Monday, May 17, 2010

“Essential airport information for travelers - flights, guides ... - Examiner” plus 3 more

“Essential airport information for travelers - flights, guides ... - Examiner” plus 3 more

Essential airport information for travelers - flights, guides ... - Examiner

Posted: 14 May 2010 01:42 PM PDT

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Continuing the series on travel tips, we take a look at airport information and guides.

Airports all over the world are as diverse as the people who pass through them every day.  They can be really busy and serve thousands of people a day.  Others can be really small serving small towns and cities.  Many have airport lounges, interesting and diverse places to eat, a variety of terminals, and a number of different amenities. 

For some, airports are a fascinating stopping point before reaching their new destination or arriving back home.  For others, it's a necessary evil that comes with travel and are just places that bring a lot of frustration.  Regardless of your opinions on airports, knowing more about airports and what they offer can make your traveling experience more enjoyable and less stressful..

Airport guides and maps

Finding your way around an airport can be confusing for many people.  With so many airports, terminals, and designs, getting from one gate to another could involve walking, riding a bus, taking a train, using an elevator or escalator, or walking on a moving sidewalk.  Some airports have just a few gates with one terminal while others have many terminals for domestic and international flights.  With the diversity of airports in the world, it can be hard for a traveler to find their way around.  Some people may have to run to their next flight while others may have long layovers.  Whatever the situation, it's good to know an airport's layout, amenities, wait times through security, and other helpful information for getting you through the airport on your next flight.

A number of different websites can assist you in providing this information.  www.worldtravelguide.net/airport/ gives you parking information, phone numbers, addresses, terminal information, and nearby hotels for more than 250 airports all over the world.  For the history of an airport, amenities, shops, and activities near the airport, www.expedia.com/daily/airports tracks information for a number of airports worldwide.  For those wanting to know how to get from one gate to the next, www.airportterminalmaps.com can provide you with an airport's layout and diagrams of the terminals for many domestic and international airports.  Knowing all of this information can help you find the best way to get to your next gate and what mode of transportation will get you there the fastest.  For almost any airport you fly into, this information can be informational, save you time, and even help you find that next meal.

Real-time flight arrival and departure information

Flying has changed so much in the last few years that there is no other era in aviation history that can be compared to it.  For one, there are so many more airlines today than just a few years ago.  Unfortunately, there are a number of those struggling to make it financially.  As a result, prices are higher, passengers are charged for a number of different services and items, and the number of flights has dropped in recent years.  On the flip side, technology has made information so readily available that checking flights, purchasing tickets, and communicating with airlines and people have become instantaneous.  What this means for passengers is that flight delays are up and flying is as hectic as ever but getting updates on travel is in the palm of our hands (literally).

For many people, Twitter is an easy way to keep up-to-date with the airlines and get instant information and provide feedback.  However, sometimes more up-to-date information is needed to get real-time information on flights.  With the use of cell phones, iPhones, Blackberries, and Droids, instant information is at the touch of our fingertips.  www.flightstats.com may be one of the most useful sights out there for information on flights.  It shows real-time status of departing and arriving flights by airport, airport weather conditions, facts and figures about airports, traffic conditions, and airport security wait times.  flightaware.com allows you to check flights by flight number, airport code, or by flight/tail number (for small aircraft).  From there, you can get more information on total flights in the air, flight activity in the US, and departing and arriving flights.  So while airline websites can be useful information for flights, knowing what is going on at airports in terms of on-time arrivals and departures, weather, security wait times, and other airport information can help with planning and communication on your next flight.

Alternate airports (and other useful information)

Many times, flying into the big international airport in a city may not be the best or cheapest option for many people.  Smaller or alternate airports may be better choices for getting to your destination or saving a few bucks when you travel.  For example, Chicago has two airports - O'Hare and the lesser known airport Midway.  Newark may be a better choice than JFK or LaGuardia.  Choosing Oakland or San Jose may save you time and money over San Francisco.  For those who want to explore alternate airports when you travel, www.alternateairports.com is run by the travel guru Johnny Jet and allows you to view all airports for cities in the US including the alternate ones.  Johnny Jet's website (www.johnnyjet.com) provides more information on nearly every possible area of travel - train, parking, subway, airports, lodging, gadgets, travel guides, air safety, family travel, and many, many more areas.  For more information on airports, you can use www.airportcodes.us to find all the 3 digit airport codes by city so you can locate the most convenient airport for you.

