iPads take on hotels, airlines and the Eiffel Tower

When I heard that Apple launched a travel workshop on May 1 geared toward iPhone/iPad owners, I was curious. I signed up to find out what kind of secrets they would reveal. The course, which spans approximately an hour and is guided by an Apple store employee (a man named Brian, in my case), is primarily a guide to the apps Apple recommends for travelers (here at Budget Travel we've put together a similar list of the best travel apps). There is time for Q&A; at the end, when you can ask questions specific to your needs. So would I recommend it? Well, yes and no. If you're new to the device or haven't spent a lot of time exploring what the iPhone/iPad can do, I'd say it's worth it (it's not like it's going to cost you anything). If you're a tech geek who feels naked without the device, feel free to skip—you probably know all you need to know already. Here's what you'll learn: if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('530767ab-28c0-47b5-bd93-f0983be1beaa');Get the Poll Creator Pro widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info)How to plan your trip. Brian kicked off the course by walking us through the apps that a would-be traveler would find useful in the planning stage. He recommended the Kayak app for booking, FlightTrackPro ($9.99) for tracking flights, and TripIt for consolidating all of the details of your trip. I stand by all of these recommendations. He also recommended Hipmunk, which sorts flights based on dates, agony (long layovers, early morning departures, etc), and price (while I personally like the way Hipmunk sorts flights, I can't say that I've ever found the best rate on their site). How to navigate your destination. From there we moved on to the apps that will be most useful during your trip. Zagat to Go ($9.99) uses your current location to recommend worthy restaurants. Hotel Tonight helps you find last-minute hotels (hopefully you've already planned your hotel before you arrive in your destination, but if you're caught in a pinch this can certainly help). Google Maps, which you can access via the built-in compass feature, is a no-brainer (but I did learn something new—if you double tap the arrow at the top of the screen the map will rotate with you so there's never any question as to which direction you're facing). Weather HD ($0.99) shows you the weather gives you daily and hourly forecasts in cities around the world (my recommendation: just use the free weather app that comes with your iphone). TripAdvisor offers up lists of things to do in your location. How to organize your photos. Brian demonstrated how you can use iPhoto to import and organize pictures by events, faces, and places. You can use iPhoto to create, print (and yes, purchase) your own book, cards, or calendar. I was surprised that the course didn't automatically touch on the importance of picking up a local SIM card if you're traveling internationally (otherwise you can be hit by huge roaming fees). Once I asked about it, however, Brian was incredibly knowledgeable about how to bypass international roaming fees. So what do you think? Does the Apple travel workshop sound like something that you would be interested in? SEE MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: iPhone Tips and Tricks for Budget Travelers Do You Turn Off Your Cell Phone on Planes? The Ultimate Guide to Travel Apps

Have you ever wandered into the airport souvenir shop while trying to kill time between flights? Sometimes all it takes is a little accidental inspiration. When Doug Lansky stumbled upon some of Wisconsin's most awkward souvenirs while killing time in a Milwaukee airport—including the "Wisconsin: Who Cut The Cheese?" magnet shown above—a new website was born. CrapSouvenirs.com, allows travelers to submit photos of tacky souvenirs and otherwise wacky discoveries from around the world. Photos on the website range from the comically misspelled camel from "Egybt" to the locally humorous canned fog from San Francisco ("The San FrancisCAN original.") Other souvenirs are just plain bizarre: Jamaican bananas from Tennessee, a 3 feet tall British telephone booth and "Certified Cow Tipper" coffee mugs. The "Accidentally R-Rated" category is not for the faint of heart, but contains the strangest souvenirs on the list, ranging from Italian Statue of David boxer shorts (showing off his most prominent feature with the Italian flag in the background), to bottle openers made from kangaroo testicles, among other naughty images plastered on blankets and shot glasses. Lansky is also the mastermind behind Signspotting: Funny Signs From Around the World, and creator of Signspotting.com, an online forum where travelers can submit photos of humorous signs from around the world. He is currently working on a book to complement the new souvenir website. So far, my craziest souvenir is from a trip I took with my friend and her family in the summer of 2009. We had traveled around Italy for a week, exploring Milan, Lake Como, Venice and Rome before I stumbled upon my favorite souvenir: A Pope Benedict lollipop. I had been waiting in line at a gelato shop near the Pantheon when I spotted it on a nearby shelf. We want to know: Have you ever bought—or received—a really strange or ridiculous souvenir? Tell us below! MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: Should souvenirs be authentic and locally sourced? Authentic, Affordable New York Souvenirs Supermarket Souvenirs

