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On 2026-05-07 @johnloeber attempted to buy Delta inflight Wi‑Fi but the Delta app…

2026-05-07 · 02:00 UTC ·@johnloeber ·2 min read

Brief

John Loeber recounts a May 7, 2026 inflight attempt to buy Delta Wi‑Fi where Face ID failed without connectivity, the Delta app required online auth and didn't accept a passcode, Apple Pay verification couldn't complete, and autofill was disabled—forcing manual card entry after several failed attempts. He calls multi-billion-dollar airlines’ and retailers’ payment flows hostile, demeaning, and counterproductive.

Why it matters

On 2026-05-07 @johnloeber attempted to buy Delta inflight Wi‑Fi but the Delta app required Face ID authentication that failed without network access and did not fall back to a passcode despite 3–4 login attempts.

Key details

  • The browser checkout had system credit‑card autofill disabled; Apple Pay tried to verify via the phone (which had no connectivity), forcing him to open Apple Wallet and enter card details manually.
  • He calls the process 'horrible', 'demeaning', and 'physically repulsed', arguing that large companies (Delta, Target, CVS, Square) routinely create hostile payment UX that makes customers abandon purchases even though they are trying to give the companies money.
Source evidence

Just Let Me Pay You

I'm on a flight. I want Wifi. There's a portal. It requires me to make an account. I don't want to make an account. Alternatively, I can "log in" with my booking reference code and my last name.

I open the Delta App on my phone to get the booking reference. But the Delta App -- for some reason -- doesn't store my session, but rather wants to authenticate me every single time using Face ID. But I don't have internet connectivity so Face ID fails? And it's not using my passcode as a backup? Sigh. All I want to do is pay for the Wifi. I try three or four times, but there seems to be no way to open the app without Wifi. I hate this.

I luckily find the booking reference somewhere in my phone's cached emails. I select the Wifi Plan and proceed to pay. The browser interface has disabled the system's automated credit-card filling. Thrillingly secure. There's an Apple Pay option. I select the right card. Apple Pay wants to jump from my Laptop and verify on my phone. Face ID doesn't work again, presumably because there's no network connection at all on my phone. Back to entering the credit card manually. Fine. I have to open my phone and go into my Apple Wallet and find the credit card information. Finally I am able to pay.

This was a horrible process and deeply irritating. At multiple points I thought "screw this, I'm going to sleep". Or I can just do offline work for a few hours. No big deal. It is demeaning to crawl through this finicky process to get Wifi. I feel physically repulsed by this customer experience: I am ready to close my laptop and to move on with my life.

This is a multi-billion-dollar airline. And it's not just them. All the time I run into extremely hostile user experiences in the flow of paying the company. Whether it's Target, CVS, Square, Delta, you name it: I'm trying to give them money and they have bugs or glaring UX issues that make me want to drop off the purchasing flow and curse them for wasting my time and raising my heart rate. All I am trying to do is give them money -- profits! amazing! -- and they are making it hard. If you want people to pay you for stuff, you should make it easy for them to pay you. This is so exasperating.