Sanity-saving Travel App: GateGuru

GateGuru is a tool to transform the chaotic and unfamiliar airport environment into a more satisfying experience before and after flights, and during layovers. GateGuru will locate the best food, shopping and service options within any airport at the touch of a button.

Sanity-saving Travel App: TripIt

With today’s myriad of travel sites, even the most experienced traveler has their hands full managing all the details of a typical trip. Booking airline tickets, hotels, rental cars, and restaurants leaves you with lots of separate pieces of paper. Throw in maps, directions, things to do, and weather, and the chaos multiplies.

TripIt turns chaos into order by making it easy for anyone to:

• Organize trip details into one master online itinerary — even if arrangements are booked at multiple travel sites
• Automatically include maps, directions, and weather in their master itinerary
• Have the option to book restaurants, theatre tickets, activities, and more right from within the online itinerary
• Safely access travel plans online, share them, check-in for flights, or print an itinerary

Best Winter Trips 2012

National Geographic: Travel

Winter doesn't have to mean long months indoors. The National Geographic editors have chosen ten trips that will have you gearing up for adventure or joining in local festivities - warm- and cold-weather travel that's sure to cure the winter blues. Do you have a favorite winter destination?

Petra and Wadi Rum, Jordan

Lake Placid, New York

Cuba
Namibian Coast
Chiapas, Mexico
Antarctic Peninsula
Miami, Florida
Fernie, British Columbia
Palm Springs, California
Sledding, Preda-Bergün, Switzerland

10 Offbeat Food Museums

From Mother Nature Network

Educating and entertaining while also appetite-stirring (or suppressing, depending on how you feel about Spam burgers or boiled spargel topped with hollandaise sauce), food museums offer an excellent way to acquaint yourself with an area’s rich culinary traditions. Or, they’re just an effective way to kill a couple hours and support local tourism while gawking at some dude’s massive collection of mustard tins.

My TSA Mobile Application

To provide passengers with 24/7 access to the most commonly requested TSA information on their mobile device, TSA has developed the My TSA mobile application. No matter where you are, you’ll have easy access to information you need to get through security and onto the plane safely and smoothly.

My TSA puts the most frequently requested information about security procedures at airport checkpoints right at their fingertips. The application has multiple functions, including allowing travelers to find out if an item can be taken in checked or carry-on bags, view delays at all U.S. airports via a feed from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), get some of the most commonly asked packing and traveling tips, and post and see other passengers’ checkpoint wait times at specific airports.

Ideas for This Year's Vacation

As you plan your vacation for 2012, you may want to consider “The 45 Places To Go In 2012” recommended by New York Times travel writers. Included are perennially popular destinations such as Florence, Italy, San Diego, and, of course, London, England, the site of the Summer Olympics. But also suggested are more exotic spots such as Lhasa, Tibet, Paraty, Brazil and Patagonia. Within the broad range of interesting travel suggestions, perhaps you will discover the ideal trip for you.

New York Times' Practical Traveler: How to Find Lift Tickets for Less

If you are waiting until the last minute to buy lift tickets, you are probably missing out on major savings.

Taking a page from the airlines, ski resorts are lowering prices for traditionally sluggish travel dates, charging more for the most popular travel periods and offering discounts to those who book online in advance. It’s a major change for the ski industry. Until recently, most skiers had little choice but to buy their lift tickets only after they had arrived at their location.

While the new pricing options mean more opportunities for deal seekers, knowing when and where to buy is getting more complicated.

“For the exact same ticket you might see three different price points,” said Ron Schneidermann, a founder of Liftopia, an online provider of lift tickets, lessons and gear rentals at discounted rates. The trick, he said, “is knowing what’s out there.”

Here are seven tips to ensure you get the best bargains...

Winter Ski & Snowboard Vacations

Now is the time to plan your winter vacation on the slopes!

Here are some regional websites to provide you with the information you need:

-US Skiing (all U.S.)
-SkiCentral (U.S. & Canada)
-Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month (Learn to ski during January at resorts throughout the U.S.)
-New England Ski Resorts
-Ski Vermont
-Ski NH (New Hampshire)
-Colorado Ski Resorts
-Colorado Winter Ski Vacation Resort Guide
-Ski Utah
-Utah Skiing and Snowboarding
-Skiing Downhill in British Columbia (Canada)
-Iglu Ski (Ski deals worldwide)
-MySwitzerland.com
-Ski Austria