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Airlines Hoping To Woo Customers Invest In More Entertainment Options

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --  An estimated 25 million people will be traveling by air over this long holiday weekend and many won't be thankful for the experience.  Would better in-flight entertainment options help to make things more pleasant?  The airlines think so.  3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan explains.

Imagine having live music onboard a plane.  It's not unbelievable.  In fact Southwest Airlines hosted a live concert thirty thousand feet in the air.  It's one of many new entertainment options airlines are using to woo passengers onto planes. Melanie Hinton with the airline advocacy group Airlines for America says, "They're adding streaming, videos, live television onto your personal devices so you don't have to watch the little screen anymore, or watch the one movie so you have choices of 1500 channels on some flights. We're adding faster, more secure WI-FI, we're adding plug-ins so you can plug-in devices so you never lose a charge during your trip."

George Hobica with www.AirfareWatchdog.com says competition is causing the airlines to up their game.  According to Hobica, "In a sense, airlines are competing on in-flight entertainment, offering things like larger video screens, more selections. In some cases, in business class you have Bose noise cancelling headphones."

For passengers it pays off more ways than one.  Hobica says, "There's no question that having a really great entertainment system makes the flight go faster and amuses people, especially if there's a delay."

On some JetBlue flights you can now order food right from the smart device at your seat or shop the marketplace on the plane.  Hinton says, "You may get thirsty before the cart comes around, so some airlines are adding marketplace where you can go and get you own snacks and drinks if you need it, or you can order drinks and snacks on your tablet."

On certain Virgin America planes you can even chat with the person a few rows back.  According to Hobica, "It allows you to, for example, chat with your seatmates, even somebody you don't know, which might be a nice way to meet somebody on the plane."

If you'd like to know what the entertainment options are available for each airline and each plane, check out the www.seatguru.com . The site allows you to find out what's available on specific flights and specific aircraft.

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