How Airline Perks Stack Up for Business Travelers With airline extras dwindling, access to on-board Wi-Fi or TV can dictate who gets your travel budget.

I've flown 1.5 million miles on United Airlines in my working life. (Before you start tweeting congratulations, understand that it's the equivalent of spending six months, day and night, belted into creased leatherette.) For my devotion, and the annoyance of having United's "Rhapsody in Blue" theme permanently stuck in my head, I've been rewarded with annual Premier Executive status in the Mileage Plus program. So I'd have had a decent chance for a first-class upgrade whenI flew from Seattle to Denver recently. Yet I didn't even consider booking the trip on United.

The reason? This was during the recent NCAA tournament, and I wanted to catch a game. United doesn't have live television on board. Same for Alaska, which also flies nonstop between the cities. But Frontier, which doesn't even offer a first-class cabin to be upgraded into, features 24 channels on its $6 DirecTV package. The two hours of my flight sped by as I watched Virginia Commonwealth upset Kansas.

Air travel has been a commodity for years. Gone are the days when one carrier would boast about the quality of its meals, another about the plushness of its cabin. Responding to research that showed most consumers make ticket-buying decisions solely by price, airlines pared amenities until the experience of flying became indistinguishable from one brand to the next.

Now the advances of technology have provided momentary separation. Some carriers have on-board entertainment systems that include TV. Others offer pay-per-use Wi-Fi. Some, like United, still don't have either. And occasionally, such as when I take a Delta flight on a recommissioned Northwest aircraft, I hit the jackpot and get both. These days, I choose my airline by how I want to spend my time on a particular flight. Answer e-mails? Have a shot at free drinks and a meal with an upgrade? Kick back and watch a game?

Let's cherish the moment, and hope that this state of affairs is more than temporary. Maximizing quarterly profits--as opposed to building long-term customer loyalty--has been the industry's goal for so long that it seems to have become integrated into its DNA. As you read this, computers are figuring out which in-flight services generate the highest return on investment; those will likely become standard across the brands. Make sure the airlines know that you appreciate the options, or the rest will just fade away. -- Bruce Schoenfeld

*Offered through Gogo Inflight Internet. Pricing varies based on type of device and length of service, from $4.95 for 1.5 hours to $12.95 for more than 3 hours (on a laptop).