All Entertainment To Be Free On Delta

airtechy · Fri Jun 03, 2016 7:19 pm

Looks like Delta is upping the anti ..

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel...tainment-free-all-fliers/85342210/

toobz · Fri Jun 03, 2016 7:21 pm

cant wait for the DL bashers to find something negative about this as well lol...but this is great news from an airline really trying to differentiate itself from the US3.

catiii · Fri Jun 03, 2016 7:23 pm

Quoting airtechy (Thread starter):

Looks like Delta is upping the anti ..

Haven't flown DL in a long while. How does Delta Studio differentiate from the free offerings on the JetBlue Hub, or the offerings UA has via its app?

[Edited 2016-06-03 12:26:31]

tb727 · Fri Jun 03, 2016 7:31 pm

Nothing is "free" it'll just be buried in the overall ticket price.

airtechy · Fri Jun 03, 2016 7:33 pm

Quoting catiii (Reply 2):
.....or the offerings UA has via its app?

For starters....the entertainment does not require an "app".

A330300 · Fri Jun 03, 2016 7:57 pm

Quoting airtechy (Reply 4):
For starters....the entertainment does not require an "app".

It does, unless you're flying on an aircraft with PTVs.

United Personal Device Entertainment

[Edited 2016-06-03 12:58:52]

United1 · Fri Jun 03, 2016 8:08 pm

Quoting tb727 (Reply 3):

Nothing is "free" it'll just be buried in the overall ticket price.

Are they going to remove all of the advertisements they make you watch on their current "free" content as well?

bomber996 · Fri Jun 03, 2016 8:08 pm

Quoting A330300 (Reply 5):
It does, unless you're flying on an aircraft with PTVs.

DL Streaming does not require an app.

Peace

United1 · Fri Jun 03, 2016 8:20 pm

Quoting bomber996 (Reply 7):

Quoting A330300 (Reply 5):
It does, unless you're flying on an aircraft with PTVs.

DL Streaming does not require an app.

You don't need an app to watch the streaming video content on UA if you are using a laptop....go to www.unitedwifi.com and select the entertainiment tab. The United app (same one you use to book your flight, check in and boarding pass ect.) has a built in player so usually easier to use that...

airzona11 · Fri Jun 03, 2016 8:29 pm

This is great. Having web based players and in seat TVs is certainly market leading when it comes to entertainment.

Southwests Wifi is the best IMO, but this Delta play is awesome.

mt99 · Fri Jun 03, 2016 9:35 pm

i recently flew ATL-BCN and MAD-ATL on delta - and i was very impressed with their IFE.

Great movie sections, easy to use - fast interface

sxf24 · Fri Jun 03, 2016 10:06 pm

Quoting bomber996 (Reply 7):
DL Streaming does not require an app.

Yes, it does. From Delta.com: To stream on your laptop (Windows 10 compatible), iPhone®, iPad®, or Android™ tablet device, you'll need the Gogo Entertainment App, available from the app store or via Delta Wi-Fi Portal once in flight. We recommend you download the app in advance so you can start watching quickly in the air.

11725Flyer · Fri Jun 03, 2016 10:09 pm

I'm not too sure if passengers will choose a DL flight based on this. It's a nice perk, but price remains supreme.

WesternDC6B · Fri Jun 03, 2016 11:03 pm

Quoting tb727 (Reply 3):
Nothing is "free" it'll just be buried in the overall ticket price.

I'd rather have checked bags with no fee than entertainment. I bring my own entertainment (Kindle); I don't need TV shows or movies.

Yflyer · Fri Jun 03, 2016 11:19 pm

Quoting mt99 (Reply 10):

i recently flew ATL-BCN and MAD-ATL on delta - and i was very impressed with their IFE.

Great movie sections, easy to use - fast interface

Agreed. Even on flights without PTVs I was able to stream the same selection of movies to my phone. DL has by far the best selection of entertainment of the legacies IMO. Admittedly I haven't had the opportunity to try UA's streaming entertainment yet, but I was not impressed with AA's. They only had a couple of complementary options, none of which were anything I was interested in watching, and it wasn't worth it to me to pay what they were asking just to watch a movie on my iPhone screen on a 3 hour flight.

RyanairGuru · Fri Jun 03, 2016 11:28 pm

Help me out here, how is this any different to what United have been doing for years?

