Posts Tagged ‘Travel’
I fly quite a bit! My last couple of years of air travel could make the Up the in Air (George Clooney) character envious. One of the ways I stay on top of things while flying is to use the Gogo inflight internet whenever it's available. Luckily I fly Delta 99.9% of time domestically and they have outfitted the majority of their fleet with Gogo. While I'm usually connecting via my MacBook Pro, there are times when I've taken trips with just my iPad. Their new Gogo Inflight App makes logging on so much easier. While you could certainly log on from your web browser, having their App means that your user name and password is saved and then you're just one tap away from connecting each time. With the Gogo App getting on is less taps. Just fire up the App and connect! That's it. Even though your browser can save your user name and password, logging on from your browser requires additional steps to connect such as entering the 6 random characters to verify that you're a human. This is a universal App and therefore it's native to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. If you are a frequent Gogo user this free app will get you connected the fastest. While the App is FREE, the Inflight internet is not.
You can get the Gogo Inflight Internet App here from the 
I have said it a lot. Terry has said it a lot. TripIt [http://www.bestappsite.com/2010/07/19/tripit-manage-your-travel-itineraries/] is hands down the best service for keeping track of your travel itinerary. The best part of the service is that it is free! Yep, you heard me right, using TripIt doesn’t cost you anything at all (unless you opt for their pro version with more features).
Almost a year ago, TripIt rolled out their own iPhone application which was great in many ways and let you keep track of your itineraries in a very smart and straightforward way. What has been missing for all this time is a native app for the iPad. Wait no more. TripIt is now on the iPad.
In the latest update to the TripIt application, it became a universal binary which means that it runs natively on the iPad as well as the iPhone and iPod Touch. The interface on the iPad is pretty similar to that of the iPhone, except it is using all the extra real-estate of the iPad very well.
Using the TripIt app in portrait orientation is a bit clunky, considering you have to open the pop-out bar in order to go to a trip and then again for the trip details. I would prefer if it stayed open when selecting my trip so that I could easily check the details as I want.
A major missing feature on TripIt for the iPad is the ability to edit and add plans like you now can on the iPhone. Sure the implementation on the iPhone is just taking you to their mobile version of the service in an embedded browser, but it is still easy and painless to add and update the itinerary. On the iPad? Impossible!
If you are traveling a whole lot or just once in a while doesn’t really matter. TripIt is one of these must haves if you do travel. The account is free and the app is free (ad-supported unless you are a pro member, or pay for the app).
Get TripIt for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch:
With the troubles abroad right now causing the price of oil to skyrocket, coupled with the coming summer months where we traditionally see higher prices at the pump, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at Apps that could help me keep my out of pocket expenses as low as possible. I went looking for an App that would quickly help me find the cheapest gas around me with as little “fluff” as possible. What I found was an App developed by a very popular gas savings website that I had already been using, Gasbuddy.com. GasBuddy has been a leading gas price website for quite a few years providing quality, and timely information so it only makes sense that their App would be of the same standard.
How it works
GasBuddy relies on user input of the gas prices to feed its every growing database of gas stations and gas prices. The first thing that you’ll notice when you open the App is its simplicity. There are four buttons and a search bar. The buttons are as follows, Find Gas near me, my profile, settings, and win gas. If you don’t want to participate in the input of gas prices, the only button you’ll use is find gas near me. It does exactly what its name implies. Tapping on this button will use your location and find gas near you. Once GasBuddy finds the stations near you, the data can be sorted in a number of ways. The first option you have is whether you want to see a list view, or a map view of the gas stations. Each has its pros and cons. I prefer the list view because I get a larger list of the surrounding gas stations near me. Under the list view (which is the default setting), you can view prices of regular, midgrade, premium, or diesel simply by selecting the corresponding tab at the top of the screen. Below, you have the option of sorting the stations by distance, or price. I prefer price, but the default setting is distance. I don’t mind driving an extra .10 of a mile for fuel that’s $.20 cents cheaper. I have a 27-gallon tank so the $.20 savings adds up!
Doing your part
If you decide that you’d like to do your part and input prices either when you happen to see them, or when you’re filling up, GasBuddy makes it easy. Under the “my profile” button you’ll find a member login section. There you can sign in if you already have a GasBuddy account, or create a new account (it’s free). Once you have created an account, you simply search near you again, find the station that you are currently wanting to input data for and select it. At the bottom of that gas station’s page you will see a button titled “report prices”. There you can report what the current price is for others to see and search.
Win Some Gas!
I know, this is what you really wanted to hear about. It’s easy. All you have to do is input gas prices. Each time you input a gas price you earn 150 points. After you earn 1000 points, you can enter into the weekly drawing for $250 in free gas! It seems like a pretty fair trade off to me.
