Air Canada Android App

Air Canada Android App

The Air Canada app for devices running current versions of Android, while fairly bare bones, provides users with just about everything they need if flying Air Canada once or considerably more regularly. While there are a number of apps for Android that offer the same features for multiple airlines, there is something nice about having an app specific to a given airline and Air Canada provides one that runs quite smoothly and quickly.

What The App Offers

 

Like a number of airline specific app offerings, the Air Canada app provides travelers with quite a bit in the palm of their hands including:

 

  • The home screen allows you to see each and every flight you have booked with the airline when you open the app in addition to providing you with push notifications that keep you up-to-date with any booking changes, cancellations, delays, gate changes as well as check in and boarding reminders if you find yourself questioning whether you have time for one more overpriced beer before entering that aluminum-skinned conveyance.

 

  • If you take the time to link your Air Canada app to your Aeroplan, the app will keep the two synced so you can view your rewards. Unfortunately, you won’t see those rewards in the app itself but need to access the Aeroplan website or app. While helpful, it’s an extra step and if you look at Aeroplan’s app reviews in the Google Play Store you’ll find it’s by no means the ideal app with many panning it’s frequent crashes.

 

  • The app allows you the ease of downloading your electronic boarding pass for check in as well the opportunity to download a digital version of your Altitude membership card to gain access to lounges if you qualify.

 

  • For those that would ever wish to purchase Air Canada products, the app does provide a secure location for your preferred payment options and information in this largely forgettable feature.

 

  • Air Canada Rouge viewing is provided by the app so you can listen and view its limited In-Flight Entertainment options. As most flights don’t offer a backseat or overhead viewing option this is helpful, but it’s public knowledge that Rouge doesn’t offer much in the way of robustness.

 

  • The app does allow for the purchasing of future flights as well as their management including cancellations, changes, and seat selection.

Overview:

 Given the existence of some absolutely fantastic airline apps available and some equally dreadful ones, Air Canada should be viewed as an average student capable of C+ work when it applies itself. If you’re planning a trip on Air Canada, but don’t regularly fly the airline, it’s something that could prove helpful ahead of your trip and something that you will likely delete within hours of your completed trip. Sure, mobile phone storage grows exponentially each year but you can always download it again rather than cluttering up your phone. Once you’ve signed up, assuming you remember your passport, everything should be there when you need its assistance in the future.

GoAir

A red flag from the start, when you click on GoAir for the first time, your phone will send you a pop up saying “GoAir may slow down your iPhone. The developer of this app needs to update it to improve its compatibility.” Knowing that, if you’re in a time crunch, it may be worth a download before a flight, and delete it when your flight’s complete.

The home screen allows for all the essentials from booking a flight and checking in, to a contact us page, flight schedules, and a flight plus hotel booking option.

The load time is significant and the app has a lot of glitches. Some things are cut off and not very legible, while others are easy to access. The app expects you to log in before you can book any flights but that’s not a requirement for checking on a flight’s status. You can check based on departure or arrival, by flight number, and by city. The design has not been perfected yet, as some fonts are too big for the boxes they sit in and some elements are not easy to read. When looking up a flight’s status, there is too much information that comes up for the mobile experience, causing a lot of text on the screen. It does show a scheduled time and estimated time of arrival, which is helpful, especially if a flight will be a few minutes early. Most airlines would simply call that flight “On Time,” but it’s good to know if you are picking up a passenger, even if they will be just 10 minutes early.

The flight Schedules tab is useful for a certain airport, perhaps if you can’t quite remember flight details on your arrival or departure and need to look up your flight number. Or if you are interested in flying out of a certain destination but haven’t booked the flights yet. Again, it has way more information on the screen than nessecary for mobile, but it’s useful to look at when booking a new flight. It also shows if these flights are seasonal, and if so, which dates the flight will be effective for.

There is a tab for Go News that looks incomplete. The intention of ths section is to showcase flight deals, how long they will last, how much they will cost, and any other relevant news about the airline. However, if you click on any of the articles, they don’t work yet.

Their “Contact Us” page is easy to locate and indicates two phone numbers (Customer Care and Telephone Check-In). There is no information on international calling, and whether or not calling these numbers from outside of India will charge your carrier extra (they probably will). There is an email address listed for Customer Feedback, but no clear email or way to communicate with Go Air for international customers.

Overall, the app needs a lot of work. In some places, information doesn’t pop up at all, while in others, it has too much info. With a few fixes, this may be a great addition to your phone in time, but for now, you are probably better off booking from their website.

