Whether its the day of travel and I’m trying to see where my plane is, or I’m just curious as to what is flying over my house, tracking flights is something that I find myself doing way too often. Not all flight tracking products are created equal and, depending on your needs, some are better than others.
Casual: FlightAware
For the casual flight tracker, FlightAware is the best tool on the market. It provides users with information like arrival and departure time, the current positioning of your aircraft, and the ability to search flights by routes.
For most folks, this is the best way to track flights and, when I’m flying, I use FlightAware to make sure that my flight stays on schedule and to determine whether or not there are any other options should I need to change my trip.
Intermediate: FlightRadar24
For those that want more information, FlightRadar24 is a fantastic tool. While it doesn’t have the same ease of use as FlightAware, this service provides more information like aircraft tail numbers and the ability to track aircraft that have their tail numbers blocked.
Personally, FlightRadar24 is my favorite of the available options as it has a good blend of features and ease of use. I even keep a live FlightRadar24 feed up on a monitor in my office to see what is flying overhead.
Hardcore: ADS-B Exchange
While many aircraft operators are able to mask their tail numbers, those planes are still shown on radar and therefore can be captured by programs like ADS-B Exchange.
ADS-B Exchange is far from simple to use but, it does allow you to find information on virtually every aircraft currently in the air. This includes flights that are typically blocked by services like FlightAware and FlightRadar24.
ADS-B Exchange can be clunky (most of the time) but it provides so much information on tracking planes, especially private aircraft, that it is worth getting to know how to use (especially if you’re trying to figure out where your next head coach is coming from).
Tracking Your Flight: Flighty
While it is fun to track other aircraft, the most important to many is determining where their plane is while traveling. As I mentioned in my list of best travel tools, there isn’t any better flight tracking option than Flighty (I’m not paid by them, I’m just a huge fan).
This application provides the user with a ton of information including real time gate information, delay notifications, tail numbers, and more. While the service isn’t cheap, I’ve found it to be worth every penny.
Summary
Tracking flights is something that I find myself doing more often that I care to admit. Not all tracking tools are created equal but, thankfully, there is an app or website that meets everyone’s needs.
