- Delta announced that it is going to be adding international auto check-in, security wait times, and meal pre-select to its app this year
Delta Corporate Communications Manager Savannah (Highsmith) Huddleston recently an update made to the company app along with revealing some of the new features that will be added later this year. The Fly Delta app update features branded colors for a consistent experience from booking to boarding. The new color accents used throughout the app are specific to the branded fare purchased: Basic Economy, Main Cabin, Delta Comfort+, Delta Premium Select/First Class and Delta One.
The visual cues will align in booking, seat selection, and appear on a customer’s boarding pass within the app. This mirrors the colors seen on screens and signs at the gate as boarding begins for a flight. And this feature makes it easier to recognize when it’s time to board.
Some of the new features coming to the Fly Delta app this year include international auto check-in, integrated security wait times in select markets, and the ability to pre-select meals.
The international auto check-in feature is an expansion of the auto-check-in feature already offered within the Fly Delta app. This brings the time-saving automated feature to customers traveling internationally. And eligible customers will be checked in automatically 24 hours prior to their scheduled departure. Plus customers will receive an alert via email or push notification. After opening the app, inputting or confirming passport information, the boarding pass will be there along with all the tools needed for the trip.
Delta is also currently testing integrated security wait times in select markets. Customers who are flying out of Seattle and New York-LGA can now see wait times within the Fly Delta app. This makes it easier to compare various checkpoint times and then head to Sky Priority, TSA Pre-Check, CLEAR, and standard TSA lines.
By the end of the year, Delta plans to expand this feature to other locations.
Later this year, Delta One and domestic First Class customers can take advantage of Delta’s popular pre-select meal program thus giving them the option to choose their meal weeks in advance through the Fly Delta app. This feature follows positive customer feedback about the feature being available over email already. Over 2 million Delta customers have pre-selecting their meals since the program started in 2018.
In the latest app update, Delta added more features within the “More” section of the Fly Delta app. These features include Message Us for customer service, Carbon Offsetting for checking carbon calculators and investing in sustainability projects, Flight Status for tracking flights, Track My Bags to follow the journey of your luggage, Delta Sky Club for looking up locations and amenities for Sky Clubs worldwide, and Delta Fleet to see stats and viewing seat maps for all Delta and Delta Connection aircraft.
In an interview with ThePointsGuy.com founder and CEO Brian Kelly, Delta chief executive officer Ed Bastian acknowledged that the Sky Club has been getting crowded.
“We’re a victim of our own success. People want to be on Delta. We’ve made the lounges another reason why to be in, and now they’re crowded. And we’ve got to find more space and we’ve got to build out together with our partners. American Express, what they’re doing with the Centurion Lounge, is a perfect example. We can be side by side with them in some markets. Airport space is at a premium,” said Bastian via ThePointsGuy.com. “And it’s tough to allocate the kind of lounge space that you’d really like given the limitations in the gate plots. But as we create bigger gate areas and bigger gate holds, because they’ve talked a lot about flipping the airport around, people don’t need to be spending time in lobbies anymore. They want a first point of contact. They want to make us with the security process, get through security, and then have a much bigger gate plot to serve and provide amenities. We’re going to be doing that in the next few years.”
