Flighty app receives an update: Discover why this flight-tracking tool is your ultimate travel companion

For years, I've been obsessively monitoring my flights.

I know it sounds superstitious, but I always send myself my flight details before a trip so I can track my journey on JetLovers.com. I’m convinced it helps prevent flight cancellations. In the past, I've also relied on Google Flights and another favorite, Flightradar24.

However, a new contender in the flight-tracking arena has turned me into a fan.

Flighty is an app that allows me to monitor my flights daily and maintains a comprehensive record of my journeys around the globe. The premium version even provides a year-end summary, offering a delightful reflection on my recent travels.

In August, Flighty received a significant upgrade. The newest version enables users to discover the reasons behind their flight delays in many instances. Flighty now tracks issues with late aircraft and airspace congestion, helping to predict delays hours ahead. This can give you an edge over other travelers, allowing you to switch flights or even decide to skip the trip entirely.

Here’s everything you should know about the Flighty app and its recent update.

What exactly is Flighty?

Launched in 2019, Flighty is an Apple iOS app that provides real-time updates about your flights, including any delays or cancellations. Often, it can alert you to flight issues even before your airline's app does.

Mike Panzarella, the chief technology officer at Rocket Dollar, said, "I adore Flighty for its ability to keep my flights organized and notify me of changes well before the information appears on the airport boards or at the gate." He has been a user since January 2023 and relies heavily on it.

"It brings a sense of calm and helps you grasp issues before they affect the crowd, which is incredible," he remarked. "It streamlines travel, almost like having a personal assistant or travel agent for just $49 a year."

Flighty offers both free and paid versions. The free option provides real-time updates on delays and cancellations, along with alerts for gate changes, departure and arrival times, and check-in reminders. While you can track your flight, you won't receive push notifications or many advanced features.

The paid version includes numerous additional features. Here are just a few highlights of what Flighty can offer:

• It automatically retrieves upcoming and past flights from your calendar.
• When you launch the app, your passenger flights are readily visible.
• Flights can also be imported via email or by syncing with TripIt.
• It provides a countdown to your upcoming trip.
• All airlines worldwide are supported, with bookings available up to 365 days ahead.
• Your booking code and check-in details are displayed.
• Live flight tracking starts as soon as you enter the flight details.
• Monitoring for cancellations and schedule changes begins 365 days in advance, with live tracking kicking in 48 hours before departure.
• It alerts you to airport delays, late arrivals of planes, and other relevant issues.
• Taxi, takeoff, and landing times are also displayed.
• A progress bar shows your flight status while in the air.
• Once you land, you’ll receive notifications about your arrival gate and baggage claim location.

As stated by the company, "Flighty earned the Editor's Choice designation from Apple shortly after its launch, won an Apple Design Award in 2023, and was a finalist for iPhone App of the Year."

Personally, I find it incredibly helpful and especially enjoyable, as it caters to my passion for aviation.

Flighty 4.0

In an August update, Flighty introduced enhanced features to better anticipate delays and explain the reasons behind them. According to the Flighty team, the app now utilizes data from aviation authorities and machine learning to provide early warnings about delays, often identifying the specific causes. Flighty analyzes late aircraft data and monitors airport airspace to forecast potential delays or cancellations.

The team notes that this new data collection allows subscribers to better understand the actual duration of a delay, rather than depending on airlines, which may not always provide the most accurate estimates of when a flight will take off.

Flighty reports that the main causes of delays are late aircraft, congestion from air traffic control, and ground stops.

Ryan Jones, founder and CEO of Flighty, stated, "Flighty 4's monitoring system anticipates and interprets these delays, providing travelers with what they’ve always sought — a straightforward explanation for why their flight is delayed."

What is the cost of Flighty?

The enhanced version of Flighty is known as Flighty Pro, available for $3.99 per week with a pay-as-you-go option. Jones mentions that this is ideal for occasional flyers or those seeking details about specific trips.

Most users, however, prefer the annual subscription, which comes with a substantial discount, bringing the yearly cost down to $49.

Alternatively, you can purchase a lifetime membership for $249. I opted for a one-year membership to thoroughly test the service before making a lifetime commitment.

For families, there’s a plan available for $7.49 per month ($89 billed annually) or a lifetime option for $449.

Flighty keeps you informed about any delays to your flight.

In many cases, Flighty will notify you if your flight is delayed, helping you avoid unnecessary early trips to the airport and saving you precious time. The company states that the leading cause of delays is a late aircraft.

The app automatically tracks flights for 25 hours before departure and will notify you of any airport delays or other issues related to your flight. For instance, Flighty informed me of a delay hours before my flight to Cancun, Mexico, from San Francisco, allowing me to relax and not rush to the airport.

That said, I’ve noticed that Flighty isn’t flawless when it comes to tracking all delays. For instance, a long-haul flight from New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) was delayed for almost three hours without a single alert from Flighty.

While Flighty did notify me when we pushed back from the gate, it failed to keep me updated on subsequent delays due to a mechanical issue, which ultimately required us to return to the gate.

