Jay StrubbergAmazon has reached new heights! Literally.
The company announced Tuesday Amazon Prime members will soon have speedy access to its instant video service on select JetBlue flights using the airline's premium Wi-Fi — dubbed Fly-Fi — free of charge and with few restrictions.
JetBlue's Fly-Fi is currently available on some flights for $9 an hour. The company's website claims it can handle "bandwidth-heavy applications like streaming movies" but also says the service is in the beta testing period.
Amazon says it's excited to team with JetBlue and says it worked with the airline to ensure the Internet service will be capable of delivering high-quality streaming video when it launches later this year. (Video via Amazon)
And, let's face it, that's a big claim. In-flight Wi-Fi has an industry-wide reputation for being unstable and slow. So the ability to stream video smoothly for free could be a big factor when Prime subscribers choose an airline for a long flight.
JetBlue and Virgin America have both been at the forefront of in-flight tech offerings, trying to stand out not just for better connection speeds and entertainment options but also simple convenience.
"JetBlue is announcing it's going to be easier to pay for those cocktails mid-flight."
In February, the company started allowing iPhone users to purchase in-flight items using Apple Pay.
The new Amazon-JetBlue offering will be available on Airbus A321 and A320 planes later this year, with the service extending to another aircraft in 2016.
This video includes images from Getty Images.
