Travel Apps :: Jetsetter

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Hopefully you're not an impulse shopper, because having this next app at your fingertips could be dangerous!

Jetsetter, a trip style = luxury  travel flash sale website, has just launched an iPhone app where you can view and book current sales at any moment!

Jetsetter is a free-to-join, member's-only site, meaning you can't view the travel deals unless you're a member {see jetsetter link above to join}. HOWEVER, if you install the app, you can view the deals sans membership and get an instant membership upon download.

I've booked 2 trips via Jetsetter and have been really happy with both hotels, one in Portland and one in LA. Jetsetter's hotel descriptions and reviews are balanced, listing the features and drawbacks so you know what you’re getting into. Luckily, the app also includes these descriptions and reviews so you can make an informed decision when you succumb to the always-inspiring and always-changing travel flash sales; now, literally at your fingertips.

Details

• Free
• Works with iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad, and Blackberry
• Android is next on the list
• No word yet on a Blackberry platform

Other Travel Apps Don’t forget to peruse the other 60+ travel apps we’ve reviewed from travel first aid, to luxury and boutique hotel finders, to border waits and trip itinerary management. Here are the most recent:

• Metr0
• Google Translate
• Instagram
• Airbnb
• Book Crazy

Just Go With It....in Scottsdale

[trip style = "sun" + spa]

I recently saw the hilarious movie Just Go With Itwith Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler {mostly filmed in Wailea---a destination I adore}. The movie was a timely reminder about the importance of having a just go with it attitude when traveling, and incidentally, became the motto for my trip to Scottsdale, AZ last weekend.

Altered Expectations Leading up to the weekend away, the usually sunny Arizonian skies were looking like they'd commit a grey and wet faux pas. I have a love/hate relationship with previewing forecasts, and unfortunately the weather report was right. On top of this, the temperature seemed a lot like Vancouver's. The irony is, Scottdale's weather was nice every day before we arrived and every day after we left. Plans to escape Vancouver's winter and sit poolside in the desert had to be altered.

Just Going with It Being a big believer in just going with it {in life and in travel} and making the best of a situation....

• Mid-morning hot tubbing turned into a fabulous shopping day {Scottsdale has great malls like Kierland Commons and outlets like Neiman Marcus Last Call}.
• Lunching by the pool turned into lunching at True Foods, a natural-meets-industrial bunch of restaurants centered on the principals of Dr. Andrew Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Diet & Food Pyramid, then sipping coffee at beautifully designed coffee shop at the Elizabeth Arden Spa.
• Post-lunch bevvies turned into checking out the famed art deco, 1929-built Biltmore Hotel, rumored to be where White Christmas was written in 1938 or 1939.
• Late afternoon dozing turned into happy hour at La Hacienda {where we ate the best made-in-front-of-you guacamole in the world} and Bourbon Steak.
• Morning walks or runs turned into reading magazines and sipping Nespressos.
• A hike up Camelback turned into indoor yoga {best/hardest class ever, taught by a 75-year-old!}.

The best part of the weather's hiccup? We made impromptu appointments at the spa, spending the afternoon having massages, sipping prickly pear lemonade and recharging in the hot tub with a cascading theapudic waterfall.

All in all, though I missed my long lost friend the sun, we had a great time and didn't let the situation get us down. Next time you travel and your trip throws you a curve ball, just go with it---you might uncover a new trip style or experience a different type of break from the ordinary!

{Trip Styler Tip: Scottsdale {and its surrounding areas} is an excellent destination for solo, couple, group or family travel. It has something for everyone. Next time you travel, remember it as a less expensive alternative to Hawaii.}

Related Spotlight :: Scottsdale Scottsdale :: High/Low Rainy Day Vacay Ideas

[photos by @tripstyler, except bottom row by Scottsdale Princess]

Fashion Friday :: Resort Wear

[trip style = all-inclusive/resort]

{Editor's Note: As All-inclusive Month draws to a close with Fashion Friday, we're ending on an haute note with what to wear as you sip icy umbrella drinks under a banyan tree.}

