[psmith2.0]

Anyone here have a flight-tracking (departure, arrival, delays, gate, etc.) app for their iPhone that they really love (and that works reliably)?

I'm looking for one. I see quite a few at the App Store, but the reviews are all over the place on some (how one product can get a one-star review and a five-star review always amuses me).

I don't need every bell-and-whistle imaginable, but just something similar to the OS X Dashboard Flight Tracker widget...that same basic functionality (airline lookout, flight numbers, arrival and departure times and cities and any delays). I think those are the main things Flight Tracker does...

In fact, I was hoping that the same outfit that provides the OS X widget (FlyteComm?) had their own iPhone take on the thing, but I'm not seeing it.

I'm currently eyeing this one:

Silver Software's Flight Update

I don't fly enough to be spending $9-12 on a damn iPhone app, but, sadly, the sub-$5 apps available seem to have really poor reviews. So I'm looking at one of those decently-reviewed ~$5 ones.

But I'd love to hear your thoughts on them, or if you have one that really does the job. Or, even better, if you have the one I linked above. Your thoughts on it?

[bassplayinMacFiend]

If you don't fly enough to spend 5 coffees on an app, I'd say to call the check in counter and talk to a human. It's a bit cheaper on the money scale (although you may spend more than $10 in time on hold ).

[Noel]

I have the same problem, Paul, and I haven't found an app that looks both worthwhile and inexpensive enough for me to bother with. Honestly, I usually end up just launching safari, finding the website for the airport I need to know about, and loading their departures/arrivals page as appropriate.

[psmith2.0]

You guys might have a point. I fly twice, maybe three times a year. But because I take a shuttle from Chattanooga to Nashville or Atlanta when doing so, there's a two-hour chunk of time that something might change (weather, delays, gate changes, etc.), that might be nice to know about en route, via an easily-loaded, dedicated app or widget.

But if these apps don't do that reliably (or aren't updated as quickly as the boards at the airport), I guess there's not much point.

I was really hoping - like so many great, useful apps I have (and use all the time like Fandango, Weather Channel, What's On, Shazam, Urbanspoon, etc.) - that there might be a free or .99 app of this sort. But that doesn't seem to be the case in this particular category. If I had to fly somewhere every couple of weeks, sure...I'd shell out for one of the $9.99 or $12.99 "serious business traveler" offerings.

[bassplayinMacFiend]

I'd imagine that in order for an app developer to get nationwide realtime flight delay information, they'd probably have to pay some cash to license it. This could account for the $12 price tag vs. the much lower price tag on other types of apps.