United Adds New Features To Award-Winning Mobile App Like Virtual Gate, Club Recommendation Tool And Real-Time Bag Tracker

United today launched new features to its award-winning mobile app to save customers even more time and further improve the overall travel experience on the world's largest airline*:

'Virtual Gate' gives customers real-time updates about which groups are boarding and a progress bar that shows how many people have boarded, eliminating the need to wait around the gate area.

United Club 'closest and best' feature recommends nearby United Club locations based on proximity to travelers' gates and available capacity, with capacity insights initially offered at ORD and rolling out to additional airports in 2026.

An upgraded mobile bag tracking feature includes a package-delivery-style tracker that shows real-time locations throughout the journey.

Personalized updates include guidance on traveling with strollers or wheelchairs, reminders for required travel documents and biometric boarding options.

Arrival information features provide travelers with live local weather conditions, estimated local arrival time and instructions on connecting to rideshare services directly from the airport.

United has improved upon the industry's best mobile app with AI-supported navigation tools that will predict what features would most benefit customers during their trip and personalize content to each traveler. The upgrades come as the airline expects to welcome more than 10 million people during the winter holiday travel season**, the most ever for United during that time.

"The more information our customers have, the more confident they feel about their trip - and that's particularly important during the holidays," said David Kinzelman, United's Chief Customer Officer. "The United app gives travelers personalized, real-time updates during their entire travel journey, helping our customers feel like they have a personal assistant guiding them every step of the way."

More than 84% of United customers use the app the day they fly, and since beta-testing the latest app enhancements, the airline found customers appreciated the transparent communication, time saved and real-time updates.

For years, United has led the industry on adding game-changing innovations and policies across the airline to help customers self-serve and increase transparency, including:

Personalized connection experience: United launched new, personalized app features that make catching connecting flights easier, including personalized, turn-by-turn directions to connecting gates with estimated walk times, real-time flight status updates, tips for longer layovers, and a heads up if United is able to hold the plane for those with an extra-tight connection.

Bag tracking enhancements: United integrated Apple's Share Item Location for AirTag, so customers everywhere who travel with an AirTag or Find My network accessory can seamlessly share the accessory location with United's customer service team to help locate their luggage in the event that it is mishandled.

Automatic rebooking assistance: Rather than standing in line to speak with an agent or manually searching for alternatives, United's self-service tools automatically provide travelers with personalized rebooking options, baggage tracking details, and, when eligible, meal and hotel vouchers if their flight is delayed or canceled.

Real-time weather delay updates: United texts real-time radar maps to help customers understand how inclement weather in one part of the country can impact a flight elsewhere. United is the first and only U.S. airline currently providing its customers these kinds of specific messages, and the airline is sending them with assistance from gen AI tools.

United's new app features are rolling out to customers and will be widely available ahead of the holiday travel period.

For more information, visit united.com.

*As measured by available seat miles

**Travel between December 18, 2025 – January 6, 2026

American Airlines’ App Can Now Scan Your Passport

Mobile apps have undoubtedly made travel a smoother process. They allow even minimally tech-savvy travelers to avoid some lines and cut down on the documents they need to keep track of.

For international travelers though, the apps have had some limits. Though most airlines allow passengers headed to destinations in other countries to check in on their devices, an in-person passport check was still often required prior to boarding.

But American Airlines has announced an update to its app that would eliminate that step.

Passengers can now scan the data chip embedded in their passports using the built-in reader on iPhones or Android’s devices. Using the app to scan the chip — technically known as the Near Field Communication (NFC) chip — means travelers can self-verify their passport and won’t need to have it checked at the airport.

American said it is the first airline to introduce the function on its app.

(Image courtesy of American Airlines)

“We are continuously adding features to our app to make travel easier and worry-free for our customers,” Maya Leibman, American’s chief information officer, said in a Wednesday statement. “Mobile passport scanning removes a time-consuming step, providing our customers with a smoother check-in experience for international flights.”

The updated app provides on-screen instructions to help customers complete the scan correctly.

According to Andrea Koos, a spokeswoman for the airline, only a small percentage of app users will see the new feature Wednesday, but it will roll out to all users in the coming days.

Koos also said that there are a few limitations on the feature right now. Currently, it will only work for single-traveler itineraries, but the functionality will be expanded to work for multi-passenger ones in a future update.

In addition, Koos said that during testing the airline realized that some frequent travelers may have broken the chips in their passport — those who didn’t heed the warning on the last page that says in bold type, “This document contains sensitive electronics. For best performance, do not bend, perforate or expose to extreme temperatures.”

(Image courtesy of American Airlines)

While passengers carrying a passport from any country may use the feature, Koos said some countries may not embed NFC chips into their documents. Others embed them in locations other than where the U.S. does (behind the back cover of the document). So, she said, users with other kinds of passports may need to experiment with different scanning locations for the best performance, or may not be able to use the feature if their booklet doesn’t have the right technology.

American’s last major app update, which came out earlier this fall, introduced push notifications for boarding.

Featured photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images.

Source: https://thepointsguy.com/news/american-airlines-app-can-now-scan-your-passport/