United never charged for AVOD on domestic flights operated by AVOD equipped aircraft, unlike Delta, and the streaming is free on both. Delta splashed around a snazzy headline, but it is definitely not groundbreaking or even unique.

United1 · Fri Jun 03, 2016 11:38 pm

Quoting RyanairGuru (Reply 15):
Help me out here, how is this any different to what United have been doing for years?

It's not .....AVOD and streaming video on UA have been free worldwide since day one. The only charge for IFE on UA is DirecTV...something that UA would love to eliminate.

Glad to see DL catch up but this simply seems like DL trying to steal a little bit of UAs thunder after the Polaris announcement yesterday.

deltal1011man · Sat Jun 04, 2016 12:19 am

Quoting United1 (Reply 16):

It's not .....AVOD and streaming video on UA have been free worldwide since day one.

the difference here is that DL has the majority of it domestic fleet with AVOD or planning to mod them (or in the case of the 88, park them)

Domestically UA doesn't do AVOD.

Quoting United1 (Reply 16):

Glad to see DL catch up but this simply seems like DL trying to steal a little bit of UAs thunder after the Polaris announcement yesterday.

........... this is a joke right?

DL is trying to steal some of UA's thunder from an annulment that they are going to finally catch up to DL in international hard product? Of course by the time UA gets it's mods done, DL will be rolling out the new international product that is going to pass UA's new product.

Trying to steal UA's thunder. Ha, good one United1.

[Edited 2016-06-03 17:19:24]

lightsaber · Sat Jun 04, 2016 2:39 am

Quoting WesternDC6B (Reply 13):
I'd rather have checked bags with no fee than entertainment. I bring my own entertainment (Kindle); I don't need TV shows or movies.

I used to feel that way until I realized others having the free entertainment lets me read my Kindle! I even put on headphones (soft music to cover cabin noise), but play the IFE as for some reason too many people do not consider reading an activity. But if you have on the IFE, even if ignored, the drunk in the next seat is much less insistent on 'debating.'

Lightsaber

MSPNWA · Sat Jun 04, 2016 2:50 am

It's a nice little addition for DL. Good move. But it's more of a change to get a little step ahead of the others again than a huge enhancement.

Quoting United1 (Reply 16):
Glad to see DL catch up but this simply seems like DL trying to steal a little bit of UAs thunder after the Polaris announcement yesterday.

That crossed my mind too. I found it odd that this was plastered all over the Twin Cities news outlets. It's not a big or groundbreaking enhancement in comparison to other changes they've made. It looked like DL wanted this to get out big.

XLA2008 · Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:41 am

I flew Delta a few years back from London to Atlanta, on their 764 and it was one of the worst flights with the worst service I have ever experienced! And not only did I used to be a flight attendant but I also used to fly a lot for pleasure and to travel for work, and by far the worst! However I recently thought I would give Delta another chance, and flew onboard their A333 from AMS to ATL and have to say the new product, cabin, IFE.... Absolutely fantastic! Consistency across the board with the product, can't fault them for their hard work! Have flown Delta several times since! I do however have to say that their customer service onboard is still terrible! And their FF program isn't very good either! But product and comfort... Brilliant well done Delta! All you have to do now is train your flight attendants on how to deliver customer service and how to be polite and accommodating.... And perhaps improve your FF and your onto a winner! But Kudos for upping the anti!

As for United Airlines.... Haha no chance am I flying United! Outdated, old fashioned... Way way behind the times, they kept the old livery, pretty much the same cabin as CO and have to say, destroyed the Dreamliner interior with their awful cabin and layout! So even if Delta has reacted to Uniteds Polaris seats.... United is still way way behind in the times!

[Edited 2016-06-03 20:45:16]

BAKJet · Sat Jun 04, 2016 4:01 am

Quoting RyanairGuru (Reply 15):
United never charged for AVOD on domestic flights operated by AVOD equipped aircraft, unlike Delta, and the streaming is free on both. Delta splashed around a snazzy headline, but it is definitely not groundbreaking or even unique.

Quoting RyanairGuru (Reply 15):
It's not .....AVOD and streaming video on UA have been free worldwide since day one. The only charge for IFE on UA is DirecTV...something that UA would love to eliminate.

Flew on a UA 737-900 ORD-RSW (3 hour flight) earlier this year and they weren't offering any IFE for free as far as I could tell. They did, however, mention that we could pay to watch DirectTV on the seatback TVs. Nobody seemed very impressed (especially after a 6 hour delay...) and very few people used it from what I could see.

