New Feature - Flight Status Updates

[Pete]

Eagle-eyed visitors will have probably spotted me tinkering this morning; that's because I've been adding a new feature to the site - Flight Status Updates.

Based on a similar feature Fozzyo & I wrote for Virgin Atlantic last year to plug into Facebook - FlyVirgin - any Virgin Atlantic flight you have stored in the itinerary forum will be monitored, and at the key stages of the flight, your V-Flyer Status will be updated with the latest info. You'll see a 'scheduled' status a few hours before the flight, followed by updates for push back from gate, wheels up, landing and arrival at the gate the other end.

Currently using the same text as is on Facebook, but might "enhance" the V-Flyer version with the aircraft name, as the audience is more technical here

Well, I was impressed with the FB app - saved me a fortune in texts when I arrived whih was great.

[honey lamb]

Alas the FB app didn't work for me on my recent trip but I'm looking forward to seeing this.

Thanks Pete. Is there no end to your talent? y)

Edited to add: Wow, it's already there in the Recent Activity pane for Family Man ^)

Hi Pete
Could you please have a look at my flights. I have entered them in they look fine except i have one that ends in the middle of Africa. I have no idea why
maybe a bug there somewhere.
Thanks
Ken

Ps Luggage Tags are Great thanks

Looks like your flight on the 19th June has been entered incorrectly. I presume you mean BKK (Bangkok) on the EK384 rather than BBK (Kasane, Botswana).

If you edit your itinerary all should be fine!

[Nottingham Nick]

Deleted - Stuart beat me to it.

Nick

I love the facebook app thanks!!

One thing though, I think it would be great to be able to control which and how many messages appear on my profile.

I think there is a slight overkill at the moment.
If I am correct it's about 6 messages oer trip! I think it just looks a bit much one after the other on your profile in a relatively short succession.

Take-off and landing would be perfect for me to be honest which is the most important info you want your freinds or loved ones to know.

Leaving gate, taxing to the gate, scheduled leaving from gate etc.are a just too much IMHO.

[honey lamb]

I love the facebook app thanks!!

One thing though, I think it would be great to be able to control which and how many messages appear on my profile.

I think there is a slight overkill at the moment.
If I am correct it's about 6 messages oer trip! I think it just looks a bit much one after the other on your profile in a relatively short succession.

Take-off and landing would be perfect for me to be honest which is the most important info you want your freinds or loved ones to know.

Leaving gate, taxing to the gate, scheduled leaving from gate etc.are a just too much IMHO.

While it might seem too much, one regular V-Flyer reported that the app gave him information about the proposed and actual leaving time of a delayed flight which he was unable to find out from any other source.

Unfortunately it didn't work for me on my recent trip and I was bereft! I had all my family tuned in to FB to track our journey :#

[Pete]

I love the facebook app thanks!!

One thing though, I think it would be great to be able to control which and how many messages appear on my profile.

I think there is a slight overkill at the moment.
If I am correct it's about 6 messages oer trip! I think it just looks a bit much one after the other on your profile in a relatively short succession.

Take-off and landing would be perfect for me to be honest which is the most important info you want your freinds or loved ones to know.

Leaving gate, taxing to the gate, scheduled leaving from gate etc.are a just too much IMHO.

A possibility, although personally I don't think it's overkill. The number of messages is normally 5. The first one, some hours before the flight is the 'scheduled' notification (and for the V-Flyer feed, at least, that's where you'll get to know which plane you're on), then followed by the OOOI status - which means Out (leaves the gate), Off (wheels up), On (landing) and In (at the gate the other end) - all driven by automatic sensors onboard the aircraft. I find all these bits of data useful - as each comes with an updated estimate when the next will occur; so you can see if there are any delays or points where they've managed to make up time.

[Neil]

I tend to agree with Pete. Yes, a couple of my friends thought I was in true geek mode with so many updates, but a) I find it really interesting info and b) it is really useful for family and friends to have an accurate picture of where we are etc.

Although ,I really must remember to input the correct dates this time. It really confused people when Facebook said I was in flight yet I was sat at my desk

Neil

Thank you gentlemen What a Muppet I must of looked at it a dozen times and did not see that.

Although ,I really must remember to input the correct dates this time. It really confused people when Facebook said I was in flight yet I was sat at my desk

Neil

The cardboard cut out fool them then?