At a glance
| TripTidy | Flighty | |
|---|---|---|
| Live flight alerts (delays, gates, cancellations) | Yes, FlightAware-backed, often before the airline | Yes, best-in-class |
| Live flight map | Yes, the real taxi path, tracked until it parks at the arrival gate | Yes, plus a map of every flight you’ve taken |
| Watch someone else’s flight | Yes, its own tab, added by number or from your bookings, with a pickup “leave by” | Yes, shared flights and Flighty Friends |
| Aviation depth (aircraft history, delay forecasts) | Not our focus | Exceptional |
| Hotels, rentals, cars, trains, dining, parking | Yes, the whole trip in one timeline | Flights only |
| Builds itself from your email | Yes, connect Gmail (read-only) or forward | Flights via calendar/TripIt import or manual add |
| Live Activity on the lock screen | Yes, and it relays: flight → car pickup → check-in | Yes, for the flight |
| Location-aware arrival alerts | Yes, parking confirmations, room codes, as you arrive | No |
| Calendar subscription | Yes, every reservation, not just flights | Flights |
| Price | Free during beta · Pro planned $39.99/yr | Free tier + premium ~$49/yr |
Where Flighty is still ahead
If aviation is the hobby, Flighty is the app: aircraft type and registration history, delay forecasting before the airline admits it, beautiful maps of every flight you’ve ever taken, and a social layer for people who love flying. TripTidy doesn’t try to out-Flighty Flighty on aviation depth.
Where TripTidy pulls ahead
The trip doesn’t end when you land
Landing is the halfway point. You still have to find the Hertz counter, remember which confirmation code opens the Airbnb, and make the 7:30 reservation. TripTidy’s Live Activity hands off from the flight to the car to check-in: one relay across the whole day, with the code you need on screen when you need it.
Zero data entry
Flighty is at its best when you feed it flights. TripTidy feeds itself: connect your inbox once and every confirmation (the flight, the hotel, the winery tour with the weird email format) becomes part of the right trip automatically. Change your flight? The old leg is replaced and the change is noted, without you touching anything. And for a flight no email of yours will ever mention, like someone you’re collecting, type the number and it’s tracked.
From the gate to the car
The map follows the plane from pushback to the moment it parks at the other end, and the airport map shows your gate, the lounges, and how long the walk is on a tight connection. Once you’re through, the Ride button opens Uber or Lyft with the hotel already set as the drop-off, and “Open in Airbnb” goes straight to the reservation.
The flights you’re not on
Flighty tracks your flight. Half of flying is somebody else’s: collecting your partner, driving your mom to the airport, the flight you booked for someone who doesn’t use the app at all. TripTidy gives those their own tab, live status and all, and tells you when to leave. A pickup is timed to when they reach the curb rather than the moment the wheels touch; a drop-off works back from check-in, and starts earlier across a border.
One timeline, not one leg
Check-ins and check-outs, gaps narrated (“6 nights at Haena Place”), dinner reservations in place. The itinerary reads like your actual trip, not a flight log.
The verdict
If you only care about the flight, buy Flighty. Sincerely. If you want that same obsessive, told-before-the-airline care applied to everything with a confirmation number, that’s exactly what TripTidy is for.