Who doesn’t love in-flight entertainment? Southwest Airlines has had its current in-flight entertainment system in place for about a year and a half, and I’ve had the chance to explore it on many occasions. My family has been flying Southwest a lot.
I know there are lots of planners out there like me who want to know what the entertainment choices are going to be in-flight before a trip. If options are good, that means there is less to plan. Otherwise, I usually spend some time the night before a trip frantically downloading a new movie or TV show from the iTunes store. It’s nice when I know I don’t have to do that because the airplane will offer something new.
First, I’ll start with quick overview of the Southwest in-flight entertainment system (IFE) for the uninitiated. To use IFE on Southwest, you’ll need your own device. Some users have reported issues with Android devices (see the comments over at Points with a Crew for a possible Android fix), so an iPad, iPhone, or laptop computer is going to have the best shot at working out of the box. Then you simply connect your device to the WiFi to open up a variety of entertainment options. These choices include:
- WiFi service: $8
- Watch a movie: $5
- Watch live TV: free
- Watch recorded TV series: free
- Watch the flight tracker: free
- Play games: free
You will have to watch a 30 second commercial and enter an email address to use the system (a little annoying), but I think it is a small price to pay for so many free options. If you want more detailed information on how the system works, be sure to check out my original review of Southwest’s entertainment system published in summer 2013, the update posted in early 2014, and my review of the addition of more kid-friendly choices in mid-2014. (Update March 2, 2015: as of late February 2015, Southwest is now offering a few animated Disney movie choices. HT: Michael W. Travels)
On our last few Southwest flight, I had the brilliant idea to take screenshots of all the Southwest IFE options using my iPhone as I browsed. If you want some photo sneak peeks of the Southwest Airlines in-flight entertainment selections for your next flight, look no further.
Main landing page & WiFi purchase screen.
Movie landing page and the selection of kid-friendly movie options ($5).
Live TV main page and a selection of the streamable TV shows (free).
Flight tracker & a limited game selection (free).
For those of you who “luv” Southwest as much as I do, be sure to check out my complete guide to flying Southwest with kids and follow my LUV Southwest board on Pinterest:
Follow Trips With Tykes’s board LUV Southwest Airlines on Pinterest.
Best Airlines to Fly with Kids: Ranking the Best and Worst in the USA - Trips With Tykes
Friday 26th of February 2016
[…] fares, free checked bags, no change fees, upbeat flight attendants, reasonably-priced WiFi and new free streaming TV service, families board between groups A & […]
Points with a Crew
Tuesday 27th of January 2015
Nice post! I just flew Southwest again and can confirm that there is a fix for Android devices not working. I've got a followup post on this coming up later this week