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Smartphones can't fly the plane. But they can do almost everything else.

"I track flights on my phone. I check in for my flight on the phone. I do seat assignments on my phone. I make reservations on my phone," said Jill Hamilton, 50, of Woodcliff Lake, N.J., waiting for her ride at Detroit Metro Airport, en route to Ann Arbor. Her BlackBerry Curve never leaves her hand.

When she's on vacation, "There's nothing ... that I can't do on my phone," Hamilton said.

For anyone who still considers it a miracle that we have cell phones at all -- and remembers trying to meet someone at the airport before they were invented -- it's mind-blowing to realize the amount of instant information at our fingertips.

Travel apps can tell you where you are, locate hotels nearby, get you a taxi, find a bathroom, locate the nearest parking lot, book your trip, give you the price of checking a bag on every airline, translate your menu, figure your tip, even download your receipts.

Catching on fast

Smartphone use is expected to jump 50% this year, so that by mid-2011, there will be an estimated 150 million smartphone users in the U.S., according to the Nielsen Co., which tracks the trend. Three in 10 cell phone users already have smartphones.

If you are new to the term "travel apps", it simply means they are simplified versions of Web sites -- new applications created especially to fit the tiny screen of cell phones.

Mason Blackford, 32, of Las Vegas, uses the iPhone travel app Flight Aware to track flight status.

"I just used it today to check the flights for my sister and brother-in-law," he said as he stood at the McNamara Terminal baggage claim -- then turned to find them there and ready to give him a hug.

About 20% of smartphone users have downloaded a travel app. The most popular are GPS navigation programs, flight trackers, hotel and airfare rate checkers and travel logs with photo-share apps, according to a new survey by Ypartnership/Harrison Group, which tracks travel trends. Six percent of travelers have downloaded an audio walking tour of a destination.

Travel apps are incredibly useful, but they do have one big downside -- they can be expensive if you use them traveling internationally.

A lot of travel apps require downloading live data such as location or flight status. Because data downloads are subject to international roaming rates, a quick check of London Tube stations while you're standing in the middle of London could end up costing big bucks back home.

Delta joins the trend

Yvette Curry, 21, of Detroit, uses the travel app version of Kayak, the airfare/hotel rate checker, on her BlackBerry.

"You can go to see all the best deals," she said. She also checks Travelocity from her phone.

Hamilton's favorites are Expedia and Student Universe, a site where she books trips for her daughters on her phone.

This month, Detroit's biggest air carrier, Delta Air Lines, introduced its first travel app for iPhone. The app allows users to check in, check flight status and make changes to flights. Delta joins Southwest Airlines, Lufthansa, British Airways, American, Alaska and Virgin Blue, all of which have introduced streamlined app versions of their Web sites in recent months.

Natt Whitt, 27, of Brooklyn, N.Y., uses a site called InFlight on his iPhone to track flights, but his travel companion Mimi Wolff doesn't use that app -- or any app.

"I don't have a smartphone," she said wistfully. "I'm behind the times."

Copyright (c) 2010, Detroit Free Press   

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