Flying on a plane is as physically captivate as you ever will be in the world. An inflight Wi-Fi provider GoGo fails to take advantage of the this unique circumstance they find their (potential) customers in.

Here’s my experience followed by some thoughts on how GoGo could be smarter. (Despite the following critique, ‘ll say after a fast review of their website, the company seems like knows what it is doing – from design to pricing structures for its services.)

A few weeks ago, I was flying back from my native Boston after attending a close-friend’s wedding. A plane for me is a time to slow down, get away from the internet, and embrace the constrained quarters. I rather read a book or draw then watch a movie or surf the internet. However, on a flight back from Boston last week, after reading and drawing for awhile, I decided to give the Wi-Fi service a try out of curiosity, and pulled out my Mac from under the seat.

The Wi-Fi service was provided by GoGo. The signal showed strong and I connected quickly to their landing page.

They pricing for the flight at about $12 was reasonable enough that I was on the brink of paying it. But not quite. (I wonder if they’ve tested the elasticity of demand across different flights?) I still had my books and I  just wanted to experiment with the service. I wanted to know, “Do they have a free trial?” I looked for the answer.

I didn’t find any mention of a free trial on their website. I went to the live chat, entered a fake name, and lined up as number seven in the queue.

GoGo chat session - I was 7th in the queue and waited eight minutes, which suprisingly I didn't mind.

It took me eight minutes to get to a person named Aaron. That would be deadly wait in a normal situation but in my seat on the plane I didn’t mind at all. Captivation is the unique circumstance of potential GoGo users.

When my turn came up, I asked Aaron if they had  a free trial, and he wrote:
“I do apologize but at this time we’re not offering any free trials of the service.”
And that was it – the end of my relationship with GoGo. I closed my computer and put it back under my seat.

My chat session with Aaron. I had to make a decision, pay or don't use the service at all

GoGo missed an opportunity to connect with me. So, how could the company do it better?
The first idea would be to give you free access for a limited period of time – say 5 minutes – and then give you more minutes if you complete various steps.

Here are a few ideas. Get more minutes if you:

• Confirm an email sent to your address. (The company must have a thoughtful engagement policy in this case.)
• Fill out a survey from the airline (about service, food, or whatever). They could be an additional service  by delta. GoGo could create inflight metrics that it shares with the airline and the travelers.
• Friend GoGo on Facebook. (Viral: “I’m using GoGo on my flight from Boston.”)
• Watch an add. (I’m not wild about this one. It’s a classic way to give people more in exchange for their time, and ad dollars.)

My flatmate had a smart idea too – you could redeem frequent flyer minutes to get more minutes.

The main point is there is a lot of potential; you could think of even better ideas if you give some thought.  The key is that GoGo owns a platform, which they need to use to capture more value and provide more service to people who fly sporadically. They shouldn’t have given me a binary decision – pay or go-away.