Delta, on the other hand, sounds like it will be offering free AVOD on most of its fleet, including 738/739s. Am I mistaken? If not, this is definitely a step above the rest of the US3.

EDIT: I wasn't thinking about the streaming option. I suppose that probably was offered on this flight, though not mentioned and I did not try to use it. In any case, the streaming option seems like a bit of a cop out to me - especially when you have seatback TVs already there.

[Edited 2016-06-03 21:06:57]

kdonohue · Sat Jun 04, 2016 4:05 am

I thought the free Delta entertainment was reading them snipe in the media about airlines from the desert.

United1 · Sat Jun 04, 2016 4:42 am

Quoting deltal1011man (Reply 17):
DL is trying to steal some of UA's thunder from an annulment that they are going to finally catch up to DL in international hard product?

UA had flat bed seats fleet wide for quite a while before DL did....UA is simply upping the game again.

Quoting kdonohue (Reply 22):
I thought the free Delta entertainment was reading them snipe in the media about airlines from the desert.

...but but but the A320 taking up the only A380 gate at ATL had AVOD.....hahahahahaha

Quoting deltal1011man (Reply 17):
the difference here is that DL has the majority of it domestic fleet with AVOD or planning to mod them

Finally...they have been talking about doing that for years....we've been hearing that repeated over and over since 2008.

deltal1011man · Sat Jun 04, 2016 5:35 am

Quoting United1 (Reply 23):

UA had flat bed seats fleet wide for quite a while before DL did....UA is simply upping the game again.

UA has one of the worst J seats there is. On top of that most PAX have to crawl over people to get out of there seats.

So like I said, they are the last horse in the race and as normal they are just copying what DL and AA are doing.

Quoting United1 (Reply 23):

Finally...they have been talking about doing that for years....we've been hearing that repeated over and over since 2008.

And unlike United they aren't taking out every form of IFE except steaming.

res77W · Sat Jun 04, 2016 6:05 am

I'm flying DL next month, and I'm booked on MD's and 717's on 3 out of the 4 legs...there's an A319 on the remaining leg but I checked my itinerary and it just shows wifi onboard.

Abeam79 · Sat Jun 04, 2016 6:19 am

When comparing to the details the what JetBlue is offering with the cabin refresh, they are still far behind JetBlue. JetBlue onboard has faster Ka-band wifi on EVERY AIRCRAFT, 7x's more satellite live tv and music, going to 300 on demand movie library, plus the fast ka-band will be free FOR EVERY PASSENGER and can stream unlimited Amazon prime movies via the hub, gate to gate connectivity and the seat back tv's will have pairing capability with your p.e.d.
Oh, and most legroom than any other airline.

https://skift.com/2016/01/25/jetblue-updates-fleet-with-new-interiors-and-more-in-flight-connectivity/

etops1 · Sat Jun 04, 2016 6:20 am

Wait a minute .. All UA avod equipped aircraft and wifi streaming video equipped aircraft have offered free entertainment since the beginning wether flying international or domestic . The only ife that is charged is onboard their directv equipped aircraft . And even on those they offer streaming wifi video for free .. So in essence .. Delta is not the first to offer free entertainment on all of its fleet . But they sure are good at marketing it .. AA offers free IFE onboard our 777's 787's and A330 aircraft wether flying intl or domestic routes . Onboard our narrow body Avod equipped aircraft 737-800 ,A319,A321 some content is free and some you have to pay . On aircraft equipped with only wifi streaming video there is a charge .

bpat777 · Sat Jun 04, 2016 6:41 am

Quoting Abeam79 (Reply 26):
When comparing to the details the what JetBlue is offering with the cabin refresh, they are still far behind JetBlue. JetBlue onboard has faster Ka-band wifi on EVERY AIRCRAFT, 7x's more satellite live tv and music, going to 300 on demand movie library, plus the fast ka-band will be free FOR EVERY PASSENGER and can stream unlimited Amazon prime movies via the hub, gate to gate connectivity and the seat back tv's will have pairing capability with your p.e.d.
Oh, and most legroom than any other airline.

Really? Great to know, I'm going to book B6 on my next business trips to Atlanta and Toronto over the summer.

maxholstemh1521 · Sat Jun 04, 2016 12:16 pm

Quoting deltal1011man (Reply 24):
So like I said, they are the last horse in the race and as normal they are just copying what DL and AA are doing.

