More than 2.8 million people are expected to fly each day during the holidays this year, according to Airlines for America, the industry trade organization and lobbying group for popular US airlines. That’s a 16% increase from last year, and with so many people traveling, you can expect more traffic on the highways and longer lines at the airport.
And that’s not to mention delays and cancellations you might have to deal with.
Obviously, there’s no way to predict these things, but what you can do is better monitor your flight, or any flight really, as frequently as possible, to keep a close eye on delays, cancellations or gate changes.
Read more: What to Do if Your Flight Is Canceled or Delayed
Though you can get this flight information from airline apps on your phone or by looking at a flight information display at the airport, there’s an easier way, which doesn’t involve downloading anything or having to walk anywhere.
All the information you need to track your flight status can be found right on your iPhone — inside your text messages.
How to track your flight by text message on your iPhone
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 texting 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.
However, 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.
Access the hidden flight tracker using these codes
Although the airline name/flight number format highlighted above is the best way to go, there are other texting options that will lead you to the same result. So let’s say we stick with American Airlines 9707, other options that may bring up the flight tracker include:
- AmericanAirlines9707 (no spaces)
- AmericanAirlines 9707 (only one space)
- AA9707 (airline name is abbreviated and no space)
- AA 9707 (abbreviated and space)
I would suggest you keep the airline name spelled out completely and add a space between the two pieces of information — like in the previous section — because for some airlines these alternative options may not work.
