Survey Finds Airport Wi-Fi More Important Than Food 247
Ninjakicks writes "For the business traveler (and the traveler in general, really),
Wi-Fi is important — crucial, even. But more important than sustenance?
That's exactly what was found in
a recent survey by American Airlines and HP, where some 47% of business
travelers responded that Wi-Fi was the most important airport amenity,
outscoring basic travels needs such as food by nearly 30 percent."
Not surprising (Score:5, Insightful)
Airport food is expensive and usually bad. It's much easier to pack a lunch or just eat when you arrive then it is to pack a WiFi base station.
Re:Not surprising (Score:5, Insightful)
I think this has more to do with a pyramid of needs. Once you have enough sleep, you think about water. Once you have enough water, you think about nutrition. Once you have enough nutrition, you think about the food tasting good, and so on.
What this survey means is that airports are meeting those basic needs well enough that people can think about things that are higher up on the pyramid but not adequately provided, not that those things lower on the pyramid are actually that important.
Imagine for a moment that airports suddenly removed all of the bathrooms. Where do you think Wifi would rank on the next survey?
Re:Not surprising (Score:5, Funny)
The history of every major galactic civilisation has passed through three distinct and recognisable phases: those of survival, inquiry, and sophistication. Otherwise known as the 'How', 'Why', and 'Where' phases.
For instance, the first phase is characterised by the question: "How can we eat?" The second by the question: "Why do we eat?" And the third by the question: "Where should we have lunch?"
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Not surprising (Score:5, Funny)
I think this has more to do with a pyramid of needs. Once you have enough sleep, you think about water. Once you have enough water, you think about nutrition. Once you have enough nutrition, you think about the food tasting good, and so on.
Is this Maslow? Are you trying to push your pyramid of needs again?
(dear mods, this is a joke, feel free to look it up)
Re: (Score:2)
Fast food and shit will shorten your life. Next time you get a chance try some Mediterranean diet or at least try a genuine Italian restaurant. Yes it will take you 1 hour to eat, but this is because we care when it comes to food.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah Italian food, it doesn't get any healthier than a big bowl of starch drowning in oil, covered in greasy cheese.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
And what is this mythical "Mediterranean diet" that you are referring to? I have lived in Italy, and Spain and Morocco. I have spent significant time in Greece, Croatia, Israel, southern France and Algeria. They all border the Med and the all have very different cuisine. Of them all, Italian is probably the worst for your health, despite what you seem to
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
last I checked the higher up the food chain, you got paid more, and went to "business" lunches that lasted half the day. I'd say it's the opposite, the people at the top take care of themselves... so what does that say when they demand less for everybody else?
Re: (Score:2)
Imagine for a moment that airports suddenly removed all of the bathrooms. Where do you think Wifi would rank on the next survey?
Right below garbage cans and NASA diapers.
Re: (Score:2)
No, I agree airport food is expensive and not worth it, specially considering sanitary risks.
I too thought of the restrooms and agree that if people were given a choice of restrooms or WiFi people would always take restrooms. Not so sure about food. I for once wouldn't mind if they were gone, I've only eaten in a airport once. Most of the time its better to just have a drink.
Power Sources (Score:2)
As someone who flies at least twice a week (with more than 45 trips already this year), I have a slightly different view.
I've dietary restrictions (I'm a vegetarian and I'm allergic to eggs), but I still find a lot of good airport food. It's really not all that bad as people make it out to be. You just need to look in the right places, and there are plenty of good options. Similarly, water and restrooms are also taken for granted.
Also, most frequently flier business travelers that I know have EVDO cards ins
Re: (Score:2)
If you pick the franchises like MacDonalds or just go to the first place you see, that is your own fault; realize that you a
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I think there's two reasons for that. First, you generally have an airline-imposed time limit to eat in. Sure, there are nicer places, but if you have a 60 minute layover that's only 30 to eat, unless you have much longer. Along the same lines you're limited to what is between the two gates for arriving and departing, or nearby. If it's the "wrong" way, you're probably not going there. The fast food giants are getting in the game because it's what they do...and people know what to expect (it's pretty low,
Re: (Score:2)
Charles de Gaulle airport wasn't that bad (Score:2)
I don't remember having any trouble finding bathrooms at CdG - and since I do remember finding the pub there, and having several hours of waiting on some trips, I probably did need to find one. Was the problem on the international side of the customs inspectors?