United Airlines was the first US airline to have lie flat seats on all of their long-haul international flights. IIRC it took Delta, a year to catch up, and American still does not have all of its international fleet equipped with full lie flats.

[Edited 2016-06-04 05:17:40]

panamair · Sat Jun 04, 2016 12:39 pm

Quoting etops1 (Reply 27):
The only ife that is charged is onboard their directv equipped aircraft .

Right, so there is still a portion of UA IFE that is not free. The headline here is that DL is now the first and only US carrier that will offer ALL inflight entertainment for free. That is a technically true statement. UA has always charged for a portion of their inflight entertainment (DIrecTV) and will continue to do so.

United1 · Sat Jun 04, 2016 1:02 pm

Quoting deltal1011man (Reply 24):
Quoting United1 (Reply 23):

Finally...they have been talking about doing that for years....we've been hearing that repeated over and over since 2008.

And unlike United they aren't taking out every form of IFE except steaming.

STEAMING video....I would pay for that

UA isn't removing every form of IFE except streaming there are over 400 aircraft in the fleet with in seat video. Streaming video is great and actually allows them to offer additional content on a better screen than anything any of the US carriers have....namely my tablet.

Quoting deltal1011man (Reply 24):
UA has one of the worst J seats there is.

Funny how DL and AA use that same seat....

Also the J class seat on DLs 767s is the narrowest most coffin like thing I have ever been in.

Quoting panamair (Reply 30):
UA has always charged for a portion of their inflight entertainment (DIrecTV) and will continue to do so.

Technically UA doesn't charge for it DirecTV does...UA gets a very small portion of the revenue collected from DTV sales. Actually its a contract that UA would like to get out from under if it could.

compensateme · Sat Jun 04, 2016 1:08 pm

I don't understand the comparisons to UA:

UA has a limited number of domestic flights operated by AVOD-configured long-haul equipment. DL offers a larger number of domestic flights operated by AVOD-configured long-haul equipment. Both carriers have long offered complimentary, unrestricted access to the entertainment systems on these flights.

DL & UA offer seatback entertainment systems on select domestic aircraft (and the number of configured aircraft is growing on DL but stagnant on UA). DL offers a wider breadth of programming than UA, and offers limited complimentary access - unrestricted access is offered on flights to Mexico, Central America, Caribbean & Hawaii. UA charges to access its programming.

DL & UA offer streaming IFE on all aircraft configured with WiFi. UA offers unrestricted access, whereas DL charges for "premium content." This is the only aspect in which UA previously held an advantage over DL.

burnsie28 · Sat Jun 04, 2016 1:14 pm

Quoting Abeam79 (Reply 26):
JetBlue onboard has faster Ka-band wifi on EVERY AIRCRAFT

Not true, only 40% of the E190's are complete.

Quoting Abeam79 (Reply 26):
7x's more satellite live tv

Only on the 321's right now. My E90 fleet didn't have working DTV which the crew mentioned to another pax that they can never get the DirecTV to work on the E190. Either way it should have had 36 channels which is about double of DL's Dish Network, not 7x.

Quoting Abeam79 (Reply 26):
plus the fast ka-band will be free FOR EVERY PASSENGER

Well if you want to stream Netflix, which DL's 2ku will be able to do, it's still going to cost you. Same for connecting to work VPN's. That cost $9 an hour which could put Delta's Sat based wifi cheaper depending on route.

Quoting Abeam79 (Reply 26):
going to 300 on demand movie library

Same as Delta.

Quoting etops1 (Reply 27):
So in essence .. Delta is not the first to offer free entertainment on all of its fleet . But they sure are good at marketing it

They are though, DirecTV is a charge therefore DL is the only U.S. carrier to offer ALL entertainment for free.

WesternDC6B · Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:43 pm

Quoting lightsaber (Reply 18):
But if you have on the IFE, even if ignored, the drunk in the next seat is much less insistent on 'debating.'

One of my work associates played a mean trick on blabbermouth seat partners. If they insisted on conversation, he'd start speaking in Esperanto. That worked every time!

PlanesNTrains · Sat Jun 04, 2016 5:10 pm

Quoting 11725Flyer (Reply 12):
I'm not too sure if passengers will choose a DL flight based on this. It's a nice perk, but price remains supreme

Many times the price is the same, so it can be a differentiator. For FF's, it's just another way for them to say "Thank you for flying Delta". For me, I'm happy with the free content on WN since I rarely fly over 3 hours at a stretch, but for those who fly more often or longer itineraries this will be a nice boost.

