United app will find you a seat on an earlier flight. Photo: United Airlines United Airlines is launching a new app feature designed to help passengers during flight schedule disruptions.
Instead of repeatedly checking whether a seat has become available on an earlier flight, passengers can sign up for a waitlist for up to three flights, and the system will track it for them.
The feature is intended for passengers who have been reassigned to a later flight due to a change or disruption. When space becomes available on one of the earlier flights, the passenger will receive a text message and can choose whether to move to it.
The process is carried out in three stages:
1. The passenger joins the waitlist for up to three earlier flights to the same destination.
2. The app automatically tracks seat availability.
3. When a seat becomes available, the passenger is sent a text message and decides whether to switch to the earlier flight.
One advantage is that the original reservation remains confirmed until the passenger decides to make the transfer. This means that they do not risk losing their seat on the flight to which they have been reassigned.
According to the company, this is a first-of-its-kind feature in the airline industry, and it joins a series of self-service tools that United has developed to handle disruptions, including rebooking flights, obtaining hotel and meal vouchers for eligible passengers, and tracking luggage.
United's 787 Dreamliner. Photo: ShutterstockThe new feature comes ahead of Labor Day weekend, which is considered one of the busiest travel periods in the US. United expects more than 3.4 million passengers to fly with it between September 3 and 8, about 300,000 more than the same period last year.
More than 85% of the company's customers use the app on the day of their flight, so United continues to expand its digital tools designed to help passengers deal with real-time changes.
The new feature joins other updates to the app, including displaying the plane arriving for a flight on the flight status page, tracking estimated wait times at security checkpoints at major US airports, and tools to assist passengers on connecting flights.
Among other things, the app provides passengers with personalized navigation instructions to the next flight gate, including estimated walking time, status updates, and alerts when an outbound flight may be delayed to allow passengers with a short connection to arrive in time.
In addition, the company has expanded its baggage tracking capabilities through integration with Apple's Share Item Location service, which allows travelers to share the location of their AirTag or compatible accessory with customer service in the event of lost or delayed baggage.