Today Cincinnati and Salt Lake City join the ranks of locations where paperless boarding pass is now offered.
We’re up to 9 locations total now: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis - Northwest only, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Memphis, New York (LaGuardia) – Delta only, Salt Lake City
Coming Soon: Chicago (Midway), New York (JFK), Orlando, San Francisco, Phoenix
While Delta continues to expand and improve (yes – we are aware of the challenges with the Delta mobile check-in product and it will be redone) our paperless boarding pass product, we’re also looking to the future for mobile.delta.com to determine what we want mobile to be here at Delta in the coming years.
I could insert some random stat about mobile growth here but as a blog reader I’m sure most of you get the importance of mobile, especially you road warriors. It’s really starting to “take off” (sorry – I couldn’t resist). It’s a fascinating area to watch blossom as the hardware/software keeps getting better with devices that have changed the market (iPhone) and those that will innovate again (Palm Pre, the next Android phone, etc).
As people find new ways to connect to each other via mobile, social media or a blend of both, we’d like to hear from you how you’d like to connect to Delta in the mobile space. Got a better idea? Then post it here!
Chris Porter
Product Manager
delta.com
June 9th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Not to be negative…but can you tell the people in Atlanta to charge the mobile checkin readers at the TSA? I went through a few weeks ago and after getting to the front of the line I had to wait about 20 minutes for them to find one that wasn’t dead. And I missed my flight (I know I shouldn’t have been cutting it that close, but had the machines been working when I got up there, I would have made it)
June 9th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Regarding the mobile product — look at the NWA mobile check-in solution, I’ve never had the same issues with it as I have had with Delta.com, and it is very reliable in that it sends an email or text that you simply can re-access without going through the process required for the Delta mobile check-in tool.
For that matter, any agent using PARS/AOP seems to have fewer difficulties than using Deltamatic/Cornerstone, but I understand that decision has been made.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:39 am
I LOVE the Delta Mobile boarding pass. It didn’t work flawlessly for me when I first tried it, but I completley understand technology implementation over a large network of employees isn’t the easiest thing in the world.
Keep up the great work and I am glad Delta is on top of the technology changes.
P.S. I don’t know if this is cool to post or not (Mod: feel free to delete if it isn’t), but I blogged about my first Delta mobile boarding pass experience here: http://www.allenhuntshow.com/Andy-Borgmann/2009/05/14/delta-iphone-boarding-pass-future-of-air-travel
June 9th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
can’t wait for JFK to have it.
BTW can you fix the SkyMiles info on the Mobile Site.
The information provided is wrong and out of place.
June 9th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Would love to see all those elements on the Poll included in an iPhone app!
June 9th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I just want your mobile product to work, currently it does not. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but NW’s mobile product ROCKS and it’s a shame you’re not using it.
June 10th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Now wait a minute… the new Palm Pre (which I have) offers applications as well. If your going to make an application, make sure you make it available on most networks… not just the iPhone.
Also, the NWA product is excellent! Delta’s… not so much. Hopefully you’ll get those two integrated sooner than later.
June 10th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
General comments regarding mobile check-in on delta.com vs nwa.com - we will be moving towards the nwa.com model at the least or perhaps a combination of both at the most (having it immediately available on the web page and an option for sending)
sheehanimal - noted and being worked on.
HWGeek - JFK is coming this year, it’s in the early phases of discussion. The SkyMiles account bug is FIXED - check it out.
golich17 - time will tell w/ the Pre if it climbs into the same ranks with iPhone and BB. How does it stack up so far in your opinion?
Based on the poll, it looks like there is real interest in a dedicated app. That will get a serious look in our future strategy. C-Dub’s post on the poll results has some great ideas, any other thoughts on functions within an app?
June 10th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
This is somewhat off topic, I know, but is Delta looking at providing an option for travelers to purchase carbon offsets when booking a flight? On expedia.com, it is an option before completing your purchase - they use TerraPass, in case you want to research it further.