Conclusion
GasBuddy has everything that I want from a gas finder App. It not only finds and helps me sort the lowest prices near me, but also gives me the chance to win free gas! To me this is a win-win. If you want to save on fuel quickly and easily this is the App for you.
You can get GasBuddy for Free here from the
As a frequent traveler I'm always trying out new travel apps and although I've made a list like this in the past, I thought it was time to update you all with my latest picks.
TripIt
Every trip I take starts with an itinerary of some kind. Usually it involves a flight and a hotel at a minimum. I've been hooked on TripIt.com since day one for a one stop shop for managing all my travel plans. The beauty of TripIt is that they are not a travel agency. They don't actually book your travel. Instead you book your travel anyway that you want and then forward your confirmation emails to plans@tripit.com from your registered email address. All of your plans will be consolidated in one convenient spot. The TripIt app brings these plans to the palm of your hand complete with times, maps, directions and of course confirmation numbers.
You can get TripIt for Free here from the
FlightTrack Pro
Although TripIt does a great job of managing the whole trip, I rely on FlightTrack Pro for up to the minute flight and gate information. Not to mention that FlightTrack Pro also ties in directly to your TripIt account and pulls in your flights automatically. Push notifications from this app have saved me on more than one occasion. I couldn't imagine traveling by air without this app. FlightTrack Pro is a "+" app and takes full advantage of iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
You can get FlightTrack Pro for $9.99 here from the
TimeScroller
Much of my travel is to different countries and different time zones. However, just because I'm in a different time zone doesn't mean that life stops back at the main office or at home and often I'm still in need of scheduling meetings that fit the best time for all parties. TimeScroller rocks for quickly showing and suggesting a meeting time that would work best fro the selected cities. You can even email the or propose a meeting/calendar invite right from the App.
You can get TimeScroller for $1.99 here from the
When I travel sometimes I just can't get a direct flight. Although I live in a Delta hub city, Delta doesn't fly everywhere from where I live. This is especially the case internationally and connecting internationally is usually a little more frustrating because the airports don't usually have as many flight boards as domestic airports do. As a result I have to hustle to the closet board or tackle an airline rep to see which gate my connecting flight is going out of. This is where the FlightBoard App comes in. FlightBoard covers just about every airport in the world and as the name implies it displays the current flight board with arrival and departure status for the airport of your choice.
Styled after the flight board in Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport, Paris
FlightBoard takes on the classic flight board of the Charles de Gaulle International airport in Paris. You can sort by any of the columns and you can see either departures or arrivals at the tap of a button. The App is great, however it's dependent on the airports themselves to provide gate information. Sadly many international airports don't provide the gate information (outside of the actual airport) until just minutes before the flight if at all. Usually on a connection this is ok because the information will be there in the time window of your landing and next departure if it's going to be there at all. FlightBoard also allows you to share any of the flight information you see via email, Twitter, Facebook or SMS. Domestic airports provide this information several hours in advance so you'll be good for your connections in the US. Although FlightBoard works as a universal App for both iPhone and iPad, I really wanted this for my iPhone as that's the device I have a 3G data connection on internationally. I don't pay for international roaming on the iPad. Also if you have FlightTrack Pro on the iPad you can get this same functionality as an in App purchase for the iPad.
If you're a frequent air traveler, you'll love this App. So far the information updates have been accurate for me.
What I would love to see
I know that the gate information is crucial and is only as good as what the airlines/airports provide. I also know that these apps are at the mercy of available information. However, I'd love to see MORE information in apps like this. I'd love to know as I'm leaving the plane which baggage carrousel my bag is going to be on (on those very rare times that I check a bag). How about estimated walk times from gate to gate? There are so many more little things that would make our lives a little easier if everyone would play along.
You can get FlightBoard here from the
One of the Apps I missed right off the bat when I got my iPad was the iPhone's built-in "Clock" App. On the iPhone you have an App that allows you to add in various clocks for regions around the world. You also get a timer, stop watch and Alarm Clock. Since this App isn't built-in to the iPad I started looking for alternatives. The World Clock certainly fills the gap left from not having a multiple-timezone clock on the iPad nicely. The App shows you a real-time map of the earth with the daylight and night time areas nicely displayed. You can add multiple clocks for the cities/ time zones that you want to keep track of. You can also display additional information besides the time such as the date, GMT offset, time difference (from the iPad's clock), solar noon and sunset times, and a digital time display.
It's interactive too
Besides having a pretty look to it, the map is actually interactive. Just drag the map left or right to see a time offset in all of your clocks. This can help you figure out what time it's going to be in various places when you adjust the map. This is all great, but I would like to see a few more "scheduling" type features for picking the best time in multiple timezones to have a meeting. For that feature I LOVE Time Scroller on the iPhone, but Time Scroller isn't a native iPad app yet.
If you're a frequent traveler or you deal with multiple time zones on a regular basis, this is a great App to have on your iPad.
