App-y Trails

In love with your smartphone?  You may want to try traveling with these apps as New York Times reporter Seth Kugel did.

Four free apps were road-tested:  RoadAhead, RoadNinja, GoHowAirport and FLYsmart.  All four are iphone friendly and the last two can also be used with the Android and Blackberry.

RoadAhead and RoadNinja are useful for finding services such as restaurants, hotels, and gas stations.  Kugel prefers Road Ahead as it links users to Yelp reviews and offers a handy “Search Nearby” feature.

GoHowAirport and Flysmart advise on flight delays, departure gates and airport facilities.  GoHowAirport is the preferred app as it is linked to more airport computer systems and is easier to navigate than Flysmart.

Read Kugel’s review here.

Leaf Peeping Planning

Planning to take visiting friends or relatives on a fall foliage drive?

Consider visiting the YankeeFoliage website from Yankee magazine.  View the live map with frequent updates which lets you know which areas of New England are peaking, past or yet to blaze with color.

Click on the camera icons to view actual photos  and the latest reports submitted by readers.

Photo of Fall Foliage Delights by Christopher S. Penn and republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Rental Car Comparison

If you like websites that do the legwork for you, comparing prices to help find the best deals, then you will want to try vroomvroomvroom.com.

vroomvroomvroom.com  compares rates among the major US rental companies for US cities as well as some international destinations. You may book and pay for your rental directly from the site.

The Frugal Traveler  recommends it because it “is utterly intuitive and presents your options in a simple list with no bells or whistles”.

This reviewer found the site lacking when it comes to options for European rentals.  For Europe, you may want to try Kemwel.

Gas Saver

Associated Press columnist, Candace Choi, suggests six apps that help you save money on your next refueling.

Check out the following:

• AAA Trip Tik – search for gas price and grade by distance from your present location.
• Gas Buddy – post from 5 million users update listings. Weekly raffle for prepaid gas card.
• Gas Cubby – evaluates the fuel efficiency of your vehicle.
• Mapquest – Avoid traffic congestion.  Updates every 5 minutes.
• Route4Me – Helps save gas by mapping out the shortest route to unfamiliar destinations.
• Waze - Real time traffic information based on data provided by Users. Social media settings allow tweets on arrival.