WTF is with hotel that charge for wi-fi access.

[motion]

4 and 5 star hotels = high end business travelers = ala carte for internet and usually parking. I Priceline a lot and stay in 4 - 5 star hotels (probably 20 in the last month already). I'm getting killed on internet and parking fees. Parking is running $25-$40 a night. I usually park down the street somewhere to save a few bucks. I'm running a jailbroken iPhone with unlimited data, so can usually get my internet that way, although I am seeing some hotels block my wireless connection to my iPhone. The situation is much, much worse in Europe. Pretty much as a rule, they're going to charge you for Internet access. Funny as it sounds, I had no problem finding free Internet anywhere in Costa Rica recently. The irony!

[imcarthur]

While no help in Europe, all Hampton Inns are free WiFi. Slow - yes - especially during peak times at night. And Hilton for Gold & Diamond members. I guess that's why I have 271,244 points - just 2 1/2 years accumulation.

Ian

[widgeon13]

I was in a downtown Boston hotel over the weekend and they wanted $10 per day for wifi and $42 per day to park the car. I parked at an outlying airport and used my iphone all the time. Train fare was $5.25 one way. I don't like getting screwed. Was there for three nights so saved aprox $140 over my stay.

[Rick Lee]

I stayed at the Palomar in Westwood last week and parking was $30 per night. I parked for free on the corner where two hour parking was only enforced from 8am to 6pm.

[cstreit]

I've got a about a billion nights with Marriott. Love the chain but I can't figure out why they charge for internet in the 'full service' hotel, but give it away in the Courtyard and others.

Worse yet, they bandwidth and lag is terrible!

[Noah930]

I got hit with a "resort fee" at a Vegas strip hotel. $18 per day. Mandatory.

In addition to wi-fi, it also allowed for use of the pool and gym, and their "business center" of about 5 computers with printer in the lobby.

[89911]

Originally Posted by speeder

This is why my next move is going to be the new iPhone 5 w/ unlimited data and 4G tethering. I will be able to use it as a fast modem for my laptop anywhere, (including at home). No more paying separately for home internet or looking for wifi spots during the day. If I happen to be somewhere with free wifi, fine. I'll use it to save my phone battery. Otherwise, it's going to be connectivity everywhere all the time, including rolling down the road in the middle of nowhere. My most tech-savvy young friend has this now and works on his laptop while his GF drives on commutes to SF from LA.

As far as everything Ive seen, the iPhone 5 isn't going to be 4 g. We will know soon enough.

[JavaBrewer]

You would think that Japan would be huge on wifi...not. Every hotel I have stayed at there was wired only...for a fee. Japan is very anti-wifi.

Most domestic chain hotels (Hilton, Marriott, etc...) offer free WiFi to their top level points holders. That said I always expense the $10/night internet fee. LOL.

[Z-man]

Seems the ala-carte method is really big in the travel world these days:

- ~ $12 - $20 a day for wifi
- Up to $35.00 per bag to be checked on an airplane.
- Airlines are also charging 'Preferred seating' for those who want to sit in the wing isle, or towards the front of the aircraft.

This is getting crazy.
-Z-man.

[LakeCleElum]

It's almost impossible to find free wi-fi when traveling abroad anymore. I have Verizon aircard and tried to use it in Mexico, but was scared off by the warning of big charges.

Anyone have experience in Europe with buying an air card there? What are the costs?

[red-beard]

A lot of the hotels charge for Wifi per machine. The Wired charge is usually about the same. I have gone around this be taking a mini wifi-router with me on the road. It shows up as 1 machine to the network once the inital logon is done.

I am also now carrying a mini cellular wifi router (Mifi) which works very well. At first I had trouble in that it wouldn't charge and operate as a router at the same time. It now behaves!

This unit also allows a micro-USB to be installed and it operates as a mini-NAS. Pretty slick.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

It's almost impossible to find free wi-fi when traveling abroad anymore. I have Verizon aircard and tried to use it in Mexico, but was scared off by the warning of big charges.

Anyone have experience in Europe with buying an air card there? What are the costs?

Pickup an AT&T MiFi. You can switch on an international data plan. You get a fixed amount of data per month. You can switch the plan on and off by calling AT&T. The charges are prorated (on and off) but the amount of Data is NOT prorated. Weird, but that is how it is setup.

You can also purchase a Mifi Unit from Telcel and then buy data from them. The price is pretty reasonable.

[Joeaksa]

Courtyard's are all free and if you are Gold or Plat with Marriott there is never a charge for internet in any of their hotels. Thats a major reason why we stay at this chain over 100 nights a year.

[LakeCleElum]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Pickup an AT&T MiFi. You can switch on an international data plan. You get a fixed amount of data per month. You can switch the plan on and off by calling AT&T. The charges are prorated (on and off) but the amount of Data is NOT prorated. Weird, but that is how it is setup.
You can also purchase a Mifi Unit from Telcel and then buy data from them. The price is pretty reasonable.

Excellent advice as always from RB......Many Thanks.....

[Paul_Heery]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Courtyard's are all free and if you are Gold or Plat with Marriott there is never a charge for internet in any of their hotels. Thats a major reason why we stay at this chain over 100 nights a year.

I'm with Joe on this. A Marriott hotel is always one of my first choices and Internet connectivity is tops among the reasons.

I have been staying at a Courtyard near my daughter's house at least twice a month since my grandson was born. Now I know that it will vary from hotel to hotel, but the one where I have been staying has superb Internet connectivity. I take my laptop with me and connect it to the flat-panel TV in the room with a HDMI cable. Then I have been able to stream content (movies, TV shows) flawlessly and watch them on TV. That's a damn good shared connection.

[cstreit]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heery

I'm with Joe on this. A Marriott hotel is always one of my first choices and Internet connectivity is tops among the reasons.

I have been staying at a Courtyard near my daughter's house at least twice a month since my grandson was born. Now I know that it will vary from hotel to hotel, but the one where I have been staying has superb Internet connectivity. I take my laptop with me and connect it to the flat-panel TV in the room with a HDMI cable. Then I have been able to stream content (movies, TV shows) flawlessly and watch them on TV. That's a damn good shared connection.

I am, and don't get charged, but it still bothers me! I do enjoy my extra fluffy bathmat though.