Virgin Australia has unveiled its first iPhone app, and says an Android app will follow 'later this year'.
But it's not a full-on airline app – the Flight Specials App is a clever tool dedicated to helping you snare the best airfare for your next Virgin Australia flight.
It taps into the popular 'happy hour' fares offered daily for Virgin Australia domestic and international flights, along with other sales and specials.
Users can enter their travel details and sign up for a real-time alerts to be notified as soon as a flight special matches their criteria.
The Flight Specials App is a free download from the iTunes App Store. Virgin Australia says it's currently developing an Android version of the app and expects to release it later this year.
Virgin Australia has also launched mobile boarding passes for domestic flights, issued after you check in using the Virgin Australia mobile website.
"The check-in feature from the Virgin Australia mobile website will send the guest their boarding pass as an SMS to allow for mobile boarding" explains Mark Hassell, Virgin Australia Group Executive of Brand and Customer Experience.
"For guests with carry-on luggage only, this means the ability to skip the check-in counter and board the flight simply by scanning their smartphone at the gate."
If you're using Virgin Australia's new Flight Specials app or mobile boarding pass, let us know how well they work (or not!) for you...
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Jul 2011
Total posts 1374
App looks good - but why does it need to be an app, would have thought you could do the same thing on a website with a special fare on your chosen route triggering an sms or email
I also don't get the whole mobile boarding pass fixation.
The Qantas system where you can check-in online, via mobile, via the poles, then just scan your frequent flyer card is much easier - no need to worry about screen orientation, backlight timing out, call coming in.
21 May 2012
Total posts 4
Just used the new app - checked in for my flight today from ADL - MEL. Received the SMS to retrive my boarding pass and instead got an error. Is this still the problem of physically requiring a piece of paper when travelling to Adelaide?
06 Feb 2012
Total posts 18
still some errors on it from what I can see when using. Surprised it took them this long to do something as basic as this
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