ComparisonGroupArrivals vs coordinating arrivals in a group chat
Group chats are quick and everyone already has one. Here is what happens to flight updates in a busy thread, and how a live board gives the team one clear picture.
Short answer
Group chats are fast for quick questions, but flight updates get buried between other messages, and nobody can see at a glance who has landed. GroupArrivals keeps every flight on one live board, alerts the team when something changes, and gives the client a link instead of a stream of messages. Many teams keep the chat for talking and use the board for flight status.
| What you need | GroupArrivals | Group chat |
|---|---|---|
| Quick questions inside the team | GroupArrivals is for flight status. Keep using your chat for conversation. | Very fast, and everyone already has a chat app. |
| See who has landed right now | One board with landed, in the air and still to fly, by airport and day. | Scroll back and piece it together from messages. |
| Delay updates | Live status for every flight, with an alert when one passes your delay limit. | Someone checks the flight and posts it, if they remember. |
| Cancellations at night | Email and push alerts to the team. Each alert opens that flight on the board. | Often found in the morning, deep in a long thread. |
| Avoid a flood of notifications | Changes are combined so the team is not flooded. | Every update is a new message for everyone in the chat. |
| Updates for the client | A private live board link with totals and flights. Names can be hidden. | A separate chat with the client, updated by hand. |
| Greeters at the airport | With check-in on, greeters tap names on a phone link, even with no signal, and the team sees it on the board. | Greeters post names as people arrive, mixed in with other messages. |
| A new team member joins | Invite them with a role and they see the full board at once. | They read back through the history, or someone sums it up. |
| Guest flight changes | Guests fix their own flights through a self-entry link, checked as they type. | A guest messages someone, who passes it on and updates the list. |
| Guest privacy | Names stay in your workspace, and personal data is deleted after the group ends, 60 days by default. | Names and flight details stay in many phones and chat histories. |
When Group chat is enough
When a group chat is enough: a few travelers, a small team that is online all day, and nobody outside the team who needs updates.
When GroupArrivals fits better
When GroupArrivals is the better fit: many flights across several days or airports, greeters at the airport, a client who wants live status, or a team that should not have to read every message to know what changed.
Why chats work for small trips
A group chat is the fastest way to ask a colleague a question or share a photo of a sign at the airport. For a trip with a handful of travelers, posting each landing in the chat works well. Everyone sees it, and nobody has to learn a new tool.
What gets lost in a busy thread
As the group grows, the chat fills with everything at once: transfer questions, room changes, jokes, and flight updates. On a busy arrival day, the one message that says a flight was diverted can scroll out of sight in minutes.
- Status depends on someone checking each flight and posting it.
- There is no single place that shows who is still in the air.
- Late night changes wait until someone reads the thread in the morning.
- Clients either join the team chat or get a second chat to keep updated.
- Guest names and flights are copied into many personal phones.
Use the chat for talk and the board for status
You do not need to give up the chat. Split the work: people talk in the chat, and flight status lives on a board that updates by itself.
Load the flights once
Upload the guest list with arrival and departure flights as CSV or Excel.
Point the team to the board
Pin the board link in your chat so anyone can check who has landed without asking.
Let alerts do the posting
Set a delay limit for the group. The team gets an email and push alert when a flight passes it, is cancelled or is diverted.
Give the client their own link
Send the client board link instead of adding them to the team chat.
A calmer arrival day
When the board carries the status, the chat gets quieter and more useful. Messages are about decisions, such as moving a transfer or holding a car, instead of repeating flight times.
Questions about group chats and arrivals
Can GroupArrivals post updates into our group chat?
No. Alerts go to the team by email and by push notification on the phone. Many teams pin the board link in their chat so everyone can open it.
Can GroupArrivals send alerts as text or chat messages?
No, neither is offered. Alerts are sent by email and push, and the morning and evening summaries arrive by email.
Will the team get too many alerts?
Changes are combined so the team is not flooded. You choose the delay limit, and alerts for each takeoff and landing are optional.
How does the client follow the arrivals?
Send them the client board: a private live link with totals and flights. You can hide traveler names and add a banner note.
Do greeters need to be in the team?
No. If you turn on check-in for the group, each greeter gets a phone link scoped to an airport, a day, a direction or one flight, with an optional PIN.
Guides that go with this
How to keep your client updated on arrivals
Read the guideGuide for DMCs, event companies and wedding plannersHow to meet a group at the airport and know who is still missing
Read the guideGuide for DMCs and event companiesHow to plan greeter shifts for a group's arrival days
Read the guideGuide for event companies, DMCs and wedding plannersWhat to do when a guest's flight is delayed or cancelled
Read the guideSee every featureAll guidesCompare with other ways of working
See your own list on the board today.
Upload your guest list and see every flight on the board before you pay. Live tracking starts at $29 per group.