Abstract
IndiGo users are clearly angry about slow loading, OTP/login failures, web check-in friction, missing boarding passes, ads, upsells, and payments — but a solo builder cannot realistically replace the official airline app, only build a narrow offline-first companion around the parts users need at the airport.
Background
IndiGo Flight Booking App is the official free app for booking IndiGo flights, web check-in, managing bookings, boarding passes, flight status, payments, offers, add-ons, and the 6Eskai chatbot. It has 28,946,636 installs and a 3.7★ lifetime rating.
What it does
Official booking, web check-in, payments, add-ons, flight status, boarding pass access, offers, and customer-service entry points.
What changed
Recent reviews describe the app as slower, more cluttered, harder to log into, and worse at post-booking basics like trips, check-in, and boarding passes.
Why it is soft
The soft spot is not flight inventory; it is the travel-day utility layer where users just need saved trip details and an offline boarding pass.
Strengths
This is not a weak incumbent. IndiGo controls the flights, check-in, PNRs, payments, fares, refunds, add-ons, support channels, and boarding-pass issuance; users keep returning because official airline actions ultimately happen there.
Official control
A competitor cannot cancel, refund, reissue, check in, or guarantee live booking state unless the airline path still works.
Massive habit
With 28,946,636 installs, even unhappy travelers already know where the official app is and may be forced back to it.
Free distribution moat
The app is free and attached to the airline brand, so a paid solo-builder alternative has to be useful without replacing the core transaction.
Market gap
The complaints group into a few practical clusters; the addressable one is airport-day reliability, not airline operations.
Slow, broken core flows
The most common app-specific complaint is basic reliability: slow pages, reloading, login failures, OTP problems, payment failures, and booking screens that throw users back.
Boarding pass and trip access
Many reviews describe trips not saving, boarding passes being hard to find, and the app failing exactly when users need to show proof at the airport.
Upsells, ads, and paid seats
Reviewers complain that hotels, cabs, paid seat selection, add-ons, and convenience fees get more attention than completing the flight task.
Refunds and support
A large amount of anger is about refunds, baggage, delays, cancellation charges, and staff support — painful, but mostly outside a solo app’s control.
Everytime it keeps reloading. doesn't give option to add boarding pass to apps like apple wallet or Google wallet. Just when needed at the airport the app keeps refreshing everytime and today I couldn't show boarding pass to the security because when I click on view boarding pass it takes me to the web check-in page even after I checked in. I couldn't find any other way to open the boarding pass. Worst experience when needed the most. 2026-08-11: Pathetic app experience. Doesn't deserve 1* too
Does not take payments in the app. If you have the same issue use the website in a browser on your mobile or laptop. Tried for 30 mins on the app, then tried calling customer services who put me through four different departments with no resolution. After 45 mins booked the ticket in 5 mins on the website. In my view too much rollout of too many upsell features into the app rather than concentrating on having a simple robust booking experience.
I just uninstalled this app. I don't writing a review, and this might be my first. What is Indigo Blue chip and why am I being compelled to submit my phone number to sign up for it? I just want to book a flight! The only other way to book a flight was to chat with a bot. Why do I need to type so much? Why can't I simply select what I want off a drop-down menu and my dates off a calendar. Strange idea of what an app update means.
- Do not build a booking clone. The angry reviews are real, but booking, check-in, refunds, and payments still depend on IndiGo-controlled systems.
- Build an offline trip wallet instead. Let travelers save PNRs, passenger details, email/PDF confirmations, screenshots, and boarding passes so the critical airport screen works without login or network.
- Stay transparent and unofficial. No hidden fees, no seat upsells, no hotel ads, no claim that the app can change bookings or resolve refunds.
Build complexity
Estimated, not derived: one part-time solo developer, no funding, and no paid acquisition. This assumes a companion app that stores and extracts trip documents, not an official booking or check-in replacement.
| Workstream | Weeks |
|---|---|
| Android trip wallet, local storage, offline access | 2.0 |
| PDF, email, screenshot, and manual PNR import | 2.0 |
| Passenger profiles, reminders, and saved travel details | 1.5 |
| Boarding-pass image/PDF viewer and quick-access home screen | 1.5 |
| Official-link handoff, disclaimers, and non-affiliation safeguards | 1.0 |
| Billing, listing, QA, and travel-edge-case testing | 2.0 |
| Total | 10.0 |
Expected revenue
Estimated, not derived: price the companion at $2.99/month after a free save-one-trip tier. The funnel assumes organic Play Store discovery from travelers searching for a lighter IndiGo trip/boarding-pass helper, with no paid acquisition.
| Month 12 funnel | Users | Assumption |
|---|---|---|
| Installs | 4,000 | Organic only |
| Activated | 1,600 | Imported or saved a trip |
| Retained | 900 | Uses it for repeat travel |
| Paid | 400 | $2.99/month |
| Revenue | $1,200 | Monthly recurring revenue |
Biggest challenges
The hardest part is expectation control: users want the airline fixed, but a solo builder can only make travel documents easier to store, find, and show.
No official control
Nothing in the provided facts gives a usable official API for bookings, refunds, payments, check-in, or live PNR state.
Store trust
Travelers are being asked to save sensitive trip details in a new app with no airline brand behind it.
Trademark and review risk
The listing must be clearly unofficial and avoid implying it is the IndiGo app or a way to bypass airline rules.
AI angle
There is a real but narrow AI angle: use document and vision extraction to read flight number, date, PNR, passenger name, and boarding-pass details from confirmation emails, PDFs, and screenshots instead of hand-coding every layout.
Without AI
The builder writes brittle parsers for each email, PDF, and screenshot format, then updates them whenever the format changes.
With AI
A model extracts structured trip fields and asks the user to confirm uncertain values, making import smoother without pretending to access IndiGo systems.
Conclusion
Skip it. Do not build a direct IndiGo competitor: the pain is loud, but the valuable actions are controlled by the airline. A small offline trip-wallet sidecar is buildable, but it is a modest utility business, not a replacement for the official app.
10 weeks
Time to v1
$2.99/mo
Freemium companion
$1,200
Month-12 MRR
28,946,636
Incumbent installs and moat