American Launches Wi-Fi Finder Widget

Contributing Editor Carl Unger believes that every trip is worth taking. He loves an extended trip to Europe as much as he enjoys exploring the towns and landscape near home. Basically, you'll find him wherever there is good food, fresh air, and plenty of stories to bring home.

Carl has been writing for SmarterTravel since 2005. His travel writing has also appeared on USA Today and the About.com Boston travel guide.

The Handy Item I Always Pack: "It's not revolutionary, but a small Moleskine notebook is my one travel must-have. It's great for noting things you want to remember and it takes up hardly any space in your bag."

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: "Japan. I'd love to take a month off and visit the cities, temples, and countryside. I'm fascinated by the country's juxtaposition of ancient traditions and modern ambitions."

Travel Motto: “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” –Terry Pratchett

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: "Window."

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American launched a new Wi-Fi finder widget today, which allows passengers to see if they will have in-flight wireless Internet on their flight. Customers can search by flight number or departure airport.

Best of all, the widget works really well! It’s speedy and easy to navigate. That can’t really be understated—imagine how annoying it would be to go through a tedious process just to dig up one little piece of information.

The lone drawback (and this is a very minor point, in my opinion) is that you can only view flights departing with 24 hours.

This is something I’d like to see from other carriers, though ultimately I’d prefer a Wi-Fi indicator customers can use during the booking process. That won’t be an issue once airlines complete their fleetwide installations, but in the meantime it would be nice to avoid the crapshoot aspect of in-flight wireless. American only has 165 planes outfitted with Wi-Fi, so there’s still a ways to go.

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