Vistara, in 2020, became the only Indian carrier to offer Wi-Fi connectivity on their aircraft, with their Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A321neo aircraft coming factory-fitted with radomes. As India enabled Internet in its skies, Vistara switched on their Internet service onboard these aircraft and started to offer it complimentary on their flights from Delhi to London on the Boeing 787-9 aircraft. Vistara has been offering their internet connectivity ability free of charge from September 2020 onwards, as they operated flights under the air-bubble agreements. In April 2022, however, they made it a paid offering. Since then, Vistara offers free messaging for all Club Vistara members.

Vistara’s pricing for onboard Wi-Fi

Here are Vistara’s currently offered prices for onboard Wi-Fi.

As you can see, there is a plan for unlimited chat on the flight (WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.), a surfing plan, and a third plan that allows you to stream data for your streaming apps all day long. The Chat plan is free if you are a Club Vistara member and have checked in with your Club Vistara number on your boarding pass.

Vistara now offers a complimentary Wi-Fi sampler.

For Vistara, many of their customers are of Indian origin and have Indian credit/debit cards. For these customers, it is a pain to use their credit cards on board the flight, given that the Indian regulator requires a two-factor authentication on the transaction, and hence, the take rate might not have been great. Vistara advises people to buy their vouchers before the flight itself, but then, in India, Internet on board is a new thing, and people may or may not be used to being “prepared” to use it on board.

Now, Vistara is trying a new strategy.  The airline will now offer 20 minutes of complimentary Wi-Fi internet connectivity onboard international flights, operated using its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and Airbus A321neo aircraft, across all three cabins. This will allow customers to try out the full Wi-Fi and buy if they’d like for the duration of the flight.

For Indian customers more so, this move will also allow them to purchase extended Wi-Fi plans using their Indian credit/debit cards. This service allows customers to receive one-time passwords via email, facilitating the purchase of extended in-flight Wi-Fi services during the active session.

Ironically, this move comes just as Axis Bank, their oldest co-brand card issuance partner, is going to stop sending One-Time Passwords via email altogether.

Bottomline

Vistara has introduced a new 20-minute Wi-Fi sampler for customers on board its international flights, which operate on the 787-9 and A321neo sub-fleets. This will allow customers to try the service and extend it if needed. Also, Indian customers can use this time to buy a full package for the rest of the flight using the OTP on Email option.

What do you make of the new internet offerings from Vistara?

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