Olivia Poglianich

Norwegian Air

Norwegian prompts you to sign in or create a profile but also lets you continue as a guest if you’d prefer.  The second screen lets you book a flight or add an existing reservation. There is also an extended menu option in the top left corner, with the following features: Sign In, Create Profile, My travels, Book Flight, Add Existing boOKING, Contact Us, Flight Status, and Settings.

The “Settings” tab only lets you choose a language but should also let you choose local currency. The local currency corresponds to your selected language (thus, there’s a difference between UK and US English) but if you wanted to browse for the price in Euros, this would be hard to do.

If you choose to enable location services, under the Flight Status tab, the app will show you Airports that are close to you. You are still able to search for an airport (just one) and delineate on the next screen whether this is the departure or arrival airport. You are only able to search for incoming or outbound flights for today or tomorrow. Additionally, the app will show which flight(s) are due at a certain airport with their flight name, status as On Time or Delayed (or Canceled), and departure time/arrival time, but will not let you click on the flight to find out any further information.

The “Contact Us” tab lists several phone numbers by country, very clearly accessible. You can click on the number directly from the app to make a phone call to their customer service department.

You can book a new flight from the app with the option to select specific dates or toggle between the Low Fare Calendar, allowing you to choose dates based on price. It is not as robust as their calendar on the website (you will not be able to search for low fares without knowing your chosen destination) but it still serves as a useful secondary search engine. It does let you select from one-way, round trip or direct flights, but not fare class or code.

If you have an existing reservation, you are able to look that up with a confirmation code and your last name, even if you are not signed in as a Norwegian Air frequent flyer. Once you are 24 hours away from your flight, your boarding pass will be available right there on the app. Until then, you can look up how many bags come with your ticket (did you pay extra to check a bag? it’s not included in the airfare), as well as your flight number and the option to add your flight to your phone’s calendar.

The app doesn’t include a FAQ page or many details about baggage, airfare, or other detailed questions many passengers would like to know about. It would also be useful if the app showed cheap destinations or current on sale flights, as well as a route map or more information about the key airports they fly into. The app is somewhat useful for someone with an existing reservation but serves a greater purpose for frequent travelers with Norwegian and those who elect to sign into their account.

 

Virgin America

The opening screen for Virgin America prompts you to log in to their members-only area, Elevate, but you can continue as a guest if you click the bottom right corner, which takes you to a page that says: Home, Check In, Manage, Book.

You can click on the extended home screen via 3 ellipsis that take you to a secondary menu: Flight Status, Legal, Fees, FAQs, Spotify and Sign In. Even though the app lets you continue as a guest, you will need to create a free membership to use a majority of the app’s features. You can check on the status of an existing flight without signing in if you put day of departure and the airport information. Knowing the flight number is not a requirement. After a few seconds, it will bring up the flight or flights leaving on your requested day, showing departure and arrival information (terminal, gate, time, etc).

The legal tab shows you all the technical information with flying, and the fees tab is rather helpful if you have any questions about additional charges. Your best bet is to visit the FAQ first, as there’s lots of useful information on there about check-in, the onboard experience, seat selection, the Virgin America credit card, Elevate membership, and other features. Clicking FAQ will also bring up 4 easy ways to contact them (call, email, Twitter or live chat). The team is available for a live chat feature from 6 AM to 11 PM, PDT every day of the week including holidays.

The Spotify feature is a cool add on. It clicks out to Spotify (if you have the app on your phone) and you can listen to any number of the Virgin America created playlists. If you would like to book a flight, check in, or manage an existing reservation, you will need an account for any of these features. Singing up only takes seconds and enables you to click around the rest of their app, which is optimized for a faster, cleaner mobile experience.

 

When booking a flight, it opens up a calendar so you can view the entire month and cost of flights by day. This only takes a few seconds to load. It shows you costs in economy, “Select” (which is like premium economy) and first class. The sub text will let you know if there’s only a few seats left, if the fare is refundable, or if you are able to book using Elevate points.

Once you sign in, you automatically join Elevate, so the homescreen updates to show your Elevate number at all times (convenient, as opposed to shuffling around emails to find it), as well as your membership status and how many points are needed to advance to the next level.

The app could be improved with a weather feature, showing the weather at your destination and departure, as well as more information about route maps or key airport terminals. Overall, it’s a useful app if you frequently fly with Virgin. If you don’t, it may not be worth using, unless you don’t mind signing up for their membership, in which case the app is rather useful.

