has long pushed access on planes — starting with unlimited text messages back in 2014 — as a feature that helped it stand apart from the pack.
There are some caveats. Only certain planes in United’s fleet will support free Wi-Fi for T-Mobile customers: some Boeing 737, 757 and Airbus A319 aircraft that have Viasat and Thales online internet.
T-Mobile revamped its Magenta tier perks for better travel benefits in June to include 5GB of high-speed data “up to 5G speeds” in over 215 countries, after which subscribers get unlimited data at 256Kbps, up from 128Kpbs previously.