Former Airline Employee’s Viral Flight Hack Amazes Internet

Maloney’s advice was clearly news to many people. Her video had over 1 million likes and garnered thousands of comments. As one top comment to her video put it: “As someone who flies for work, this is SO helpful!” 

Sure, you can download your airline’s app to get the same information, but the genius of this tip is how it reduces the numbers of steps you need to take. 

Take the stressful scenario of having a short layover for a connecting flight as an example. Gates can often change, 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 recommended texting yourself the flight number for that leg of your trip. 

“The second you land, you can just click your link and know exactly what your gate is so when you get off of the plane ― boom, you’re off to your connection,” Maloney said.

Or how about the family member who is picking you up? They just need your flight number to keep track of any delays.

“I use this the most when somebody’s picking 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.“

Because airlines use the same planes for different flights, it’s most useful to text yourself the flight number on the morning of the flight, Maloney recommended.

Here’s how the hack works: 

If you’re on an iPhone, all you need to do is to text yourself your flight number. From there, you will click on the hyperlinked number and select “Preview Flight.” There you can look up your flight information in real-time.