Travel App Tuesday :: Hail A Taxi

[trip style = urban] Today we're talking taxis. An app-tastic way to hail them.

{Taxis are on my mind because I'm headed to the Big Apple tonight. Though it's not my practice to hopscotch across time zones {Australia->Vancouver->New York} within a 3-day period, the hubs was going, we were able to get Nacho King {our dog} a sitter and secured Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tickets, so how could I say no?}

What if there was an easier way to hail a taxi, by just tip-tapping an app?

Now there is. Here are some options for Vancouver, elsewhere in Canada or your next trip to the US of A:

Free Taxi Apps Taxi Now This Vancouver start-up has taken hailing a taxi to the next level with GPS. Simply pull out your phone, see which taxis are nearest to you, hail one and watch it drive to you. Testing this app, the map showing which taxies were nearest to me crashed twice, but worked a third time. I love the idea behind this app, and will definitely use it next time I need a cab. Works best in: Vancouver, Canada with drivers in Toronto, Calgary and Ottawa quickly signing up too. Available for: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Android

Taxi Magic As one of the most celebrated taxi apps, Taxi Magic is the first online booking service to integrate right into taxi dispatch systems. In major US cities where this app works best, find a taxi based on your location, track its arrival and charge the ride to your credit card. Note, this app also has web and text support if booking online or via text is more your thing. Works best in: major cities in the US as well as tap-to-call fleets in 4000 US and Canadian cities. Available for: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Blackberry, Android, Palm.

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Other Travel Apps Every Tuesday we feature a new travel app. Don’t forget to peruse the other 70+ 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:

• Groupon
• Travel Apps Nominated for a Webby Award
• Whistler Blackcomb Live
• Room77
• mileBlaster

Travel App Tuesday :: Groupon

[trip style = budget conscious] You’ve all heard about Groupon, right? If not, it’s an online social coupon site where companies list their goods and services---from teeth whitening to restaurant discounts---and consumers buy the offers, usually at a substantial discount. Now, there’s an app for that.

Groupon isn’t a travel app, per se, but it can enhance travel in cities where Groupon is present, so we’re going to talk about it.

A few weekends ago my husband and I went up to Whistler. We planned on using a Groupon we purchased to dine at the Rim Rock Cafe. Right before we got into town, we realized we’d forgot our print-out of the Groupon---the receipt you need to present to redeem the offer. But then we had a brain wave: there must be an app for that! Turns out there was. So we logged into the app and saw Groupon purchase history. Once at the restaurant, we applied the Groupon to our meal by clicking on “use this groupon” and showed the waiter our code. It was easy, and we saved paper.

If you’re about to travel, download the Groupon app to see offers for the city you’re about to visit. Groupon even offers hotel packages, so you could save a boatload of money Grouponing while you travel between restaurant, hotel and tourist attraction discounts.

Groupon App Details

• free
• works with iPod Touch, iPad & iPhone, blackberry and android
• a complete list of past and present Groupons
• shows nearby Groupons
• look at today’s Groupons
• select different cities where Groupon is used

— Get more travel tips & updates like this by subscribing to RSS or email, liking us on facebook or following us on twitter. —

Other Travel Apps Every Tuesday we feature a new travel app. Don’t forget to peruse the other 70+ 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:

• Travel Apps Nominated for a Webby Award
• Whistler Blackcomb Live
• Room77
• mileBlaster
• HipMunk

Travel App Tuesday :: 5 Nominees

Have you heard of the Webby Awards? They honor the year’s best work in websites, interactive advertising, online film & video and mobile. A panel of judges chooses five nominees per category and the public votes on the winner. Companies covet Webby nominations and they've become a pretty big deal in the digital world.

One of the major categories is Mobile & Apps, and within the Travel section, five apps were nominated. It just so happens that Trip Styler has featured all of the nominees {but one} as part of Travel App Tuesday, which means it must be a great source for the latest and greatest travel apps {insert cheeky smiley face here}! Here are the apps nominated for a Webby this year:

• airbnb {unique vacation rentals app} our review here
• Conde Nast Traveller City Guides {Paris, Barcelona, Rome & NY}
• Kayak {meta travel search app with a billion helpful add-ons} our review here
• Trip Journal {interactive travel journal with stats, maps and sharing capabilities} our review here
• Tripit {trip itinerary management app} our review here

Though these apps are not the be-all-end-all of travel apps, each is pretty skookum. As I mentioned in our Best Apps of 2010 round-up, the two I'd recommend for any trip style are Kayak and Tripit. If you want to rent an island, stay in a plane-turned-home or shack up in a London flat for a few weeks, airbnb is great and I love that app! Trip Journal is fantastic if you're headed on an epic journey and want to share your trip with family and friends in ways that make you look like the intrepid traveler you are. Finally, I haven't used Conde Nast's City Guides, but I will when I go to NYC in a few weeks, so stay tuned.

