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Running late to the airport and need to know the status of your flight immediately? One woman has shared "the greatest hack ever" that can tell you "everything you need to know about your flight" with one click.
The handy flight tip was revealed in a TikTok video shared by @durbinmalonster and has had 12.6 million views since it was posted Sunday.
The footage shows a woman sitting in what appears to be a car. Looking at the camera, she says: "I worked in the airline industry for three years and this is my number one flying hack."
She continues: "The morning of your flight, you're going to text yourself your flight number. But the key is you have to include your airline code. So, for example, if you're flying American Airlines Fight 686, I'm gonna type 'AA686.' Delta's gonna be DL...you get the point."
She notes that this "text will become a link to know everything you need to know about your flight and it will update in real time."
@durbinmalonster S/O @Brooke Webster for teaching me this in my bag loading days 7 years ago
♬ original sound - Darby
The footage later shows an on-screen demonstration of a flight number being texted on a phone, which turns the flight number into a hyperlink.
Clicking on the link and opening the "preview flight" option in the drop-down menu brings up a map screen with various flight details, including flight status, gate number and flight departure/arrival times, as well as the baggage claim belt number for where to pick up your luggage.
"It's the greatest hack ever, and I feel like nobody knows about it," the woman says.
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The post comes as air travel sees continued strong growth after grinding to a halt during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2023, global air traffic was reported to be at 99.1 percent of November 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels, the International Air Transport Association said in January.
According to the latest data from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, more than 2.5 million passengers were reported to have passed through a TSA checkpoint on March 18.
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A caption shared with the TikTok clip reads: "S/O [shout out] @Brooke Webster for teaching me this in my bag loading days 7 years ago."
The woman says in the video that texting your flight number to someone picking you up at the airport allows the person to be updated on any flight time changes.
For example, if you were scheduled to land at 8:30 a.m. but end up landing at 8:06 a.m., "it will update in that link and whoever is picking you up can see exactly when that flight status changes," she said. Those who have a connecting flight should text themselves both flight numbers, she added.
The woman's hack is useful "especially now [because] some airports have the flights roaring across the screen, so you have to stand there and wait for yours to show up?" a message across the video reads.
The woman says: "It's the greatest hack.... I never have to look at the screens at the airport anymore."
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok and email. The video has not been independently verified.
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About the writer
Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more