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Agent Meister Talked To Bill about Not Sure if Your Flight Is on Time? Use Your iPhone's Hidden Flight Tracker (iOS 18)-Holidays mean holiday travel. Hidden in your iPhone's Messages app is a built-in flight tracker that allows you to view flight status details and share them with someone quickly.
The holidays mean holiday travel. For some, that also means dealing with keeping track of flights.
Hidden in your iPhone's Messages app is a built-in flight tracker that allows you to view flight status details and share them with someone quickly.
Before we start, there are a few prerequisites you must meet:
- Make sure iMessage is enabled (it doesn't work with SMS/MMS).
- You'll need your flight number somewhere in your text messages, whether you've sent that information to someone (even yourself) or it's been sent to you.
- The flight number must be sent in this format: [Airline] [Flight number], for example, American Airlines 9707.
Launch the native Messages app on your iPhone and open the text message thread that contains your flight information. You'll know the flight tracker feature works when the text with the flight information appears underlined, which means it's actionable and you can tap on it.
If your flight is still several months away or it's already passed, you might see a message that says, "Flight information unavailable." You might also see another flight that's not yours because airlines recycle flight numbers.
Track your flight's details in real time
Launch the native Messages app on your iPhone and open the text message thread that contains your flight information. You'll know the flight tracker feature works when the text with the flight information appears underlined, which means it's actionable and you can tap on it.
If you select Preview Flight, you'll see the best part of this feature: a real-time flight tracker map. A line will connect the two destinations, and a tiny airplane will move between them, indicating where the flight is at that exact moment.
Underneath the map, you'll see important flight information:
- Airline name and flight number
- Flight status (arriving on time, delayed, canceled, etc.)
- Terminal and gate numbers (for arrival and departure)
- Arrival and departure time
- Flight duration
- Baggage claim (the number of the baggage carousel)