Are you flying or driving out of town this holiday season? There are a few smart phone apps that can help make the trip less stressful:
Try Flight Status. No matter where you’re headed, this $5 app gives you real-time updates on everything about your flight, including arrival times, gate numbers, expected delays and baggage carousel numbers.
The next app: Gate Guru, which helps you find your way around a lot of major airports. This free smart phone app even shows the locations of airport gift shops and restaurants.
Another helpful travel app: TSA Wait. With the use of new full-body scanners and pat-downs, lines at security checkpoints can be pretty long. This 99-cent app calculates the security wait time in advance.
What about the best driving apps?
First, there’s Where To? This $3 app uses GPS to direct you to any place you need to go, including restaurants, banks, and gas stations.
Speaking of gas, the free app Cheap Gas. It finds the least expensive gas station wherever you are, and gives you directions.
Another road trip app: Sit or Squat. This free app helps you find the closest and cleanest bathrooms, along with ratings and even pictures of the toilets!
The final smart phone travel app: Traffic.com. It’s also free, and alerts you to delays due to accidents, construction, and bad weather, and shows them on an interactive map.
All the apps are available on the iTunes store – and some have free websites.