Airport app

New version of FlySmart airport app now available

 

A new version of the free “FlySmart” app is out and this time around Clear Channel has added flight push notifications and Bing Maps to the mix in hopes that you’ll use this mobile travel app over the very popular GateGuru airport app and others on the market.

The new FlySmart app is an enhanced/improved version of SapientNitro’s goHow airport application and covers 96 U.S. and international airports, including Boston, Denver and Minneapolis, which are partner airports.

The application says it allows passengers to add ratings and feedback about restaurants, shops and services at the airport and there’s a button to rate a place and send feedback.  Actual reviews don’t yet seem to be available.

The promoted features include “Suggestions for things to do in the area,” and I was hoping for some tips on nearby outlet malls, bowling alleys or multiplex movie theaters, but all I see are very general listings of restaurants and hotels that may be – or may sort of be – nearby the airports.

Someday these apps will offer everything you need to make your way to, from and through any airport, but in the meantime I think tracking your flight with your airline and going directly to an airport’s own website is going to provide you with the most up-to-date and complete information.

(Disclaimer: One of my projects is the 50 airport guides currently on the USATODAY.com website. I update about 25 of those guides each month with information I gather directly from the airports and from my own research. [It’s geeky, but I read a lot of airport newsletters.] “My” guides aren’t really competing with the automated mobile apps out there that grab general info from airport websites and add searchable maps, but I just thought you should know.)

 

Tasty tidbits for travelers: fresh eats at airports

What can you do when you’re stuck at the airport?  Eat!

Lucky for you there are some new dining options at several U.S. airports.

 

If you’re hungry at JFK’s Delta Terminal 3 and don’t want to give up that seat you finally found by the power outlet, starting Thursday, May 5th they’ll be an app for that.

HMSHost and Airside Mobile are launching the B4YouBoard iPhone App that will let you use your smartphone to order food, pay for it and have it delivered to you within 20 minutes (they promise) at six delivery zones inside the terminal.

The service will expand in the future, but for now the app will only work at JFK’s Delta Terminal 3, only on iPhones and only if you want to eat something from Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market or Chili’s Too between noon to 8 pm.

Still, if it’s a busy afternoon and you’ve finally found a seat and spread out your stuff, you can see how having in-airport food delivery – to eat there or take on the plane – might be very convenient.

Elsewhere…

Eat up!