Internet Access Charges
One of the things that bothers me the most about traveling is Internet access charges. Part of the problem is consistency. I never know where or how much I’ll have to pay to access the Internet. When I arrived at the San Jose airport, I would have had to pay in order to get Internet access (I passed). At the Las Vegas airport, Internet access was free which was nice since it allowed me to get a couple hours of work done before Nate arrived. Our hotel had Internet access, but charged $12 a day to access it.
With the sites and the income I earn from the Internet being my main source of income, Internet access is quite important, but this was something that bothered me even before then. I don’t necessarily believe Internet access should be free (the places that offer it do have to pay for the system), but I wish they would offer a free alternative (such as an advertisement based system where I could access it for so long if i viewed an advertisement of some type). This is especially true because most places offer their Internet service for 24 hours when often I only need it for a short time to access email.
I guess the real problem is that I feel that free Internet access through wireless networks such as Google is promoting in some cities is the wave of the future and it free Internet access will be available almost anywhere within the next 5 years or so. Knowing this, it bothers me to have to pay for Internet access outside my home. Am I the only one that feels this way?
Actually, I’ve found that the San Jose airport to be one of the most reasonable prices for Internet Access. I believe it is only $6.95 for a day’s worth of access. I travel to SJ a lot, and frankly, that airport is not one of the finest in the country. I’m definately willing to pay the $7 for something interesting to do or read.
Also, one thing I’ve noticed is that the swankier the hotel, the more money they charge for Internet Access. Tier-2 hotels will give you free access much more often then the top tier ones. So in those cases you can save money on both the room cost and the Internet Access charges.