Go-Go Inflight Internet marketing #fail, but Lotus Knows

December 2 2009

It's been three months since my last flight, and I'm easing back into the glamorous world of business travel.  Before boarding this American Airlines flight to Boston, a perky marketing type was passing out promotional codes in the departure lounge in order to use the new GoGo in-flight Internet service for free.  Sign me up!

I've used in-flight wi-fi before, when Lufthansa was the first airline to offer the capability through Boeing's Conexxion service.  So the novelty factor isn't there, but I thought at least I could replicate out some Notes mail during the flight.  I went through the registration process and followed the promotion card's instructions, entering the case-sensitive "MOBILE2009AA" promotion code.  Error: "This code is not valid for this product" (there's that word again).  I thought maybe it was a Safari browser problem.  Nope....Firefox failed, too.

Eventually I noticed the fine print on the other side of the promotion card -- valid only for connections up to US$7.95.  Well, for whatever reason, the price for wi-fi service on this flight was $9.95.  Thus, the promotion was invalid -- and the perky marketing manager essentially pulled a bait-and-switch to get everyone to check out the wi-fi.  Instead of buying themselves a great word-of-mouth marketing experience, GoGo managed to buy themselves some negative publicity -- and I'll be more hesitant in the future to use their over-priced service.  I'm sure at some point I will break down -- captive audience and all -- but I definitely feel deceived this morning.  And no, for a 90 minute flight, I'm not paying $10 when I could be napping.

There was one saving grace to the whole experience.  Right there on the in-flight portal home page, a familiar banner ad:

Image:Go-Go Inflight Internet marketing #fail, but Lotus Knows

Great visibility for LotusKnows!

Ed Brill | AA1718 ORD-BOS Seat 10D Category:  Lotus Knows  Add/View Comments [11]

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  1. 1  Chris Miller http://www.IdoNotes.com | 12/2/2009 11:45:36 AM

    Well you could have used my code I was giving out for free access, and it seems to work through the $9.95 (so says the ones that used it in an email). Try it on the way back on GoGo. It isn't worth it for the 42 minute flight to St Louis next week :-)

    2287326214nuh valid through 1/7/10

  1. 2  Kathleen http://www.sakuraconsulting.com | 12/2/2009 11:49:16 AM

    That's odd, the midcons are supposed to be $7.95, or at least that's how they were priced last time I checked. The service works pretty seamlessly other than wonky coupon code issues.

  1. 3  Jay Zelzer  | 12/2/2009 2:11:17 PM

    Hi Ed, I am using the Go Go promotion to write this response and did not have any trouble. On the other hand, I am really disappointed that I did not see the Lotus Knows ad on my Go-Go Portal Homepage.....CYA in Westford ;-)

  1. 4  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 12/2/2009 2:49:07 PM

    @3 from Kathleen's comment, it appears that they set the wrong price for the access on my particular flight -- it should have been $7.95 and thus then the coupon would have worked. I let AA know via @AAirwaves on Twitter.

    See you in a bit, though having not known I was meeting a client today, I'm in jeans...

  1. 5  Volker Weber http://vowe.net/about | 12/2/2009 3:03:38 PM

    Tell the client you dressed up from pajamas. I'd be surprised if the customer would not rather be wearing jeans.

  1. 6  David  | 12/2/2009 5:59:44 PM

    Hmm... I haven't seen *ANY* Lotus Knows ads here in the Seattle area. It's a market waiting to be tapped. There are LOTS of companies here that don't currently use Lotus software (yet). Ads in Boston are nice, but isn't that like preaching to the choir? When it comes to software, I'm living in Sin City. Please come and help us see the light!

  1. 7  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 12/3/2009 6:12:00 AM

    @6 the buys were in specific airports for now, looking for more in 2010.

    Re AA in-flight wifi, American responded to my tweet and looked into the situation. Fast response!

  1. 8  Henry Ferlauto  | 12/3/2009 8:19:57 AM

    I used AA's free in-flight WiFi service on a trip from JFK to SFO back in September.

    One has to be pretty desperate for the connection considering the price and performance. It was a few notches above dial-up at broadband prices.

    I'll just read book, catch-up on e-mails, or something else for that time.

    The best bargain I have found in WiFi is Boingo ({ Link } I pay $9.95 / month for WiFi that's good at pretty much every airport, Starbucks and more.

    This allows me to get any last minute e-mails right before the flight and then everyone else can simply wait.

  1. 9  David H  | 12/3/2009 2:13:37 PM

    @7 Great. I'll watch for it when I fly to Lotusphere. Hopefully it will also find its way into full view for commuter traffic as they drive to work on I-5 and I-405 to catch people while they are thinking about work, not just as they are catching a plane with thoughts of their destination in their heads.

  1. 10  Kathleen http://www.sakuraconsulting.com | 12/3/2009 10:36:30 PM

    @8 It's not fast, I'll give you that. But it's in an airplane that's flying at 30,000 feet, so I think it's not bad if you take that part into consideration. I found things like IM, replication, and sites that weren't video- or Flash-heavy pretty reasonable.

    That said, I was also dazzled by the fact that I was online on an airplane. We live in the future!

  1. 11  Ian Connor  | 12/4/2009 8:25:29 AM

    It worked on Virgin America - and was good enough to Skype back to Australia with a view from the window.