Overview
You've been asking for it since Tern was started and we're thrilled to share that Flight Status Updates are now available in Tern!
As an advisor, get real-time alerts for schedule changes, cancellations and delays within 72 hours of a flight's departure
Travelers can also opt in to emails and/or real-time push notifications of changes within 72 hours of their flight
Flights greater than 72 hours away will be checked weekly (on Monday mornings) for schedule changes and other issues (like a change in flight number that puts the flight 'out of sync' in our system). Advisors will be alerted when these changes impact client flights
In addition to notifications, we're thrilled to introduce a stunning new design for flights including logos of over 300 airlines, delay alerts in the product, and more!
Important notes
Before we dive in, let's talk about some important things to keep in mind in order for flight status updates to work as you'd expect.
1. Tern only keeps flight details up to date / sends flight status alerts for "Smart Flights"
A "smart flight" is any flight you enter through our default path - by putting in the airline, flight number, and clicking 'search'. This pulls in flight data from our integration partner, FlightStats.
If you click to "add flight manually", none of the functionality below will apply.
2. You'll need to publish your itinerary after you first add a flight
When first adding a new flight or flight let, make sure you click 'publish' on your itinerary. We'll only start sending updates on the flight after that.
3. To receive proactive alerts for flight status updates, you'll need to opt in
As an advisor, you can opt in to email alerts by going to Settings -> Notifications.
Travelers can opt in to email alerts by going to Settings -> Notifications
Note: they'll need an account in order to access their settings and opt in.
Travelers with the mobile app will be prompted to opt in to push notifications (and they can adjust this at any time).
4. Alerts are only sent to you and specific travelers on that flight, not all travelers on the trip
5. Alerts are NOT sent for
Flights on rejected itineraries
Flights on cancelled trips
Flights on archived trips
Flights added to trip templates
Flight changes within 72 hours of departure
Within 72 hours of a flight, we'll keep keep flights up-to-date in real time. If you've opted in to alerts, we'll also send you specific notifications when things change.
Schedule changes
If a flight has a 'schedule change' that isn't officially a 'delay' through the airline, we'll update the flight date and time automatically to reflect the correct departure / arrival info.
We'll also send you an email of the schedule change.
Delays
Delays typically happen closer to the flight's departure. In the event of a delay, Tern will update the flight date and time automatically to reflect the correct departure / arrival information. We will also show you information on the delay directly in the product.
Advisor side: itinerary view
Advisor side: flight details
Traveler side: itinerary view
Traveler side: daily overview
Traveler side: flight details
Traveler side: mobile app - itinerary
Traveler side: mobile app - flight details
You'll also receive an email with details on the delay.
Travelers will also receive an alert of the delay - if they've opted in to push notifications:
Travelers will also receive an alert of the delay - if they've opted in to emails:
Cancellations
In the event of a cancellation, Tern will update the flight automatically to "cancelled", and show you information on the cancellation directly in the product.
All of the versions across web and mobile are similar to the delay screen shots above. But instead of showing a "delay" indicator, you'll see the flight was cancelled.
You'll also receive an email with details on the cancellation:
Travelers will also receive an alert of the cancellation - if they've opted in to push notifications:
Travelers will also receive an alert of the cancellation - if they've opted in to emails:
Gate changes
In the event of a gate change, Tern will update the flight automatically to show the correct terminal / gate.
Travelers will also receive an alert of the gate change - if they've opted in to push notifications:
Travelers will also receive an alert of the gate change - if they've opted in to emails:
Summary of alerts advisors and travelers receive <72 hours from flight departure
Advisors
Flight schedule change: change of date/time (not a 'delay' through the airline)
Flight delay: delay within 72 hours of a flight's departure
Flight cancellation: flight has been cancelled within 72 hours of a flight's scheduled departure
Travelers
Flight delay: delay within 72 hours of a flight's departure
Flight cancellation: flight has been cancelled within 72 hours of a flight's scheduled departure
Terminal/gate change: the departure terminal or gate has changed
Flight changes more than 72 hours from departure
If a flight's departure is more than 72 hours away, Tern will check once a week for changes to that flight. This check happens automatically every Monday morning.
In these cases we won't alert the traveler(s) proactively, but we will send you alerts if you have opted in to flight status update emails.
Schedule changes
In the event of a schedule change, Tern will automatically update the flight departure and arrival time on the itinerary. Note: there will be no indication of a 'delay', we will just update the time.
We will also send you an email about this change (if you have opted in to flight update emails).
Flights getting 'out of sync'
If a flight gets 'out of sync', Tern will alert you of this issue. In order to correct it, you'll need to remove the flight in Tern, research the new flight information via the airline, and input the correct flight into Tern to continue to receive updates. If you don't correct out of sync flights, you'll continue to be alerted about them on a weekly basis.
Some examples of why a flight may get out of sync:
Flight number has changed
Flight has been cancelled
FAQ
Can I get push notifications as an advisor? You can test this out if you've set up a test traveler account and have our Tern for Travelers mobile app. You aren't able to get push notifications on your traveler's flights today, but we hope to support this in the future!
Can I choose which flights to have notifications for? Not today - you either opt in to flight status update notifications or opt out - but it's definitely something we could support in the future if this would be helpful.
Can you opt my travelers in by default to these alerts? We do need permission to send them push notifications. For email - we can definitely consider doing this in the future if that would be helpful for you as an advisor.