Travel

An IATA Travel Pass app is expected to go live sometime within the next couple of weeks, enabling travelers to prove to airlines that they have received COVID-19 vaccinations and/or tested negative for the infection.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the trade association for airlines, representing almost 300 of them …

A new large-scale consumer satisfaction survey from JD Power has revealed bad news for the travel industry. More than 12,000 users of airline, hotel, travel agent, and car rental apps found relatively low levels of satisfaction.

Ease of use was particularly problematic …

Expand
Expanding
Close

There was a time in my life I would have really appreciated OneAdaptr’s OneWorld PD. Starting in the late 1990s, I took a decade-plus detour in my writing career into new product development in the tech sector. This saw me travel to more than 70 different countries, and at times spend as much time out of the UK as in it.

Keeping all my gadgets powered and charged required quite a few power bricks and travel adapters. These days, things are very much easier – and the OneWorld PD is a big step closer to the perfect travel charger for all my iDevices …

Expand
Expanding
Close

The Christmas and New Year holidays are behind us, but China and a couple of other countries in Asia are now gearing up for the Lunar New Year holiday.

The Chinese New Year, or Tet in Vietnam, is the biggest holiday on the calendar over here. It triggers the largest human migration in the world as millions of Chinese working in the metropolises of Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and other buzzing cities head back home to visit their families.

I’ll be leaving town, too, which got me thinking about the tech I’ll be bringing with me. I’m fortunate to do plenty of international travel each year, mainly because flights from Hong Kong are cheap and there are a number of amazing destinations within a couple of hours’ flight. (Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, I could go on…)

Expand
Expanding
Close

T-Mobile is extending Simple Global, the scheme that pretends to offer you free unlimited data when travelling, to 210 countries – up from the previous 140.

We say ‘get what you pay for’ as what you actually get free of charge is 2G data, but it will now offer a chargeable option for LTE data …

Expand
Expanding
Close

I’ve always travelled hand-baggage-only (except when taking my bicycle with me), and when you carry as many gadgets as I do, that can require some efficient packing.

I usually travel with my MacBook Pro, iPad, camera & lens, drone – and sometimes a test gadget or two. Plus, of course, chargers and cables for all of the above.

The higher power output of the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar means that I can use it as a charging hub, but if you’re looking for standalone chargers, as well as a way to reduce the bulk of a MacBook charger, OneAdaptr has some very neat solutions …

Expand
Expanding
Close

Traveling can disrupt even the best laid plans, and with today’s connected lifestyles, the stress of an unexpected situation is only exacerbated if you’re worrying about keeping your devices powered up. Combine that with the chaos and and spectacle that is the annual Consumer Electronics Show, and you’ve got the perfect storm for a travel headache.

Earlier this month, I spent 5 days in Las Vegas for CES 2018. With me came The Carry-On, modern and thoughtfully designed luggage with USB power sent over to try out by Away. Over the course of the show I put The Carry-On to the test, traversing miles of hotel, casino, and airport carpeting to bring you my thoughts. Let’s take a look at how well it held up and how it kept my devices charged…

Expand
Expanding
Close

When the Department of Homeland Security implemented a ban on laptops and tablets being carried in hand baggage on US-bound flights from a number of international airports, it seemed obvious that this was going to hit airlines hard. This has now been confirmed by an AP report …

Expand
Expanding
Close

Gatwick Airport, the second-largest of London’s airports, has installed around 2,000 iBeacons to help passengers find their way around the terminals.

While phase 1 of the project is rather basic – merely showing people where they are on a digital map – the second phase will provide augmented reality navigation, guiding passengers to their gates by overlaying arrows on live images of the terminal. The airport is also considering a more ambitious third phase …

Expand
Expanding
Close

As someone who prefers to travel handbaggage-only, gadgets can often prove a challenge. As I like to keep up with photo editing as I go, I generally travel with my MacBook Pro as well as iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch and a compact camera. Not only do I need space for the gadgets themselves, but also the associated cables and chargers.

But for a trip to Havana last week – a destination I finally managed to check off from my bucket list – I decided that I could get by with two camera batteries and use my MacBook Pro to charge everything else …

Expand
Expanding
Close

Online check-in is great when travelling hand-baggage only, but doesn’t save much time when you have hold baggage. The waiting in line you used to have to do at check-in you now do at the baggage-drop instead.

But luggage-maker Rimowa has a solution. Its latest luggage range has a built-in e-ink display the exact dimensions of an airline baggage-tag, and your airline app can transmit the correct details to the bag via Bluetooth. A dedicated drop area then lets you skip the queues …

Expand
Expanding
Close

T-Mobile today announced a deal with Cuban carrier Empresa De Telecomunicaciones De Cuba, S.A. (ETECSA) that will see its customers get access to voice, text and data while traveling to Cuba as well as lower rates on calls to landlines and wireless phones in the country from the US.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Flight tracking apps have been popular on iOS for as long as the platform had the App Store, and this fall Apple is baking a key function of those apps right into the operating system. A little known feature called ‘flights data detector’ is included in both iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan but was not highlighted on stage during Apple’s WWDC keynote. As one Reddit user highlighted, the feature lets iOS automatically detect when text is referencing a flight and allows users to actually check on the flight’s status and progress with an attractive interface. Here’s how it works on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Over the past six months, I’ve published quite a few tutorials to help Mac users improve the performance of older computers, as well as some great guides to the best Mac accessories across a variety of categories. Today, I’m tying them all together in this handy, one-stop roundup of the best Mac accessories and upgrades.

This guide walks you through everything: in one place, you can learn about the best Mac hard drives, RAM upgrades, docks, keyboards, trackpads, stands, bags, and travel accessories out there. And you can also get free apps to improve your Mac’s storage and responsiveness, find plain English explanations of your Mac’s technical specs, and learn about the little security screws Apple uses to tamper-proof its machines. There’s a lot inside, so you may want to bookmark this piece for future reference!…

Expand
Expanding
Close