I genuinely wasn’t aware there were any airports left, even in the developing world, that do not offer free wi-fi, but that was my experience at Dubrovnik Airport. What a great way to fleece customers.
Some Airports Still Do Not Offer Free Wi-Fi
My flight to Barcelona was delayed, which left extra time in the gate area to hang out. It was then I found out that Dubrovnik Airport charges for wi-fi. I pulled out my laptop and attempted to connect to the internet.
Oh, 15 minutes free. I figured after the 15 minutes I would just connect again.
Several times during the 15 minutes the internet disconnected and then reconnected again. But finally, the 15 minutes expired. But when I tried to log in again, I was told I had used my allotment and would have to pay.
It was 5EUR/hour…which is reasonable enough, but almost begs the question of why even bother. My Capital One card was declined…the bank thought it was a fraudulent charge. Thankfully, Capital One does not require a phone call, just a text message, to unlock the card. The charge went through the second time.
Only the connection kept dropping…
Every few minutes, it would drop and then I’d get the welcome page again, asking me to pay up. But when I clicked through to pay, then it just reconnected.
What an annoyance.
On the one hand, I get why an airport overrun with budget carriers would treat its passengers in the same no-frills way the airlines do. On the other hand, it’s just a wildly inefficient system.
Perhaps the airport didn’t want people connecting to the internet because it had so few plugs. Thankfully (after my delay was further extended), I found a plug at a bar that was closed. That was another issue. By 8:00 pm, everything was closed…
I know many airports offer a premium high-speed wi-fi option for purchase, but I was shocked this airport did not offer a basic option for free.
CONCLUSION
Dubrovnik is great…Dubrovnik Aiport, not so much. I find it tacky to charge for internet and the system they had rigged up was anything but efficient. If you are traveling through DBV with a long layover, be sure to bring a power bank and credit card…and lots of patience.
Free and fast Wi-Fi in the business lounge
Ummm, look no further than MIA
They probably do it as a way of rationing. There are no roaming charges within the EU, so most pax will be using their mobile data anyway.
In other news, my Pedantry Awards entry for today is the observation that memory in Latin is very much female- hence the banner should be ‘in memoriam’.
Glad to see someone paid attention at school!!
IST isn’t a great deal better. You have to swipe your passport to get a code and then you have a grand total of 60 minutes of free time and that’s your lot!
Randomized MAC address. Everytime you reconnect to specific wifi IDs you’ll look like a new computer to the network. Still annoying but free.
Chicago’s O’Hare (ORD) charges for the Internet. And at a hefty price too !!
It’s free in the different airline lounges/clubs, but those in steerage looking out a window get fleeced. And, it’s super difficult to find a 120v power outlet or a 5v USB port.
The pols in Chicago make sure they get their cut.
Google Fi gives you 5G in Croatia and like 60 other countries. LTE everywhere else. I can’t imagine not having my unlimited plan these days. I hotspot everywhere.