Technology

Aside from the use of cell phones and mobile devices for passengers, technology has become huge in the airports themselves.  Many airports haver kiosks and stores which allow passengers to rent DVDs or purchase music and mp3 players for their flights.  Technology is not only an asset.  It's become business for the airports and airlines.  In my article Finding the best seat for your flight, I mentioned the use of SeatGuru and how you can find out which seats have laptop power, Wi-Fi, and video on the various airlines.  Many airports also offer Wi-Fi capabilities, many of which do it for free.  Get more information on Wi-Fi at www.travelpost.com/airport-wireless-internet.aspx or www.wififreespot.com/airport.html.  Then you will know that the next time you are in Phoenix, Sacramento, or Orlando, you can enjoy Wi-Fi for free (check these sites as well as the airports themselves as this information can change).

Family-friendly

Many airports now offer services that cater to families and kids.  A few years ago, the American Society of Travel Agents asked their members which had the most family friendly airports in the US and abroad.  By a large margin, Orlando was the winner in the US while London took the top spot for international airports.  Orlando's airport design, classical music, arts, kid-friendly stores (it is the home of Disney World), video games, and aquariums made this a fun place for kids.  Atlanta finished second with its play areas, TVs, and exhibits.  Rounding out the top 5 were Denver, Tampa, Charlotte, Detroit, and Minneapolis-St Paul (Denver and Tampa tied at #3 while Detroit and Minneapolis-St Paul tied at #5).  For international airports, Schipol (Amsterdam), Frankfurt, Gatwick (London), and Changi (Singapore) rounded out the top 5.  While these may be the airports at the top for kid-friendly, there are many others that offer something for kids with exhibits, hands-on experiences, and fun things for kids to do.  On top of keeping kids entertained, many airports have started family-only security lines to ease the stress and burden of traveling for families with kids.  For more information on these kid-friendly airports and family security lines, check out the airport guides above or go directly to the airport's website.

Shopping and relaxing

The idea of shopping appeals to many while waiting at the airports or before getting on that last flight home.  Whether it is checking out the bookstore, shopping for clothes and accessories, buying music or movies, or checking out the duty free shops, there are plenty of opportunities to purchase items for your travels and return home.  Duty free shopping is the purchase of goods which are exempt from import taxes.  On the surface, this may sound like a good idea as you are looking to get rid of that last bit of change or currency in your pocket.  However, sometimes duty free isn't the cheapest option for shopping.  Sometimes you can find better prices than what you would pay at home where you are taxed for them.  For information on duty free shopping in countries all over the world, www.worldtravelguide.net/country/ has a duty free section for each country letting you know the restrictions and guidelines for bringing items into the country.  Many of the airport guides above also feature the shops available at many of the airports so you can plan your next outing when you land.

For those looking to relax, there is always room to spread out in those uncomfortable seats at the gates.  However, for the business or more well-traveled passenger, frequent flier and first class passengers enjoy the VIP lounges with a wide variety of amenities.  Many of these lounges vary by airport and airline as to what they offer.  From flat screen HD TVs to gourmet food to showers to beds, many of these services are first class.  However, if you aren't a member of these frequent flier programs, don't travel first class, and don't spend much of your life in an airport, there are still ways to enjoy this type of luxury.  www.prioritypass.com and www.loungepass.com can give you access to lounges in over 100 countries  Prices for this access range from around $27 per visit to $399 a year for a membership.  So you can relax in style no matter where you travel.

Sleeping and parking

Speaking of relaxing, the more frugal and budget conscious traveler can find the best airports for taking a nap or spending the night.  If your airline is at fault for you missing your flight and having to spend the night, they can put you up in a hotel.  For others, there are many airports that offer transit lounges, sleeping pods, or rent-by-the-hour beds to snooze.  As a last resort, sleeping in the airport may be your only option.  For that, you can check out www.sleepinginairports.net to find the best places in airports to sleep and which airports are the most sleep-friendly.

