Send a link that updates by itself, and send it before you board. The person waiting needs to know when you land and when you’ll be outside, and they need it without installing anything or texting you at 30,000 feet. A flight number in a text works too. A photo of your boarding pass doesn’t, and it gives away more than you’d think.
The bad version of this is familiar. You text “landing at 6:48” from the gate, the flight leaves 40 minutes late, you lose signal, and someone spends an hour in a cell phone lot watching for a text.
What the person waiting needs
“Landed” isn’t what they need. They need when the plane should land, which moves, and when you’ll be at the curb, which depends on your row, your bag and your airport.
A flight status page gives them the first. Almost nothing gives them the second. So a link to the airline’s status page is better than nothing and still leaves them guessing. If they’re picking you up, send when to leave for the airport along with it, and tell them whether you checked a bag.
Your options, from least to most useful
| Method | What they get | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Text the flight number | Any search or tracker finds it | They check by hand, and may pick the wrong day’s flight |
| Airline’s own share feature | Status, sometimes an itinerary | Differs by airline, and may need their app |
| Share your location | Where your phone is | It stops when your phone goes offline, so it goes dark for the whole flight |
| A live flight link | When you land, updating as it moves | They must open it, and anyone with the link can see it |
Location sharing is the one people reach for, and it’s the wrong tool for a plane. It’s perfect again the moment you’re off the aircraft and walking, so use it for the last ten minutes.
Don’t send the boarding pass
The barcode on a boarding pass is built to an IATA standard, and it’s readable by anyone with a scanner app. It holds your name, your flight and your seat. It holds your booking reference, and airlines can add other data to it, such as a frequent flyer number.
A booking reference and a surname are, on many airline sites, enough to open your booking. In 2015, security journalist Brian Krebs described a reader who used a friend’s posted boarding pass to get into their airline account, where he could see upcoming flights and could have changed them. The code on the pass can be a key to your trip.
The same goes for posting one online, and for leaving a paper one in the seat pocket. If you want to show off the window seat, crop the barcode out or don’t post it until the trip is over.
A flight number has none of that. Flights are public. Anyone can look one up, and sharing it gives away only that you’re on it.
A short privacy check
Before you send any link, ask what’s in it and who can reach it. Good answers: no seat, no booking code, nothing that opens your reservation, and a way to stop it.
Then remember what a link is. It works for whoever has it. If you post it publicly, the public has your arrival time. That’s fine for a parent, less fine on social media while your house is empty.
When it goes wrong
If the flight is delayed or diverted, a live link updates and a text doesn’t. If the flight is cancelled, tell them yourself, since your new flight won’t be on the old link. A link for the original flight says cancelled and stops there.
If you’re the one following, keep the link open and don’t leave for the airport off the scheduled time. A tracker and an airline can show different things at landing, and that’s normal. On long flights, your own phone’s Live Activity may stop before the follower’s link does.
For the person at the curb, Skycap makes a link they can open with no account. It shows when you should land, when you’ll be outside and which door, and it carries no seat or booking code. You can end the share at any time, and otherwise it stops a day after the scheduled arrival. How sharing works