Seems like a great option to provide your passengers.
June 10th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
ScottC, Delta was the first domestic airline to offer Carbon Offsets to our customers back in June of 2007 in partnership with The Conservation Fund. More info here. You can also learn all about our green efforts at blog.delta.com/category/environment. Thanks for your suggestions!
June 10th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
I’ll just mention Continental’s version of their mobile site - pda.continental.com. As a frequent traveler, it has everything I want on there - very simple check-in, flight status (where you can view upgrade/standby lists, seat map, inflight amenities page, what aircraft ship number is flying the trip as well as where the inbound flight is coming from), as well as easy access to the FF account.
If Delta took the Continental version of their PDA site, I would be a very happy customer.
June 10th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Hey Chris- I used my iPhone to board in SLC Monday night. Awesome option. One question… What’s the point of paperless boarding if the scanner spits out a paper seat assignment after scanning the mobile device (similar to when an upgrade clears at the gate and you scan your old boarding pass)?
June 10th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
jmerski… +++. CO has done an *excellent* job of not only producing a pda site that is very usable, but also listening to their customers to figure out what is really required in such a site as well as providing feedback about options. Kudos DL for starting that via this blog post, though I’d be (personally) interested in providing ongoing positive and usability feedback in a forum that DL managed (for both mobile.delta.com and the future http://www.delta.com)
June 11th, 2009 at 11:19 am
While I don’t think it will top the sales of the iPhone, it will give them a run for their money. It offers many great, intuitive features that are exclusive to the phone itself. Also, the Sprint network has always been great for me so that just gives it another plus. (Verizon did say they would get it by the end of this year and AT&T showed interest).
June 11th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
From the grapevine, I’ve heard there’s some question as to whose technology will be integrated. I’d just like to strongly echo some of the other posters and as Delta to integrate as much Northwest technology (or better) as possible. The functionality of their website (especially the mobile site) is really spectacular and something frequent flyers appreciate. A dedicated iPhone program would also be quite useful.
June 11th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Katie - What I meant is that purchasing off sets is not an option when you are purchasing your tickets - like trip insurance is. To me, that would be a much better option and more user (not to mention environmentally) friendly.
June 12th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
@Chris thanks for fixing the sky miles info on the mobile site
June 13th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
ScottC, you can purchase carbon off sets while purchasing tickets. When you come to the trip summary page (the page after selecting your flights), there is a section for “Trip Activites”, click “Open” and select the link for “Delta Products” at the bottom of the section that opens. This currently is only available when booking roundtrip tickets.
June 13th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
I would love to have SkyTeam schedules on my phone, or at least those for DL/NW. SkyTeam offers this, but only for Windows Mobile and PalmOS. It was great when I had a Treo, but I am out of luck with my current BlackBerry.
Heck, if you guys can provide the raw schedule data I will write the BlackBerry app.
June 17th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Danny & ScottC: Correct! Customers who wish to make a donation can select “Plant Trees to Offset Carbon Emissions” under “Trip Activities” when booking a flight at delta.com. And at nwa.com, customers can make a financial contribution directly to The Nature Conservancy or make a donation to help offset carbon emissions associated with their flight when they book. Thanks for your help!
June 17th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
I’d rather the bugs in the mobile site be fixed first.
1. It’s REALLY slow, much slower than other mobile sites.
2. If I want to see the status of a flight from my itinerary, I can’t. The link to the flight number always gives me an error demanding that I “enter a valid flight number” — so I have to remember the number and go back to the main screen and click “view flight status”. The fact that the site is SOOOO slow (see problem #1) makes this even more frustrating.
3. It usually won’t remember my Skymiles number at login, even if I click the box (at least on my iPhone). So I have to re-enter it every time, and it’s not easy to remember. Why can’t we log in with an email address?