Olivia Poglianich

 

Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines has a very useful app that will help when you’re traveling with their airline.  “Book a Flight” feature comes with a built-in map that helps for visual folks, showing you recent flight searches, and the option to save some to favorites. “Check-In” is simply done with your first and last name plus an E-Ticket or Reservation number.

The app also has a “Pay & Fly” feature but isn’t clear on what that is. You need your reservation number to access this section. You are also able to check on an existing flight’s status if you know the route or flight number. Even if you don’t, you can look it up with airport information, and a general sense of departure time, which is something unique to the airline. The homepage also features several images of destinations they fly to and prices to get to that destination, sometimes listed out in Turkish airfare, other times in USD.

On the secondary menu (easily accessed with a swipe up or to the left), you can click on “All Offers” to find flights listed out by price or A-Z destination. These can be filtered by airport, but most offers will come from Istanbul, their hub.

If you would like to book a hotel, you are able to do so through the app and are also able to indicate if it is a work trip or not. You can book on the app and pay at the property if you would like. You are also able to track your bags, which is a feature most airlines don’t offer on their mobile apps. Another feature Turkish airlines include that many other airlines leave out of their apps are terminal maps of their most popular destinations and airports. Many hubs around the world are listed on Turkish Airlines’ app. There is a significant load time (~30 seconds) to view the map but it’s an extremely helpful tool if you have never been to the airport before, or will spend time in transit on a connecting flight.  It shows you every terminal, and you can even zoom in to see where the gates are. It shows you different levels of the airports, too, and shares which floor departure or arrivals is on, making your transit as clear as possible.

Lastly, the settings feature allows for a lot of customization features that make the app experience much smoother. You can choose your language, favorite airport(s), save yourself as a passenger (even if you are not a frequent flyer Miles & Smiles member), and choose which unit you’d like the temperature to appear in. This is great for Americans, as you can toggle over to Farenheight and not have to worry about doing the conversion in your head! If you are looking for contact information, you can find that on settings as well, but this clicks out to their website, which makes it hard to read on mobile. If you are okay with zooming in to view the numbers, you can click around their website (still built into the app) and find your local office for customer service. If they made this easier, it would make the app nearly perfect.

 

Olivia Poglianich

Eurowings

Eurowings, the German low-cost carrier that has now merged with Germanwings, has it’s own free app on the app store that has a friendly user experience and is easy to use. Right from the homepage, you can look up a flight’s timetable, check on a flight’s status, check into your flight, book a new flight, add additional services to your reservation, contact the airline, rebook a flight or look at their low-fare calendar.

The Low-Fare calendar displays flights in Pounds and allows you to look at one way or round trip flights by calendar month to find the best day for travel in terms of flight price. A unique feature is the re-book option, that many airlines don’t include on their apps. You simply need your booking code and last name to rebook a flight you liked.

If you would like to Add Services to your flight, you need your booking code (or eTix number) and Last name so the system can find your flight before you are able to see what additional services are available. This information is needed in order to use most features of the app that apply to those with an existing reservation. You are able to check-in right from the homepage and obtain your mobile boarding pass. You can also provide them feedback with a 1-5 star rating and option to leave comments.

Their Contact Us section is rather helpful; listing out their call center international number (available 24 hours a day) as well as international service numbers for those without an international calling card.  If you scroll down even further, it shows you the cost of making an international call based on your location.

Right on the homepage, they show “Sale Fares” but when you click on it, you are directed to a website written in German and there is no clear way to translate the page, so you will have to look those fares up on an external website.

If you would like to sign up for My Eurowings, you’ll be able to store your personal information and preferred flight routes in the app. Even if you don’t sign up, the app will remember where you last flew, or what flight location you last looked up.

If you are looking for the answer to a very specific question, in the top right corner of the homepage there’s a drop down menu that has a tab for “Information.” Click on that and you will find news about the airline, further information about luggage, their legal jargon, and most importantly, a FAQ. If you would like to subscribe to their newsletter you can or a news-flash which alerts you via text message.

The one thing this app could benefit from is a weather in your destination feature, as well as local time at your destination, and a way to look at the route map so you will know exactly where they fly to and when. Overall, the app makes it very easy to do a lot of the things that are useful for a smoother pre-flight experience.

Olivia Poglianich

Air India

After a few seconds of load time, Air India app users are greeted with a simple home screen that displays the essentials: Book a flight, check in, timetable and flight status. If you want to check on a flight status, the only way to do so is by flight number, so make sure you have that handy. Booking a flight is also very easy to do. While you can’t choose your flight code, you can select between economy, business or first class.

