iPad users rejoice – your tablet is finally welcome in Israel

by Scott Carmichael on

In the weeks after the launch of the Apple iPad, travelers to Israel encountered a less than friendly welcome for their new toy when they arrived at the airport.

Citing lack of regulatory approval, the Israeli government banned the import of the new Apple product into their country and confiscated several of them from travelers.

Like any device capable of broadcasting on public radio channels (the iPad has WiFi and Bluetooth), the device has to be tested to ensure it does not interfere with other services.

The Communications Ministry has now conducted their tests, and the iPad is welcome in Israel. Of course, the whole thing created quite a bit of bad PR for the country – which is completely unjustified.

In the United States, all products must have the correct regulatory approval before they can be imported, but any time Apple news hits the wire, everyone jumps on it. Thankfully, the Israelis realized this, and managed to get the device approved in record time.

The press release announcing the approval can be found here (warning: PDF link). One word of warning though – the approval is only valid for single device imports – so if you planned to drag a suitcase full of the things to Israel for resale, you’ll need a different kind of approval.

Ask Gadling – Travel Advice from an Expert

by Annie Scott on

Gadling is pleased to announce a new column that helps us give you more of the information you need: Ask Gadling – Travel Advice from an Expert.

You can submit questions to ask [at] gadling [dot] com — from “What should I pack if I’m visiting my mother in law?” to “Where should I take my disabled niece for a vacation?” Feel free to use a kitschy name like “Stranded in Des Moines,” or we can make one up for you.

The only kind of questions we don’t want are travel booking questions. We are not a travel agency, we can’t arrange your trip for you and we aren’t the Google of flight times. “What are the best places for scuba diving in Mexico?” is okay, “How can I go scuba diving in Mexico for $1,000 if I’m from Banff?” is not.

I’ll be heading up this column, and soliciting the advice of the appropriate experts on the team and elsewhere when necessary. Expect to see answers every Wednesday at noon.

So, are you ready? ask [at] gadling [dot] com — We’ve got your back.

Could Apple fix airports?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Maybe this is exactly what we needed – someone from outside the aviation industry to fix it. With Apple‘s latest patent, iTravel, the company stands to make some cash on mobile payments and paperless ticketing, and it could alleviate the bottlenecks we rush into at so many points while traveling. New regs look like they’ll yield a substantial paperless boarding pass/check-in market, according to a post on SocialTimes, and Apple wants a big piece of it. Hell, Apple probably wants all of it – who could blame them?

Now, it appears there’s potential beyond merely taking paper out of tickets and boarding passes. Other reservations and rentals could be brought into the system, using an approach similar to the iPhone-based payment system adopted by Starbucks. The possibilities are endless, as suggested by the hypothetical proposed on SocialTimes:

Imagine this scenario: you visit an iTravel-enabled website (or via your iPhone), book a vacation package including hotel and car rental, with details downloadable to your iPhone, which in turn triggers information for the NFC chip. A barcode or QR code on your iPhone, displayed by the iTravel app, is scanned for your airplane boarding pass. You can check in your luggage yourself, at a special unmanned kiosk, and claim your luggage on arrival at a similar kiosk, thereby reducing wait times at carousels. You arrive at your hotel without manually checking in, go straight up to your room and wave your NFC-enabled phone near the NFC-enabled security plate, and voila, your door opens. Later, when you go to the check-in desk to ask about restaurants, your iPhone gets a push notification to join an ad hoc network (courtesy of Apple’s iGroups patent) which lets you see if any contacts you know might be nearby. You also get access to special coupon offers for transportation, if you decided not rent a car. You might even potentially be able to pay transit fees with your phone – something trialled successfully in various places around the world.

Apple may not own the travel market yet, but it certainly has the potential to seize a decent portion of it. If Apple were to launch an online travel agency and integrate it with a variety of device-driven services that make lines shorter and reduce frustration, it would be an unstoppable force in this business. To see how Apple could change the business, go visit your local Tower Records. Oh, right …

What is “Travelers Night In”?

by Willy Volk on

Every Thursday from 3:30-5:00 EST, Twitter users who love travel come together for Travelers Night In (TNI) to chat about the latest and greatest of the travel world. Each week, TNI tackles a different theme, and for those 90 minutes, the hosts of TNI discuss the theme with participants. Past themes have included Winter Destinations, Adventure Travel, and Mexico/Caribbean travel. This week’s theme is City Travel, and next week’s theme is Travel for Foodies.

