Ski Vermont’s ‘Check In to Win’ Program Offers Prizes for Using Mobile Tracking System

Smugglers Notch, Vermont © 2013 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Ski Vermont’s Check In to Win program is returning the 2013-14 season and will be hosted by the ski and snowboard tracking application, Alpine Replay  and co-sponsored by Verizon Wireless. Check In to Win rewards skiers and riders for exploring Vermont resorts and tracking vertical, speed, jumps and more. This season the first skier to visit all 19 alpine resorts will win a pair of Rossignol skis and the first snowboarder to visit 18 resorts will win a snowboard from Burton.

Ski Vermont enjoyed a successful launch of the program during the 2012-13 season, winning the Governor’s SMART Biz Award for Marketing Excellence and a Travel + Leisure SMITTY award. It was the first statewide tourism program of its kind, promoting frequency and variety of visits to Vermont ski resorts via prize incentives.

Partnering with Alpine Replay and Verizon Wireless for the 2013-14 season allows Ski Vermont to expand the already successful Check In to Win program and make it even easier. Skiers and riders need only download the free Alpine Replay application, get to the mountain and press “play” to track the days skiing and snowboarding stats. At the end of the day, users download stats and share with friends on social media. The more Vermont resorts explored equates to more chances to win bigger and better prizes. Participants can also earn Vermont specific medals and participate in competitions like the Vertical Challenge to win a ski and stay package in Vermont.

“We are excited to expand the already popular Check In to Win program by partnering with Verizon Wireless and Alpine Replay,” said Ski Vermont’s Director of Marketing, Kyle Lewis. Our goals are to reward skiers and riders for visiting a variety of Vermont’s resorts and create an online community where you earn your bragging rights. We think of the program like a punch card at your favorite deli, except we reward you with the chance to win free lift tickets, Cabot Cheese and Green Mountain Coffee and more.”

Using the Alpine Replay application at multiple resorts in Vermont will automatically enter participants for the chance to win prizes from Ski Vermont partners such as free lift tickets from Vermont resorts, swag from Burton Snowboards, Rossignol, anon, Darn Tough and Kombi, and treats from Green Mountain Coffee and Cabot Cheese.

For more information and to download the application, visit skivermont.com/checkin

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Mibblio Comes Out with New Interactive Musical Storybook ‘Miss Elephant’s Gerald’ in Time for Halloween

Those clever guys at Mibblio have come out with another interactive musical storybook app to entertain kids at home and when traveling. The “Miss Elephant’s Gerald” stand-alone app featuring The Pop Ups with illustrations by Liz Starin is now live in the App Store, just in time for Halloween! Everything about it is awesome.

Here’s the link:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/miss-elephants-gerald/id731127605?mt=8

Targeted to children ages 3-8, each beautifully designed mibblet is a lively, interactive experience that allows kids to read a charmingly illustrated story, listen to a catchy song, and jam along on a variety of instruments.

It’s like a “Child’s Introduction to the Orchestra” or “Peter & the Wolf” and introduces and engages children in music at a time when their musical aptitude is emerging.

Besides occupying the child in a car or airplane or on a ship, Mibblio is a great way to settle a child into a hotel bed for the night with something that is comforting and fun.

With an intuitive design that is built for kids but enjoyed by all, the imaginative app is the first interactive musical-storybook of its kind and endlessly entertaining.

Mibblio offers a mix of classic songs such as “On Top of Spaghetti” and “The Wheels on the Bus” alongside new, instant classics like “Monkey Jamboree!” Mibblio also offers more narrative stories like The Mashed Potato Monster Gang that appeal to slightly older kids. By showing children the components of each song, instrument by instrument, Mibblio helps children understand the layers of developing music. Parents can watch and listen as children discover new instrument combinations and learn the basics of creating a song, while simultaneously improving reading skills.

“Mibblio is a fun and engaging way for children to explore music in a personalized and meaningful way,” said Sammy Rubin, Co-Founder & Creative Director of Mibblio. “Mibblets frame the musical elements and give what might ordinarily be abstract concepts a fun and familiar context. It’s exactly what I would have wanted when I was young.”

For more information visit www.mibblio.com.

