“What did I do with our flight schedule?”
“Is our flight delayed?”
“Are we supposed to tip in this country? How much?”
“Is there going to be a national holiday while were in this country?”
The answers to these questions and a lot more can be quickly answered by a touch on your mobile phone, thanks to two apps (“applications”) that promise to help you be better organized for your next mission trip.
The first app is a travel organizer app called Tripit. Tripit organizes all of your travel plans into an itinerary as close as your phone. When you receive a confirmation email with flight information, car rental, etc. simply forward it to plans@tripit.com and Tripit automatically builds your itinerary.
The app shows maps for airports you will be using, as well as maps to the city where you are traveling. Tripit also allows you to share your itineraries with family and friends so that they can stay connected with you while you travel.
The basic Tripit app and service are free. For $69 per year you can upgrade to the pro version which sends you alerts about flight delays and gate changes, and gives options for alternative flights. The pro version also keeps track of all your frequent flyer points.
The Tripit app is available for iPhone, Blackberry, and other devices. Find out more and sign up at www.tripit.com.
The second app we’ve put in this category is GlobeMaster: Offline Travel Guide & Utilities. For less than a dollar, this iPhone and iPod Touch app delivers a big bang. It is a travel guide for 1400 cities in more than 260 countries, but that is just the start.
With GlobeMaster you can view maps and more than 4100 photos of places around the world. There is a tip calculator with detailed information on tipping for your current country. It provides information for airport transportation as well as information on local communications and emergency contacts.
GlobeMaster has a very nice interface, and also provides travel alerts and safety tips. This is a great reference tool that you will want to have as you travel. Download it via iTunes.
Have you discovered a great travel mobile phone app? Tell us about it. We’d love to hear from you.
We’re wrapping up our series on apps for mission trips with our next blog. We’ll share how to send thank-you post cards via U.S. mail to your trip donors and prayer partners all from your phone, while you are still on your trip.
Stay tuned—there’s an app for that!