How does it work?

The process is simple: the hosts of TNI ask one question every 10 minutes for the 90 minutes of the event. Participants respond with answers, questions, tips, etc. Each Tweet should include #TNI, so it’s easy for followers to track. If you forget to include #TNI in your Tweet, it’s likely that comment will be lost.

The process is very democratic. It is NOT 90 minutes of hosts lecturing to participants. Quite the opposite! In reality, the hosts throw out questions and keep the conversation moving, but participants do the bulk of the knowledge sharing.

How can I participate?
How you participate is ultimately up to you, of course, but you can easily join in by loading your Twitter page (or your Tweetdeck, or your Hootsuite, or…) and searching for #TNI.Warning: hundreds of people show up online for this event, and Twitter and many third-party Twtitter apps can’t load replies quickly enough. Power users suggest using Tweetgrid — we’ve created a custom Tweetgrid for you here — which allows you to enter search keywords of interest for you. In this case, we suggest using, at a minimum, search keywords #TNI and probably your Twitter handle. You can add other phrases that interest you, if you like.

I’m not on Twitter.
It’s ok! You can still use Tweetgrid (or Twitter’s built-in search functions) to follow the conversation, but you won’t be able to contribute to the discussion. Maybe this is a good time for you to join Twitter? It’s easy (and free) to get an account, and without a Twitter account, you can’t participate. Sign up, and join the conversation.

(If you join Twitter, be sure to follow Gadling!)

I can’t participate. Will you please stop Tweeting so much?
Gadling is honored to have hosted TNI several times, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s great to interact with a community that loves travel, and it’s great to learn travel tips from such a seasoned community of travelers. We learn something every week, and that’s our favorite thing about TNI.

Occasionally, we get comments over Twitter about how we’re tweeting too heavily during TNI. To this, we have to say:

1.) The point of Twitter is to engage, so if you’re unhappy that we’re engaging with readers and followers, we’re sorry, but maybe you should go back to using RSS. However, we think we’re using Twitter in a smart, creative way, so we ask that you forgive (or ignore) us for these 90 minutes of Twitterrhea.

2.) If you understand that Twitter is about engagement, but you still hate that we “flood” your timeline, please understand: TNI is only 90 minutes per week. The rest of the week, we try hard to be conservative, and interesting, and not flood timelines with silly or irrelevant non-travel Tweets. We don’t love flooded timelines, either — but we understand and forgive when there are good reasons for said flooding.

Where can I learn more?

  • If you’d like to learn more about the founders of TNI, head over to ZipSetGo and see what they have to say about TNI.
  • For further reading, check out Adventurous Kate’s blog, where she does a TNI recap most weeks.
  • Join us this Thursday starting at 3:30EST and see what other travel-lovers have to say about City Travel. See you there!

Social Networking and Travel: Do’s & Don’ts

by Mike Barish on

People are more connected than ever before. Between Twitter, Facebook, foursquare, Flickr and all of the other social networking sites out there, you no longer need to leave your house to interact with friends and strangers (looking at you, Chatroulette). Social networking sites are also becoming key tools for travelers as they both plan and enjoy their trips.

However, like any new medium, there have been growing pains. Anyone who has seen their Twitter feed clogged by constant foursquare check-ins knows that some people overuse social networking. These sites (and the new ones that are launching nearly everyday) are here to stay and are valuable resources for travelers. That said, we all need to help the medium mature so that we can stop being so annoyed by people who are oversharing and start engaging in constructive, entertaining and educational dialogue.

With that goal in mind, Gadling has compiled this guide to using social networking as a travel tool. This should eliminate any confusion and help quiet down those who are abusing their newfound connectivity.Updates

Do let people know you’re alive: Rather than sending out mass emails saying, “I’m OK,” you can now utilize your Facebook and Twitter accounts to let people know that you haven’t been swallowed by a sinkhole. A moderate numbers of updates per day lets people keep tabs on you and know that you’re thinking of them along the way. The earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, along with the eruption on the Icelandic volcano, have shown that connectivity can be critical to helping people when disaster strikes.

Don’t give up-to-the-minute updates: If people are more aware of what you are doing on the other side of the planet than they are with what their roommate is doing on the other side of the wall, then you are updating too often. Add something to the discourse rather than just trying to be omnipresent. Put down your iPhone, step away from the internet cafe and go live your life. You can’t share stories with people if you don’t first create those stories.

