04/12/2008 – – iPhone ‘App’ Of The Week : World View

Some iPhone ‘Apps’ are immediate hits, getting daily use from the moment I download them, other iPhone ‘Apps’ take some figuring out.

This week’s iPhone ‘App’ Of The Week was one of the latter.  I downloaded WorldView without a clear idea of what I would do with this ‘App.’   The idea of being able to view more than 6,000 web cams from all over the world was interesting, but was it just a novelty?

After playing with WorldView I found it to be a useful tool as a location photograher when trying  to come up with concepts for photo shoots in unfamiliar locations.   While the webcams tied into WorldView might have a limited view, they provided me with some valuable information I could not gather in any other way.   Most cameras are updated about every 15 minutes, and watching these webcam images allows me to see the ‘quality of light’ at certain times of the day , in the days leading up to a shoot.

I have learned what cities have a haze at certain times of the day (or all day long) and I have been able to find out accurate weather, visually.  WorldView has allowed me to determine if the sky is grey or if the sky opened up with nice warm light following a heavy rain storm.  This information is not available on weather sites, but WorldView has allowed me rapid access to this information to make quick decisions on where I plan on setting up a photo shoot.

While WorldView will probably never be a daily use ‘App’ for me, and it is intended to be a novelty ‘App’ for traveling, it has proven to be an extremely useful tool for remote planning and logistics. Being able to get a semi-real-time view of the sky has afforded me some great insight for rapidly setting up a location photo shoots and creating images I would have missed  due to relying on incomplete information.

With a price tag of ‘free’ download WorldView and see if it works for you.

Below are four screen shots of WorldView
Happy Flying!

–Click Images Below To Enlarge–

26/11/2008 – Holiday Season Airport Security Reminder – Part 2 of 2 : Anatomy Of An Airport Security Checkpoint

Today starts the official “holiday travel season,” and it happens to be one of the busiest travel days of the year in the United States.  Over the next few days an estimated 4.5 million people will take to will choose to fly commercial airlines for their their travel during the Thanksgiving holiday, in the U.S.

Given this is the start of the ‘Holiday Travel Season,’ today seemed like a good time to post a reminder for travelers that know exactly how an airport security checkpoint works will help you get through faster, more effectively and with far less stress.

Hopefully reading ‘The Anatomy Of An Airport Security-Screening Checkpoint’ to make make process less stressful, easier and allow you to have a pleasant experience as you transit the airport.

So pack your bags, print your boarding pass from your home computer, read the following before you head out to the airport this Holiday Season.

1) The Line Up — The Line Up is simple. It is where passengers begin to line up to enter the security-screening checkpoint. You only enter the security-screening checkpoint once you have your boarding pass (yes, I have seen people get all the way through the line only to be turned away because they forgot to pick up their boarding pass).

2) The Barker — ‘The Barker’ is the security person who walks up and down the line ‘barking’ that you should have your boarding pass and valid photo identification out and available for inspection, that your laptop shouldbe out of your bag for x-ray inspection and that you are only entitled to only pass through security with no more than 3oz of liquids in each container, these containers must be in one single 1-quart bag and only one bag per person (hence ’3-1-1′ bag). These people may also split a single line into two lines, ask to see you boarding pass and at times just intimidate inexperienced travelers.

3) The ID Checker — This is the security person at the ‘entrance’ to the actual screening process. This person inspects your photo identification (usually a passport or drivers license) and your travel documents to make sure your name/face match those on your boarding pass.

4) The Long Table — The actual x-ray and metal detector process usually begins with a long table with plastic bins. This is where you remove your shoes (if required, the TSA does require it everywhere though); your laptop (if required); your 3-1-1 bag (now
virtually universal at all security). You also want to start making sure you have no metal on you, this means place your coins, keys, mobile phone, etc in a secure pocket, or inside one of your bags.

5) The Bins — Every ‘Long Table’ has ‘The Bins.’ ‘The Bins’ are where you’ll place your shoes, jacket, laptop and other lose items.

