Why Emirates playlist sync is such a brilliant idea
Pick out your preferred movies and shows as soon as you book your flight.
I have a routine for long-haul flights. As soon as we've been told to switch into flight mode on our phones, I dive into the on-board entertainment and start making a list of the shows and movies I plan to watch. It's ridiculously old-school; I make notes on paper. That way, I can map out my journey, between the movies I'll consume over dinner and the episodes of Family Guy and Modern Family that I'll guffaw over while landing.
Now Emirates has introduced an enhancement to its well regarded ICE on-board system that lets you pick out what you want to watch as soon as you've booked your flight. Using the Emirates app, you can browse what's available and create your own playlist, which you then sync with your seatback screen so you can watch your choices. It's well-explained in the video below:
Right now, the syncing works on more than 100 Boeing 777 aircraft used by the airline, Emirates said. It plans to eventually roll it out across its entire fleet, including the A380 craft used for its Australian services.Once that happens, I could totally get on board (ahem) with doing this. The odds of my taking an Emirates flight admittedly dropped when Qantas switched back to routing its flights to London through Singapore, and dropped a little more when it announced plans to cut its Sydney to Bangkok flights.
However, given that it's still one of the more reliable options for getting points flights through Qantas, I expect I'll be able to give this a whirl at some point.
In-flight entertainment isn't the challenge it once was. Now that we can download Netflix and YouTube shows onto our phones or tablets, you can easily travel with exactly what you want. That in turn makes the prospect of cheaper flights more bearable. I easily survived a Jetstar economy flight to Hawaii with the accompaniment of several seasons of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
That said, I'll always use in-seat entertainment if it's available, free and working. Why run down my battery when I can just use what the plane is offering?
Angus Kidman's Findings column looks at new developments and research that help you save money, make wise decisions and enjoy your life more. It appears regularly on finder.com.au.
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Picture: Emirates