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Katie and Chris,
I’d like to echo IDAYUELTA’s comments above advocating adoption of NW’s IT infrastructure. No offense intended to the IT folks in ATL, but, as a passenger that has used both DL and NW for a number of years, I view the Northwest software as significantly superior to what I have seen on the Delta side. That goes for website, mobile, kisok, and even boarding pass design (I LOVE having both flights on a single BP; I DON’T want to waste my paper and toner printing airport info and ads on the BPs.)
I’ll cite one more example: my experience with DL’s “new” (1 yr old?) kiosk software is that the new software requires both more screens and more waiting time than either the NWA software or even DL’s old version of kiosk software. When your customers are at an airport, every minute counts! I would also endorse BNAtraveler’s suggestion of incorporating detailed waitlist/upgrade info on both your website and pda offerings; CO does lead the pack with this type of info.
I do like the way Delta handles last minute email updates. I appreciate receiving updates on my Blackberry with every time or gate change, rather than the single email from the NW system.
Bottom line: I would STRONGLY encourage you to use the Northwest design as the basis for your consolidated IT systems. Thanks for reading this!
Sincerely,
CAK over CLE
July 17th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I just tried mobile.delta.com on the Palm Pre and there is something wrong with the site. I tried it on a laptop and it was also not working. Has the site been down for a long time? I am flying out of CVG tomorrow and I was hoping to try out this new feature.
July 17th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
brianwoodward: Delta’s mobile site has had some features (e.g. account profile) broken for a long time. Recently, I have consistently been getting “An unexpected error has occurred.”
To avoid having to explicitly construct a mobile site, they use software that screen scrapes the main site. A clever idea but the recent design update may have screwed things up, and besides historically they haven’t been keeping the mobile site working 100% anyway.
October 2nd, 2009 at 9:43 pm
I tried using the NW mobile app at IND a couple weeks ago … when I presented my phone (a 2-year-old Motorola Q) at the TSA security checkpoint it scanned fine but showed the wrong travel day … fortunately I had enough time to go back to the kiosk and get a paper boarding pass
I have to echo the earlier comments about pda.continental.com … (1) it works much more smoothly and consistently, (2) has much more functionality, and (3) as someone who keeps a flight log (500+ flights the past 6 years, about 150 each on DL and CO, and about 65 on NW), being able to see the ship number ahead of time is really pretty neat … btw CO has also recently put that info on the screens at the IAH departure gates
when are you going to roll out mobile at DCA/IAD?
October 19th, 2009 at 9:54 am
I’m posting here in the hopes of getting some sort of response from those in charge of the Delta mobile site. For me, the site is not functioning at all and my repeated attempts to resolve it with Delta Online Customer Assistance (888-750-3284), have yielded no results.
My problem is when I access Delta mobile from my Blackberry 8830 (Sprint), select “login to see itineraries”, type in my Skymiles and PIN, I am presenting with a screen that has the standard Delta Banner (red/white) and below it a second Delta banner w/black background, a “back” button and the Home nav link. This is also true when I select “login to book a trip”.
I was thinking it was my phone, so I had some coworkers try it on LG and Samsung phones (different providers) with the same results. I go to my desktop and us IE7 & Google Chrome to access the mobile site and get the same results.
After 3 calls to Online Customer Assistance and additional emails to Delta, I am about to just stop using the mobile site because A). It is of no value to me in its current condition, B). the support center is not supporting me.
I know this blog is not the appropriate place to voice a specific, individual problem, as the note above “submit comment” states. However, I’m not getting any resolution through the standard channels at this is extremely frustrating. The Online Cust. Asst. is worthless except to congratulate me on being Gold Medallion.
If anyone is having a similar experience or more importantly, a resolution, or is a Delta technical person that can point me in the right direction, I would be most grateful.
October 19th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Yep, the Delta mobile site is completely broken much of the time, and it’s been this way for months. It’s likely the worst airline mobile site in existence. Delta does not care or they would have fixed it by now - which is strange given all the effort they have put into improving the regular site. Good luck.