6) The X-Ray Scanner — At the end of the ‘Long Table” is the X-Ray Scanner and its conveyor belt. You want to place your bags and bins in the X-Ray scanner. Remember that bins go in vertically NOT horizontally. Make sure you witness your bags entering the X-Ray scanner before proceeding to the next step, and from that moment never take your eyes off the ‘exit’ of the x-ray scanner! Also remember to keep your boarding pass out and in your hand, do not place that through with your bags and bins.

7) The Metal Detector — Once your bags and bins are in the x-ray scanner (and your boarding pass is in your hand!) you’ll line up for the metal detector. Always wait outside the metal detector until the security personnel have motioned for you to pass through the metal detector. Before passing through pat yourself down to check for any metal items you may have missed. If you have any loose metal items declare them before you go through the metal detector.

7a) The Metal Detector Wand (if you set off the alarm)– ‘The Wand’ is a simple hand held metal detector used by security personnel to check passengers who have set off the metal detector multiple times. You are usually hold your arms out and are ‘traced’ with the wand to find the source of the metal.

8 ) The Rollout — ‘The Roll-Out’ is the end of the X-Ray scanner where you retrieve your bags-n-bins. Pay attention that you have all your items and that they have exited the x-ray scanner before walking off. Take your items methodically from the x-ray scanner and if you must ‘put yourself back together’ do so at the chair or benches away from the x-ray scanner. By moving away from the x-ray scanner you’re not only allowing other
passengers to proceed through, but you’re also moving to a calmer environment to put your shoes on, put your laptop away, put your 3-1-1 bag away and retrieve the small metal items you have placed in a pocket or a bag.

9) The Bag Check (should your carry on bag need a secondary screening) — There seem to be few words dreaded more than hearing “BAG CHECK LANE 7″ (or whatever lane you’re in) for many passengers. Honestly, I know what my carry on bags look like and I’m personally often more concerned when I don’t here this being yelled out while the x-ray security operator is viewing my bag. A bag check is really simple. You collect all your items, just as discussed in “8) The Rollout” and a security screener carries one of your bags, in your full view, to a separate table. At that table you must never touch your items unless instructed to do so, the screener will look through tour bag and possibly wipe it down with a swab intended to detect explosives. This is not a big deal; when they are done you repack your bag (unless you have explosives in which case you have a lot of explaining to do).

10) Have A Good Flight — ‘Have A Good Fight’ is just what it sounds like……..

Happy Holidays & Happy Flying!

24/11/2008 – Taking To The Skies For Thanksgiving? Checkout AeroChannel.com

Will you be one of the 4,500,000 people taking to the skies this coming Thanksgiving Weekend? If you are, be sure to track your travel with AeroChannel.com

AeroChannel’s complete airport information, including traffic, parking, check-in times, security wait times and gate information, creates a simple web site solution for travelers throughout the United States. When traveling most travelers must check multiple web sites to access this information, while AeroChannel keeps all the info in one user-friendly location online.

Away from your laptop and searching AeroChannel from your mobile phone? No problem, visit www.aero2go.com

For travelers who’d like simple updates being sent to their mobile devices, AeroChannel also offers user-friendly options such “Keep Me Updated.” This feature allows you to look up information and have updated information sent to you as it becomes available.

So before you hear out to the airport to catch your flight, or pick up people up at the airport head on over to www.aerochannel.com from your computer or www.aero2go.com from your mobile phone.

Have A Happy Thanksgiving & Happy Flying!

6/11/2008 – Packed To Travel But No Seats To Be Found?

You’ve planned your trip, you’ve decided what cameras to pack and spent hours staring at National Geographic……….now its time to book your flights. As you scan the flights you looked at last month you notice something odd, many of the flights you were considering flying are no longer there. What happened?

The fourth quarter of 2008 has become somewhat of a black hole for travelers using conventional booking methods (and in many cases those using unconventional booking methods). Why has the 4th quarter of 2008 become a black hole? Because there are approximately 59,700,000 less available seats being flown by airlines in this quarter of the year.

