United Adds New Features to Award-Winning Mobile App Like Virtual Gate, Club Recommendation Tool and Real-Time Bag Tracker

Rhea-AI Summary

United (NYSE:UAL) updated its mobile app with features designed to speed travel and improve transparency ahead of the winter holidays. Key additions include a Virtual Gate boarding progress bar, a United Club “closest and best” recommendation with capacity insights (initially at ORD, expanding in 2026), a package-style real-time bag tracker, and AI-supported personalized navigation and travel updates.

The company said >84% of customers use the app the day they fly and expects to carry more than 10 million passengers between Dec 18, 2025 and Jan 6, 2026. New arrival info, rebooking tools and AirTag integration are also highlighted.

Positive

• App usage by >84% of customers on travel day
• Winter season expected >10 million passengers (Dec 18, 2025–Jan 6, 2026)
• Virtual Gate provides real-time boarding progress
• Bag tracker shows package-style real-time locations
• Club capacity insights launching at ORD with broader 2026 rollout
• AI-supported personalization and automatic rebooking tools

Negative

• Capacity insights limited to ORD initially, phased rollout in 2026

News Market Reaction

+4.44%

1 alert

+4.44% News Effect

On the day this news was published, UAL gained 4.44%, reflecting a moderate positive market reaction.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Key Figures

Holiday travelers: more than 10 million people App usage rate: more than 84% Holiday travel window: Dec 18, 2025 – Jan 6, 2026

3 metrics

Holiday travelers more than 10 million people Expected during winter holiday travel season 2025-12-18 to 2026-01-06

App usage rate more than 84% Customers using the United app on the day they fly

Holiday travel window Dec 18, 2025 – Jan 6, 2026 Period for record winter holiday travel volume

Market Reality Check

Price: $102.32 Vol: Volume 4,010,489 is below...

low vol

$102.32 Last Close

Volume Volume 4,010,489 is below the 20-day average of 5,964,361, suggesting a moderate reaction ahead of the news. low

Technical Price at $107.70 is trading above the 200-day MA of $87.87, indicating a pre-existing uptrend.

Peers on Argus

UAL was up 0.8% over 24h while key peers were mixed: DAL (+0.72%), LUV (+0.26%),...

UAL was up 0.8% over 24h while key peers were mixed: DAL (+0.72%), LUV (+0.26%), AAL (+1.29%), with ALK (-0.52%) and CPA (-1.5%). Moves do not indicate a uniform sector-wide trend.

Historical Context

5 past events · Latest: Dec 02 (Positive)

Pattern 5 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Dec 02	Tech partnership	Positive	+3.2%	Multi-year Travelport partnership to advance modern airline retailing.
Nov 11	Operational update	Neutral	-1.2%	CEO message on handling FAA-mandated cuts and customer care metrics.
Nov 05	Shutdown impact	Negative	-1.0%	Schedule reductions across 40 airports due to government shutdown.
Nov 04	Loyalty product	Positive	-5.6%	Launch of MileagePlus debit card with mile-earning and bonuses.
Oct 23	Loyalty partnership	Positive	-0.6%	Blue Sky reciprocal earn-and-burn partnership with JetBlue.

Pattern Detected

Recent strategic and customer-focused announcements often saw mixed reactions, with several loyalty/product positives met by negative price moves, suggesting investors do not consistently reward such news.

Recent Company History

Over the last few months, UAL news has focused on partnerships, loyalty expansion, and operational updates. On Oct 23, the Blue Sky loyalty collaboration with JetBlue saw a modest share decline. The Nov 4 MileagePlus debit card launch also coincided with a -5.56% move. Government-shutdown-related operational changes in early November produced small declines, while a Dec 2 Travelport strategic relationship drove a 3.22% gain. Today’s mobile app enhancements fit this pattern of customer-experience and technology investments.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement adds new AI-supported features to United’s mobile app, including a virtual gate, r...

Analysis

This announcement adds new AI-supported features to United’s mobile app, including a virtual gate, real-time bag tracking, and personalized travel guidance, ahead of a holiday period serving more than 10 million travelers. It continues a recent pattern of customer-experience and technology initiatives. Investors may watch how engagement—already above 84% app usage on travel days—evolves and how these tools influence operational reliability, customer satisfaction, and longer-term competitive positioning.

Key Terms

biometric boarding, available seat miles, gen AI tools

3 terms

biometric boarding regulatory

"Personalized updates include guidance... and biometric boarding options."

Biometric boarding is the use of physical traits—like fingerprints, facial scans, or iris patterns—instead of paper or digital boarding passes to verify a traveler’s identity when getting on a plane. It matters to investors because the technology can speed boarding, cut staffing and fraud costs, and boost passenger satisfaction, but it also involves upfront investment, ongoing operating expenses, privacy and regulatory risks, and potential liability that can affect an airline or airport’s profitability.

available seat miles financial

"the world's largest airline*: 'Virtual Gate'... *As measured by available seat miles"

Available seat miles measure the total capacity of an airline to carry passengers, calculated by multiplying the number of seats available on all flights by the distance those flights cover. It indicates how much space an airline has to generate revenue from passenger travel. For investors, higher available seat miles generally suggest a larger operation and potential for increased earnings.

gen AI tools technical

"the airline is sending them with assistance from gen AI tools."

