Boingo Wi-Fi: What You Need to Know

Through a partnership between Boingo and Mastercard, eligible cardholders can enjoy access to Wi-Fi hotspots at over one million locations worldwide, as well as on flights with select airlines.

This can be particularly useful to anyone who needs to stay connected on the ground or in the skies, and the best part is that comes without any additional fees.

In this guide, we’ll explore everything there is to know about the Wi-Fi partnership between Boingo and Mastercard.

Boingo’s Wi-Fi Partnership with Mastercard

Boingo is a provider of public and private wireless networks at major venues worldwide.

For consumers, the company is most visible through its more than one million affiliated hotspots worldwide, including places such as airports, stadiums, and train stations.

Likewise, Boingo has partnerships in place with a handful of airlines, allowing its subscribers to access in-flight Wi-Fi.

For years, Boingo has had a longstanding partnership with Mastercard, wherein certain cardholders are eligible to enjoy unlimited premium access to Boingo’s hotspots on the ground, as well as 12 90-minute in-flight Wi-Fi sessions per calendar year.

The Boingo benefits are free and ongoing, as long as you’re an active cardholder, and you don’t need to pay any additional fees.

In Canada, many premium Mastercard products offer Boingo access as a free benefit, including the following cards:

How to Sign Up for the Boingo Mastercard Benefit

If you have an eligible Mastercard, you’ll need to register first before you can enjoy the Boingo Wi-Fi benefit.

On the Boingo Mastercard landing page, you’ll be asked to input your 16-digit Mastercard number to check eligibility. Note that your card won’t be charged, even for a verification hold.

If your card is eligible, you’ll be asked to enter a username and password on the next screen.

After completing registration, you’ll then be ready to use your credentials at Boingo hotspots and with its in-flight Wi-Fi partners.

Keep in mind that each Mastercard product, including supplementary cards, must be registered separately with its own email, username, and password.

Using Boingo at Worldwide Hotspots

There are over one million Boingo land-based hotspots worldwide. You’ll find them at train stations, cafés, and convenience stores, and at many other locations.

You may find the Boingo benefit particularly useful at some airports and other venues, at which Wi-Fi is only complimentary for a limited time, and then chargeable after your free allowance has run out.

Examples of major airports with Boingo Wi-Fi access include Zurich (ZRH), Dubai (DXB), São Paulo (GRU), and Panama City (PTY).

In the US, Boingo is the largest airport Wi-Fi provider, serving major cities such as Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK/LGA/EWR), Chicago (ORD/MDW), Detroit (DTW), and Austin (AUS), amongst others.

To use your Mastercard benefit at a Boingo-affiliated hotspot, simply look for the Boingo login option when connecting to a Wi-Fi network, and enter your credentials.

In some cases, Boingo is listed as a roaming option.

Keep in mind that you’ll login as any other Boingo customer would, and there’s no unique option to choose for Mastercard holders.

Fortunately, the Mastercard Wi-Fi benefit is unlimited, with no data or time caps at land-based hotspots. Therefore, you can remain connected during, say, an entire extended layover during which you need to work.

To help find a Boingo hotspot, you can download the Boingo Wi-Finder app on the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Using Boingo In-Flight Wi-Fi

Perhaps the greatest value to be found in the Boingo and Mastercard collaboration is access to in-flight Wi-Fi, which can be expensive when paid for out-of-pocket.

Each calendar year, recipients of the benefit are entitled to 12 90-minute in-flight Wi-Fi sessions.

If you hold more than one eligible Mastercard product and/or have supplementary cards, each separate card is eligible for 12 sessions. Therefore, if you’re a frequent flyer, you may want to make full use of supplementary cards and all Mastercard products you hold.

To use the in-flight Wi-Fi benefit with Boingo, simply connect to the aircraft’s Wi-Fi network.

Importantly, don’t select the airline’s own Wi-Fi plans. Rather, look for the Boingo login, which usually is listed under roaming options.

You’ll then be prompted to enter your username and password, which are the same ones you use for any other Boingo login.

When using in-flight Wi-Fi with Boingo, here are some things to keep in mind:

• Your 90 minutes begin as soon as you get connected. You can’t pause your session and save some of the time for later, even if the signal isn’t working.
• You usually won’t get a timer or a prompt with your sessions. Instead, your internet will just stop working, and you’ll be prompted to log in again.
• You can use your 90-minute sessions consecutively, perhaps to cover an entire long-haul flight.
• Each device needs its own session, though you can use the same login for each device.
• There’s no data cap for your Boingo sessions. However, inflight Wi-Fi isn’t always suited for video streaming or heavy browsing, and many inflight Wi-Fi systems disable bandwidth-heavy activities altogether.

To track your remaining Boingo in-flight Wi-Fi sessions, simply login to the Boingo website with your username and password.

Which Airlines Offer Boingo Wi-Fi Access?

The following airlines offer Boingo Wi-Fi on select aircraft in their fleet:

• Aegean Airlines
• Aer Lingus
• Aeromexico
• Air Belgium
• American Airlines
• Austrian Airlines
• Biman Bangladesh
• Cathay Pacific
• China Airlines
• EgyptAir
• Etihad Airways
• Eurowings
• EVA Air
• Garuda Indonesia
• Japan Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Middle East Airlines
• SATA
• Scoot
• Singapore Airlines
• Swiss
• TAP Portugal
• Virgin Atlantic
• WestJet

Note that not all aircraft and routes are equipped with inflight Wi-Fi.

To check if your flight offers the service, you can confirm Wi-Fi availability on the airline’s website, or you can simply try connecting to the airline’s network as your flight reaches cruising altitude.

Conclusion

Boingo and Mastercard have teamed up to provide eligible cardholders with access to Wi-Fi both in-flight and at hotspots across the world.

This benefit is especially useful anytime Wi-Fi is complimentary only for a limited time, as well as on flights, where Wi-Fi typically comes at a cost.

If you have an eligible Mastercard product, be sure to register for a Boingo account before your next trip, to ensure you remain connected on the ground and in the skies.