Here Are the Best Apps to Track Your Flights.
You don’t necessarily need an app to track a plane’s location at any given time. If you enter the airline name and flight number into Google, it will show you arrival and departure information, as well as the plane’s en route location, based on data from Flightview (which also has a separate app). However, there are several built-in and third-party flight tracking services, both paid and free, that provide real-time updates and other alerts so you have the most up-to-date information while traveling, often faster than the airlines themselves. Here are five of my favorite recommendations.
Flighty is a paid app, but it may be more accurate than your airline’s own app.
Flighty is an iOS app with powerful flight tracking features, such as real-time information on delays and cancellations, as well as live updates displayed on your lock screen (as “Live Activity”) for ongoing flights, whether yours or someone else’s. It’s one of our favorite travel apps because it often provides more up-to-date information than other sources, including the airlines themselves. It also shows your flight status 25 hours before departure. Most of these features require a paid subscription, which can be purchased for a week ($5) if you travel infrequently, or a year ($60) if you travel frequently.
FlightAware is a flexible and free alternative.
If you don’t want to pay for flight tracking and don’t mind ads, you can get all the data you need with FlightAware. The free app lets you search and track any flight in real time and set up custom alerts for departures, arrivals, cancellations, and more. You can see your flight’s progress to your destination in real time and check for delays using the “Where’s My Flight?” feature. There’s also a global flight map, airport weather data, and other features for aviation enthusiasts. FlightAware doesn’t integrate with real-time flight tracking, but it’s a great free flight tracker.
FlightRadar24 integrates with iOS and Android.
FlightRadar24 is similar to FlightAware in the scope of information it provides, including historical data, real-time flight status, and arrival and departure information at any airport worldwide. It also offers far more detail than the average passenger needs, but basic features are free, including tracking via Live Activities (iOS) and Live Notifications (Android).
The Apple Messages app offers a built-in tracking feature for iOS users.
The Messages app on iOS has a built-in flight tracking feature with real-time information on departures, arrivals, gate changes, and baggage tag numbers, as well as a live map if the flight is en route. To use it, simply send yourself or someone else the flight number via iMessage (not SMS), meaning you can use Messages to track any flight. Flight information must be presented in one of several specific formats, the simplest being airline + flight number (e.g., Delta 426). In a message, tap the underlined flight text to open the tracking information in Messages. This is a decent, albeit basic, free option for iOS that lacks both real-time updates and push notifications.
In the Google Wallet app on Android, flight status is displayed on the lock screen.
If you’re an Android user, you can now see your flight status in real time on your always-on display and lock screen. Google recently introduced the “Live Updates” feature for Google Wallet—all you need to do is add your boarding pass, and the tracking will appear shortly after your flight takes off. An icon shows the flight duration, estimated time of arrival, and progress to your destination. Obviously, this feature doesn’t allow you to view flights other than the one you’re currently on, so it’s not as useful for tracking flights in general.