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On every flight I've been on recently, Internet was available to passengers. Surely a few KiB (I assume that this is what a credit or debit transaction requires

On every flight I've been on recently, Internet was available to passengers. Surely a few KiB (I assume that this is what a credit or debit transaction requires) could go over this system?

messe 1y ago
US domestic? I've found it's somewhat rare to see here in the EU, but there are a few airlines that offer it.
- john01dav 1y ago
  Yes, most of my flying experience is US domestic. While I expected differences, I didn't expect this one
  - serial_dev 1y ago
    Most EU flights I’ve been on offer Internet to travelers for a fee. Even if they don’t offer it to travelers, it doesn’t mean they themselves do not have Internet connection… I’m sure most of the time, they have access to the internet and paying by card is not more complicated than paying in any other store.
    - WmWsjA6B29B4nfk 1y ago
      > Even if they don’t offer it to travelers, it doesn’t mean they themselves do not have Internet connection It usually does, it requires quite a bit of equipment and it doesn’t make economical sense to install it and not sell it to passengers. Airplanes have other means communicating with the ground and airline offices though.
    - Kwpolska 1y ago
      On one of my recent Ryanair flights, the transaction reached my bank about 30 minutes after landing. On another, it took two days.
- eep_social 1y ago
  all the US domestic majors have either viasat or starlink these days.
- lxgr 1y ago
  That said, just because there is no passenger connectivity doesn't mean the airline doesn't have some, for operational reasons. Even if that's just a narrowband satellite or VHF (ACARS) link, credit card transactions take very little data (POS terminals are 80s technology, after all). That said, I still don't think that that's too common – building out cabin Wi-Fi for card authorizations only is probably not worth it, given how hard it is to get away with fraud in an environment where every seat has a passenger name to it, and that name is often verified by the airline or government at the airport or at boarding time.
  - petesergeant 1y ago
    In addition, there were commonly seatback airphones on big planes in the 80s and 90s.
  - lstodd 1y ago
    Well while seats do have a passenger name to them, people end up in interesting places on underbooked long flights like over the Atlantic. Cabin crew sometimes gets excited if people move too much. But this is rare.
    - lxgr 1y ago
      Especially when expensive in-flight shopping is involved, I'd expect cabin crews to become even more interested in wandering passengers.
      - Symbiote 1y ago
        I've once seen the cabin crew ask to see a passenger's boarding pass while they were paying. The novelty was more that this was the first time I'd seen anyone buy the expensive perfume, I don't remember any more.

On every flight I've been on recently, Internet was available to passengers. Surely a few KiB (I assume that this is what a credit or debit transaction requires) could go over this system?

messe 1y ago

US domestic? I've found it's somewhat rare to see here in the EU, but there are a few airlines that offer it.

john01dav 1y ago
Yes, most of my flying experience is US domestic. While I expected differences, I didn't expect this one
- serial_dev 1y ago
  Most EU flights I’ve been on offer Internet to travelers for a fee. Even if they don’t offer it to travelers, it doesn’t mean they themselves do not have Internet connection… I’m sure most of the time, they have access to the internet and paying by card is not more complicated than paying in any other store.
  - WmWsjA6B29B4nfk 1y ago
    > Even if they don’t offer it to travelers, it doesn’t mean they themselves do not have Internet connection It usually does, it requires quite a bit of equipment and it doesn’t make economical sense to install it and not sell it to passengers. Airplanes have other means communicating with the ground and airline offices though.
  - Kwpolska 1y ago
    On one of my recent Ryanair flights, the transaction reached my bank about 30 minutes after landing. On another, it took two days.
eep_social 1y ago
all the US domestic majors have either viasat or starlink these days.
lxgr 1y ago
That said, just because there is no passenger connectivity doesn't mean the airline doesn't have some, for operational reasons. Even if that's just a narrowband satellite or VHF (ACARS) link, credit card transactions take very little data (POS terminals are 80s technology, after all). That said, I still don't think that that's too common – building out cabin Wi-Fi for card authorizations only is probably not worth it, given how hard it is to get away with fraud in an environment where every seat has a passenger name to it, and that name is often verified by the airline or government at the airport or at boarding time.
- petesergeant 1y ago
  In addition, there were commonly seatback airphones on big planes in the 80s and 90s.
- lstodd 1y ago
  Well while seats do have a passenger name to them, people end up in interesting places on underbooked long flights like over the Atlantic. Cabin crew sometimes gets excited if people move too much. But this is rare.
  - lxgr 1y ago
    Especially when expensive in-flight shopping is involved, I'd expect cabin crews to become even more interested in wandering passengers.
    - Symbiote 1y ago
      I've once seen the cabin crew ask to see a passenger's boarding pass while they were paying. The novelty was more that this was the first time I'd seen anyone buy the expensive perfume, I don't remember any more.