PHONES APPS ARE MAKING TRAVEL EASIER

These days over half of all travelers will carry smartphones on their trip and more airlines are beginning to rolling out phone apps that you to personally take care of most of the tasks agents handle.
While many travel apps specialize in tasks such as tracking a flight or guiding travelers through airports, these airline apps aim to eventually do it all. Depending on its function, some apps will be much better than others, but all apps available are free, and most travelers will find them to be useful, especially on the day of travel. Here are a some of the ways you can use airline apps to make your travels much easier.
CHECK IN
Even though you could use your smartphone Web browser to check in, the new airline apps are specially designed to make the process faster. Once you log in with your flight number or flight confirmation, the apps can locate your itinerary and you can check in with a few clicks of a button.
Most airline apps also allow you view your seating assignment and change if a better seat opens. United, Delta, and American also let you monitor your standby status and save a digital boarding pass on your phone, but this has been met with mixed reviews among travelers considering airport scanners occasionally have trouble reading the bar code on mobile boarding passes. However, even if you print your boarding pass later, the app will allow you to check in 24 hours before your flight no matter where you are.
TRACK A FLIGHT
Tracking your flight is one of the most useful features the airlines apps have to offer. Using this app is much more convenient than navigating through the airlines website or calling the airline’s automated system to check a flight’s status.
Airline apps can be especially convenient when you have a connecting flight. Once your first flight lands, you can check gate numbers and flight status of your next flight while you’re approaching the terminal, rather than waiting until you get off the plane and finding an electronic billboard. Although most airlines allow customers to sign up for e-mail or text alerts regarding flight delays, these notifications and messages can often be inaccurate, if you even get them at all.
MONITOR YOUR LUGGAGE
Delta Airlines is leading the pack by offering a “track my bag” app, which offers the ability to track your checked baggage much as you can a track a FedEx package. Once you check your baggage at the terminal and you receive a receipt, you can select the “Track My Bags” feature on Delta’s app and it will guide you through the process of using your phone’s camera to scan the bar code on your baggage receipt. The app will allow you see where your bag is within Delta’s system at all times. This app will also let you pay for your bag if you check in with your phone.
NAVIGATE THE AIRPORT
Another useful feature that airline apps have to offer is airport maps. Since the app is still new, they only include detailed maps for the 100 largest airports, but this idea alone should make it worth downloading if you travel on a regular basis.
The app allows you to select an airport, from there you can zoom in the maps to see such items as specific gates, baggage claim locations, airline clubs, rental car locations, bookstores, and other retail business and restaurants. It’s expected that airlines and airports will eventually use these mapping tools to send special offers to travelers such as coupons and special discounts on local business.
There is also the opportunity for airlines to use their apps to manage the rebooking process when passengers miss a connection or a flight.
Although these apps are still in the early phases of development, the long term benefits will have a major effect on making travel much easier. For more great articles and travel tips, check out Luggage Covers [http://www.myluggagecovers.com/] for all your travel needs. Let us help you take the stress out of travel before you even leave the house.