This seat shortage is especially obvious for travelers in the United States. Of the approximately 59.7-million seats reduced this quarter, nearly 20-million of those seats are directly from the domestic market in the United States.

This shift in available seats does affect the cost of travel. As the price of fuel comes down, and some airlines reduce or eliminate their fuel surcharge fees, the issue becomes supply and demand.

How can you find seats for your journey, and at a more affordable price? It all depends on your flexibility and how you choose to travel.

Some tactics are to have flexible dates and not worry about your connections. Looking at a recent itinerary for a traveler flying between New York’s JFK and Sydney, Australia (SYD), I found flights ranging from US$1873 to $8052 in economy class (travel dates 15-Dec to 22-Dec).

A common choice on the JFK-SYD route is often Qantas Airways, the Australian national flag carrier. The route flies JFK-LAX-SYD, takes 22hrs and 40min, for the above dates the fare is US$2618

A passenger tied to earning One World miles, which Qantas is a member of, can also fly on Japan Airlines (JAL) and save US$513, flying JFK-Tokyo (NRT)-SYD, flying 23hrs 45min for a fare of $US2103.

For the person I was helping find a flight down to SYD from JFK, the 1hr difference in travel time equaled them saving enough money to cover 3.82 nights at the Hilton Sydney, in the City Centre. I don’t know about you, but I’ll kill an hour to be able to cover nearly 4 nights in a nice hotel.

As a bonus to picking up the cost difference of 3.82 nights in a hotel, but switching from Qantas to JAL this flyer will have in-seat power for their long haul flights, something not offered on the Qantas flight. For me, in-seat power is a huge plus, allowing me to charge my batteries, watch movies and of course work.

When looking for flights to Europe, many flights to, or through, London are more expensive that flying through other European cities. The taxes for travel to London, and the expense airline endure dealing with London’s Heathrow Airport keep those fares higher. Yes, London can be a convenient layover with some quality airlines, but flying through Paris (CDG), Amsterdam (AMS), Frankfurt (FRA) , Zurich (ZRH) can be a significant cost savings.

As the seats capacity continues to reduce you need to look at alternatives that will allow you get out and see the world, without relying on the time-honoured conventional methods.

As a flyer you need to explore regional fares, such as a ‘Euro-pass‘, ‘North America pass‘, or ‘Asia-pass‘, etc etc that are offered by all three major international airline alliances. These passes can be very cost effective and reduce your overall costs.

No, go repack your camera bag, rethink your trip and start replanning your trip!

Happy Flying!

13/10/2008 – Book Early For The Best Prices? : Maybe Not The Best Idea

This morning Mike Coombes, the Deputy Chief Executive of British regional carrier Air Southwest began urging flyers to book early for the best possible airfares. Coombes’ urging came with the release of Air Southwest‘s 2009 summer flight schedule, and Air Southwest’s prediction that British travels with choose to take their holiday vacations domestically next summer.

I understand Coombes’ desire to have passengers purchase their flights now. Air Southwests’ fares are fairly straightforward and simple. The further out you purchase your ticket the better chance you have for picking up a good airfare. The cash in the door ‘now’ from future flyers will help fund the airline immediately.

While purchasing your flights so far in the future may seem like a good idea to pick up the lowest airfares, however it may not be that good if you are unsure of the airline’s financial future. While Air Southwest looks like it will survive financially through the year into the summer of 2009, I prefer to not book my flights so far in the future.

I don’t expect most travelers to stop and read an airlines’ financial news, cruise the forums on FlyerTalk or follow the headlines on Air Transport World‘s web site. However with airlines ceasing operations in record numbers, booking flights 60 days out may be a more cautious plan for vacation planning.

The airline industry is currently volatile on a global level. I have watched some airlines crumble for a long time; predicted the catastrophic failure of a Nation’s flag carrier only to watch it survive; and seen airlines cease operations that I thought would be able to continue to fly. With the knowledge that I can be left out in the cold I generally purchase my seats 30-45 days away from the date of travel for the best fares. More often than not the lowest fares are available in the time frame.

