Google Sponsors Free Wi-Fi On Virgin America

Passengers on Virgin America flights between Nov. 10 and Jan. 15 will get free Gogo Inflight Internet access, courtesy of Google, the airline announced today.

Airlines are rolling out Wi-Fi as quickly as they can, but passengers have proved fairly resistant to the fees. Maybe this holiday special will break the ice. Or maybe it will overload the service and slow it to a crawl — especially when you consider that Virgin America has electrical outlets at every seat, so nobody will run out of battery power.

Anyway, I’d use it. I’ve never found any broadband that was too free for me.

I Like Los Angeles Better

I like San Francisco. It’s a beautiful, vibrant city and that’s probably why, for 17 straight years, the readers of Conde Naste Traveler have rated it the top city to visit in the United States.

But I prefer Los Angeles.

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Making Buses Like Trains

How do you get people to ride the bus? Pretend it’s a train, a consultant told Connecticut transit planners last week, as Don Stacom reported in The Hartford Courant. (Disclosure: I have more than a passing acquaintance with Mr. Stacom.)

The message was that bus systems are more successful the more they resemble light rail, with frequent service, fewer stops, pleasant stations and rapid boarding. The state of Connecticut is planning such a busway, along a former railroad right-of-way, between New Britain and Hartford.

The rather poor reputation of long-distance bus travel in this country is already shifting a little bit, thanks to the introduction of luxury buses like the LimoLiner and the inexpensive but stylish BoltBus and Megabus lines. Because of this, I’m much more likely to travel by bus these days than I used to be.

But commuting is another matter, here in Central Connecticut. I tried like hell to ride the Connecticut Transit buses when I worked in Hartford, but the schedules made it very difficult. Express buses were too few and local buses took too long. I’d still rather ride a train, but I would settle for better bus service.

Southwest Planning Changes To Mileage Program

Long-awaited changes to Southwest Airlines’ frequent flier program will come late next year, reports Terry Maxon in the Dallas Morning News.

Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program is considerably more simple than the frequent flier programs run by the legacy carriers. Passengers earn a free flight after completing eight round trips in 24 months. Higher business fares accumulate credit more quickly.

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