VFR flight plan gives you zero flight following from an ATCO.
Your departure airport gets informed and your arrival. Everyone in the middle doesn't have a clue.
If and when some notices you not where you said you would be they will then have a look in the system to see if you submitted a flight plan. This could be mins if you were talking to an info service or hours if you Mrs phones the police the next day and says I haven't heard from them.
...thanks
mad_jock but if the arrival ATC has indeed been informed of my intentions (via my VFR flight plan), and if I then don't show up within the planned half-hour (?) window noted on the plan, will they not automatically trigger any type of action ? If not, i.e. if the arrival ATC takes no action if I don't appear -- even if they had been informed of my intentions, why am I obliged to "close" the flight plan (e.g., cancel it if decide not to go) ?