Re:Not surprising (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Airport food is expensive and usually bad.
In my experience, one can also say this of wifi at many airports. For example, the last time I flew into DFW (about a year ago), they used T-Mobile for wifi. It cost $10 a day for bandwidth that was none too awesome.
then it is to pack a WiFi base station
I'm sure you're just making a joke here, but an access point is actually quite easy to pack. The hard part is getting it to work without an upstream connection to the internet.
Re:Not surprising (Score:5, Interesting)
It cost $10 a day for bandwidth that was none too awesome.
Wifi at airports is free. If you are paying for it, you're doing it wrong.
Here's how to do it:
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Not surprising (Score:5, Insightful)
That's called stealing.
That's called silly. What are you stealing? Are they going to run out of packets more quickly that way?
It is cracking, and certainly one can call into question the ethics of cracking into a network when you clearly know you are not supposed to be accessing it. One can also question the ethics of charging outrageously more for wifi than it costs to set it up and run it. One can also make a good case that the network is not meant to be closed to the public, it's simply meant to be paywalled, and so bypassing that paywall is not invading anyone's privacy. So even the ethical question is not as clear cut as you might think at first.
Regardless, however, words have meanings. Stealing is taking something away from you that's exclusive (you and I can't both have it) without your consent. It's not a synonym for "conduct I dislike" or "conduct I find unethical".
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
And what happens to the connection of the other guy who had that IP address assigned to him?
By the way, wouldn't the mac address be sufficient? With DHCP you would get the rest of the settings, isn't it?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
sudo apt-get install tcpdump
Do this before you leave for the airport.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's much easier to pack a lunch or just eat when you arrive
Not if you want to clear security and/or customs preclearance before grabbing a bite to eat.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I had the same reaction. When sitting in the airport you want something to occupy your time. WiFi lets you waste time on the interwebs.
Fixed it for you.
restrooms ? (Score:5, Insightful)
restrooms would be my number one airport amenity ..
Re:restrooms ? (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
and it could get you detained by you friendly TSA dude
Lunch vs Cabling (Score:5, Funny)
Personally, I find it easier to pack food to bring with me than an ethernet cord long enough to get from my cable modem to the airport.
But that's just me.
I can bring food (Score:2, Redundant)
The reason is simple, I can bring food, and get fed on the airline (usually). I can't bring wifi.
(wireless modems excepted)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
You usually can't get food past security... And you certainly don't want to have any left when you land in a foreign country or you could face stiff fines for illegally importing food.
This is also why the food is overpriced, since you have no other alternative.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
You usually can't get food past security... And you certainly don't want to have any left when you land in a foreign country or you could face stiff fines for illegally importing food.
This is also why the food is overpriced, since you have no other alternative.
Not sure what countries you are flying to and from, but I've done a fair bit of air travel in my life to varying countries around the world, and I've never once had a problem bringing my own food.
Of course you can't bring your own water (that must be purchased after the security check point), but as long as you're okay with your food being pelted with x-rays (which is undoubtedly healthier than the food typically sold in most airports), you should be fine.
Of course there are restrictions on certain types of
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Water is essential to life. Not allowing you to bring your own is preposterous. Make the owner bring it in a clear bottle and drink some before the flight if you are paranoid. It's simple economic protectionism.
Re: (Score:2)
But water is apparently a highly explosive substance that can be used to bring a plane down.
It isn't known exactly how this might be carried out, but apparently it was discussed on some Islamic internet site.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The supposed reasoning behind the liquids ban was very simple - some folks found a receipe for bomb making using a binary liquid explosive. One component is hydrogen peroxide, I do know. Not sure what the other one is that was actually learned before any of this could be put into action, but the threat was real.
I understood they were going to relax the restrictions in January or something like that. Didn't happen. Probably because someone heard that was just being waited on with the original scheme just
Re: (Score:2)
The REAL problem is that the US Government spent years training not-nice people in every cracked out way of hurting others imaginable. THEY have a bunch of these tactics THEY use against people THEY don't like and just assume regular folks are just as depraved about killing random folks as they are.
