Associated PressTravelers at Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta.
The Web site Nerdwallet, which earlier this year introduced a tool to help consumers compare airline fees, has added a new feature to its travel site in time for the holidays, to help save time and money at airports.
TravelNerd Airport Guide aims to help travelers make their way around airports quickly and cheaply, with detailed maps of terminals and gates, as well as tools to help find inexpensive parking and compare the fastest — and cheapest — ways of getting to local destinations. Available as a Web site and as a free iPhone app, the airport guide provides information for about 50 airports, including places to eat and drink — or to get work done — on layovers.
The tool joins such popular airport apps as iFly Pro and GateGuru, which have a head start and cover more airports.
Alicia Jao, vice president of travel media at Nerdwallet, says TravelNerd’s guide aims to distinguish itself by offering maps and tools that are both comprehensive and easy to use. It has created its own terminal maps, to make sure details like “pet relief” areas and nurseries are easy to spot on the map, rather than being presented in a list.
For each airport, the site offers quick find options with headings like coffee, terminal maps and Wi-Fi. For example, if you have a layover at Logan Airport in Boston and you’re hankering for a cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, click on coffee and TravelNerd will tell you there’s a Dunkin’ outlet near Gate C25.
One tool Ms. Jao highlighted lets you compare ground transportation options to popular destinations by both cost and time. That way, you can decide if you want to spend extra to get somewhere fast, or if you prefer a cheaper, but possibly slower, alternative.
The option is available for about 20 high-traffic airports. So if you’re headed to, say, San Francisco International Airport and want to know the best way to get downtown, the tool tells you at a glance that taking BART, the public transportation system, is the cheapest option at $8.25, but the most time consuming, at 45 minutes.
The fastest option, it says, is the Uber on-demand car service, which will shave 15 minutes off your trip but will cost as much as $65.
The mobile app features a taxi-sharing feature, to help you find others interested in sharing a cab to your destination.
One important ground transportation option — rental cars — isn’t featured on the site, but may be in the future, Ms. Jao said.
TravelNerd’s new guide doesn’t include smaller regional airports like the one I use most often, and I’m not planning any air travel this month. So I haven’t had a chance to test it on the go. If you have a chance to try it, let us know what you think.
Article source: http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/a-new-airport-app-in-time-for-holiday-travel/?partner=rss&emc=rss