United's International Fleet Finally Has Wi-Fi That Actually Works
From the narrow-body Airbus A319 to the flagship Boeing 777-300ER, United offers connectivity on nearly all of its domestic and international mainline flights. But simply having Wi-Fi onboard doesn't do flyers much good if it's painfully slow, or — in some cases — doesn't work at all.
While Gogo and ViaSat-equipped planes do act up from time to time, almost all of United's connectivity issues affect flights with Panasonic Wi-Fi — from my experience, at least. On United's long-haul fleet, I got used to Wi-Fi that simply didn't work at all on many of my flights.
Then, near the end of 2017, the airline committed to upgrading its Panasonic infrastructure throughout 2018. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much, however, as of this month, it seems United's actually managed to follow through on that promise.
So far, in 2019, I've had five flights on United's Panasonic-equipped aircraft, including three on the airline's first 787-10 (N14001) and two on one of its oldest 757-200s (N13113). On both planes, the Wi-Fi worked very well — not a surprise for a brand-new Dreamliner, perhaps, but I certainly noticed the upgrade on the 757. While there was some downtime here and there, I was able to get work done on all five flights.
While two aircraft is hardly a robust sample, a Panasonic representative I chatted with confirmed that United's entire fleet has been upgraded, so you should expect similar performance when traveling on United's Airbus A319s and A320s, along with international Boeing 757-200s, 767-300ERs, 767-400ERs, 777-200ERs, 777-300ERs and all three variants of the 787 Dreamliner.
Pricing remains unchanged — full-flight rates ranged from $10.99 for my three-hour hop to Miami to $24.99 for the cross-country leg from Newark (EWR) to Los Angeles (LAX). And, while streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime are unfortunately blocked, all aircraft with the new Panasonic system should offer free movie and TV show streaming from an onboard server from gate to gate.
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Rewards Rate
| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
Intro Offer
Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
$395Recommended Credit
Credit ranges are a variation of FICO® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.740-850Excellent
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month