Yes, Usually you can bring an empty bottle (Score:2)
I haven't had any problem doing that in a while, though maybe that's because empty bottles aren't very visible on xrays. It's of course guaranteed that if the TSA thugs want to confiscate it, they'll claim that it's *always* been the rule, everywhere in the country, but usually you can bring them.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, hardly ever... (Score:2)
There was somebody who got busted because they thought his homemade chocolate was hashish. I read it on the internet somewhere a year or two ago, so I don't remember if it was an airport or somewhere else, but they arrested the guy and harassed him for a while before finally deciding it was actually chocolate.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's not as if you can do any high-quality work at an airport: surrounded by screaming children, incoherent announcements and people overflowing their seats and squeezing into your space,
Bring your own data - electricity wifi (Score:2)
On the average, I'm not flying with a new laptop, and unless I'm on a short-haul flight like San Jose - LA, I'm likely to need to plug in my computer while I'm waiting at the airport. I can bring many hours worth of data with me, but only an hour or two of electricity, and while it's sometimes convenient to use Google Maps at the airport instead of before leaving, I'd much rather have an airport that had decent electric sockets instead of being one of the couple of people sitting on the floor near the vac
People care about what has given them trouble (Score:5, Insightful)
The people answering the survey recognize -- apparently better than the people who looked at the results -- that every airport has some food in it, but not every airport has acceptable Wi-Fi. No one answering the survey was thinking "I'd rather starve on the net than feast without it!"
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
If I'm on the 'net, I can order food....
Re: (Score:2)
Best of luck getting Pizza Hut to deliver past security.
Re: (Score:2)
That's exactly my thought.
In any airport you can buy food from the mini-resturants, snacks and drinks in the stores, and on the flights they provide at least peanuts and soda for free, or will sell you beer, mixed drinks, and sometimes more food.
When I step off a plane for a layover, I have my list of priorities.
1) restroom. After 3 or 4 mixed drinks, I gotta pee.
2) smoking lounge. Some airports are good about these. Some have the
Re: (Score:2)
"I looked a bit weird at one airport. My first flight had been overbooked, and then canceled due to mechanical problems. The next flight they could put me on was 6 hours later. I found a smoking lounge with available power outlets, with a restroom and bar close by, but there were no flights going through that end of the terminal at the time. I set up camp, answering calls, checking my email, and walking over to the bar picking up more drinks. The only other people in the smoking lounge were airport employee
Re: (Score:2)
More to the point, neither linked article seems to touch is how the question was asked. Multiple choice or open answer changes things dramatically: If I'm asked what's the most important amenity in an airport, I'm unlikely to even say "clean restrooms", I'll take that for granted. If I'm given a list and that pops up in there, I'll decidedly think "yeah, that's more important than wireless".
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Not at all. You see, if you have food, you can survive, and have to endure long waits without the Internet to keep you occupied/"productive". A purgatory, essentially.
If you have wifi, you can continue watching videos of other people's cats until you die peacefully of starvation.
Of course, the ideal situation is having both, where you can watch cat videos until you die from whatever food you bought at the airport cafeteria.
- RG>
Could we get a "duh" tag? (Score:3, Informative)
First, food in airports is notoriously bad, stale and generally nothing you'd want to eat, even when coming back from a famine-struck land. My personal theory is that this is the crap that they salvage from planes after the flight, the gunk not even the sardines-in-a-can class dwellers could stomach.
So what does the knowledgeable traveller do? Right. He brings his own food.
It's kinda hard, though, to bring your own WiFi AP with you...
Re:Could we get a "duh" tag? (Score:5, Informative)
In my experience (generally 20+ business trips per year) there is usually a decent restaurant or two somewhere in most airports - especially the newer ones. Of course sometimes the "good" restaurant is in a completely different concourse from where your flight is departing, and the prices tend to be pretty high.
Case in point: the new Indianapolis airport. I was pleasantly surprised at the food quality in the 500 Grill, where I had a tuna steak cooked to order on a bed of greens ... and incidentally Indy airport has free wifi but it's pretty slow.