"Going on holiday doesn’t mean taking a vacation from stylishly living it up." - Rachel Zoe

Do you ever get the feeling you're walking in circles? Especially when you're travelling? During my first trip to New York, I was exploring Nolita and SoHo and I kept passing a chichi resort wear shop called Calypso. I wasn't lost - it just turns out there are five Calypso boutiques in Lower Manhattan alone. (Which reminds me of a scene in the classic 80s movie Girls Just Want to Have Fun when Helen Hunt distracts a nun by belting out "Day-o" so Sarah Jessica Parker can skip out of choir class, to which the nun says "Miss Stone, there is a time and a place for calypso music.") But I digress...

Resort wear was traditionally getaway garb for the wealthy winter in St.-Barts crowd, but it's about more than Calypso and caftans - it's evolving into ready to wear. Resort collections hit the runway in May and June. If you could score an invitation to any fashion show, I'd recommend Chanel resort: over the past few years, Karl Lagerfeld has held his all-expenses-paid shows in South Beach, Venice and Saint-Tropez. Oui, merci!

Now what to wear? (clockwise from top left) Matthew Williamson printed silk-chiffon kaftan, House of Harlow 1960 carey sunglasses, DVF jama shorts, Topshop yellow sunspot print shorts, Calypso Enshallah tuby bag, House of Harlow 1960 chelsea sunglasses, DVF maryelle bikini, Marni rope and chain necklace, Aritzia Talula exeter blazer, Enzo Anglioni darwyn espadrille booties, Marc by Marc Jacobs wedge espadrille sandals, Aritzia T.Babaton bette tank, Forever 21 layered wood beaded necklace, Tory Burch vivian rattan clutch, Topshop crochet kimono sleeve dress

Trip Styler Tip: Leave your stress and basic black at home - break out the brights! If hot pink and lemon yellow make you feel like an extra in a Katy Perry video, opt for white, nude or prints instead. And remember - a sarong can be your best friend on holiday! A final note for the fellas: skip the Hawaiian shirts and go for solid colours in breathable fabrics from surf shops or staple stores like J.Crew and Banana Republic. Linen is also appropriate, but only when you can get your hands on an iron.

Related All-inclusive Month :: Introductions All-Inclusive Month :: Matchmaking All-Inclusive Month :: Packaged VS Unpackaged All-Inclusive Month :: Tricks of the Trade Don’t Judge an All-Inclusive until Day 3

{Fashion Friday posts are published on the last Friday of every month and written by fashion blogger Heather.}

[Runway photos via Style.com]

Travel Trends :: Retro Travel

Recently, I've seen a lot of attention paid to retro travel. I'm not sure if it's always a hot topic, or just top-of-mind as people long for the Coffee, Tea or Me? era. Nowadays, if you pine for all things retro travel {sans the in-flight smoking}, you have to book a first-class ticket on Singapore Air to get the gist of flying's yesteryear allure.

This past weekend on a rainy morning in Scottsdale {more on this next week}, I pulled February's Travel + Leisure out of my hotel room's magazine pile. Bonus! The perfect read to go along with my just-brewed Nespresso coffee. One of my favourite articles in the magazine was Last Days of the Stewardess because it was a gripping tale of flight attendant history, and I'm overly fascinated with all things retro travel, including tiki everything. Below are some fun facts about retro travel based on what I learned in the article...

Fun Retro Travel Facts {via T+L} 1930s Sky Girls, some of whom were initially registered nurses, dressed in clinical whites or military uniforms. They served meals, soothed nerves, pointed out highlights below, bolted seats to the floor and occasionally refueled the plane.

1940s Stewardess charm farms created a fleet of ladies with matching hairstyles and teeth ground into even smiles. And just like in Hollywood, there were height and weight requirements for the role. There was also a mandatory retirement by the age of 32. Ah!

Little Black Books Eastern Airlines provided men with little black books to collect stewardesses' phone numbers.

Designer Designed In 1965, Braniff Airlines' new uniforms were designed by Emilio Pucci. Now, uniforms look like they sound, bland. With the onset of celebrity chefs and celebrity everything, couldn't an airline partner with Heidi Klum's Project Runway to get stylish new uniforms? Turns out it's already been done by Project Runway Australia for Virgin Blue!

