Chill with Spotify for free on Delta Airlines this holiday season

By Simon Cohen December 8, 2021

There’s some good news for Spotify listeners who are planning to take a trip this holiday season on Delta Airlines — you’ll be able to stream as much music as you like without paying the airline’s customary fees for Wi-Fi data. Delta won’t be playing Santa for long, as the free data period only lasts from December 8, 2021, to January 19, 2022.

To take advantage of the free data, all you need to do is connect your phone or tablet to the in-flight Wi-Fi system and then fire up your Spotify app. There’s only one caveat: Your aircraft needs to be equipped with Viasat for its data connectivity, and not every Delta flight has this gear.

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If your flight is not one that uses Viasat, all is not lost. Delta and Spotify also make Spotify content available for free via the Delta Studio seatback entertainment systems on Delta aircraft. You’ll find a collection of the company’s favorite playlists and more than 40 different podcasts.

If your Delta flight doesn’t have Delta Studio entertainment systems either, or maybe you’re booked on another airline, there’s still the universal option: Here’s how to download songs to your phone or computer from Spotify so you’ll have access to them even with no data connection whatsoever. You’ll need a Spotify Premium account for this, but if your device has enough room, you’ll be able to carry a ton of music with you — likely more than enough to get you through your holiday travel plans, whether they include family or just a much-needed return to seeing the world outside your own home.

Spotify and Delta isn’t the only tunes-in-the-sky partnership. In 2019, American Airlines and Apple announced that passengers on American’s Viasat flights could stream Apple Music for free on select flights.

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Contributing Editor, A/V

Simon Cohen covers a variety of consumer technologies, but has a special interest in audio and video products, like spatial…

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