Re: (Score:2)
Depends (Score:2, Interesting)
Gotta love surveys (Score:5, Insightful)
"a recent survey by American Airlines and HP"....
I bet "a recent survey by American Airlines and Pizza Hut" would have come to the opposite conclusion.
Who doesnt have a tethering phone by now? (Score:5, Interesting)
My next toy will be to setup Microsoft's Direct Access replacement for VPN's and I will never be disconnected from my network. When more people become aware of Direct Access, that is going to put a dent in those who say they cant innovate in Redmond. This is some bad-ass technology.
Re: (Score:2)
How is this Direct Access different from auto-connecting VPN client?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Since IPSEC and SSL VPNs have been around for years, and MS is just coming up with Direct Access, it DOES mean that they can't innovate. Once again, trailing behind.
Re: (Score:2)
So, who has already done this? Tell me where you can have this setup over any other OS, TODAY?
Dont be blinded by MS hatred. This is a serious advance over SSL VPNs and you know it. I dont know anyone anywhere leveraging IPv6 in this fashion.
Re: (Score:2)
That is why Apple and Linux providers have been using it for YEARS, right?
This is technology that could have made serious inroads for the traveling business customer.
Managing remote clients has been a nightmare under any circumstances, but DirectAccess will change all that.
Dead obvious extension, my ass.
Re: (Score:2)
I've already got global IPv6 addresses on every machine on my LAN (even the ass-backwards XP one) and could trivially add Mobile IPv6 support if there was a good reason to.
So what does this Microsoft thing do, besides vendor lock-in?
Re: (Score:2)
But WiMAX is cheaper, faster and it just bloody works.
Re: (Score:2)
and gets to another point.
Wimax tends to have no real cap either.
the reason why 3G services will never replace local free wifi is that damn 5 gig cap.
Wifi should be 100% free in airports. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Selling WiFi in airports. (Score:2)
If they price it the way they price airport food, they won't be getting many customers. Airport WiFi pretty much only flourishes in places when its free. Airport food is usually stupidly overpriced since they think they've got a captive audience, then when they don't sell enough food to pay for running the business, they stupidly raise the prices even more in a vain attempt to stay fiscally afloat.
Re: (Score:2)
As it is, taking money from people whe choose to use the internet at airports is fine by me, as if reduces the other incidental costs I'd otherwise have to stump-up. Thanks for the subsidy!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
> It must change.
Why?
Re: (Score:2)
You obviously haven't been taking advantage of all of the "Free Public WiFi" locations at airports these days. It is rare not to find several of these everywhere.
Of course, it is a fake, but it works for harnessing the rubes.
Re: (Score:2)
I keep having to remind my mom that I would have LOVED to visit her the past few Christmases, but until Cincinatti improves the WIFI at their airport, I won't fly there.
If I don't stick to my principles, then what kind of person am I?
Yes, but was alcohol on that survey? (Score:2, Funny)
Hey, it's important to me!
Airport food sucks (Score:4, Insightful)
In almost all western counties.........but check out Changi in Singapore. A GREAT airport. You don't get ripped off the food is fantastic!
http://www.changiairport.com/changi/en/index.html [changiairport.com]
Sign of internet addiction? (Score:5, Insightful)
Even for a "business" user, you should be well enough organised that your employer can afford to be out of touch with you for a short period, without suffering catastrophic business failure (if not, they should fire you immediately as you are obviously a single point of failure and as such a total liability to the organisation).
If you do suffer symptoms of stress or anxiety when disconnected from the 'net this sounds a lot like a personality disorder - even if you do use the old line: "No, really, I just like the internet. I could give up any time".
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
It is not about need but about choice.
Being in an airport is not like hanging out at the local park. There are no birds singing or fresh gentle breezes caressing your face. It's many people milling about with the accompanying background noise, Homeland Security Threat Level "Orange" (has this ever changed?) and passenger Thelma Jones, get to your flight or you are S.O.L.
I fly once every 3 weeks or so and I carry only my laptop, my book and a magazine. I find it difficult to read for pleasure within the airp
Re: (Score:2)
Surely it's possible for an individual to spend a few hours away from an internet connection?
