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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
by 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 agoIn addition, there were commonly seatback airphones on big planes in the 80s and 90s.
- lstodd 1y agoWell 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 agoEspecially when expensive in-flight shopping is involved, I'd expect cabin crews to become even more interested in wandering passengers.
- Symbiote 1y agoI'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.