Web Buzz: Plan your trip at tripomatic.com

What it does: Helps you plan a day-by-day trip itinerary

Cost: Free

What's hot: I love the idea of making a day-by-day itinerary and then downloading it as a PDF when I'm done, as well as being able to access it from my smartphone or iPad. But after testing the app on my iPad, and also checking out the website, the latter is the way to start. Go to the home page on the website and look for a suggested trip plan such as "3 Day Trip to San Francisco or "Paris in One Day" and click on the Modify Trip Now button to make it your own. Once you're done modifying an itinerary, use the Add Your Own button to place specific restaurants, shops or addresses on your map and itinerary. The end result, as a PDF, is beautiful and book-like.

What's not: Where are the restaurants? When I tried to plan a trip to San Francisco, most of the pins marked places of interest. The few times I did find something food-related, it was usually a place to party or grab a beer.

Worth it: Yes, but there are stumbling blocks, and it requires patience. For example, when I went to the website and it told me to choose a destination, I typed in "Las Vegas, NV," and got the reply, "Tripomatic has yet to cover Las Vegas, NV." But there on the home page was a list of popular destinations, and Las Vegas was included, with maps, a free guide, suggestions for what to do and tours to buy. Go figure.

http://www.tripomatic.com/

New Safety Measures for Cruises

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and the European Cruise Council (ECC) adopted two new safety policies

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and the European Cruise Council (ECC) adopted two new safety policies. These policies, which address issues related to the recording of passenger nationality and the common elements of musters and emergency instructions, result from the Cruise Industry Operational Safety Review launched in January.

The Nationality of Passengers policy was developed in response to the request of governments at the May meeting of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Maritime Safety Committee meeting. This policy prescribes that the nationality of each passenger onboard is to be recorded and made readily available to search and rescue personnel as appropriate. Under the Common Elements of Musters and Emergency Instructions policy, member cruise lines have specified 12 common elements that will be communicated to passengers in musters and emergency instructions. Among these common elements are a description of key safety systems and features as well as an explanation of emergency routing systems and emergency exit locations. Both policies exceed current international regulatory requirements.

“Our industry continues to actively identify a range of measures that will improve the safety of passengers and crew, which is the top priority of the cruise industry,” said Christine Duffy, president and CEO of CLIA. www.cruising.org

Preparing for a European Trip

Going to Europe is exciting, but it can be stressful, too. By arranging a few things while you’re still at home, you’ll greatly increase your chances of having a smooth, enjoyable European vacation.

Check your passport. Is it due to expire soon? You may be denied entry into certain countries if your passport will expire within three to six months of your ticketed date of return. Get it renewed if you’ll be cutting it close.

Stash photocopies of important travel documents. Whether you’re at home or abroad, anybody can experience unexpected problems from loss or theft. If you have a copy of a valuable document, it’s easier to replace the original.

In fact, make two sets of photocopies of your passport and railpass or car-rental voucher. (For debit and credit cards, just record the numbers, rather than photocopy them.)

Pack one copy and leave the other with a buddy at home, to be faxed or e-mailed to you in case of an emergency. I hide my copy in a second money belt clipped into the bottom of my luggage (don’t tell anyone).

Contact your debit- and credit-card companies. Prior to your trip, call your bank and credit-card company to let them know which countries you’ll be visiting. This will ensure that they don’t decline foreign transactions.

While you have them on the line, confirm your debit card’s daily withdrawal limit, request an increase, if you want, and ask about fees for international transactions.

Arrange your transportation. Call us for your flight arrangements you might need to take within Europe as early as possible, since the cheapest seats sell out fast.

Train travelers should decide whether it makes sense to buy a railpass (these cover trips in one or more countries for a set number of days); if so, you’ll need to buy it before you leave the United States. If you plan to take the Eurostar between London and Paris, book tickets far ahead for the best fares. Get train tickets & passes here.

If you’re renting a car, your driver’s license is all you need in most places, but some countries, including Austria, Greece, Italy and Spain, also require an International Driving Permit. While that’s the letter of the law, I’ve rented cars in dozens of countries without an IDP — and have never been asked to show one. You can get an IDP at your local AAA office. Get the lowest car rental rates for Europe here.

Take care of medical business. Visit your doctor to get a checkup, and deal with any dental work that needs to be done.

If you use prescription drugs, take a sufficient supply to cover your trip, along with a copy of your prescription so you can refill it at a European pharmacy, if necessary.

Call your health insurance provider to see if they cover you internationally or whether you might need to buy special medical insurance.

Look into travel insurance. This can minimize the financial risks of a vacation. Your potential loss varies, depending on factors such as your health, how much of your trip is prepaid, the refundability of your air ticket, and what coverage you already have (through your medical, homeowner’s or renter’s insurance and/or credit card).

Check here for affordable travel insurance, also for last minute decisions.

Prepare gadgets for takeoff. If you plan to use your US mobile phone in Europe, consider signing up for an international calling, text and/or data plan, and confirm voice- and data-roaming fees.

If you’re taking a mobile device, download any tools that might come in handy on the road, such as translators, maps, transit schedules, eBooks, Internet calling apps and free audio tours (including mine, covering some of Europe’s top sights and neighborhoods).