Before you reach check-in or right after you arrive home, there is one more inconvenient and often costly stop - airport parking.  Knowing your airport and the best, cheapest, and most convenient place to park is an issue of both time and money.  Parking in the economy lots and taking the shuttle is the cheapest option but also takes the most time.  Parking close to the terminal is ideal but also costs the most money.  Aside from the resources above which you can use to find parking maps and the best places to park, there are more convenient ways to park at the airport.  Some airports offer you the chance to book your spot in advance.  Check out www.airportparking.com, parknflynetwork.com, or airportparkingreservations.com for more information

Conclusion

Every airport is different.  They vary not only in their design and layout but in their flight schedules, amenities, wait times, and extras.  Getting around the airport and making it a little more stress free could be a matter of just being prepared.  Hopefully, this information will help you navigate your way through the terminals, lines, and crowds to help your enjoy your airport experience a little more.

Today is the last day for $49 deals on Southwest and check out these events for kids and adults for Easter and Passover this weekend.

For information on Sacramento's airport, check out airports.co.sacramento.ca.us/int/ or find your airport's website at www.worldtravelguide.net/airport/.  Thanks to information from Peter Greenberg (www.petergreenberg.com) for some of the information provided in this article.

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Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Guide to Car Satellite Navigation Systems - PRLog (free press release)

Posted: 14 May 2010 01:28 PM PDT

PR Log (Press Release) – May 14, 2010 – You may have heard of car satellite navigation systems. These units promise to help you get where you are going without getting lost and to help you avoid traffic tie-ups to get you there faster. If you are new to these devices or are curious about how this can help you, check out this handy quick guide to vehicle GPS.

What Are Car Satellite Navigation Systems?

A vehicle GPS system is a unit that attaches in your car and guides you where you want to go using a database of maps and your exact satellite referenced location. Today's GPS units can show you how to get from one place to another the easiest way and the fastest way. Some units even feature live traffic updates so that you can see and avoid trouble spots. Many units also have the ability to speak directions to you as you go.

Who Uses an Auto Navigation System?

Anyone! Having a car GPS system in your vehicle is increasingly common. This popularity has a lot to do with how helpful these units can be. If you are going across town or driving cross country you can save time and avoid problems. Most delivery personnel use them as do many who travel for business or pleasure. Even if you don't drive a whole bunch, a system in your vehicle can still be nice to have.

What are the Best Car Satellite Navigation Systems?

There are so many choices when it comes to systems for your car. Three major brands each have dozens of models to choose from at prices anywhere from under $100 to $500 or more. TomTom, Garmin, and Magellan lead the pack with the highest rated and most common units. The best choice for you depends on your needs and budget. Checking online comparisons and reviews can help you figure out what's perfect for you.

Visit us online at : http://www.comstream.com

Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Guidebooks adapt to mobile-download era - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

Posted: 16 May 2010 11:55 PM PDT

When she was traveling in India with her sister last year, Katie Reed, a 21-year-old who lives in Miami, described her 1,000-page travel guide as "monstrous" in size.

But it was too handy to toss.

"It was invaluable," said Reed, a budget traveler. "We would read it on the train."

Even as more and more guidebook publishers, travel websites and others make travel information available online, publishers say they expect sales of guidebooks – the paper-and-ink kind – to remain strong.

"The book is such a great technology. It's lightweight, it's mobile and the battery never runs out," said Matt Goldberg, the CEO of Lonely Planet, an Australian travel guide publishing company that covers the world with more than 600 guidebooks in 17 languages.

But travel guide publishers and a host of other providers are also making information available online and through applications that can be downloaded to smart phones and other devices.

Like many other publishers, Lonely Planet, at www.lonelyplanet.com/us, offers some of its guides online and is working to dramatically increase that presence. Lonely Planet also offers location-aware maps that steer smart phone users to restaurants and other sites recommended by the guide.

"What we're witnessing right now is an explosion in mobile applications," Goldberg said.

