Smartphones Can Now Help You Navigate Airports

The new United Airlines app works like a compass. Once your boarding pass has been scanned, it starts off by indicating a direct route to your gate. Whether departing or arriving, the app also catalogues all points of interest near you. Travellers can thus have directions to the nearest coffee shop, bookstore or fast food outpost. Most importantly, the app lets you know the estimated time it will take you to get where you're going.

Various interactive maps have been integrated into the app for travellers within the US: the new update includes airports in Chicago, Denver, Houston, LA, Newark, San Francisco and Washington DC. The airline has said that many other airports are soon to be included in the app.

Interactivity the key to UA's app

Use of the app could become easier thanks to Bluetooth stations. The airline is currently testing technology at Newark Airport that immediately recognises individual passengers' whereabouts without their having to update their smartphone with their location to reap the benefits of the app's services.

In an entirely different genre, United Airlines has also decided to simplify things for travellers with a cancelled flight, a delay or a missed correspondence. With a simple click they can now immediately see all the available options at their disposal to reach their destinations. Conversely, travellers who find themselves at the airport with time to spare can search to find a seat on an earlier flight.

The United Airlines app was launched in November 2013. It allows travellers to scan their passports for check-in, thereby bypassing the traditional counters. The app has already been downloaded by more than 20 million people.

To download the United Airlines app for yourself, go to www.united.com.

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