Air travel isn’t always easy. Aside from the general anxiety that comes with jetting through the air in a silver tube 30,000 feet above the ground (just me?), it’s only natural to stress about questions like when to leave for the airport, whether your bags will make it to your destination, and, once you touch down, how you’re going to get from the airport to your hotel or home rental. While Lyft can’t solve all of your travel problems, the app is coming in clutch with a few new features that’ll make traveling this summer a breeze.
Announced on May 11, Lyft has brought two new features to the app that will make going to and from the airport easier. First, timing your departure from home to the airport is about to get super simple. Instead of staring at your flight time and trying to count backwards for the perfect time to leave your house, Lyft is now able to connect to your calendar — it’ll see your flight information and send you a notification at the ideal time letting you know you should head to the airport.
So, you make it to the airport on time, your flight (hopefully) takes off without delay and with zero turbulence, and you land safely at your destination. The big question that’ll pop into your brain: How quickly can I get out of this airport and start my vacay? Thanks to Lyft, you can now preorder a ride the minute your plane lands. Even if you’re still taxiing to your gate, you can open the Lyft app, book your ride, and as you get closer to the Lyft pickup spot, your app will automatically match you with a driver. (The price you’re quoted when you preorder your ride will stay the same, too, no matter how long it takes you to get to the pickup spot. Bless.)
If you’re anything like me, this means you no longer have to calculate how many minutes away you are from the pickup spot in order to correctly time ordering your ride. HUGE. Take note, though, that you won’t see this feature offered at every airport in the U.S. just yet. As of May 11, the preorder feature is only available at LAX in Los Angeles, California, and O’Hare and Midway in Chicago, Illinois. The feature will roll out to Austin-Bergstrom International in Austin, Texas; Seattle-Tacoma International in Seattle, Washington; and JFK International in New York by the end of May.
While these two features on the app sound tiny, they’ll make a big difference when it comes to getting you out of the dreaded airport and into your summer vacation as quickly as possible. BRB, going to plan a trip.