BeFrugal.com Introduces Fly or Drive Calculator

BeFrugal.com has a Fly or Drive Calculator to help you decide which mode of travel is best © 2013 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Say you are planning to travel to from New York City to Montreal. Is it cheaper to fly or drive?

When planning a trip, start with a free online tool to decide whether flying or driving makes more sense to get from point A to point B. The Fly or Drive Calculator (http://www.befrugal.com/tools/fly-or-drive-calculator/) factors in time taken, cost and carbon emissions. Use the Fly or Drive Calculator from money saving website BeFrugal.com to determine the best travel mode for your next trip in a few minutes or less.

Simply enter your starting location, destination, travel dates, number of travelers and whether or not it is a one-way trip. Next you can fast forward to results or insert more detailed, optional information such as the vehicle you’d drive, number of hours to drive daily, hotel cost per night, tolls, airports, time at the airport, flying costs (transportation to and from the airport, checked bag feeds, plane ticket pricing, etc.) then view your customized results. A detailed comparison of your travel options is shown to compare the door-to-door time, total cost and CO2 impact.

BeFrugal.com now provides average coupon savings of 27% per order for online purchases plus an average rate of 7% cash back.

BeFrugal.com offers discounts on travel through coupons, deals and cash back with Travelocity, Marriot, Avis, Expedia and more travel merchants:

• · Codes are posted for online coupons
• · Deals are also posted (these do not require a promo code).
• · Cash back is a portion of an online purchase that is deposited into a free BeFrugal.com account. When you are ready, get paid by PayPal or a check in the mail: http://www.befrugal.com/cashback/

For example, see the BeFrugal page for Marriot http://www.befrugal.com/coupons/store/marriott. Codes, deals and cash back are all available.

Here is a list of travel merchants BeFrugal can help travelers save at http://www.befrugal.com/coupons/category/travel

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MyCityWay, New Mobile App, Helps Visitors Navigate 100 Cities Worldwide

MyCityWay is a situationally-aware smart app available for use in over 100 cities worldwide including 40 U.S. cities.

Visitors have a new mobile app to help them navigate a city. MyCityWay is a situationally-aware smart app available for use in over 100 cities worldwide including 40 U.S. cities.

Bringing in the utility of more than 30 different Apps, MyCityWay applies artificial intelligence technologies once reserved for high-powered algorithmic trading to making navigating a city easy, fun and personalized.

Funded by the City of New York and BMWi Ventures (the venture capital company founded by BMW Group), the MyCityWay app harnesses information from hundreds of content partners, cross-references it to ensure validity and instantaneously prioritizes information according to the users’ needs and preferences by uniquely marrying location, intent, timing and information from their social graph.

MyCityWay helps travelers quickly and easily…

· Move: Find local transportation options, schedules and routes

· Shop: Discover the best boutiques by category, neighborhood and location and find sales and deals close by

· Play: Purchase tickets to tours and attractions across the city and identify free activities, including cultural centers, landmarks, museums, art galleries and parks.

· Eat: Choose the best restaurants by neighborhood or cuisine, read reviews, make reservations and get directions

· Party: Learn about the best a city offers after-hours – nightclubs, lounges, sports bars or comedy clubs

· Take care of business: Pinpoint nearby bathrooms and WiFi hotspots

To download the app, visit iPhone/iPad, Android, Blackberry, Nokia or MyCityWay Download Page.

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JustBook Mobile App for Last-Minute, Discounted Hotel Bookings in Europe Links with Miles & More Frequent Flyer Program

A year after launching its free app, JustBook maintains a leading position in Europe for mobile hotel bookings at the last minute, recording 400,000 downloads of the app.

JustBook is now seeing record bookings as a result of a new collaboration with Miles & More frequent flyer program. Effective as of January 10, 2013, JustBook users collect award miles with Miles & More, the prestigious frequent miles program of Lufthansa and associated airlines. This offer is available for all hotel bookings with JustBook at over 1,000 hotels in 46 cities across Europe, independent of specific hotel chain brands.

This latest initiative makes JustBook the first hotel network enabling its members to earn miles “while they sleep”.

The offer adds to existing collaborations, including the latest strategic media partnership with the Swiss Federal Railway (SBB).

JustBook (www.justbook.com/en) is a leading app for spontaneous hotel bookings in Europe. Every day, three to five selected hotels per destination can be booked from 10 am until 2 am the next day, for the same night.

