Culture
American Airlines Is Bringing Your FYP To The Sky
What better way to pass the time than watching hundreds of 30-second clips?
In an era where even generous Jet Blue with its free Cheez-It offerings is making passengers pay for carry-on bags, American Airlines is trying to become an American hero and giving customers free inflight access to TikTok, without having to purchase in-flight Wifi. Well, actually they’re only giving 30 minutes, but that’s enough to watch, like, 60 videos before you put on The Devil Wears Prada only to nod off after 45 minutes.
In a press release, American Airlines is really pushing that TikTok can be used by “travel and adventure enthusiasts” to browse videos on “travel inspiration, off-the-beaten-path locations and travel tips,” along with “career advice for summer internships, resume building and finance,” but we all know we’ll instead just pass the time watching videos of BBL-induced attitudes, people mocking the obsession with “kawaii” culture, and any number of wacky and hilarious TikTok trends.
“Faster Wi-Fi allows us to deliver diverse inflight entertainment options and invest in innovative partnerships with platforms like TikTok,” Clarissa Sebastian, American Airline’s Managing Director of Premium Customer Experience and Onboard Products, said in a press release. “Customers play the lead role in helping us better understand what content they want during their inflight experience and TikTok is one of the platforms they love on the ground, and we’re thrilled to work with Viasat to give customers free access to TikTok while they’re in the air as well.”
Alaska Airlines recently also experimented with offering access to Facebook Messenger in-flight, but it’s unclear if that’s coming back. Executives need to put their heads together and figure out how we can get free Twitter for sh*tposting at 30,000 feet elevation, please.
The press release notes the free TikTok access is a promotion, so it’s unclear how long you’ll have access before you get so addicted to watching TikTok on a plane that you simply must pay for Wifi. (Gasp! Maybe that’s the plan all along?)
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