It's an extension of that. It's the transmission of that information to alphanumeric pagers, PCS phones, and/or email addresses prior to the flight, so you get a text message confirming the arrival/departure time of the flight and the gate information. For example, I was picking up a friend arriving on a CO flight last month and received a text message during lunch letting me know the flight was arriving 45 minutes early. If I hadn't gotten that message, I would've had a more leisurely lunch and probably called to check status on the way to the airport to make sure it wasn't late...only to then learn that I was late!

The reason for the frustration is that DL publicly announced they'd be adding this by last Fall but have offered no apologies or explanations for the long delay.

jeffreyt: Thanks for the info on TheTrip.com Flight Alert service. The interface is a bit clunky (3-character airline abbreviations? ) and there doesn't seem to be an option to track departures, but it looks like it has potential.

I just tested it on a Horizon flight landing now in PDX to see how it works. It wouldn't let me enter the correct arrival time since it thinks today is the 12th even though it's the 11th there. Bottom line: it didn't really work at all. It sent me an email right at 11:29p (the scheduled arrival time) telling me the flight arrived even though it would still be in the air for 11 more minutes. I want to test this further to see if maybe it works with some airlines and not others. I'd love for it to really work!

[This message has been edited by Carl (edited 02-12-2000).]

The new Delta web site is a little more exciting than it was before.

Thanks jeffery, Carl

If it doesn't give senior discounts, then it is no better than before.

And more...for the sake of parents wanting to book flights for their kids to visit other parent, grandparents, etc., drop the requirement that the cardholder must fly.

Karen, the main reason, as you probably know, that DL does not allow you to purchase tickets online for other people has been because of fraud. But you know, that doesn't make sense anymore, because if DL makes you sign using a PIN Number with your ff #, then that would be authenticating your id. They should then allow you to go to an area called "Purchase tickets for others" or something like that.

Karen, I was not aware that Delta does not allow to buy tickets on line for somebody else. In the past I've done it many times with SouthWest and Alaska. Also, I think I bought a ticket on line from UA for my friend, although we traveled together on that trip.
From your experience, how many other airlines have this stupid rule for the on line purchases? Delta only? Does anybody know?

It's not a stupid rule, if it prevernts some credit card fraud then it's an excellent idea. If you want to buy a ticket for someone else, use a CTO, travel agent or ring the airline. The online purchasing bonus is a bonus with terms and conditions like any other. I really wish people would stop treating these things as if they have a divine right to them. If you don't like Delta's policy, fly United.

We do! We do!

And you're very welcome to it