-Dave

SoJo · Sat Jun 04, 2016 5:24 pm

When I used to fly, the entertainment was free..... I just looked out the window and watched the world go by. Those were the days. IFE! Stuffit!

DeltaRules · Sat Jun 04, 2016 5:29 pm

Glad to see everything's free now. Now if only they could get Studio working on Android phones...

Travelmanager · Sat Jun 04, 2016 6:46 pm

I hope Alaska does the same and drops the fee for movies via streaming. I would much rather watch a movie on my HD laptop screen than the cheap small tablet they hand out. Just doesn't make sense that they would charge First Class passengers to stream a movie and only offer complimentary entertainment on a tablet device.

Abeam79 · Sat Jun 04, 2016 11:29 pm

Quoting PlanesNTrains (Reply 35):
Not true, only 40% of the E190's are complete.

By the fall they will be all complete. Its not a overnight retrofit. Delta doesnt even have tv's on 45% of their mainline fleet.

Quoting WesternDC6B (Reply 34):
Only on the 321's right now. My E90 fleet didn't have working DTV which the crew mentioned to another pax that they can never get the DirecTV to work on the E190. Either way it should have had 36 channels which is about double of DL's Dish Network, not 7x.

He said she said..etc..you think delta doesnt have at rimes tv issues? I never had a problem, just when it goes in and out of service area. Have you read the article? A320's will be retrofitted starting next year. Again, work in progress.

Quoting WesternDC6B (Reply 34):
Well if you want to stream Netflix, which DL's 2ku will be able to do, it's still going to cost you. Same for connecting to work VPN's. That cost $9 an hour which could put Delta's Sat based wifi cheaper depending on route.

I stream Netflix all the time on the free fly fi on jetblue. So dunno what your doing wrong. Plus the hub offers amazon prime.

I have said for years, want to know what delta has planned next? Look at jetblue and in a few years delta will do someting very similar

11725Flyer · Sat Jun 04, 2016 11:33 pm

Quoting PlanesNTrains (Reply 35):
Many times the price is the same, so it can be a differentiator. For FF's, it's just another way for them to say "Thank you for flying Delta". For me, I'm happy with the free content on WN since I rarely fly over 3 hours at a stretch, but for those who fly more often or longer itineraries this will be a nice boost.

Good point, Dave.

burnsie28 · Mon Jun 06, 2016 6:37 pm

Quoting Abeam79 (Reply 39):
I stream Netflix all the time on the free fly fi on jetblue

The FA's announced in order to stream non-amazon video services you will need the paid. Their website says its also recommended. It didn't allow the person next to me to stream netflix on the free as it wouldn't load.

Quoting Abeam79 (Reply 39):
By the fall they will be all complete. Its not a overnight retrofit. Delta doesnt even have tv's on 45% of their mainline fleet.

Never said it would be overnight, just saying you were claiming at this time all aircraft had high speed Ka band internet. Which wasn't true.

a380787 · Mon Jun 06, 2016 7:01 pm

Major kudos to DL.

If only there are more 738s and 717s with seat-back instead of drop-down screens (the DL types I've flown most recently)

I'm the kind that brings most of my entertainment on iPad already, so a state-of-the-art AVOD IFE that is mostly paid content (on any airline) will just become a moving flight map for me. This change will actually be useful for my viewing patterns, both on-IFE and on-iPad.

[Edited 2016-06-06 12:03:20]

Osubuckeyes · Mon Jun 06, 2016 8:26 pm

I would be curious to see if there was even significant revenue generated from IFE... Seems like most people are on their own device even with Seat-back screens. My guess is that they didn't sell much so they decided to eliminate the functionality and the cost of upkeep.

Quoting deltal1011man (Reply 17):

It may not be trying to steal the thunder specifically, but it certainly seems like one of those if they aren't talking about you try to change the conversation moments. Good move by DL PR if it was coordinated that way.

tjh8402 · Mon Jun 06, 2016 9:25 pm

Just flew a DL 757 MCO-LAX and was very happy with the IFE. System worked well, and there was a good selection of movies and TV shows available, along with live TV. I used the wifi for my phone. Also very important was the available power at every seat. What's the point of wifi and streaming content if your device will run out of power on a transcon flight (Looking at you WN)? These amenities were one of the main reasons I chose DL. Made the 5+ hours go by quickly. Looking forward to my return trip tomorrow.

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