“Booking flights ” has a significant delay. After about 5-10 seconds, you are met with a series of options on an aesthetically pleasing screen that showcases some photos from your desired destination. You can also search by departure time, arrival time, duration and price, much like a full-service website, but all laid out in a simpler, mobile interface. The one drawback is that prices are all displayed in Indian Rupiah and there doesn’t appear to be an easy way to change this into your local currency. Another drawback of the app is the sheer number of times it will ask you if you would like to use Location Services. Saying no doesn’t give you the option to say “and don’t ask me again,” so every time you are taken to a screen with destination information, it requests for your location again.

Also on the homepage, if you scroll down beneath the essentials, there are a few mobile optimized promotions such as an announcement for a new non-stop flight from Delhi to Madrid or more information on the Star Alliance of airlines. Once you click on any of these, though, it takes you out to their full web page which has a ton of information and way too much text for a mobile app. If you were looking for super detailed information about a destination or a program, though, this would be where to find it.

 

In the top left corner you are given the option to add yourself as the primary passenger, and add secondary passengers if you would like to store their travel information as well. The app makes it easy to add your contact information by doing a scan of your passport once you allow the app access to your camera. You can choose to enter the information manually instead if you would prefer.

You can keep a credit card on file and select several preferences. These preferences allow you to set a language, your preferred airport, and delineate which notifications/reminders you would like to receive (mobile check in, before flying, boarding). There’s not much information on what “Before Flying” actually means, but you can choose to keep that notification toggled on or off. The preferences section does not offer you the chance to change your currency or home country.

Another major downside of the app is that there’s no easy way to find their contact information. That would be a really helpful addition, as well as a “weather and local time at your destination” feature.

One of the best parts of the app are the cute icons they use for loading screens. They make the loading experience slightly more pleasant. Overall, an app worth using!

Olivia Poglianich

Philippine Airlines

If you’re looking for Philippine Airlines’ app on the App Store, you may be confused to find it’s called My PAL Player. Nope, it’s not a video game. That’s the name of Philippine Airline’s app and it only works if you are actually on one of their airplanes. Instead, you’ll have to use your phone’s web browser to look up anything related to your flight. Using an iPhone 6 Safari browser, this is what you’ll uncover…

The key things you are looking for are right there on the home screen: booking a flight, booking a package, in to managing an existing booking, checking into a flight or checking on a flight’s status. When you’re looking to book a flight, not only does the system enable you to look up different flight classes, it even encourages you to while the screen is loading. It offers you a tip to check fare classes to find cheaper airfare. All information is clearly laid out step by step and it would be fairly easy to book a new reservation straight from your mobile device.

If you’d rather, you can book a flight and hotel together, or just a hotel on their “Book a Package” section. The experience is optimized for mobile.

In the top left corner of the home screen is a drop down menu that features additional web pages: PAL Experience, Promos, Mabuhay Miles, About Us, PAL Boutique and the ability to search by country.

The PAL Experience tab has all relevant information about the airline from timetables to other airline partners and information about the in-flight experience as well as good things to know before you fly. The Promos tab is worth a browse if you haven’t yet booked your flight, as it showcases a few current deals, although it’s not very robust. Mabuhay Miles will redirect you to another website, where you can choose to become a member to accrue points. The About Us section includes a 24/7 live chat feature, a unique offering that many other airlines don’t seem to offer. Alternatively, they offer two phone numbers and their mailing address, should you have any feedback or concerns regarding your existing travel plans and reservations.

A few drawbacks to the app are that there isn’t a clear label that brings you back to the homepage (you click on their logo that is always at the top of your screen). A few pages have lag time, not drastically slow, but not an instantaneous load either. Additionally, if you are checking in to a flight, they recommend printing out your boarding pass. It is unclear if your mobile boarding pass will still work, but it’s not recommended, which makes life more difficult when booking. There doesn’t appear to be a weather integration; you will have to look elsewhere to find out the weather at your destination.

A plus to the app, besides the unique 24/7 chat feature, are local advisories and travel alerts that are helpful and relevant to people who are currently traveling or have an upcoming trip. These alerts scroll on the home screen letting people know about expected delays and new requirements for certain destinations.

Japan Airlines

The Japan Airlines mobile site provides the most important elements for a travelers journey: ticket purchase, check in, reservations, arrivals and departures. You will need to enter your location and language when you first open the site as it won’t automatically match your location. Overall this app offers a solid user experience, and here’s why…

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