FlightTrack app can ease travel angst
If you ever fly on business or for pleasure, or even if you don’t but sometimes need to pick someone up at the airport, you need to consider getting FlightTrack from the Apple App Store.
Knowing what the status of your flights and connections are will not change anything. That knowledge will not make your delayed flight leave on time. But it will keep you informed, something that the airlines themselves often seem loathe to do. And being informed, you can make informed decisions about whether or not you need to run to the gate for the connecting flight, or if you can walk, or if there is no reason to go there at all.
The app may be even more important if you need to pick someone up at the airport. Many of us live an hour or more from our closest major airport. Even if we don’t, we still need to know ASAP when an incoming flight has been delayed so that we can avoid driving to the airport and then spending 90 minutes waiting in the car in some lonely parking lot or congested terminal.
There are a lot of apps that track flights. I went through all of them, I think, on my laptop, finally settling on FlightStats.com as the best of breed. I liked the interface and the speed at which information was made available. When I got my iPhone, I was pleased to see that there was an app that gave you access to this information on the phone.
The app is called FlightTrack. It was written by Ben Kazez and is available at the Apple app store for $4.99. As always, the download and installation of the app was painless. The interface could not be easier. In the upper right hand corner, there is a “+” to click on when you want to add a flight. Doing so brings up the flight selection screen.
The easiest way to enter a flight is by airline name, flight number, and date. As you type, FlightTrack presents a list of airlines that match the characters you have entered, allowing you to select from the list after typing just a few characters. The flight number, of course, has no such list. The date, which defaults to today, uses the normal iPhone date selector for other days.
Alternately, you can find the flight by route. Again, the airline is selected via a list. The places of departure and arrival are selected in a similar manner, using a list which narrows as you type, using either the city name or the airport code. Date selection is the same, as well. The available flights are then presented and you can select the one you want. This is also handy if you are late for a connection and want to find the next flight.
Once a flight is selected by either method, it can be saved to the front page of the app. This means that you can enter an entire entire itinerary in advance when you book your tickets, saving you from having to do it while on the road. This puts an automatically updating full-trip schedule in your pocket for the duration of your trip. It could not be handier. Well, it could, but more about that later.
Some status information is shown on the app main page, but tapping on a saved entry will give you more. There is a details page which shows each leg of the flight, it’s on-time status, plus its terminal and gate. There is a map screen which shows the progress of the flight by showing the route line and placing a graphic of an airplane along that line to show you progress. It also displays the height and speed of the flight at that moment.
There is a more convenient, but more expensive, option. The Pro version of FlightTrack, available for $9.99, adds a number of features, such as FAA closure bulletins, airport weather, weather forecasts and integration with Tripit, the automated trip tracker that reads your itinerary from emails no matter where you book your flights. Whether the Pro version is worth an extra five dollars is up to you.
The only flaw that I have found is that there can be some confusion on those flights that are sold by one airline but operated by a partner airline. You may have to check the flight number on both airlines before you get what you want, but that is more a function of airline practice than a problem with the app. FlightTracker is a useful addition to your iPhone if you travel or provide ground transportation for friends and family. I don’t leave home without it.
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