Tips

Travel Apps on Your Mobile Device Make Flying Easy

Relieve the stress of traveling with these handy iPhone or iPad apps

By Claire Newell /

Credit: TV Week

Choosing the right travel iPhone app can make your journey much more relaxing

When you’re on the go, simplify your travels with 
a variety of handy apps for your mobile device


Travel can be a little easier — if you’ve got the right app. Some are truly helpful when it comes to keeping you organized and on time, something that’s critically important when you travel. 


Mobile Apps for Frequent Flyers

“On the Fly” is handy for frequent fliers looking for the best rates. It can help you search for the best airlines, dates and airports. While you can’t actually book a flight through this app, the interface allows you to find the lowest cost easily before you go ahead and purchase your trip.


If you often get frustrated in large airports because you’re not sure where to find the best food or gift shops, you’ve got to try “Gate Guru.” No more walking aimlessly in hopes of finding what you’re looking for, especially if you’re in a time crunch. Or, when you’re in no hurry, it also comes in extremely handy on long layovers when you’re looking for activities 
and amenities to kill the time.


On the Ground Apps

“Where To?” directs you to any type of place you’re looking for, be it a sushi restaurant or a bank. It’s incredibly helpful if you’re in an unfamiliar city, and can even help in planning before you go. The app uses your location to search for close-by destinations and repeatedly reloads new points of interest while you’re on the move. 


One quick note on this one: The Where To? app was the winner in the travel app for iPhone category of the Best App Ever Awards in 2010. Where To? won for “best feel like a local app.” It was also selected by CNN as one of its Top 5 Road Trip Tools. So it’s the choice of some pretty credible experts!


Last but not least, this is a great one for those winter road trips within Canada. “Trafficnet” allows you to receive up-to-the-minute traffic updates, including accidents, construction, road closures, events and regular volume information. 


Trafficnet covers all major cities in Canada. This one might also be a good choice to download to your visiting relatives’ iPhones for when they’re trying to navigate the city without you.


So these are my favourites and if you have an iPhone or iPad, I’m sure they will become yours too.

Further Travel Guidance

Here are several more apps that I hope you’ll find useful.

Watch Claire Newell on Global BC News: Final (Mon.), Early (Wed.), Morning & Noon (Thur.), Noon (Sat.). Or catch her Tuesdays at 8:30 a.m. on Shore 104 FM.

Originally published in TV Week. For daily updates, subscribe to the free TV Week e-newsletter, or purchase a subscription to the weekly magazine.