United Airlines appeared to have expanded its free in-flight WiFi — only to roll it back, claiming it was a “glitch.”
As of April 2026, United loyalty members traveling on planes equipped with Starlink’s Wi-Fi technology are able to access free Wi-Fi by logging into their MileagePlus loyalty account.
Those traveling on a plane without the technology still need to pay $8 for Wi-Fi if they’re a MileagePlus member or $10 for non-members to connect through the older Viasat-powered technology on U.S. domestic and short-haul international flights.
However, last week, United passengers shared on Reddit that they were still able to connect to free Wi-Fi on flights that don’t have the Starlink technology.
Passengers were thrilled to hear the news — and many airline-centered outlets and blogs shared the news that United “quietly rolled out” free Wi-Fi on non-Starlink planes.
“Hopefully this means free Internet for everyone, similar to how the other guys do it,” one Reddit user wrote, mentioning United’s competitors such as Delta and American Airlines.
Given that United made no official statement about the Wi-Fi rollout, many suspected that it was a silent expansion — but that’s not the case.
United Airlines admitted that the free Wi-Fi was actually a technical glitch that was resolved by the end of the day Friday.
Instead of passengers receiving the usual pop-up that asked for payment information for Wi-Fi usage, they received the same pop-up as passengers on Starlink-equipped flights.
“We haven’t made any changes to our current Wi-Fi policy,” United confirmed to Live And Let’s Fly.
The news comes after the longstanding Wi-Fi agreement between United Airlines and T-Mobile abruptly ended on April 13.
United Airlines announced in April 2025 that the Federal Aviation Administration had approved its first Starlink-equipped aircraft, and the airline has only started to install Starlink high-speed internet to some of its regional jets.
Starlink’s Wi-Fi technology will eventually roll out to United’s entire fleet of nearly 1,100 planes, though it will not be complete until 2027.
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