The ToyBox

Ricardo Bilton & Gloria Sin

Free United Airlines app turns iOS devices into mobile boarding passes

By | July 26, 2011, 1:42pm PDT

Summary: No need to print out your boarding pass with United Airlines’ app for iPads, iPhones and iPod touches. Too bad United has not ported this useful app to Android devices yet.

Passengers flying on United Airlines this summer and carrying an iPad, iPhone and even an iPod touch can bring one less item with them in their bags: paper boarding passes. United Airlines just released a free app for iOS devices on the iTunes AppStore that not only displays the passenger’s boarding pass, but also offers a number of traveler-friendly features in-app.

United customers can look forward to the following functions in the app:

  • Book flights and manage their MileagePlus and OnePass accounts
  • Check in
  • Access mobile boarding passes with one touch
  • Get flight status/updates
  • Follow United’s Twitter feed for up-to-the-minute updates on the airline
  • Interactive airport maps
  • Follow your flight with a real-time map

Continental was actually the first airliner in the U.S. to offer mobile boarding passes to passengers; now that the merger between the two companies have completed (at least on the legal front), it’s nice to see the separately-operated airline carriers would share ideas that are good for passengers. Not that a single app could sway passengers to fly with a particular carrier over another, but it certainly is a bonus to know you don’t have to scramble to find a printer, to print a boarding pass just to beat the lineup at the counter with United and Continental. It’s too bad such a useful app isn’t available on Android devices yet.

The United Airlines app for iOS devices is on iTunes AppStore now.

[Source: PRNewswire, Wikipedia, Continental Airlines' website]

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Gloria Sin is a freelance journalist based in New York City.

Disclosure

Gloria Sin

I have no stocks or investments in any companies or interests which may lead to a conflict of interest in my coverage.

Biography

Gloria Sin

Gloria Sin is a New York-based freelance journalist who writes about the tech toys that you can't live without for ZDNet. She has little patience for poorly designed user experiences, and is not afraid of opening the guts of her own machines for repair or hacking her gadgets for new uses.

She has written for FastCompany.com, Popular Science, Olympic News Service; she currently covers the startup scene in the Tri-State area for NYConvergence.com.

Prior to ZDNet, Gloria was the online editor for Dance International, and dabbled in web design and social media consulting. When she is offline, you will find her at an ice rink living out her figure skating dreams. Follow her on Twitter.

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