By Samantha Chapnick
Sure, the iPhone is a hip phone. But I think it truly shines as a travel tool when you take it on the road.
Watching movies
Watching movies on the iPhone is always fab, but when you’re waiting at the airport because your flight is delayed, it’s a lifesaver. Now that iTunes rents movies, getting films onto the iPhone is as simple as getting a song or podcast on an iPod.
Getting up-to-date travel information
You can use Safari to connect to Orbitz’ Mobile Access to check your flight status, get up-to-the-minute information about flight delays and also get news and tips about security wait times and more from other travelers.
Wayfinding
The Google Maps feature is far more than a location pin-pointer. Its
integration with the address book and Safari browser make it a powerful
travel tool. Type in an address (e.g. “300 Elm Street”) or a proper name
(“Disney World“). Once the spot comes up on the map, tap on it and
contact info including url, phone number, and address automatically
appears.
Better still, with one more click, you can get directions to or from the location,
add it to your bookmarks, or make it a contact in your phone book.
I think it works wonderfully in reverse as well. Click the address of a friend
in your contact list, and it automaticallymaps their location, from
which you can get directions to or from their location.
At first glance, I thought Earthcomber was just a neat little way to find
places close to me: restaurants, hotels, spas. But
if you sign up and get your other iPhone-toting friends and relatives to do
so, you get this amazing real-time alarm that alerts you when one
of your “peeps” is in your vicinity.
Here are three of my favorite tools to make travel easier:
iGas for cheap gas
Type in your ZIP code and it returns a list of places to fill up priced lowest to highest.
This simple utility covers simple phrases needed to navigate common international travel
situations in six languages. My favorite: “Where is a cheap meal?”
I also found a more comprehensive dictionary — for $30 — at http://ultralingua.com/mobile/#ULHelp.
Currency conversion
It turnsout that the iPhone‘s stock feature also works great as a currency
converter. You just input the currency conversion into a formula and get
the most up-to-date value. The formula is ND=X, where N is the
international code for your currency and D is the desired currency
code.
Here are some of the most popular ones:
- USDGBP=X (US dollars to British pounds)
- USDEUR=X (US dollars to euros)
- USDJPY=X (US dollars to yen)
- USDCAD=X (US dollars to Canadian dollars)
Related Orbitz resources:
Samantha Chapnick is a New York writer who scours international destinations looking for what hasn’t been found.