Make sleeping, eating and sightseeing plans. For those who want maximum choice and peace of mind, book accommodations well before your trip, especially if you’ll be traveling during peak season, a major holiday or a popular festival. Hotel Reservations.

To avoid long lines at major sights, such as the Eiffel Tower and Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, make advance reservations online. Here you can book plenty of tours and activities for all major European cities.

The best travelers are those who plan ahead and have a travel agent on their side. With a little advance legwork, you’ll return home with rich stories of spontaneous European adventures.

Lufthansa’s first Boeing 747-8 to Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago, Delhi and Bangalore

Starting today, passengers can now book flights on Lufthansa’s first Boeing 747-8 aircraft, which has just been delivered in Seattle. Beginning June 1, Lufthansa will operate six flights per week with the “Queen of the Skies” on the Frankfurt-Washington route. Over the next few months, as four more new Jumbo jets join the fleet, the number of destinations served by the aircraft will gradually increase. By late summer, 747-8 flights will be offered to Chicago, Los Angeles Delhi and Bangalore. 

Once the 747-8 enters scheduled service, passengers will also have the opportunity to enjoy Lufthansa’s revamped Business Class. The new Business Class seat provides exceptional comfort, whether in an upright or reclined position or as a lie-flat bed, plus intuitive adjustments, additional storage space and an enhanced in-flight entertainment system. At the press of a button, the seat converts into a comfortable bed with a horizontal sleeping surface measuring 6.6 feet in length.

The 747-8 Intercontinental will bring double-digit improvements in fuel efficiency and CO₂ emissions per passenger over its predecessor, the 747-400. It is also much quieter, and generates a 30 percent smaller noise footprint. A wealth of information about the “Queen of the Skies” is available at www.lufthansa.com/747-8. 

Construction of the New Tom Bradly Terminal at LAX approaches halftime

During a recent hard-hat tour for media representatives, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa escorted attendees through the construction of the approximately $1.5 billion New Tom Bradley International Terminal (New TBIT) and revealed details about the terminal’s Great Hall, which will house a 140,000-square-foot shopping area — approximately the size of L.A.’s The Grove shopping area. The shopping facility, which is located after security, will feature local retailers and food outlets and be managed by Westfield. In total, the New TBIT will span almost 2,400 feet and be equipped with 18 new gates, nine of which are able to accommodate next-generation aircraft such as the Airbus A380.

While the New TBIT is considered to be the “crown jewel” of construction efforts going on at LAX, there are more than $4 billion in improvements currently taking place at the airport.

“All of the new construction ensures Los Angeles International Airport will put Angelenos back to work for years to come, remain competitive in the global market and bring even more visitors to our great city,” said Villaraigosa.

In addition to familiarizing journalists with New TBIT’s progress, the mayor also announced a new public education effort to inform residents and travelers about the improvements. Called LANext, the project includes an interactive website as well as outreach to residents through newspapers and mailings. Local residents will receive information about what is happening at LAX, when to expect improvements and how they can personally benefit in the form of jobs and business opportunities. www.la-next.com

Free WiFi at Munich International Airport

FMG, the Munich Airport operating company, has launched a new service: Effective immediately, passengers and airport visitors can surf the internet using the airport's WLAN for up to 30 minutes with no fees. Users of notebook computers and WLAN-enabled handheld devices, from tablets to mobile phones, are now just a few clicks away from reading e-mails and checking their favorite websites in the waiting areas of both terminals as well as the Munich Airport Center. 

The new free service is based on the existing Deutsche Telekom HotSpot service at the airport. Here's how it works: Users who wants to go online with their own devices simply launch a browser. A start-up page will then open with a link to the registration page, where the user can enter the access code. This code is then sent as a text message to the user's mobile telephone. As soon as the code is entered in the HotSpot portal, the user will have full internet access. 

The free service can be accessed by a given user once a day and terminates after 30 minutes. When the free 30-minute period ends, a single click opens the regular HotSpot portal, where additional time can be purchased by credit card. The price for each additional hour of online time is €4.95.

How smartphones are changing air travel

According to SITA/Air Transport World's 2011 Passenger Self-Service Survey, airline passenger use of smartphones has doubled in the past year, making it now 54%. Not only that, but 74% of business and first class passengers had a smartphone on them at the time of data collection. The survey questioned 2,457 air passengers from 70 countries and 73 airlines.

In an article from The Press, they state that the CEO of SITA, Francesco Violante, is calling this type of smartphone enthusiastic traveler the "mobile-centric passenger". These fliers expect "personal and timely communication from airlines, airports and other providers of travel-related services."

The data collected by the survey shows that passengers aren't just using their smartphone for work and personal reasons, but also for travel. For example, 31% of passengers have used a smartphone to check-in for their flight and 17% had used mobile boarding passes. While this percentage may not seem huge, it is most likely because not all airports and airlines are using technology to its fullest capability yet. In fact, 73% of survey respondents said they would like to use mobile boarding passes.

Airports aren't ignoring this data, as plans for 2014 show, including 97% of airports planning to offer web check-in, 89% planning to offer mobile check-in, 87% planning to offer bar-coded boarding passes for mobiles, and 63% planning to allow fliers to print luggage tags at kiosks.

While technology isn't going to change air travel overnight, it is certainly on its way to altering the way people travel and fly. Only time will tell what else technology has in store for the future of travel.

Courtesy of Gadling.com