AC and WiFi

[Kip Powick]

MONTREAL – Air Canada (TSX: AC.A) announced Thursday that travellers with BlackBerry smartphones will now also have their own application, saying it is the first North American airline to offer this service.

Even though travellers don't need the software to use electronic tickets and check flight information, the apps for the BlackBerry and iPhone bring all the information plus some additional features together for users with one tap of their fingers.

"There's this expectation they will get this information on the spot," said Patrice Ouellette, director of Air Canada's customer service platform.

The BlackBerry app will also provide information for Jazz flights, the Halifax-based regional carrier.

It will also will give travellers notification of flight changes and allow them to book flights, select a seat, rent a car and access other travel links such as a restaurant guide.

The airline also is planning to offer WiFi services on some flights to the U.S west coast.

In an increasingly competitive market, airlines are trying to provide more services to lure customers, especially those who book flights on wireless systems.

The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies said these kinds of software applications can help travellers.

"They are considered a real blessing in disguise in certain aspects because you no longer have to give your client a paper document," said spokesman Donavon Gaudette.

But while consumers use their mobile phones and Internet for travel bookings and information, sometimes the convenience of technology isn't enough, he said.

Even though Canadians can do "extreme research" online about travel, sometimes they are leery of making their own arrangements.

"People still want a human touch," Gaudette said from Ottawa.

[Innuendo]

I downloaded the app for my iPod Touch and it seems to work well.

[Flightlevels]

Cool stuff!

[boestar]

The iphone app is great but the Blackberry app which I tried to use for the first time yesterday had some issues. first the registration did not work correctly leading to an error that had to be corrected so I could get my electronic boarding pass. then on my return flight when I checked I never received the boarding pass and only displayed my original boarding pass for the first flight. I ended up reprinting a pass at the kiosk at the terminal.

I have been using the electronic boarding pass (e-mail and sms) for some time but do find it more cumbersome than a piece of paper when going through security and at boarding time.