Airline staff’s ‘number one’ travel hack takes seconds but few people know about it

A woman who used to work in the aviation industry has shared her favourite travel hack that she feels ‘nobody knows about’ and it will take you 10 seconds to do

A woman who worked in the aviation industry has shared her ultimate travel hack (stock image) (Image: Getty Images )

Preparing for your summer holiday can be exciting, time-consuming and stressful in equal measure, but there’s one super-simple additional thing that you can do to ready yourself, according to a woman that worked in the aviation industry.

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Darby Maloney, who goes by durbinmalonster on TikTok, shared her ‘number one hack’ to her 313k followers. She said: “The morning of your flight you’re going to text yourself your flight number okay?” In doing so, the number will become a link. If you click this and choose ‘preview flight’, you’ll see all the information for your flight, which is updated in real time.

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This includes delay status, departure and arrival times, duration, and gate and baggage claim information. If the flight is active, you’ll also see a real-time tracking map.

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Importantly, this works across apple devices, so make sure you use iMessage. You can ‘text yourself’ by starting a new message and messaging your own number.

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Darby goes on to say: “The key is you have to include your airline code. So, for example, if I’m flying American Airlines flight 686 I’m gonna type AA686 – Delta’s gonna be DL, Alaska’s gonna be AS…”

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If that configuration does not work, try the following:

Airline + flight number: ‘Delta Airlines 405’

Airline abbreviation + flight number: ‘DL 405’

Airline abbreviation + flight number (no space): ‘DL405’

You’ll know your format is correct if the text is underlined (indicating a hyperlink) once the message has been sent.

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Darby’s advice continues: “If someone’s picking you up, send it to them. If you’re Ubering, send it to yourself.”

The person giving you a ride will be able to stay updated too, says Darby, so much so that “whoever is picking you up can literally see a little airplane flying across the screen”.

She’s so confident about the flight tracking that she uses it every time she travels, saying: “It’s the greatest hack – I never look at the screens at the airport anymore.”

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No more departures boards – your flight info is updated in real time on your phone (Image: Jacob Wackerhausen via Getty Images )

It’s especially useful if you have a connecting flight, says Darby, explaining: “Text yourself both flights. The second you land, you can just click your link and know exactly what your gate is.”

Comments from pleased followers ranged from “Why am I barely processing the fact you can text yourself [shocked emoji]”, to “Omg this is so much easier than flight tracker”.

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One follower was a fan of the hack, but didn’t want to give up a favourite airport moment he has, saying: “I’ve been doing this for years and it’s great for sending to other ppl but I love having a *main character* moment starting at the flight departure boards.”