If you’ve ever had to look up your gate number or forgotten which carousel your bags are on, you know that figuring out flight or baggage claim information can be tedious or tedious at best. But there’s an easy way to get real-time updates about your flight straight from your phone – no ticket or airport TV required.
On TikTok, former airline employee Darby Maloney said her “No. 1 flying hack” – in addition to getting TSA pre-check – is to text the flight number to herself and her family on the morning of her flight.
A flight number consists of a two-letter airline code and a series of numbers that help you distinguish your flight from other flights flying that day. You can find the flight number on your booking confirmation or on your boarding pass.
Maloney gave the example of an American Airlines flight like AA686. If you’re not sure what your airline code is, you can also quickly look it up on the International Air Transport Association search engine.
Maloney said when you text your flight number to an iPhone, it will send you a link showing where your plane is and the current gate number, expected flight time and your baggage carousel. Maloney said the link is useful because if your port changes, it automatically changes to that link as well.
“I’ll never have to look at screens at the airport again,” Maloney said. “It’s the best hack ever and I don’t think anyone knows about it.”
Maloney’s advice was clearly news to many people. Her video had more than 1 million likes and received thousands of comments. As one top commenter on her video put it, “As someone who flies for work, this is SO helpful!”
Of course, you can download your airline’s app to get the same information, but the genius of this tip is that it takes fewer steps.
Take, for example, the stressful scenario of a short layover before a connecting flight. Ports can change often and you don’t want to waste time going to the wrong one. If you want to know immediately where your next gate is, Maloney recommends texting yourself the flight number for that leg of your trip.
“As soon as you land, you can just click on your link and know exactly what your gate is, so when you get off the plane — boom, you go to your connection,” Maloney said.
Or how about the family member who comes to pick you up? They just need your flight number to monitor any delays.
“I use this most when someone picks me up,” Maloney said in a follow-up TikTok video. “I’m not going to ask them to download the app… I’m just going to send them the link.”
Since airlines use the same planes for different flights, it’s most convenient to text yourself the flight number on the morning of the flight, Maloney recommended.
This is how the hack works:
If you’re using an iPhone, all you have to do is text your flight number to yourself. From there, click on the hyperlink number and select “Preview Flight.” There you can look up your flight information in real time.
HuffPost
If you have an Android device, texting the flight number won’t cause the same pop-up link, but you can type your flight number into your Google search bar to get the same real-time information.
When you’re rushing through the airport, it’s nice to know exactly where your plane is. With this tip, you can tap that information onto your phone without any hassle. This article originally appeared on HuffPost.