Since are last minute bookings, users typically enjoy savings of up to 50 percent over prices available online. Currently, JustBook is available in 46 European cities including London, Edinburgh, Berlin, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Madrid and Zurich. The JustBook app is available for free on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry.

 

“Even in the best European hotels, some rooms are often still available at the last minute,” JustBook CEO Stefan Menden said. “Hotel guests can save money with spontaneous bookings. In the short term, hoteliers can gain new customers while optimizing their occupancy. 95% of our users are new customers for the hoteliers. If you book with the app you discover new and interesting hotels. We are also continuously adding useful benefits to JustBook such as now with the award miles from Miles & More.”

JustBook offers hotel customers low rates for same day bookings. The company claims that its prices for last minute mobile bookings are between 20 and 50 percent lower when measured against the prices available on the internet.

The company also points to its customer service. In emergency situations, the customer service team is available on the phone until 2.30 am to assure a good night’s rest for all bookings. Especially during this snowy season that causes chaos at airports, JustBook provides reliable help.

Two-thirds of JustBook customers are business travelers who use the app to travel to meetings at short notice. Also, users turn to JustBook when a meeting runs over its allotted time. However Justbook is also useful for spontaneous weekend trips and getaways.

“Thanks to smartphones, leisure activities are just one touch away,” said Menden. “Whether you’re looking for tickets, a table in a restaurant, or a night at a hotel in order to surprise your partner, this was never as easy and as fast as it is today with your phone. The consumer survey regarding spontaneity is just one example of our analysis. We know the European consumer extremely well after one successful year of expansion across the continent’s four corners. We know hotel guests are considerably more demanding than in the United States for example. Our team in Berlin, Barcelona and London can therefore understand and react very specifically and promptly to all customer requests. “

For information, visit www.justbook.com/en

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Avenza releases PDF Maps 1.6 update on iTunes App Store

Avenza Systems Inc., a developer of cartographic software – including MAPublisher^® for Adobe^® Illustrator^® and Geographic Imager^® geospatial tools for Adobe Photoshop^® – is has just released PDF Maps 1.6, the latest version of the popular map and navigation app on the Apple iOS platform. The PDF Maps app allows users to explore and navigate maps offline without having to worry about cellular data connectivity or incur data roaming charges compared to other streaming map apps.

“The focus of this release is about enhancing existing features and tools to allow our users to experience, navigate, and view maps on Apple iOS devices even better” said Ted Florence, President of Avenza. “Many of the optimizations and improvements have stemmed from user feedback. We’re listening to our users and creating tools that suit their needs. In the end, we’re making a much better product than even we anticipated,” he added.

This release of PDF Maps offers many features including:

• · Data collection – You can now create, import, and export attribute schemas with pick lists.
• · Improved organization – Added folders to the Map List and the ability to move maps between folders.
• · Nearby maps – Maps within 100 km will be shown when panning to the edges of a map.
• · Measure Tool optimization – Measure Area and Measure Direction tools are now merged into one tool. There is also a new option to create custom units.
• · New coordinate display format – Added the Degree Decimal Minutes format.
• · Add placemark optimization – Placemarks can now be added while following your current location.
• · GPS mode optimization – GPS mode is more tolerant to movements and allows adding placemarks while following your location.
• · Photos taken within the app are now saved to the Camera Roll.
• · Improved KML/KMZ file compatibility with Avenza MAPublisher and Esri software.

The PDF Maps app takes advantage of geospatial technology that allows travelers to view and measure real world locations and attributes. Paired together with mobile devices that utilize GPS, such as an iPhone or iPad, the PDF Maps app provides constant access to geographic locations and even points of interest without the risk of losing reception due to cell tower proximity – making it the ultimate traveling accessory for those that are enthusiastic about travel or anywhere internet bandwidth is not available or is cost-prohibitive when roaming internationally. In combination with the embedded map store PDF Maps takes map use commerce into the iTunes-like digital age previously reserved for music, books and videos.

PDF Maps is available now on the iTunes App Store free of charge for personal use. For more information about the app and Avenza Map Store , visit the PDF Maps website at www.pdf-maps.com. Pricing of each map is set by the publisher and free maps remain free to users through the PDF Maps in-app map store.

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Pacific Coast Highway Trip launches new iPhone App with contest to win stay in Carmel

Pacific-Coast-Highway-Travel.com has just released its comprehensive iPhone app with hand-picked accommodation suggestions and reviews for all along the Pacific Coast Highway from Seattle to San Diego.

