Last weeks winning tip goes to Adam C, and his tip was our monthly winner for December! Send Rick an email with your address so we can send out your $100 gift card!

“Many cards have rotating quarterly bonuses or bonuses for spending in special categories, such that cardholders earn above the normal 1% return. Use simple paper labels and ink or permanent markers to mark on the face of the card which categories the card earns more points/should be used for. For example, my Chase Freedom is now marked “Amazon/Gas” for the first three quarters of the year, while my American Express Blue Cash now reads “6pts grocery, 3 gas.” This tip should help those of us who have multiple cards in our wallet, or partners who are second-cardholders and aren’t as on top of the miles game.- Adam”

Last weekend I had the joy of having Rick and my mom in town for some quality time. As you all know we have added the first grandchild and official “Frugal Travel Dude” to the world. It was a great time. Although, during that visit I learned that the Frugal Travel Guy himself is in need of some tech updates. He has virtually no Apps on his iphone! Not even a travel App! I took it upon myself to download Priority Pass for him and then go on a hunt for Apps available for travelers. Here is what I found:

B4 You Board – Free
Right now this service is available at Chicago O’hare, JFK and Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airports. If you are running out of time and cannot wait in line, or sit down to eat use this app to actually order your food from your phone. You can choose to “pick-up” your order on the go or actually have it “delivered” to your gate. As of right now they have restaurants such as Chili’s, Rock Bottom, and French Meadow Bakery and Cafe participating. Amazing! I am going to try this in Chicago this summer. Maybe if this catches on they will start offering it in more airports.

Flyers Rights – $0.99
This app provides you with all the latest information on passenger rights, covering topics such as baggage, delays/cancellations, and bumping. It also provides guided advice about what to do when your personal rights as a passenger have been violated or laws broken by the airline companies and how to file a complaint. One example is information on the new tarmac delay laws, how to time a delay and the proper course of actions to take if the delay exceeds the limit. The app provides phone numbers to every airline, the DOT and media outlets such as the New York Times, USA Today and Bloomberg. You won’t know what you are intitled to if you don’t know your rights.

Airport Transit Guide by Salk International – $4.99
This app holds all the essential information for the transit from the airport to the city. The App shows travelers:
- Taxi rates
- Airport Coach, limo and van shuttle schedules and pricing
- Train, subway, bus fares, schedules and routes.
- Parking rates
- Car Rental agencies
- Unique airport specific transportation such as cruise-port transfers and helicopter service.

Room 77 – Free
A hotel room “search” of sorts, a lot like seat guru for the airplane, Room 77 has developed a search engine to find your perfect hotel room. They store a wealth of information on each room, like the floor plans,amenities,view, bed type, price, wifi signal, room size, distance to the elevator etc. You set your preferences and they search the hotels and come up with a room to best fit your needs. Then when you check in or make a reservation you can request this specific room.

Open Table – Free
Get Free, instant and confirmed restaurant reservations. You can plug in your date, time and the number of people in your party and this App will show you available tables at restaurants close by as well as a map feature for navigating your way there. You can search by name, location, cuisine, price, or reservation time. You can read reviews, look at the menu and make your reservation right then for free.

Above are some the “off the beaten path” Apps I have been looking at. As many of you know, most of the major travel related companies out there have an App. You can get an App for virtually all your airline and hotel programs, and all the major booking sites such as Priceline, Kayak, Orbitz and Travelocity. Other great Apps include Tripadvisor, Flight Tracker, Trip It, Urban Spoon, FlightBoard, Local Eats, eCurrency, Goop city Guides, Packing Pro,Gas Buddy, and the list goes on and on. Search them, try them out and spread the word about the ones you like.

Depending on your style of travel and what you will be doing some other Apps to search for are Audio Walking Tours, Starbucks locators, Skype Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi finders, translators, subway maps, location specific Apps, like Walt Disney,Vegas Mate, or Kauai Revealed, and tip calculators. The App world is endless and impossible to keep up with. Delete what you find useless and keep on moving.

-Shannon, The Rookie

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