Flying App's

These App's are related to flying and may help you before, during, or after your trip.

Type: flying

Summary: online passport

Platform: iOs and Android

Reason to use: This app is authorized by the US Customs and Border Protection.

How to use: once you have the app downloaded, scan your passport in the app (make sure you phone has a camera) and you are ready to go. On the app you would fill out the same information that you would on a paper custom's form but it will give you a QR code that an agent will scan while looking at your passport photo. The mobile passport also has it's open security lane so it moves faster than the standard lane.

Who accepts it: Currently 24 US airports and one cruise port are currently accepting the app but you have to be a US citizen or Canadian on B1 or B2 visa's. Also check the make sure that the airport you are traveling to accepts the app before going.

Female Abroad review: we haven't used this app yet but it sounds interesting. Have you used it? Let us know what you think!

Type: flying

Overview: know what you are owed due to flight issues

Platform: iOS and Android

Cost: free

Description: delayed or cancelled flight? Use this app to track down what you are owed. Of course they offer their services to help you claim it for a fee.

Female Abroad Review: With this app you scan your boarding pass or manually enter in your flight information. It will then track your flight status and if there are any issues then you can check your rights to see if you are owed anything. If you are owed then you can file the claim through them and they will chase it for you at a cost. While this app is interesting to know what you are owed in case of a delay or cancellation I find that it just takes up space on my phone. As I had never filed any claims through the app, I did do some research and it seems hit or miss. Some people feel that the app settles the claim too early, shorting what they are legally entitled to or they don't get enough reasons as to why the claim was denied.

Type: flying

Overview: track your flights

Platform: iOs & Android

Cost: free

Description: use this basic app to keep track of your flight status, integrates with Tripit, and times the four parts of your flight (check in, boarding, take off, and landing). Somehow it keeps this information updated without internet access.

Female Abroad Review: I did like how this app would keep track of current check in and security waits so I didn't have to rush and could enjoy my morning tea a bit longer. It even allows you to leave information about shops (like operating times) that are in the airport as well which was really handy for trying to find things to do to kill time. The layout is simple which makes it really easy to read and it includes everything you could need to know like baggage, seating charts, and travel miles. If you are someone looking to make new friends or fall in love then you will be noted about people near you that are also using the app. As there is a trip tracking feature it will show all the trips you've ever taken and rank you compared on how much mileage you've flown compared to other users. It's a really nice app to use and some people claim that it will update your flight information even if you are not connected to the Wi-Fi or date. I haven't noticed this. Maybe these people were connected to data without realizing? Maybe it was an old feature?

Type: Flight

Summary: Helps you pick seats on planes

Platform: iOs and Android

Reason to use: Wanting to book a seat for flight but not sure where to sit? This app will help you pick a spot. Also works if you are looking for a certain plane layout then this will also help you determine this.

Female Abroad review: while in the travel industry I always got questions regarding the plane seat layouts, how many seats in a certain class type, and what seats are closet to the bathroom. Surprisingly, this information is not readily available but with Seat Guru, it was easy to access and in a nice diagram that we could send to the customer. The only downside of Seat Guru is that it's not connected to the airlines so while you can see all the seats, you don't know what it actually available. Plus, there are multiple plane configurations so there is a chance that you are looking at the wrong plane.

What is it: an app that tracks airline seating charts in real time

Why do I need it? Have a favorite seat and it's taken? If someone releases it, you can grab it. Unsure if you want to book the flight due to the available seats? Check before you book. Wanting to move your seat at check in? Show the check in attendant that you know 37A is available. Hoping to have an entire row of seats to yourself? Keep checking before the plane takes off and ask nicely at the gate to move.

How? install the app, find your flight, create an alert, and wait for the app to let you know when it's time to call the airline and change.

Cost:

Basic Plan - Free

250 searches a month, Access to 400 airlines, Customer service, Search upgrade and awards, Detailed seat maps, Flight availability and on-time information, Flight timetable, Travel information and reference data, Seat alerts

Premium - U$ 99.99/year + tax (2020 price)

everything on the basic plan + Flight availability alerts, Flight schedule change alerts, Aircraft change alerts, Gat all available published fare pricing, Flexible search (+/- 3 days), Save queries, Mobile Edition

Female Abroad Review: we have not tried the premium version yet but the Basic version has been very easy to use and read. The detailed seat maps have really helped when it comes to knowing if people like or dislike the seats; these rankings come from SeatGuru.com. The seat alerts are nice but are rarely handy because the only time you get alerted is A) someone changes their seat (rarely happens) B) someone cancels their ticket (during COVID this happened a lot) C) the airline changes the plane and seats become available or D) people are upgraded so their seat becomes available.

Type: Flights

Summary: Lets you know when a good time to buy flights (based on price) is.

Platform: iOs and Android

Reason to use: If you are looking for the cheapest flight or are wanting confidence in when to buy your ticket then Hopper is for you. This app not only makes it easy to track flight pricing but it shows you a calendar view that shows the average prices day by day so you if you are flexible, you can see the best days to fly. Once you have entered your flights, you can save it to "watch" and let the ap update you about prices as well as when to buy.

Side Note: Hopper mentioned that it was closing up shop in 2017 but it still seems to be active so I would be extremely careful if booking flights through the app - go directly to the carrier's website to book instead.

Female Abroad review: this app is great if you are wanting the lowest price. It's super easy to use when I checked all the flights out on the carrier's website, they existed so no worry about the flight not actually existing.

I booked a Westjet flight from FLL to YVR through the ap and it was just as fast as doing it on Westjet's website. The email confirmation included the airlines recordlocator so I was able to pop onto Westjet's website and select our seats there as I was unable to do so through Hopper. The notifications didn't pop up as often as I would like so I had to keep checking the ap religiously. We did have a major flight change (our flight from FLL to YYZ changed air crafts and was 4 hours earlier) but Hopper did not alert me to this or send me an update email. (I only found this out when I downloaded the Westjet ap and added my flight.) Thinking I may have missed a notification, I opened the Hopper app to check and the app still showed the original ticket and not the updated one. This is of great concern as we would have missed our flight and been stuck in Fort Lauderdale had I not checked with the airline directly.

If you are looking for value then this app is not for you. I had been searching flights to Havana and while the app did not provide much, it did give me a few options. If I had not have prior knowledge of who flies from Vancouver to Havana then those options would have been great but I started my searching. I ended up finding an AeroMexico flight that was CAD 5 more than what Hopper had been advertising Air Canada for except this extra $5 gave me better flight times, unlimited tequila, and not only do I get dinner but I also get breakfast since it's a red eye flight.

Since the app was easy to use and the date ranges of the "cheapest" times were handy I will give this app a 3/5. It lost 2 points due to not updating for a flight change which could have cost a lot of time, effort, energy, and stress to fix.