The app is available immediately in the iTunes App Store for the introductory price of $0.99, and can be downloaded from http://www.guidegecko.com/pchh-app.html.

To celebrate the launch, one lucky person is about to win a free night in Carmel – or maybe even two. The winner (and one guest, sharing the room) will receive one free night at the writers’ favorite inn along the Pacific Coast Highway: the beautiful Vagabond’s House Inn in romantic Carmel.

If you travel between January and March 2012, the Inn will throw in a second night as part of the prize. The competition runs until 31st August 2011. To participate, answer three simple questions on http://www.guidegecko.com/contest/c,193, the information for which is all contained in the app.

The app includes over 200 hand-picked accommodation options ranging from guesthouses to inns and hotels, with many historic and unusual choices at various price ranges. A bonus section on California Wine Country is also included. All reviews are written by award-winning travel writers Mike Gerrard and Donna Dailey.

The app also features photos for every hotel as well as offline maps to save on roaming charges for international visitors.

More on the contest can be found at http://www.guidegecko.com/contest/c,193, the app can be downloaded at http://www.guidegecko.com/pchh-app.html.

Pacific-Coast-Highway-Travel.com (www.Pacific-Coast-Highway-Travel.com)  is a leading online resource to the Pacific Coast Highway, written by award-winning travel writers Mike Gerrard and Donna Dailey.

“It was surprisingly easy to produce the app. We worked with the clever guys at GuideGecko, whose technical wizardry took our book and, once we’d found photos for all the hotels, turned it into an app at the push of a button.” says Mike Gerrard, co-owner of Pacific-Coast-Highway-Travel.com. “It took just 7 weeks from the first email to the app appearing in the Apple Store”, he adds.

GuideGecko is a leading publishing platform for travel guides, offering more than 2700 guidebooks on 169 countries and 270 cities and regions around the world. GuideGecko publishes worldwide travel guides for the iPhone, Amazon Kindle and on the web. All guides are independently researched and written by professional travel writers from around the world.

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Students Worldwide to ‘Fly Ideas’ for Greener Flight, €30,000 Prize in Airbus Competition

University students worldwide can shape the future of flight and win €30,000 (about $44,000) in a global competition launched today by Airbus at the Farnborough International Airshow in the United Kingdom.

The Airbus Fly Your Ideas (FYI) competition challenges students worldwide to develop new ideas for a greener aviation industry. The biennial contest involves three progressively challenging rounds judged by a panel of Airbus and industry experts. It concludes with a final at next summer’s International Paris Airshow – Le Bourget, France. The winners will share the top prize of € 30,000; the runners-up €15,000 (about $22,000).

Announcing the launch of FYI 2011, Charles Champion, Airbus Executive Vice President Engineering and FYI patron, said: “Fly Your Ideas is a unique opportunity for students to be part of Airbus’ vision for an eco-efficient aviation industry of the future. The competition is designed to stimulate ideas for both a more connected and sustainable world. It also enables Airbus to engage with students and research teams to identify R&T opportunities to balance the increased demand for air travel with a better environment.”

Students of any age, nationality, gender or discipline – from engineering to marketing; business to science; philosophy to design – are invited to take part. Proposals are welcome on all aspects of the ‘Environmental Life Cycle’ – an innovative approach Airbus uses to improve the environmental performance of an aircraft and its production process. It consists of five stages: design; supply chain; manufacturing; aircraft operations and aircraft end-of-life.

FYI 2011 follows the success of the inaugural contest launched in October 2008. Some 2,350 students from over 80 countries took part with the multinational team COz from the University of Queensland, Australia, judged eventual winners at Le Bourget 2009. Their project focused on the use of a pioneering natural fibre composite – made from castor plants – in aircraft cabins.

Benjamin Lindenberger (27), who was part of the FYI 2009 winning team “COz”, added: “Winning the FYI challenge 2009 was a great experience. But the opportunity to work with Airbus experts, gain industry insight and develop transferable skills was just as valuable.”

To enter FYI 2011 students must register as a team of three to five members on the competition website by 30 November 2010. For further information and to register visit: www.airbus-fyi.com

Registration closes November 30, 2010. Project proposals must be submitted by December 10, 2010. Those shortlisted for Round 2 will develop their ideas into more detailed submissions with support from Airbus staff. Five finalist teams will win a VIP trip to Paris in June 2011 and make presentations to an independent jury – including industry experts – who will announce their decision at the FYI 2011 awards ceremony.