In fact, even now, Flighty shows that the flight departed on time, despite us actually leaving about three and a half hours late.

The company explained that this can occur when a flight returns to the gate and the airline designates the next departure as a new flight — Flighty is working on a solution for this in an upcoming update.

Nonetheless, despite its flaws, the app delivers valuable insights that many third-party tracking services do not provide.

For instance, its "Where's My Plane?" feature, which begins tracking your aircraft 25 hours before your flight, is reliably accurate.

This feature allows you to better predict potential delays, giving you the opportunity to make alternative plans (if necessary) before any official announcements are made.

Flighty keeps you updated while you're airborne.

Flighty informs you of your departure and arrival gates, along with any changes that occur on travel day. The app is also functional during your flight, notifying you if your flight is on schedule and how much time remains until you land.

During a recent flight to Atlanta, Flighty notified me that my plane would be arriving slightly ahead of schedule.

The app can monitor delays while you’re in the air, as demonstrated by this alert for a flight from New Orleans to New York. Flighty not only informed me of the delay but also provided details on the expected late arrival time.

Another instance of an in-flight delay notification occurred when I traveled on Hawaiian Airlines' new Dreamliner from Honolulu to San Francisco. As shown, the flight was running a bit late. Along with the new arrival time, Flighty featured a helpful map of the San Francisco Bay Area and a snapshot of San Francisco International Airport (SFO) for that day.

These features can be quite helpful, or at the very least, intriguing while you’re flying, potentially saving you from needing to use another app. They can even provide updates when you’re offline, as the clock remains active within the app.

For someone like me who feels anxious during travel, Flighty is incredibly beneficial. I always feel well-informed throughout my journeys, giving me a slight edge over other passengers.

Flighty helps keep your friends and family updated.

You can also invite friends and family to share flight information with you on Flighty. Simply send them an invite via text. Once they accept, you can set custom alerts and monitor each other's flights.

Flighty will notify you if your friends or family experience any flight changes, cancellations, delays, or other issues, based on your customized settings.

"No other service has successfully created 'friends for flying,'" Jones mentioned in a press release. "They all attempt to make it social and public, but that's not what users desire. They want a way to share information privately with just a select few friends and family, without needing to sign up for a new service."

Flighty will also provide you with details about your upcoming flights.

Flighty provides intriguing information about your upcoming flights, including whether your flight is on schedule and the filed flight plan, among other features.

Flighty can also offer insights into your travel over the past year.

One of the standout features of the app is "Flighty Passport," which allows users to view and share their personal travel map, mileage, and other interesting statistics from the past year of flights. It can even compile data from your entire flying history.

As illustrated, it displays flights from both my current year of travel and previous years.

According to Flighty, I’ve flown approximately 500,000 miles across 20 different airlines. This figure is likely an underestimate, but I’ll elaborate on that later. The app also reveals how many hours I've spent grounded due to delays over the years and throughout my lifetime.

In total, Flighty indicates that I've lost an astonishing 44 hours due to delays.

Flighty is a dream come true for AvGeeks.

One of the standout features of Flighty is the wealth of information it provides about your flights. It's incredibly appealing for anyone with an interest in aviation.

The app reveals your most frequently flown aircraft type, the variety of jets you’ve taken, detailed records of each of your flights, and a plethora of other fascinating aviation statistics.

These are just a few examples of what the app has to offer.

Flighty isn’t without its flaws.

As I mentioned earlier, Flighty doesn’t capture every delayed flight, and there are several other quirks that have caused frustration for me and other users.

Panzarella shared that Flighty lost track of one of his travel segments after his Aeromexico flight was diverted.

"The final and original destination was never recognized after we diverted to a different airport," he explained. "This skews my flight totals for the year."

He noted that he even brought this to Flighty's attention, but no adjustments were made.

"A recovery flight following a diversion is treated as a separate flight," Jones stated in an interview with TPG. "The app indicates this and provides an option to search for the recovery flight."

I've noticed that the app hasn't tracked all of my previous flights either.

Some of my flights aren't linked to my work or personal calendars, which makes it difficult for Flighty to locate many of them, particularly from earlier years. As a result, my lifetime totals are quite inaccurate, and even the statistics from last year are missing several flights.

"Our historical flight data is top-notch, and we recognize the demand for a feature that allows users to manually add past flights. We're planning to roll this out in the future so that users can input any flight, regardless of circumstances," Jones mentioned.

Panzarella shared that he's had more success using a straightforward workaround.

"I linked it with TripIt, and it works flawlessly," he explained. "TripIt pulls in my emails and automatically updates them in Flighty."

Indeed, after linking Flighty with TripIt, it was able to find more of my flights, although some were still unaccounted for.

TPG reader Alex Setzler mentioned that you can also send your itinerary to [email protected]. This will "automatically import all the flight details and information into your Flighty account."

The positive aspect is that as the year progresses, I can track my flight statistics to verify that all my flights are logged moving forward. Additionally, I can revisit and add any past flights that may be missing from my lifetime records — though that's a task for another time.