TripAdvisor plays it a little too straight

Right now, my mind is in a very appy place. As a traveler, I find myself turning to my iPhone as a tool every chance I get. I use it for weather forecasting, mapping, translating, converting, finding restaurant recs, tweeting, and much much more. And I'm remarkably willing to pay (a little bit here, a little bit there) for useful, clever, or just plain fun apps. It should come as no surprise that we're working on developing an app (or three) of our own here at Budget Travel. We have a number of ideas we think you'd like, but considering that you always have incredibly well-considered thoughts, we'd like to go straight to the source and hear from you.a) What travel apps do you currently use? b) What sort of tool would you love to hold in your hand on your next trip? (Don't hold yourself back! Dream big!) c) Are there any apps you've been using that you find disappointing? Thanks in advance for your comments…

Let's say you want to take a vacation in South America with multiple destinations. Do you have to fly in and out of the same city? Any tips for finding cheap airfares for flights within countries? Consider buying a voucher for several flights at the same time for a set price that's often cheaper than booking piecemeal. The international airline alliance with the best airpass for South America is Oneworld. The individual airline with the best route network and airpass is LAN. Buy an airpass and then create your itinerary from there. One catch: Unlike rail passes, airpasses generally require that routes and dates be reserved in advance of your travels. Is there a difference between LAN's South America Airpass and Oneworld's Visit South America Airpass? The question is perplexing travelers. The trouble is that you cannot book the South America Visitors Pass directly through the Oneworld website; you must contact the individual carriers, like LAN, instead. A representative at LAN assured me that their pass is exactly the same thing as the Oneworld pass. However, a little digging uncovers some issues. For instance, Oneworld claims that flight prices are based on the miles covered between destinations (i.e., a flight between 561–750 miles will always cost $143.) Yet, two identical six-week itineraries with the identical mileage booked through LAN have a $200 difference in price depending on whether you book in May or August. Also, the Oneworld website claims that an open ended ticket may be purchased as long as you declare which cities you will be traveling too. LAN will not permit open-ended travel. However, fellow Oneworld alliance member American Airlines will honor open-ended tickets and other Oneworld regulations. But there's no easy way to compare prices among the various options. So what to do? If you are patient and budget-wise, book through LAN, which may offer a less expensive flight than booking individual tickets. If you value convenience and want to explore South America at your own pace without advance reservations, call an American Airlines agent at 800/433-7300, who will be able to arrange for you to get the open-ended South America Visitor Pass. (Expect to wait 24 hours for a price quote.) What is Oneworld anyway? Among the major airlines, 11 (including American and LAN) have teamed up to create the Oneworld alliance, which offers various passes for making multi-stop trips. For example, its South America Visitors Pass provides access to 34 cities in 10 countries and allows flexible open-ended travel. Travelers must declare the cities to be visited but do not have to choose specific flight dates. As long as the entire trip duration is between 10 days and 12 months travelers have the ability to explore destinations at their leisure. Flights have flat rate prices based on the mileage covered between destinations, which maintains maximum flexibility at low cost. Sample Itinerary (copied from Oneworld's site: Lima – Cuzco $119 Cuzco – Arequipa $119 Arequipa – Lima $119 Lima – Santiago $203 Santiago – Buenos Aires $143 Buenos Aires – Monteviedo $119 Total: $822.00 —Sara Nicholson, for Budget Travel

Last week I reached out to you to send me your questions about how well an iPad works as a travel tool. I headed down to New Orleans for the French Quarter Festival with husband and baby, toting my iPhone and an iPad. No laptop, no guidebooks—just a light and slim day bag big enough to fit the device. Here's how it scored. The flight test (A): Before setting off, I downloaded a number of apps, videos, and news readers that would help keep me, my husband, and my 17-month-old entertained on the flight. I got Scrabble ($10), the New York Times Editors' Choice (free), USA Today for iPad (free), ABC Player (free), Twitterrific for iPad (free), an Elmo video from iTunes ($9.99), and a series of celebrity Sesame Street podcasts (free). Elmo took up a good 20 minutes of the 3-hour flight time. And then, once my daughter fell asleep, I happily read the day's New York Times—stunningly sharp pictures and all, in full layout—without crinkling paper and waking her up. The street test (D): Top of mind to us all, including reader Jason, was whether the iPad works as an on-the-go travel device. "Does pulling it out on a street corner make you a target for crime like a big visitor's map or guidebook might?" Considering that we happened to walk right by the New Orleans shooting, minutes after it happened, I wasn't incredibly inclined to pull my shiny new toy on the street. But also, since I have the first generation iPad, only Wi-Fi enabled (the version with 3G comes out later this month), I would be at the mercy of a wireless signal and walking around like a fool holding it up searching for a strong signal. Sorry Jason, I had to go with my gut on this one. I never felt comfortable enough. But more importantly, I didn't really see the need to. Instead, my handy iPhone was my go-to when we were trying to figure out whether we needed to sort out which direction to turn to get to Café du Monde. The in-room surfing test (B+): The iPad has stunning surfing potential. But once again, you're really at the mercy of your signal. When it's good, it's great; I've begun to surf on it primarily at home, instead of using a laptop. It's just that fast. We were staying at the Omni Royal, and I was sure to sign up in advance for Omni's Select Guest loyalty program, which grants members complimentary Wi-Fi—skipping the $10 daily fee that nonmembers pay. It was supereasy to connect the iPad with the Wi-Fi signal, and the first day, I happily read the day's news, emailed from both work and personal accounts far easier than on my iPhone, looked up a menu at a restaurant, plotted out turn-by-turn walking directions to sites, and figured out the day's weather. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi was down the next day, so I ended up turning to my iPhone. The flight check-in test (F): I'm a big fan of checking in for a flight before heading to the airport, and I tried to do so from the iPad. No go. After a minute or two of waiting for a page to load, I found out why: JetBlue's site uses Adobe Flash, an unsupported technology on the iPad. If that doesn't say it all, I don't know what does. The verdict: iPad is unparalleled as an in-room entertainment, reading, and research device for travelers. But when it comes to using a real on-the-go tool, I'll happily leave my big slim iPad friendly bag at home, and just slip my iPhone in my pocket.

Like many folks I know for whom schlepping around an extra bag (or two) of gym clothes, train-ride reading material, and brown-bag lunches is a given, I've really come to rely on my assortment of ripstop nylon Baggu totes—they're cheap, lightweight, and eminently wad-up-able. And up to this point, the Del Mar, Calif.-based company has done brisk business with a pretty narrow array of styles—the original Baggu, Baby Baggu, and Big Baggu—all iterations of the same basic shape. As these bags have no closures and no real structure, they've never been ideal for travel (although mine did come in very handy on my last beach trip, where a couple Baggus stood in as beach-towel and snorkel-gear totes that took up no room in my suitcase). But now, the company has introduced two new styles that have serious carry-on potential: a snap-top tote with adjustable shoulder strap in heavyweight cotton canvas ($20), and my favorite, a very simple, APC-esque recycled-cotton-canvas backpack ($28), a style that Verena von Pfetten of Styleite, who is currently leading the charge for a backpack resurgence, would likely go nuts for. Both of these new additions have interior pockets, come in nine rich, mostly gender-neutral colors (red, fuchsia, navy, blue, olive, teal, ivory, mustard, and black) and are available now at baggubag.com.