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Comment by qwerty456127 | Hacker News Reader

The whole idea of non-free hotel WiFi is ridiculous. It's like charging extra for tap water you use. It can only make sense if the hotel is really really cheap.

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I have found that the more expensive the hotel is to stay at, the greater the chance they charge for wifi/internet access. At cheap hotels they use it to attract customers, at expensive hotels they use it to gouge the customer for a little more. It is usually because expensive hotels know that people staying there for work will expense it, so there is little cost for the user in those situations but the hotel gets some extra income.

> I have found that the more expensive the hotel is to stay at, the greater the chance they charge for wifi/internet access.

A curious observation. Thanks. I'm not really informed about expensive hotels, almost everything I know is about the middle segment.

> At cheap hotels they use it to attract customers

At the hotel market of the region I know guests wouldn't even consider booking a hotel that doesn't list free WiFi (unless it's really fantastic in other aspects and/or unbelievably cheap) and they would put submit a negative review if they came and there was no free WiFi (even if it wasn't advertised and they've just didn't notice), it's like if there was no free water in the WC.

> but the hotel gets some extra income.

And the guest gets some extra headache with authentication and billing instead of just turning WiFi on and using it.

Upsell is real.

Places without free WiFi aren’t meant for the likes of you and me: those that pay their own way. It’s meant for people that are going to expense it. I would never stay at a Hilton property if I were paying. I have to wonder if the staff don’t have a chuckle over the couple “treating themselves” by staying at the Hilton when Best Western offers a better stay for less.

If you sign up for the the Hilton rewards program and book through their site, WiFi is free.

This is common with a lot of chains these days. Free WiFi is a carrot to get you to book through their site so they save agent fees.

Not to mention that it gives an easy way for those of us with status access to a higher tier/priority of internet which is handy for streaming. Particularly when I'm staying in a hotel for over 60 nights a year.

True. Although I mostly have a library on my device anyway because WiFi quality is still often a crapshoot. (And I want downloads for the plane anyway.)

Such a reward. Wow. Now I start wondering if they include free coffee in the breakfast menu or if it's considered a reward you are to earn as well... :-]

When travelling on corporate terms I have to check the "room price" as selection criteria. Extra wifi is a different cost, which is expensed differently. Thus by charging it independently they can make more money (as long as people book WiFi, on domestic (EU) travel I simply use my mobile data, less hassle to setup, all ports open, already paid)

An observation on the side: My travel policy covers a number of "paid movies" depending on the nights travelling. With proper internet that business of hotels finishes and travellers get their pr0n — oh I mean action movies — for free without it appearing on the hotel bill.

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