Limo flight tracking software: push alerts and the T-36h terminal rule

Limo flight tracking software should tell your dispatcher when a flight changes, without anyone refreshing a page, and give the driver the right terminal at the right time. LimoGrid uses FlightAware AeroAPI push alerts instead of polling, sends the dispatcher an enriched flight-update email, and fills in terminal and gate from 36 hours before pickup.

Before that point the driver app shows "terminal TBD". That is on purpose, and it is the part most people ask about.

Here is how it works, why we built it that way, and what to ask any vendor before you trust their flight tracking with your airport runs.

What should limo flight tracking software do?

Airport work is where a limo company is judged. The passenger has been traveling for hours. They expect a car at the curb, not a phone call asking which terminal they are at.

Flight tracking has three jobs:

1. Notice changes quickly. Delays, early arrivals, diversions, gate changes.
2. Tell the right person. The dispatcher who can move a driver, not an inbox nobody reads.
3. Give the driver information they can act on. The terminal and gate, when those are actually known.

The first two are about how the software gets its data. The third is about restraint.

Push vs polling: why does it matter for flight tracking?

There are two ways software can learn that a flight changed.

Polling means the software asks the flight data provider on a schedule: every few minutes, is anything different? The change is only seen on the next check, and the software is asking about every tracked flight whether it changed or not.

Push means the provider sends an alert when something changes. The software doesn't have to ask.

LimoGrid uses push alerts from FlightAware AeroAPI. When a tracked flight changes, the alert comes to us and we act on it. It also fits how the rest of the platform runs: the driver offer queue in LimoGrid is event-driven too, on AWS SQS.

What does the dispatcher get when a flight changes?

The dispatcher gets an enriched flight-update email: the flight change, arriving with the context needed to act on it rather than as a bare airline status line.

A few things around it matter as much as the alert itself:

• Local times. LimoGrid shows times in the trip's local timezone everywhere: calendar, dispatch board and reports. A dispatcher in Boston handling a Denver pickup does not do timezone math at 5am.
• One place to look. The trip is already on the dispatch board, so the dispatcher can move from the email to the reservation and adjust the driver.
• Trip history. The trip time log records what happened when, which helps when a client later asks why the car was 20 minutes late for an early flight.

What the dispatcher does next is a judgment call. Wait time rules, the client's habits, whether the driver has another job after this one. Software should inform that call, not make it.

Why wait until T-36h for terminal and gate?

Because terminal assignments change, and a guessed terminal days ahead sends drivers to the wrong door.

Airlines move flights between terminals and gates for all kinds of reasons. A terminal shown on a booking made a week out is often a guess based on where that airline usually operates. It might be right. If it is wrong, and it made its way into the driver's job three days ago, the driver goes to the terminal they were told. The passenger waits at the other one.

So LimoGrid fills in terminal and gate automatically from 36 hours before pickup. Closer to the flight, the information is far more likely to hold. Earlier than that, we would rather show nothing than show something that looks certain and isn't.

A blank that says "TBD" makes the driver check. A wrong terminal makes the driver confident in the wrong place.

What does the driver see in the app?

Until the 36-hour window, the driver app shows terminal TBD on the job. After that, the terminal and gate appear.

This is a small detail with a big effect on behavior. A driver who sees "TBD" the night before knows to check in the morning. A driver who saw "Terminal B" three days ago has no reason to look again. The honest blank is safer than a precise-looking guess.

Does flight tracking start at booking?

It can. On LimoGrid's online booking widget, airport pickups get a first-screen flight check: the passenger enters the flight and sees a flight card, so a mistyped flight number is caught while the passenger is still on the page, not by the driver at the curb.

For bookings that come in by email, AI reservations pull the flight out of the email or PDF along with the rest of the trip, and the dispatcher confirms it before the reservation is saved. Either way, the flight is on the reservation from the start and tracking takes over from there.

What should you ask a vendor about flight tracking?

When you compare platforms, ask specific questions. A plane icon on a map proves very little.

1. Do you use push alerts or poll on a schedule? If polling, how often?
2. Who gets notified when a flight changes, and how?
3. Are times shown in the trip's local timezone or the office's?
4. When does the terminal appear on the driver's job, and what does the driver see before that?
5. Is the flight checked when the passenger books online?
6. Does flight tracking cost extra per flight?

For the rest of the checklist, see our buyer's guide to limo dispatch software. If you farm out airport runs, the same terminal logic matters for the affiliate's driver too; our guide on how to farm out limo jobs covers keeping the client when someone else drives.

Frequently asked questions

Does LimoGrid poll airlines for flight status?

No. LimoGrid uses FlightAware AeroAPI push alerts, so changes arrive when they happen instead of on the next scheduled check.

Why does the driver app say "terminal TBD"?

Terminal and gate are filled in automatically from 36 hours before pickup. Before that, airline terminal assignments can still change, and a guessed terminal can send a driver to the wrong door.

How does the dispatcher find out about a delay?

The dispatcher receives an enriched flight-update email when a tracked flight changes, and the trip is already on the dispatch board to adjust.

Are pickup times shown in my timezone or the airport's?

Times are shown in the trip's local timezone everywhere, including the calendar, the dispatch board and reports.

Airport runs are where clients decide whether to book you again. See flight tracking on a live dispatch board: book a demo, or compare plans on the pricing page.