I don’t discourage travelers from flying. In fact I strongly encourage travelers to fly. I also encourage travelers to use well thought out travel plans.

When I was a kid my family flew from New York’s JFK to Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood Int’l Airport every February to visit my Grandmother. Almost every year we flew on Delta Airlines (occasionally on National Airlines and Eastern Airlines…..and where are they now?). Often within a few days of return from our annual trip to Grandma my Mom would pick up the phone and book our flights for the next year. The flights on the JFK-FLL route rarely changed, the aircraft was a Lockheed L-1011 every year, so booking flights and choosing the seat selection was a safe bet.

Currently most airlines load their inventory no longer than 330 days from the date of departure, so my Mom could have never come home and booked next year’s flights the way she did when I was growing up.

The fact that airlines are dropping like flies is why I mentioned that as a kid we sometimes flew National Airlines and Eastern Airlines. My Mom was lucky she chose to book with Delta Airlines so far in advance, year after year. Delta Airlines has remained constant while National Airlines and Eastern Airlines are no longer flying (in fact, National Airlines merged with commercial airline Goliath Pan Am, and Pan Am folded on the 4th of December 1991……selling most of its operations to Delta Airlines)

Given the current instability of the airline industry is it wise to book your flights 8-to-10 months in advance? I’d strongly advise against it…………….unless you’re booking your flights on Delta Airlines, which is about to merge with Northwest Airlines and create the single largest airline on the planet.

Happy Flying!

Well it was bound to happen eventually. At some point I’d have to enter 2007 (yes, I said 2007). Not too long ago an original iPhone was provided to me to use and figure out how to turn it into a ‘travelers tool.’ While my iPhone is not the new iPhone 3G, I have not been deterred from playing with the potential of using the iPhone’s apps for travel purposes.

I’m not going to go into the details of iPhone vs other phones, as I still use and prefer my Blackberry for my mobile mail, and I have considered going back to my Motorola Razr for battery life and size…………but the iPhone’s ‘Apps’ are what keeps me interested in the iPhone. Since I received my iPhone I have downloaded many ‘Apps’ that have the potential to be good tools on the road and found some that I like and some that I will never utter the name of in public because they are so horrendous.

………….so this entry kicks off my first iPhone App Of The Week post.

One of the first ‘Apps’ I downloaded for the iPhone was the Travelocity ‘App.’ While Travelocity has not been my preferred online booking site, the ‘App’ has some great features that can provide some excellent information to anyone on the road. The Travelocity ‘App’ is so useful it is on the top line of the first page of my iPhone ‘Apps.’

What does the Travelocity ‘App’ offer its users?

For starters if your schedule is forced to change at the last minute you can click on ‘Flight Schedules’, type in your departure airport and your arrival airport, and pull up a complete list of all flights between the two airports for the day. This schedule also includes ‘Code-Share’ flight numbers for many flights. Once you select the flight you think you’d like to use you can click that fight and see all the details of that flight.

I found a few gaps in some routes for available flights, but overall this feature can really save a traveler time should their schedule change unexpectedly or they have to rebook a flight while already in transit.

In a hurry and want to know where you’re headed in the airport? The Travelocity ‘App’ can search most flights (primarily in the United States) quickly and let travelers know what terminal and gate their flight is departing from (you can also get this information easily from AeroChannel Mobile at: www.aero2go.com). Being able to quickly access an iPhone ‘App’ to get your terminal info and gate info at an unfamiliar airport is extremely useful for anyone running late getting to the airport.

Finally, the Travelocity ‘App’ can tell you the average wait times for airport security check points. This feature gives you a break down of terminals, individual checkpoints and the time of day you’re planning on passing through security. While security times can change depending on the circumstances of the day, this feature is fantastic to know what you should be facing when you show up at the airport.

Overall I have found the Travelocity ‘App’ to a fantastic travel tool for iPhone users.

Below are 12 images of the Travelocity ‘App’ on the iPhone.

Happy Flying!

–Click Images To Enlarge–