You can also see that trend at Traveldk.com, a site operated by the Eyewitness Travel Guides publisher Dorling Kindersley, where users can design their own guidebooks to be downloaded for free or mailed to them as a bound book.

"Let's say you're staying with a friend and don't want to cart around a book with hotels in it," said Katy Ball, a publicity manager for DK Eyewitness Travel and for Rough Guides, both travel publications. "You can select restaurants, shops and maps – so you have only what you need."

As for whether online applications will supplant the traditional book, publishers and booksellers alike say it's too early to tell.

"I don't really think we've got much empirical evidence as to who is using what at the moment," said Rob Flynn, global travel publisher for Frommer's, which publishes 350 guides and sells 2.5 million guides each year. "Until smart phones become universal, and roaming charges for data become relatively cheap, we're going to see people continue to use guidebooks as the mainstay of their travel information."

Flynn recently watched his visiting 30-something nephew from Melbourne, Australia, navigate Manhattan with an iPhone.

"I would have pulled out a guidebook and looked at a map, but he was relying on Google Maps and Yelp and other local services," said Flynn, 53. "It probably took him five times, 10 times as long to come up with a plan as somebody who was using a more traditional printed product. But that didn't bother him."

Frequent travelers often say they use printed guides for foreign travel, where roaming charges are high and Wi-Fi coverage can be sketchy, but rely on smart phones for U.S. travel. The U.S. is well covered by restaurant-review sites such as Yelp, www.yelp.com.

"America is more developed in terms of apps," said Kanika Bhatia, a senior at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., who lives in India and travels all over the world with her parents.

"If you do use Google Maps in New York City, it will tell you exactly where things are, whereas internationally I don't think those services are available yet," said Bhatia, 22. "Also, the phone fees would be way too high if we decided to surf the Internet while we were abroad."

A printed guidebook serves as "a real jumping-off point and gives me a lot of confidence when I travel," said Reed, a Web developer who used the Lonely Planet guide to India on her trip last year. "I often find out things that I would not think to look for when searching online because of the way they are structured, which is helpful when you have no reference point in a new place."

A Rough Guides book was invaluable recently in Jamaica, too, Reed added.

"I just couldn't find any good maps to Jamaica online," she said.

But she wouldn't use a guidebook to travel in the United States.

"I have an iTouch to navigate and use Yelp," she said.

Book publishers are reluctant to speculate on how online applications have affected travel guide sales. The picture is also muddied by the recession.

"Last year was a horrible year, but we're happily rebounding," said Pat Carrier, who owns The Globe Corner Bookstores, a travel bookstore, in Cambridge, Mass.

Carrier has tried to plan trips without using guidebooks, but he always ends up turning to them.

"I still find it a lot more work to try to plan a trip, especially to a place I'm not familiar with, doing it online than using a well-researched and written guidebook," said Carrier, who is in his 50s. "I just find it exhausting, the endless skimming from site to site."

Chris Morrow, who owns Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vt., said his customers have told him they don't want to print out sheets of paper and carry them around.

"I think they're buying a lot more travel books than people had predicted," Morrow said. "They want something that's portable and compact and concise, and a book is that. The actual technology of the book is still appropriate."

Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Bing Mobile's Spoken Directions Challenge Google - PC Magazine

Posted: 14 May 2010 04:05 PM PDT

Microsoft announced in a Bing Community blog post that it has added voice-enabled, turn-by-turn directions for Windows Mobile 6.x phones with Bing Maps.

The company said that Bing directions will now display a new Navigate button that calculates your route and guides you as you drive. It offers fastest and shortest route options, the ability to avoid traffic or toll booths, and see arrows and hear alerts about upcoming turns.

The new Bing features work on many devices, including the excellent HTC HD2 and the ubiquitous Motorola Q9c. (Hit up the link for details on which devices are supported.)

The company also redesigned its Bing home page for Windows Mobile phones. The new version offers faster access to common searches like Movies and Traffic.

On the surface, at least, it sounds almost directly comparable to Google Maps Navigation, a service Google launched for Android phones in October of 2009.

Originally posted to AppScout.

Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
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