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CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. Launch Mobile Websites

During the CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. national conference aboard NCL’s Breakaway, Sean Tolkin, business development director at World Travel Holdings, became the first American to run a marathon at sea, doing it in record time (3 hours 43 minutes), raising $50,000 to benefit Make-A-Wish®, the official charity of WTH’s CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. divisions. In all, the agents raised $108,000 for Make-a-Wish during their conference. © 2013 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The best way to learn about the deals being offered by major cruiselines and sort through the myriad choices is to go through a travel agent or cruise-agent, and one of the leaders in the field, CruiseOne franchise and Cruises Inc. network of hosted home-based agents has made the information more accessible with a newly introduced mobile website.

CruiseOne franchise and Cruises Inc are part of World Travel Holdings, with 13 entities that collectively sell $800 million worth of cruises. Cruisegoers benefit from their collective buying power, inventory and relationships with the cruise companies.

On the cutting edge of technology and meeting the demands of its new and existing customers, CruiseOne^® and Cruises Inc.^® announced the official launch of their mobile-friendly consumer websites CruiseOne.com and CruisesInc.com at its annual National Conference onboard the Norwegian Breakaway.

“With smart phone capacity growing and online cruise travel searches up 48 percent year over year according to Google, it was only natural for us to take this next step in providing a mobile-friendly shopping experience,” said Sandi Szalay,  vice president of information technology at CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. who oversaw the creation of the mobile platforms.

The new user-friendly mobile sites provide a lean version of the homepage, cruise search/cruise finder and cruise line promotional pages. New features include “Find An Agent Near You” enabling users to search for an agent by geographic location according to zip code or state, as well as an option for consumers to sign up for free promotional emails offering exclusive vacation deals.

“Our clients are on-the-go and we want to make sure they can connect and engage with an agent regardless of time and location,” noted Dwain Wall, senior vice president and general manager of CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. “At National Conference, we emphasized that innovation is one key to success in meeting consumer demands and keeping ahead of the competition. The mobile websites are just one of the many innovative tools we provide our agents to help in their success.”

CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. agents’ personal websites are also now mobile-friendly, providing an improved shopping experience that makes it easier for consumers who are not near a computer to shop for deals and research itineraries.

For information, visit www.CruiseOneFranchise.com or www.SellCruises.com. 

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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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New Broadway League Website, App Offer One-Stop Shopping for Theater Tickets in NYC and Across North America

The Broadway League has launched BROADWAY.ORG, a comprehensive resource dedicated to providing theatre-goers around the world with information about all Broadway shows—both in New York and across North America © 2013 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The Broadway League has launched BROADWAY.ORG, a comprehensive resource dedicated to providing theatre-goers around the world with information about all Broadway shows—both in New York and across North America.

BROADWAY.ORG combines two previously existing sites: ilovenytheater.com, specifically targeted to Broadway shows in New York, and touringbroadway.com, which was the League’s official website for Touring Broadway productions in nearly 200 markets throughout the U.S. and Canada. With improved functionality, the new site continues to be the official source of information and provider of direct access to all things Broadway.

“BROADWAY.ORG furthers the notion that Broadway is a state of mind rather than a set geographical location. Our ultimate goal is to provide a premier one-stop consumer site for show information and official ticketing links, combining Broadway and Touring Broadway in a central location and under a single site identity,” says Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of The Broadway League. “If you want to see a Broadway show, regardless if you are home or out-of-town, you can go to BROADWAY.ORG to find out where and when it’s playing and easily buy your tickets from the authorized source.”

The new site features a deep integration between the New York City and touring shows. Site users can locate theatres across North America where Broadway shows are playing, and link to their official sites for more information. If they are on the page for a Broadway show, they will also be able to easily view its upcoming tour stops; and when on the page for a show on tour, will be able to see that it is also playing in New York and get information on that production.

The new site provides up-to-date show and theatre information in six languages, a guide to hotel and dining options in Manhattan’s Theatre District, and general information about Broadway theatre-going. It provides access to show tickets at all price points to current and upcoming shows, direct from the theatres’ official ticketing offices in real time, without broker markups.

The thoroughness and simplicity of the new site can be demonstrated with numerous features that are easy to navigate including: Google Maps and social media integration, the ability to search by location, an interactive map of the NYC theatre district and multi-media galleries. The League will be able to communicate timely announcements such as holiday schedules, weather advisories, updates on programs such as Kids’ Night on Broadway^®, and more.

