Air Bingo
Bingo is set to reach for the skies as several airlines have announced their intention to provide their passengers with online bingo during flights.
British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, and Virgin Airlines all have plans to provide bingo as part of a wider choice entertainment package. In addition to watching movies or listening to audio entertainment passengers will be able to play a variety of games including online bingo.
Airlines are always looking for ways for passengers to while away the miles and hours during flights and many carriers are turning to networked games as an alternative to the in-flight movie. Last year US carrier Delta Airlines introduced Texas Hold’Em poker on internal flights and the game proved very popular among passengers.
The new proposed airline packages will include even more games such as roulette, poker, blackjack, slots, craps, and, best of all, bingo.
Virgin operates its own online games portal that will be available during flights for travelers. Although Virgin flights have included online games for over two years passengers have not been able to place cash bets. The three other airlines are said to be looking at 888.com to provide their online gaming entertainment.
However, passengers on US flights however will not be able to enjoy the proposed gambling options; in order to comply with US government restrictions that prohibit foreign gaming companies from operating in the USA both BA and Singapore airlines will disable the gambling on flights to and from America. This will come as a disappointment to US travelers who apparently are very keen to gamble during flights. A US Department of Transportation study found that US carriers could earn as much as $300 million dollars a year if gambling were allowed on international flights.
The planned gambling options have also raised some concerns, particularly among flight attendants who are worried that they may be left to deal with agitated passengers who are irked after losing their holiday bankroll before they even get off the plane.
However, the airlines involved have said they intend to prevent what is supposed to be entertainment from becoming a disappointment by setting low limits on the gambling. Although exactly what the limits will be is still a matter of speculation passengers will not be able to lose more that about two hundred pounds per flight. The limits will be applied across the board to both economy and business class passengers.
The inclusion of bingo in the gaming package will expose many newcomers to this pastime that is a perfect way to make the hours on a long flight seem shorter. Veteran bingo players will be glad to play their favourite games while in the air and it will also give them a chance to try their luck at virtual bingo that is now available online at earthly sites such as winkbingo.com.
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