1980s After years of lawsuits, flight attendants won the right to gain a few pounds, let their hair go grey, get pregnant and be men.

2011 Aside from the still semi-glam Virgin, Emirates and some Asian airlines, the price of travel and cost of doing business in that sector has "forced flight attendants to get you from A to B safely and at the cheapest cost possible to you and the company," according to an open letter to the flying public written by a flight attendant.

Is Retro Travel Coming Back? I wish, but it's likely the majority won't pay the associated price tag, and those who do fly private jets or retreat to lounges prior to dashing into their first-class skybeds. Given that North American aviation has become very public transporty, complete with online ticket purchasing, computer check-ins and in-flight meal ordering via your personal console, I think people may start springing for mid-range niceties like upscale economy. For shorter flights, I bet most people will stick with bottled water and Starbucks lunch pack they buy before the flight.

I wish time travel was a trip style. I'd love to be beamed to 1960 and take a Braniff or Pan Am flight and experience the difference between then and now. As someone who mostly flies coach, I think I may want to stay in the 60s, but only if I could bring my husband, family, friends, pup, computer, iPhone and the Internet.

[photos via multiple web-based sources]

Travel Beauty :: 3Floz

For this month's travel beauty fix, we're excited to interview a gal who knows what she's talking about when it comes to travel beauty. After constantly globetrotting for work, Alexi Mintz wondered why it was so hard to find carry-on size versions of her go-to beauty products. Turns out, the answer to this question lead to the co-creation of 3floz, a website dedicated to top travel beauty brands all 3floz or less---compact enough for a weekend trip style or an epic adventure! Alexi dishes on 3floz, her favorite trip styles and go-to travel beauty products.

1. How did you come up with the idea for 3floz.com and how does it work? Co-founder Kate Duff and I traveled together all the time when we worked at Archipelago Botanicals. She always checked huge suitcases filled with full-sized beauty products, and I just carried on and skipped bringing travel-sized products because I could never find my favorite brands. We realized that our bad packing habits were the result of a void in the marketplace. We need one convenient location to get all of our favorite brands in travel sizes, so we created the online store 3floz.com. We ship from our offices in NYC. *3floz has been mentioned in a host of news outlets and mags from BBC Travel to In Style, and we're proud to have featured the company back in August as part of Travel Beauty Month.

2. What are your favorite trip styles (beach vacations, adventure travel, etc...) and why? I like to alternate between adventure trips and beach trips. If I only have 4 or 5 days for a vacation, I look for a spot that is a 3-4 hour flight from NYC so I don't waste a whole day traveling. It is hard to see a destination in 4 or 5 days, so I usually chose a beach vacation for shorter trips. For a longer 7+ day vacation, I usually opt for an adventure trip. I can spend a day traveling and not feel like it is cutting into my trip. I love exploring new places and I don't want to feel rushed. Recently I spent 14 days in Vietnam, moving around each few days to a different spot. The vacation was the perfect hybrid between adventure (I went on a jungle hike!) and beach.

3. What are your go-to travel beauty products and why? Cucumber Towelettes are in every travel bag I own! The wipes are my favorite multi-use towelette: face cleanser, make-up remover, and sweat remover (for my jungle hikes). In Vietnam they even came into the bathroom with me (they aren't big on TP in Vietnam). Another travel beauty must is First Aid Beauty 5-in-1 lotion w/spf 30. Less is better when I travel. This product covers all my moisturizing needs, and has SPF 30 so I don't have to think about an additional sunscreen.

4. Do you ship to Canada? Yes we ship to Canada for $18.99. {Trip Styler Tip: Order a bunch of products at once to test what you like best. Take advantage of shipping once versus multiple times!}

PS - Stay tuned for a fabulous 3floz.com giveaway! Details coming soon!

{Want more travel beauty? Get your fill the third Wednesday of every month. Lauren, our travel beauty expert is already whipping up her next concoctionpost!}

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