United has officially announced the launch of a new app, which is designed to give travellers greater amount of information regarding their connecting flight.
According to certain reports, customers with connecting flights at United’s U.S. hub airports can now access a special section of the app which, on its part; includes a countdown to connecting flights, customized turn-by-turn directions to their connecting gate with estimated walk times, real-time flight status updates, tips for longer layovers, and notifications if United’s ConnectionSaver technology has been activated to hold the plane for them.
More on the lat would reveal that ConnectionSaver technology has saved more than 3.3 million customer connections since launching in 2019.
As for how it works, ConnectionSaver automatically identifies departing flights that can be held for connecting customers without delaying the on-time arrival of the customers who have already boarded.
Anyway, coming back to the main thing, United would test its new app during a beta phase, which saw more than 350,000 customers using the new features and achieving a 98% success rate in making their connection.
Talk about the whole value proposition on a slightly deeper level, we begin from the potential for comfortable connections. This translates to how the travelers are provided personalized status updates to make their connecting flights, including countdown to boarding, gate-to-gate directions, and personalized tips to navigate large airports or long layovers, such as United ClubSM location details.
Not just comfortable, but United’s latest platform also makes a point to facilitate tight connections. Hence, in the case of travelers running short on time during a connection, the newly-revitalized app provides key information to help them navigate towards their connecting flight.
This information includes include boarding time, walking time, gate number and more, thus offering better transparency and peace of mind during their travel journey.
Moving on, the platform can be expected to provide more languages. At the moment, United’s app relays the whole experience in English and Spanish, but having said so, the airline plans to launch more languages in the near-term.
A similar expansion is also expected in the context of navigation support. You see, customers will soon have the means to enable location services, and therefore, show their current location at the airport. This should give them the access of even more detailed, step-by-step directions.
Joining the mix would be a facility of providing text message updates. For better understanding, United currently notifies customers regarding flight delays and updates customers with connecting flights only if they have a tight connection.
However, moving forward, the airline plans to deploy text messages to update customers regarding their connecting flight status in real-time. These personalized updates should provide greater transparency into customer travel plans, reassuring them if they have a comfortable connection or providing tips to navigate a tight or missed connection.
Another detail worth a mention is rooted in the prospect of automatic rebooking assistance, which is inclusive of self-service tools that automatically provide travelers with personalized rebooking options, baggage tracking details, and, when eligible, meal and hotel vouchers if their flight is delayed or canceled.
The ones traveling with United can also come expecting to enjoy real-time weather delay updates. In essence, the airline texts real-time radar maps to help customers understand how inclement weather in one part of the country can impact a flight elsewhere.
United is, in fact, the first and only U.S. airline currently providing its customers these kinds of specific messages.
Apart from that, we have industry-leading connectivity coming into play. We get to say that because United is already in the process of rolling out Starlink Wi-Fi service, the world’s fastest, most reliable connectivity in the sky, for free to MileagePlus® members.
The service in question basically packs together game-changing inflight entertainment experiences like streaming services, shopping, gaming, and more.
Rounding up highlights would be a lineup of bag tracking enhancements. An example of that includes United’s bid to leverage Apple’s Share Item Location for AirTag and let customers, who are travelling with an AirTag or Find My network, share the accessory location with the airline’s customer support team and locate the luggage rather seamlessly.
