A flight tracker or your airline’s app?
You probably want both, because they do different jobs. Your airline’s app is where you check in, change a booking and keep the airline’s own boarding pass, and you still need it for all three. FlightDex is for everything around the flight: your flights on whichever airlines you fly in one list, a record of the trips you have taken, and, with FlightDex Pro, alerts when something changes.
What each one is for
Your airline’s app
- Checking in for your flight.
- Changing or cancelling your booking, and rebooking if the airline cancels.
- The airline’s own boarding pass.
FlightDex
- Your flights on different airlines, all in one list. Free
- A Passport of the flights you have flown, kept for good. Flights you import, or add after you’ve flown them, go straight in; with Pro, a flight you track goes in when it lands. Free
- Your boarding pass, scanned or imported and encrypted on your phone, with its barcode drawn on the phone at the gate. Free
- Alerts for delays, gate changes, cancellations and diversions, which work the same way whichever airline you fly. Pro
- A link to your flight that someone else can open in any browser, with no app and no account. Creating it and opening it are free. Free
What FlightDex can’t do
FlightDex can’t check you in, change or cancel a booking, or rebook you after a cancellation. Its boarding pass is a copy you scanned or imported, not one the airline issued to the app. And its flight information comes from a flight-data service and is offered on a best-effort basis: when it matters, check with your airline.
Questions
Do I need a flight tracker app if I have my airline’s app?
Not to fly: the airline’s app does everything the airline needs from you. A flight tracker earns its place if you fly more than one airline, want a record of the flights you have taken, or want someone else to be able to see your flight. In FlightDex the flight list, the Passport, boarding passes and sharing a flight are free; alerts about your own flights come with FlightDex Pro.
Is a flight tracker app free?
FlightDex has a free plan. It lets you add flights, keep your Passport and flight history, and store boarding passes, with no account needed to start. The status of a free flight is refreshed when you open the app, from 24 hours before departure to landing, and you can share a flight as a link. Live status, alerts and the live map are part of FlightDex Pro.
Can FlightDex check me in or change my booking?
FlightDex can’t. Checking in, changing or cancelling a booking, and rebooking after a cancellation are done with the airline, usually in its app or on its website.
Is a flight tracker more accurate than the airline?
Don’t count on it. FlightDex shows what its flight-data service reports, labels a delay prediction as a prediction, and says how old its information is. When a time or a gate matters, the airline’s word is the one to go by.