Airports that don’t offer free wifi drive me insane. American airports are notorious for not offering free wifi and instead electing to use a service called Boingo where you either have to pay for a day pass to use wifi or pay a monthly fee to gain unlimited access to Boingo hotspots. In this day and age it’s just insulting! Who’s with me here?
On my latest trip to New York, unwilling to let Boingo win, I decided to poke around to see if there was a way around this.
I thought it was hopeless until I stumbled upon this very travel hack. You won’t believe how incredibly simple it is. Without further ado, here are the steps to get your free wifi.
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- Hottest deals – Bookmark the travel deals page.
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- Hotels – Use corporate codes or get Genius 2 tier with Booking.
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- Insurance – Make sure you’re covered and learn more about where to buy the best travel insurance
Desktop – How to get free Boingo wifi in 3 easy steps
Step 1: Go to your browser, get redirected to the Boingo page and click on “The Good Stuff” on the left side bar
Step 2: Click on “Shopping”
Step 3: Select ebay
At this point you’ll be redirected to eBay but you’ll notice you get full access to the internet. Boom! Done :)
Mobile – How to get free Boingo wifi in 4 easy steps
Step 1: Go to your browser, get redirected to the Boingo page and click on the button that has 3 horizontal lines on it on the top right
This activates the slide out menu.
Step 2: Tap on “The Good Stuff” in the menu
Step 3: Time to do a little shopping
Step 4: Tap on eBay
And just like the desktop method, you’ll get redirected to eBay on your browser but after that, you’ll get full access to the internet.
Yep it’s as easy as that!
I didn’t get a chance to try all the different combinations of shopping and other “Good Stuff” they offer but if you follow these exact steps you won’t be one of those suckers that pay for wifi ;)
I’ve so far tested this at both LaGuardia (LGA) and Newark (EWR) with success but I would also love to know if this works at other airports that force you to use Boingo wifi. Chime in if you know or if you’ve tried this hack after reading this article. Chicago O’Hare works as well!
Enjoy!
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Travel Resources For Your Next Trip
If you’re in the process of planning your trip and putting together your itinerary, these are genuinely the best resources that the Going Awesome Places team stands by 100%.
Flights: Of all the booking search engines, Skyscanner is the most helpful and easy to use thanks to their Everywhere feature.
Car Rental: If you’re looking to save money, these car rental coupon codes will be a true game-changer. Otherwise, DiscoverCars and RentalCars are great places to start.
Airport Parking: You’ll need a spot to leave your car at the airport so why not book a spot at a discount. Use code AWESOME7 to get at least $5 off at Airport Parking Reservations or Park Sleep Fly packages.
Data: We’ve been a huge fan of wifi hotspot devices like PokeFi because their rates are so good and you can use it globally but recently, we’ve really loved using eSIMs. The best one is Airalo. Save money by getting region-specific eSIMs and use referral code WILLIA9500 to get $3 USD credit on your first purchase. Ubigi is another one that we’ve had success with where they uniquely offer 5G coverage. Use code AWESOME10 to save 10% on your first order.
Hotels: Our go-to is Booking.com because they have the best inventory of properties including hotels and B&Bs plus they have their Genius tier discounts. The exception is Asia where Agoda always has the best prices. TripAdvisor is also useful for reviews and bookings.
Vacation Rentals: Your first instinct will be to check Airbnb but we always recommend checking VRBO as well if you’re looking for a vacation rental.
Travel Insurance: Learn how to buy the best travel insurance for you. This isn’t something you want to travel without.
- Insured Nomads – Popular insurance provider for frequent travelers and comes with great coverage and special perks.
- RATESDOTCA – Search engine Canadians looking for the cheapest insurance including multi-trip annual policies.
- SafetyWing – A perfect fit for long-term nomads.
- Medjet – Global air medical transportation.
- InsureMyTrip – Best for seniors, families, and those with pre-existing conditions.
If you need more help planning your trip, make sure to check out our Travel Toolbox where we highlight all of the gear, resources, and tools we use when traveling.
Courtney Burdett says
This does not work at Chicago o’hare
Will Tang says
Thanks for the heads up Courtney. I’ve noticed that in the past year, they’ve patched up these loopholes. I’ve tested it in LaGaurdia and Newark recently and it’s all redesigned now unfortunately! One of these days all airports will have free wifi I hope!
Jagdish Prasad Sharma says
sir,
I want to know password of free wifi at the ORD chikago airport, so that I may call to my daughter,who is living in chicago,buffalo grove.
My Airindia flight is on 22.12.2016 at 1:30 pm.
Kindly guide me how can I use free wifi and let me know password of airport wifi.
Will Tang says
Hi Jagdish, unfortunately I don’t know how ORD is set up right now with Boingo. It does look like they may have closed the loop on this as my recent trip to LGA proved that you can’t do this anymore.
Shaw says
Unfortunately it does not work at MIA ?
mike says
Umm..all Boingo airports have permanent free wifi. So what’s the point of this “hack”? And why pick on the wifi provider? Do you do the same for the food vendors SELLING you food in the airport? The taxis SELLING you rides? Hell, why are you PAYING for airline tickets? Shouldn’t all of that be free too?
Will Tang says
Hey Mike,
Actually I would say that most airports don’t offer free Boingo wifi and if so there’s typically some sort of action required to get limited free access (i.e. download an app). While this hack won’t necessarily work at all airports, at one point it worked at LaGuardia and Newark. I know a few readers have gotten this to work at other airports. It’s really up to you if you want to use this hack or not. Personally, in this day and age, wifi should be free at airports but hey that’s just me.
mike says
I’ve read the press releases and Boingo now offers free wifi at all their locations. Advertising is involved and from my experience the app download stuff is optional. went thru laguardia the other day and said no thanks to an app then watched a video ad then was online. why should wifi be free at the airports but not free airline tickets or free food in the airport? That’s what I’m trying to understand from you.
Will Tang says
Sure you’re entitled to that opinion. Not sure how free wifi is anywhere the same magnitude as free airline tickets or free food.