When I vote for one of the these five travel apps, surprise, surprise, I'll choose either Tripit or Kayak. The other apps are all worth downloading, but Tripit and Kayak are the most useful of the esteemed group, as in, I do not travel without them.

— Get more travel tips & updates like this by subscribing to RSS or email, liking us on facebook or following us on twitter. —

Other Travel Apps Every Tuesday we feature a new travel app. Don’t forget to peruse the other 70+ 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:

• Whistler Blackcomb Live
• Room77
• mileBlaster
• HipMunk
• Mad Libs

Travel App Tuesday :: Whistler Blackcomb Live

[trip style = ski] I know, it seems a bit weird to be talking about a ski mountain{s} app when the weather is warmer, days are longer and summer is more than just a distant dream. But, just in time for spring skiing bliss {& summer mountain biking}, Whistler Blackcomb has launched their first app, and it's tres cool.

This past weekend I took the app for a test driveski. Now, I'm not sure how I'll ever ski without it, here's why: it maps your movement via gps; tracks your vertical, distance, moving time, max speed, average speed; and records your ski days. Also see a map of where you've skied {below}, so no playing hooky eating waffles all day in the Crystal Hut.

Screenshots Here are a few screenshots of the app when I used it on Saturday. If you look closely, yes, I know it's lame I only did 5 runs; technically speaking, I think I did 6, but who's counting?

NOTE: Using this app is like running a TomTom GPS navigation system on your iPhone: it drains your batteries quickly, so make sure your phone is FULLY CHARGED before you hit the slopes. In case you forget and run the app anyway, it will automatically shut off if your phone battery gets down to 20%.

Details

• Free
• Works with iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad
• Available for Android, but for blackberry you'll have to use an older-school app or the mobile site
• Track: lift status, trail conditions
• Weather & snow report
• Maps
• Webcams
• GPS-enabled – track your vertical
• Share photos and events to twitter & facebook

— Get more travel tips & updates like this by subscribing to RSS or email, liking us on facebook or following us on twitter. —

Other Travel Apps Every Tuesday we feature a new travel app. Don’t forget to peruse the other 70+ 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:

• Room77
• mileBlaster
• HipMunk
• Mad Libs
• Travel Etiquette

Travel App Tuesday :: Room 77

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Room 77, the world's first hotel room search engine, allowing you to find the best room based on your preferences. Although the company is still in its infancy, they launched an iPhone app at the same time as the site to crowdsource hotel room pictures and details to grow the results. Keep the Room 77 app on your radar. Why? It puts power in your hands. For example, say you're checking into the central and swanky Sofitel Los Angeles and you want the scoop on finding the best rooms at the hotel. Simply find it in the app {either before your stay or while you're checking in} and learn helpful tidbits like "the hillside rooms offer views of the Hollywood hills" or "each floor has rooms in a variety of categories, so even standard rooms can be found on higher floors."

Room 77 has excellent hotel {room} inventory for major cities like LA, New York and London. Because they only recently launched, they are in an intense growth period working on sourcing the details for other major cities in the US, Canada the rest of the world. The app and website already offer curious travelers {which is pretty much all of us} details and pictures about specific rooms in each hotel they feature, so I can't imagine how valuable this app will be when it grows to incorporate hotel room listings worldwide.

Trip Styler Tip :: On your next trip down to Seattle, check Room77's app or website for 15+ hotels {and hundreds of rooms} already listed.

Details

• Free
• Works with iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad

— Get more travel tips & updates like this by subscribing to RSS or email, liking us on facebook or following us on twitter. —

Other Travel Apps Every Tuesday we feature a new travel app. Don’t forget to peruse the other 70+ 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:

• mileBlaster
• HipMunk
• Mad Libs
• Travel Etiquette
• Jetsetter