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Comment by dfdz | Hacker News Reader

> flex, not a tool

Suppose that a plane has 250 seats and makes 50 trans-con flights a month.

Airline A decides to advertise having fast internet access in their flight, and raises ticket prices by $2 a seat to fund it.

(250)(50)(2) = 25000

Airline B stays with slow barely usable internet.

Which ticket do you book?

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Alas, the market has repeatedly shown that people will choose the cheapest ticket above all other considerations. Unless somebody else is paying the bill, and those business travelers are also the ones most likely to fork out $20/flight for Internet connectivity.

This is anecdotal of course, but I have no qualms about paying a premium out of my own pocket to fly a preferred airline. Anything up 15% and I wouldn't even think twice - and I'd be willing to pay far more than that to avoid certain carriers.

Fast internet is something I would be willing to pay for on certain flights - either as part of the ticket price or as an add-on. Although most of the time I'm content to zone out to a movie or sleep.

Yes, the largest volume chooses the cheapest ticket. However, enough people choose premium options that premium airlines exist.

See also: somebody else paying the bill. I've flown plenty of business class, but never paid anything close to full fare for it: it's either the company footing the bill, miles/points, or (rarely) some crazy routing/fare that gets me within 2x of regular economy.

People choose add ons for their flights all the time. Plenty of people are willing to pay $5-$20 just for the pleasure of choosing their seat.

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