The site also features a mobile app for Broadway in New York and later this year an enhanced app to include touring data is being planned. The League’s Digital and Technology team created the new site with the aid of website design firm Lounge Lizard.

For more than a century, Broadway has been considered the pinnacle of live theatrical entertainment. Broadway is where America’s greatest playwrights, composers, lyricists, actors, singers, dancers, directors, designers, and choreographers bring great plays and musicals to life. Touring Broadway encompasses first-class, professional productions that bring these shows to fans across North America.

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Free Timetable App Launched for European Rail Travel

 

Eurail Group GIE, based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, has launched the Rail Planner App designed to assist Eurail and InterRail Pass holders © 2013 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Eurail Group GIE, based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, has launched the Rail Planner App designed to assist Eurail and InterRail Pass holders.

Rail Planner App is free and offers everything pass holders need to successfully plan and execute their rail journey by providing offline timetable information for international European trains and connections. As an offline app, an internet connection is no longer necessary once it’s been downloaded, with the exception of accessing some of the special features. This ensures that travelers will always have timetable information at hand, avoiding expensive roaming costs.

Besides timetable information, Rail Planner helps travelers to find their closest train station with the inbuilt augmented reality function, and there is also a feature which specifically benefits pass holders; rail pass holders are entitled to a whole host of extra benefits, offering free and discounted boat and ferry trips, discounts in hotels, museums and more. Information about these discounts is featured on the app, as well as city maps and country facts for all participating countries.

This free and offline app is already available from the App Store or Google Play. Rail Planner has been developed by HaCon, the leading European player in planning, scheduling and information solutions; who has also provided mobile applications to the German Railways (Deutsche Bahn), the Austrian Railways (ÖBB), and the Railteam Alliance among other major railways and transportation companies.

Eurail Group is the organization dedicated to the management of the Eurail and InterRail Passes on behalf of its members; a large number of participating European railways and shipping lines. Eurail Passes are available for non-Europeans through a network of authorized sales agents, and InterRail Passes are available for European residents via the participating railways and InterRail.eu.

Visit www.eurailgroup.org for more information about Rail Planner App and the Eurail Group.

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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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Lonely Planet Launches Country Guide Apps for iPhone and iPod Touch

 

Lonely Planet has introduced a series of new country guide apps for the iPhone and iPod touch, available now on the App Store. Initially launching with Italy, Ireland, France, Spain, Australia and Costa Rica, Lonely Planet’s country guide apps are the first of their kind from an expert travel guide publisher.

The ultimate guides for on-the-go travelers, Lonely Planet’s country guide apps contain expert content and recommendations and detailed maps for the entire country – all of which works entirely offline so there are no roaming or data fees. The apps combine background information on a country, practicalities, suggested itineraries, and thousands of author recommended places to eat, drink, sleep, shop, visit and see. The apps include information on every region that’s covered in Lonely Planet print guidebooks.

The offline maps allow users to view the entire country, and then zoom in to a particular region, city, neighborhood or street. Travelers can quickly pinpoint their location on the map through the GPS capabilities of their iPhone or iPod touch—all without internet connection or expensive roaming charges.

Intuitive navigation makes the apps incredibly simple to use with easy-to-browse tabs so that users are never more than a few taps away from the information they seek. In addition, users can easily flip between the maps and text.

“Lonely Planet has established itself as an industry leader in the travel app space with almost 10m downloads of our city guide apps,” says Jeremy Kreitler, VP Wireless Services for Lonely Planet. “Responding to user feedback and given the popularity of country guidebooks, we are excited to be the first travel guide publisher to extend our product range to include country guide apps”.

The Lonely Planet country guide apps are available for $9.99 each from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. They are also available as in-app purchases within the Lonely Planet Travel Guides App.

Lonely Planet country guide apps are the latest addition to Lonely Planet’s portfolio of mobile products for the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The country guide apps complements the company’s other travel apps including 70 city guide apps, various audio walking guides, audio phrasebook apps, and offline translator apps.

Lonely Planet is one of the world’s leading travel content providers. Launched in 1973, Lonely Planet enables curious travelers to experience the world and get to the heart of a place via guidebooks to most destinations on the planet, an award-winning website, a suite of mobile and digital travel products and a dedicated traveler community. Visit www.lonelyplanet.com.

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