Guest Posts

“The Airline App, are you using them?” – W. Jason Griffith

You’re sitting at the gate, ready to get home with your flight scheduled to board in the next 15 minutes. Over the intercom you hear, “Attention passengers, flight 3472, has been cancelled!” Immediately, the voices of irritation come out, passengers yelling, a line has quickly formed with the gate agent and others are frantically calling the airline to get the next available flight. What is happening is a queue is forming for those few available seats on the next flights out; some people will be leaving that evening, others, won’t get out until the next day. Which traveler are you going to be?

Over the past year, I found myself in similar situations and it was during these times that I was thankful for my United Airlines app.  All of the major carriers offer apps, some good, United and Delta, while others are greatly improving. So, how can the app help you, when traveling? Below, are some examples.

The story at the beginning of this post happened to me in Louisville, last August. I was trying to get home, the weather was perfect; however my flight was cancelled unexpectedly. Upon the announcement, the panic among my fellow passengers ensued. While everyone rushed to the gate agent or called the airline, I logged into my app. In less than 2 minutes, I was able to change my flight, which was the next one that would get me home that evening. I can tell by the lady seated next to me, who was screaming at the airline agent on the phone, she wasn’t getting out that day. I can say with confidence, I was the first to get another of the few available seats remaining that day; all from the comforts of my seat there in the terminal. Yes, the cancelled flight was a nuisance, however it was out of my control and I got home that evening, unlike many of the other passengers, because the app put me in front of the line.

Another story that I would share happened this past March. I took a red eye from LAX heading home with a layover in Dulles. Again, I was waiting for my flight, when all of a sudden my United app alerted me that my flight was cancelled. My app had alerted me early enough, that our gate agent wasn't even aware. When I showed him the cancelled flight status on my phone, he quickly put me on the next flight, before announcing on the intercom that our flight was cancelled. In fact, it was while he was changing my flight that he got the phone call to announce that the flight was cancelled.  I also found out that the next flight he put me on, had only 2 seats remaining. Had I not had the app, I most likely wouldn't have gotten home until very late that evening or the next morning.

Those two experiences alone, have proven to me, the true benefits of using the airline app on your smartphone. When you spend time on the road, as many of us do, getting home is certainly a goal, and sometimes the airline app can be the difference of you getting home much earlier than later, especially if your flight experiences a cancellation.

Finally, I will say this, using your airline app as a boarding pass, instead of paper, is a benefit in itself. Generally the TSA, look at you as someone who knows what you are doing and will push you through security, versus taking their time with the much less infrequent fliers. Let’s face it, if you look like you know what you are doing, you generally get better customer service as well.