Generative AI tools are software systems that create new content — such as text, images, audio or code — by learning patterns from large amounts of existing data. For investors, they matter because these tools can cut costs, speed product development, enable new services, or disrupt industries in ways similar to how a fast autopilot can let one person manage tasks previously done by many, affecting revenue, margins and competitive position.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

'Virtual Gate' gives customers real-time updates about which groups are boarding and a progress bar that shows how many people have boarded

United Club^SM 'closest and best' feature recommends nearby United Club locations based on proximity to travelers' gates and available capacity, with capacity insights initially offered at ORD and rolling out to additional airports in 2026

Package-delivery-style bag tracker shows real-time locations throughout the journey

Personalized updates include guidance on traveling with strollers or wheelchairs, travel document requirements and biometric boarding options as well as arrival information like live weather data and local rideshare options

CHICAGO, Dec. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- United today launched new features to its award-winning mobile app to save customers even more time and further improve the overall travel experience on the world's largest airline*:

• 'Virtual Gate' gives customers real-time updates about which groups are boarding and a progress bar that shows how many people have boarded, eliminating the need to wait around the gate area.
• United Club 'closest and best' feature recommends nearby United Club locations based on proximity to travelers' gates and available capacity, with capacity insights initially offered at ORD and rolling out to additional airports in 2026.
• An upgraded mobile bag tracking feature includes a package-delivery-style tracker that shows real-time locations throughout the journey.
• Personalized updates include guidance on traveling with strollers or wheelchairs, reminders for required travel documents and biometric boarding options.
• Arrival information features provide travelers with live local weather conditions, estimated local arrival time and instructions on connecting to rideshare services directly from the airport.

United has improved upon the industry's best mobile app with AI-supported navigation tools that will predict what features would most benefit customers during their trip and personalize content to each traveler. The upgrades come as the airline expects to welcome more than 10 million people during the winter holiday travel season**, the most ever for United during that time.

"The more information our customers have, the more confident they feel about their trip - and that's particularly important during the holidays," said David Kinzelman, United's Chief Customer Officer. "The United app gives travelers personalized, real-time updates during their entire travel journey, helping our customers feel like they have a personal assistant guiding them every step of the way."

More than 84% of United customers use the app the day they fly, and since beta-testing the latest app enhancements, the airline found customers appreciated the transparent communication, time saved and real-time updates.

For years, United has led the industry on adding game-changing innovations and policies across the airline to help customers self-serve and increase transparency, including:

• Personalized connection experience: United launched new, personalized app features that make catching connecting flights easier, including personalized, turn-by-turn directions to connecting gates with estimated walk times, real-time flight status updates, tips for longer layovers, and a heads up if United is able to hold the plane for those with an extra-tight connection.
• Bag tracking enhancements: United integrated Apple's Share Item Location for AirTag, so customers everywhere who travel with an AirTag or Find My network accessory can seamlessly share the accessory location with United's customer service team to help locate their luggage in the event that it is mishandled.
• Automatic rebooking assistance: Rather than standing in line to speak with an agent or manually searching for alternatives, United's self-service tools automatically provide travelers with personalized rebooking options, baggage tracking details, and, when eligible, meal and hotel vouchers if their flight is delayed or canceled.
• Real-time weather delay updates: United texts real-time radar maps to help customers understand how inclement weather in one part of the country can impact a flight elsewhere. United is the first and only U.S. airline currently providing its customers these kinds of specific messages, and the airline is sending them with assistance from gen AI tools.

United's new app features are rolling out to customers and will be widely available ahead of the holiday travel period.

For more information, visit united.com, and download the United app here. Visual assets can be found here.

*As measured by available seat miles

**Travel between December 18, 2025 – January 6, 2026

About United
At United, Good Leads The Way. With U.S. hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., United operates the most comprehensive global route network among North American carriers, and is now the largest airline in the world as measured by available seat miles. For more about how to join the United team, please visit www.united.com/careers and more information about the company is at www.united.com. United Airlines Holdings, Inc., the parent company of United Airlines, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".

 

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SOURCE United Airlines

FAQ

What new features did United (UAL) add to its mobile app on Dec 16, 2025?

United added Virtual Gate, a United Club "closest and best" tool with capacity insights (ORD first), a real-time bag tracker, AI navigation and personalized travel updates.

How does the United (UAL) Virtual Gate feature help travelers?

Virtual Gate shows real-time boarding groups and a progress bar so customers can avoid waiting at the gate.

When will United (UAL) expand United Club capacity insights beyond ORD?

The release says capacity insights start at ORD and will roll out to additional airports in 2026.

What bag-tracking improvements did United (UAL) announce?

A package-delivery-style tracker now shows real-time bag locations throughout the journey and integrates AirTag sharing with customer service.

How widely used is the United app according to the announcement?

United reported that more than 84% of customers use the app on the day they fly.

Will United (UAL) app changes be available before the 2025–26 holiday travel period?

Yes. The company said the new app features are rolling out and will be widely available ahead of the holiday travel period (Dec 18, 2025–Jan 6, 2026).