Even for a "business" user, you should be well enough organised that your employer can afford to be out of touch with you for a short period, without suffering catastrophic business failure (if not, they should fire you immediately as you are obviously a single point of failure and as such a total liability to the organisation).
If you do suffer symptoms of stress or anxiety when disconnected from the 'net this sounds a lot like a personality disorder - even if you do use the old line: "No, really, I just like the internet. I could give up any time".
Sometimes, you just don't have a choice as to whether you need to take a trip, and whether you need to have a deliverable (report, email, presentation) delivered. Or, sometimes, you find that on the first leg of your N leg outbound journey that you've been able to make room for Important Graph 14 in your presentation, or you call your assistant back in the office and they've been able to dig up Important Table 3. These are just a couple of scenarios where, between flights, connectivity is, in fact, import
Re:Sign of internet addiction? No. Work addiction (Score:2)
Sometimes, you just don't have a choice as to whether you need to take a trip, and whether you need to have a deliverable (report, email, presentation) delivered. Or, sometimes, you find that on the first leg of your N leg outbound journey that you've been able to make room for Important Graph 14 in your presentation, or you call your assistant back in the office and they've been able to dig up Important Table 3. These are just a couple of scenarios where, between flights, connectivity is, in fact, importan
Electrical outlets (Score:5, Insightful)
is the second most important thing. I'd even say it's the first one: I can live without internet, but to work offline I need to charge the laptop.
At most airoports a few outlets in the waiting areas are at best inconveniently located (being designed for plugging cleaning machines rather than for traveller's use), and at worst unavailable. I've spent more than a few strolls down the halls trying to find a free outlet and a seat withing the reach of it.
Re: (Score:2)
is the second most important thing. I'd even say it's the first one: I can live without internet, but to work offline I need to charge the laptop.
Amen, brother! At big airports it's comical to see guys clustered around poles or walking around with their laptop and adapter in hand like circling vultures, waiting for a free outlet.
It's really pathetic that airports don't have more places to charge. Every seat should have one. For that matter, so should every seat on a plane...
Re:Electrical outlets (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, God--I wish I hadn't already replied in this thread. Mod parent up 5x!! Awesome idea.
(until the TSA classifies power strips as "choking devices")
Re: (Score:2)
I take it you've never been on international flights when some guy blows the circuit to your row of the plane for a 8-12 hour flight. I can live without laptop power at your seat if it means I can have light.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
This may be true for business people.. (Score:2, Insightful)
Salt (Score:2)
Next survey: BEER is more important than airport (Score:3, Insightful)
It's like those studies that found out that, under the right circumstances, EVERYTHING causes cancer in lab rats.
All the airport food is going to do (by its' high price and low quality) is remind you that you're STUCK IN A DAMN AIRPORT.
In a related survey - "70% of people surveyed prefered New Coke - the other 30% chose airport food, broken glass, or suicide." It all depends on how you ask the question.
Re:Well Duh (Score:5, Funny)
I suspect it was internet based...
Anyone say "air"? Re:Well Duh (Score:4, Insightful)
Food is available in virtually every terminal of nearly all airports. It's no big deal because you always have it.
By contrast many Airports do not have WiFi and of those that do, many attempt to charge for the service.
So when you open your Laptop in Fort Lauderdale and see skype connected right away, it feels like a big deal. I don't know about other people but since this year I have chosen 2 flights that stop in FLL over comparable flights which stop in MIA, because of the Internet access.
Granted on one of those flights the price of the ticket was far lower but on the other I actually payed $5 more and spent 90 minutes extra in the airport.
As any Slashdoter can attest a 5 hour wait with internet is a lot shorter than a 3 1/2 hour wait without it.
Re: (Score:2)
Sure wifi is usually faster (though you never know with public access points) but 3g should be enough to do serious work. It's probably not enough for serious entertainment though...
Re: (Score:2)
because companies work with fewer people on tighter schedules that ever before. At my company we can work a customer's order into our schedule in a matter of a few days. That's less time than to mail a letter of request. Sales/planning staff can't be disconnected for multiple days in a world like that. If somebody has to wait 2-3 days for a call-back they're calling somebody else who can take their order now.
Also, many support people are especially thin. For the system I admin, I'm the only one left. Many