You can get The World Clock here from the
One of the iPhone Apps that I have been waiting for the longest is a native App from Delta Airlines. I Fly Delta several times a month on average and having a native App means faster access to my itineraries and check in info. Recently I reviewed the American Airlines App and although I rarely fly AA, I can appreciate their well thought out App. As a matter of fact their App kinda set the bar for how well an airline App can be done. My long wait was ended this week when Delta released their "Fly Delta" App for iPhone (only works with iOS 4 and higher!) The App covers my basic needs in that I can save my login credentials, view my itineraries, see my mileage balance, search for flights, check in for flights and even mark my parking spot with a location tag, note and a photo.
This is great, but there are missing features
While I applaud Delta's efforts and am truly thankful to have this App, there are some features that I'm missing right off the bat. For example, I can see my current Medallion Skymiles balance, but that's it. I can't get a breakdown of my miles, nor does it seem to show your remaining miles to fly to achieve the next Medallion Level. While I can search for flights, I can't actually book flights using the App. There are no terminal Maps, nor does there seem to be any push notifications of flight changes/cancellations. It would also be nice to be notified via the App when it's time to check in. Lastly, while I rarely ever check a bag, when I do I'd love to see which baggage carrousel my bag is going to be on from within the App as I leave the plane.
The Bottom Line
This is a great start, but there are so many more possibilities. I look forward to continued progress of this App. If you fly Delta, then you should probably go ahead and get this App. It is FREE after all, so there's really no reason not to have it. Also one thing that may tick a lot of users off is that this App requires iOS 4. So it really cuts out a large user base that otherwise would probably benefit from the App.
You can get the Fly Delta App here from the
Yesterday American Airlines released a GREAT NEW APP for iPhone and other iOS devices. The App is extremely well done. It offers the things you would expect like the ability to log into your frequent flyer account, see your upcoming flights, check schedules and book new flights, see terminal maps, and get push notifications of departure times and gate changes. That's all great! There are several other travel Apps out there that do similar things. Where the American Airlines App goes beyond the basics is that it lets you track your Elite status progress, it lets you get your electronic boarding pass right in the App and most importantly it lets you check your place on the upgrade/standby list. These are the kinds of things that only a native Airlines App can offer. They even threw in a AA Sudoku Game. That's thinking outside of the box. Who else gives you a game to play in their business app for those times while you'll have to wait? Very clever idea! They even built in a feature that lets you snap a pic of your car and add a quick note to help you remember where you parked after a long trip. The developer of this App gets it!
So what's the one thing I don't like?
It's a major thing actually and it's one that American Airlines can't fix. The problem is that this is not Delta Airline's App 
I'm joking of course, the App is GREAT! However, I personally almost never fly AA because I live near a Delta hub. I can't remember the last time I was on an AA flight. This App is so perfect that I just wish Delta had one just like it. It clearly sets the example as to how to do a native airline travel app right! Fantastic work American Airlines, my hats off to you!
If you are an AA flyer, then you should download this FREE App immediately!
Get the American Airlines App here from the
I was very interested when I saw the description of this app while browsing the app store one day. Have you ever gone to a country, finding yourself wanting to know certain cultural information about it? For me, personally, it is a clear yes.
What I am most interested in knowing about when I visit a new country is what not to say or do, the most common way to greet people, how tipping works and where/if you give tips and also any special laws you should be aware of. Here is where Cultures come into play.
Interface
Cultures is definitely not one of the best apps in terms of design but on a positive note, it mostly follows the Apple UI, which is again at least a bonus.
I am however slightly annoyed at the way they are displaying the content. After tapping and choosing your country and the type of culture you wish to view (which is sadly put on top of a background image of the world) you get a screen where you have the text, inside a fixed height box, semi-transparent on top of that same background image. Please, just stick to the UI guidelines, it looks much nicer and helps me read much faster.
I just returned from a wonderful and refreshing vacation which did, surprisingly enough, include traveling. Terry has covered some of his favorite traveling apps before, including TripDeck and FlightTrack Pro and they are very close to my heart to, syncing with TripIt, the online service that just makes it easy to manage your itinerary.
At the time Terry had a look at TripDeck it outran TripIt’s own application by miles (pardon the pun). Months later however and TripIt has for a while had a new version of their iPhone app available, putting some more power into our hands. So, how well does it work?
Interface
Let us start with the interface, like I always do in my reviews. TripIt does not have a bad interface at all, but can still make improvements.
For the main listing page of all your trips, they have used a very standard design built up by a table with all your trips and a tab bar at the bottom, giving you a choice between the different sections.
When you get into a trip, it is still very consistent. Clear icons are showing you what type of event it is (flight, train, activity etc.) and a heading shows you which date it is on. If you are using TripIt Pro, it will display a clear bar at the top which hopefully is green, meaning that everything is scheduled and OK (in terms of flight tracking).