Pictures

Do give people a peek: Posting a few pictures along the way helps people share your excitement and see places through your eyes. Photographs also act as proof that you are indeed where you say you are while helping to tell your story in under 140 characters.

Don’t give it all away too quickly: No one wants to see your grainy, dimly lit cameraphone photos of what you claim is steak tartar but looks like a watercolor painting of vomit. If you can’t get a good shot of it, don’t share it (suggested by @Ellsass).

You don’t need to share every picture you take while you are still away. Save your full photo upload to Flickr, Picasa and/or Facebook for when you return. If you’re spending hours uploading and tagging photos, you’re missing out on experiences and memories (and more photos) while your trip is still happening.

Lastly, don’t feel as if every moment of your trip needs to be documented and shared. Gadling’s Sean McLachlan advocated going so far as to leave your camera at home.

Crowdsourcing

Do ask for tips: Utilize Facebook and Twitter to find out about local attractions and restaurants before you hit the ground. Gadling’s Jeremy Kressmann touched on this previously when discussing place-dropping. Asking for advice on what to see and where to drink before arriving gives you with more information than guidebooks are often able to provide. Heck, I crowdsourced looking for suggestions before writing this post.

Don’t become a puppet: There’s no need to turn your trip into an entirely interactive experience decided by your followers. Do you really need to ask your virtual friends, “Should I have the flan or the poached pears?” Ask your waiter for some real-life advice. Or just follow your heart (er, stomach). Ask some locals in person while you are there. People discovered local secrets and hidden adventures long before the internet was created. Don’t turn over every facet trip over to crowdsourcing (but definitely order the poached pears).

foursquare

Do check in and leave tips: Including tips on foursquare regarding the food at a restaurant, where to find the door to a speakeasy or what rides had the shortest lines at the amusement park actual make the service a real tool for travelers.

You should also check to see if anyone you know is at that location at the same time so that you can meet up and enjoy some time together in person.

Don’t link your foursquare and Twitter accounts: Sending all of your foursquare check-ins directly to your Twitter feed? I hate you. Your followers hate you. Stop. Unless you are adding some detail to your check-ins (i.e., “New bar with fantastic whiskey selection”), you’re just broadcasting your life and hoping that someone cares. People can follow your movements directly on foursquare if they so choose. Clogging people’s Twitter feeds just to overshare is sad.

Speak for yourself

Do let people know what you are doing: Updating your Facebook status or Twitter feed to let people know where you are and what you are doing is OK so long as your don’t mind people being able to track you down. You’re responsible for what you put out there.

Don’t reveal details about your friends: Just because you’re OK with your parents, employer and everyone else who follows you knowing that you are “so wasted” at Hooters doesn’t mean that everyone who is with you is as comfortable broadcasting that information. Don’t include other people’s names (or aliases) unless they approve of you doing so (suggested by @thecitizeNY).

Dealing with companies

Do follow travel-related businesses: With the list of airlines, hotels and tourism bureaus on Twitter growing exponentially, it’s becoming easier to seek out deals, navigate through problems and speak with customer service representatives. The Wall Street Journal recently published an article about traveling with Twitter and looking for deals. By following these travel businesses online, you can take advantage of sales and voice your complaints when companies fail to meet expectations.

Don’t publicly attack them: If you have a substantial issue with a company, it’s best to reach out using traditional methods. Speak with someone in person if you are at a hotel or airport. Call their customer service numbers. Send them an email or letter. Only if they fail to respond or truly let you down should you seek to contact them via their Facebook page or Twitter account. Going off on a rant or tweeting about them incessantly tends to make you look like a lunatic rather than a victim.

At some point, you need to put your phone away, leave your wifi enabled hotel room and actually do something. Cut the cord (or leave the cloud, so to speak) and enjoy your time with the people who are there with you in real life. Or just be alone. There’s a time to share and a time to live. Knowing the difference will help you enjoy your trip and keep your online followers from deserting you.

There are definite advantages to traveling in the age of social networking. You can find deals, stay connected and share your experiences from anywhere in the world. But without boundaries, we all must suffer through cults of personality. We all want social networking to reach its full potential as a travel tool. We just don’t want to have deal with so many travelers who are complete tools.

This is by no means a definitive list. What did we leave out that you’ve learned from your own experiences with social networking and travel? Share your thoughts on all things connectivity in the comments below.

You can follow Mike Barish on Twitter, Gadling on Twitter, Foursquare, and Facebook and the rest of the Gadling crew on Twitter.