For anyone who has ever rented a vacation home property before, you know just how many questions and demands can crop up given the wide range of the type and quality of vacation apartments and homes for rent out there. And if you're renting just a room for a short stay, or a shared home —which the website iStopOver.com allows fiscal travelers to search for—you're bound to have even more specific concerns. For those with experience, you know that it's not just about how many bedrooms, the price, or whether the property is pet-friendly, but about everything from what kind of cooking utensils are stocked in the kitchen to whether you can have friends over for dinner. What if you could list all your oh-so-specific demands and have property owners bid on your business? IStopOver.com is claiming that its new tool "Wise Ask!" allows renters to do just that. "There are no restrictions on what you can ask for, no matter how quirky the request or preference," said Anthony Lipschitz, CEO and co-founder of iStopOver.com. According to the Toronto-based iStopOver, the Wisk Ask! function allows users to enter requests as specific as Kosher food in the fridge, a PlayStation 3 in the living room or a five-pound bag of Purina dog food in the pantry. The request goes out to all property hosts in the desired city or region, who can then respond with an offer. It is currently available in 15 cities, including Amsterdam, Barcelona, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver and several cities in New Zealand in the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup in September. In each of those locations, iStopOver.com has between 50 and 200 properties in its inventory. Renters pay a fee of between 12 and 15 percent of the total cost of the rental, which according to Lipschitz still comes in below most hotel prices in the cities on offer with many of iStopOver.com's rooms and rentals costing below $100 per night. The site launched almost two years ago when Lipschitz said he noticed that there were property owners with "a lot of excess space" that could use help paying for their mortgage. And conversely, it offers travelers more affordable alternatives to pricey hotels. More from Budget Travel: Are Vacation Rentals Still Legit? Ask Trip Coach: Vacation rentals The Best Sites to Search

Expedia has re-launched its free rewards program. The program adds earning opportunities, with rewards for booking air travel for the first time, as Budget Travel was the first magazine to report. The online agency recently revealed its reward chart. The bad: Users earn a point for every dollar spent on flights, hotels, and activities. That's unimpressive. The redemption rate is much better for the programs of Hyatt, Starwood, and Priority Club—assuming you frequently stay at the same hotel chain repeatedly on your trips. The good: Users earn 2 to 4 points for every dollar spent on hotel and flight vacation packages, depending on the size of the package. That's a much better deal. This plan amounts to a 4 to 8 percent rebate for booking packages. In another hassle, you have to collect at least 3,500 points (earned after spending about $3,500) before you can redeem them for a coupon, which will be worth—wait for it!—$25 off your next hotel stay. On the bright side, a $25 coupon is more than Expedia was offering before—and it's far more than its competitors are delivering still. Another perk: Unlike frequent flier programs, Expedia's program allows you to earn points for all of the the travel you purchase for yourself all of your family members. There are some ways to game the system: Go to Ebates first and then log into Expedia to earn additional separate rewards—a favorite trick of the rewards blog A View from the Wing. Also, if you pay with a credit card that offers bonus points for travel (like a Bank of America Worldpoints card) you can earn points in two ways for the same travel purchase. It's even more appealing to use a Mastercard through end of August 2011, because of a promotional. Expedia Rewards members can rack up double base points when booking an Expedia Special Rate hotel or hotel package that is paid with a Mastercard. Sign up for Expedia Rewards for free. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Expedia launches rewards program Southwest waters down its Rapid Rewards program Delta drops fees for booking reward seats at the last minute