Sky High WiFi

Airlines have made it easy for travelers to do just about everything on line except reserve seats for Red Sox games, and now American has added a new twist for flyers with laptop computers.

AA’s Wi-Fi widget sits on a PC’s desktop, and is designed to inform passengers which flights are equipped with wireless networking services. Plug in a flight number or a departing airport, and the item or list comes up. The tracker looks ahead by 24 hours.

While the widget is free to grab off of a Web site, the in-flight hookup isn’t. Internet connectivity via Aircell’s Gogo service starts at $5.95 per session and goes up—so to speak—depending on the length of the flight. The airline says that at American, it’s now available on all Boeing 767-200 aircraft, select MD80’s and is coming to the fleet of 737s.

There are some up-in-the-air WiFi bargains aloft, as The New York Times’ In Transit blog reported earlier this month. Through January 15, Virgin America, in a promotion with Google, will offer Gogo for free on all flights. The service is normally $5.95 for very short flights to $12.95 for flights over three hours. And Delta, in a promotion with eBay, will offer its Gogo Wi-Fi free on 250 domestic planes for the week starting Nov. 24 (normally $9.95 to $12.95).