Lonely Planet iPhone App & Prague City Guide App

As many frequent travellers using iPhone may already know that there is a Lonely Planet (LP) app on iPhone that offers guides to some 50 odd cities around the world. The app itself is free to download, and comes with a free city guide of San Francisco; but if you are interested in any other city guides then you have to shell out $5.99 per guide from your pocket. Lonely Planet also offers the same city guides as stand-alone apps from the app store. Which means that one can purchase the city guides either from the Lonely Planet app or purchase it as a stand-alone app.

Say, you purchased some city guides as stand-alone apps and then you realized that you could have had the same guides as a part of the LP app. Would you be charged again for adding the same city guide to the LP app?

According to reader Parind you will be. Here’s what happened:

I purchased some travel guides via the Apple app store (and NOT using the LP app) and I wanted to know if I could have those city guides as a part of the LP app instead of a standalone apps and not get charged again. I contacted the Lonely Planet team to find this out and this is the email I got from one of their representatives, in response to my email:
———————————————————-
Hi Parind,
If you are using the same device you bought them on, and if you’re logged into the same account you bought them through, there is a way of ‘moving’ the apps into your Lonely Planet app – which I’ll explain below. However, I have to recommend that you instead take advantage of iOS4′s new function where you can simply drag apps onto each other to create a folder, for example a ‘Lonely Planet’ folder, which multiple apps can sit within.

I hope you like our apps – they’re about to get a whole lot better with new stand alone versions of all City Guides released. Note, this upgrade is free to all existing users, but will not upgrade the apps within the master app – another reason to stick with using stand-alone apps and put them all in the one folder.

If you really want to move your stand-alone apps into your Lonely Planet Travel Guides app, please follow these instructions:
a) Launch your Lonely Planet Travel Guides app.
b) Go to the ‘Buy Guides’ section
c) Make sure that you’re logged in to the same iTunes account you used to initially purchase your Lonely Planet content – This is really important!
d) ‘Purchase’ the title/s you previously owned.
e) The content will download again for free.
Sorry, but we have to say it again: Be sure that you’re using the same iTunes account and you’re re-purchasing the same apps that you originally bought through the master app – or you will be charged again.

I hope this is helpful.

Cheers,
Trent
————————————————————–

Buy city guides on Lonely Planet App

So here’s what I did:
1. I deleted all the stand-alone apps from my iPhone and then loaded the Lonely Planet app.
2. I selected the city guides I had purchased earlier (in April 2010) – 13 of them – and clicked on “Buy now”.
3. It asked me for my iTunes account and password, which I entered. Note that this is the same exact account I had used to purchase the earlier stand-alone guides.
4. I downloaded all of them in the LP app.
5. Just now I received an email from iTunes Store indicating that I have been charged for all the purchases!

This is simply ridiculous!

Parind has contacted the Lonely Planet team again and Apple team with no specific outcome. This means that there’s a bug in the Lonely Planet app that still charges a user for the apps already purchased.

Any thoughts? Send to us in your comments.

Southwest Airlines $39 Birthday Sale (Image: Southwest.com)

Southwest Airlines is having their Birthday Bash Sale with $39 Airfares for select markets and select flights. Most flights 450 miles and under per leg are included.

Travel must be booked by 6/24/2010 and completed between Sep 8, 2010 and Nov 17, 2010. Additional fees may apply.

• Purchase from June 22 through June 24, 2010, 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time.
• Travel September 8 through November 17, 2010.
• Travel valid every day except Fridays & Sundays.
• Fares do not include federal excise tax of $3.70 for each flight segment.
• Fares are available for one-way travel.

Additional details at: Southwest Airlines: 39th Birthday Sale

American Airlines has introduced the “Boarding and Flexibility Package,” which allows passengers who buy tickets on the carrier’s website also to purchase perks that include being among the first to board a flight.

The “introductory price” for the package ranges from $9 to $19 one way and varies based on the market and routing.

Read more at: Latest airline fee? Early boarding on CNN.com

1. Denied Boarding Compensation (DBC) must be increased to reflect the rise in consumer prices since 1978.
2. There must be an automatic inflation adjustment on minimum DBC payout levels.
3. DBC to be offered to involuntarily bumped “zero fare ticket” holders.
4. Airlines must also verbally offer a cash or check DBC if they verbally offer a travel voucher.
5. When asking for volunteers for DBC, airlines must also disclose any boarding priority rules and any restrictions for that flight.

Read more at: Everything you need to know about the new denied boarding compensation rules

Iceland Express (Source: IcelandExpress.com)

Iceland Express just announced sale fares to seven European countries in June for $399 roundtrip, including taxes.

Fly from Newark to Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Poland, England, Norway and Luxembourg. All flights stop over in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Click here for reservations

Route:
From Europe to United States, or vice versa.
- Destinations in Europe: Aalborg, Berlin, Billund, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Krakow, London Gatwick, Luxembourg, Oslo, Warsaw.
- Destinations in United States: The Big Apple itself — New York Newark airport.

Booking period: From 25 May to 30 June 2010.

Travel period: From 1 June to 30 September 2010.

The small print: Limited availability and selected dates. Taxes and fees, including the 11 Sep security fee, are included. Please eat your vegetables.

Aria Las Vegas (Source: Aria Website)

The latest hotel on the Las Vegas strip – Aria – has an excellent deal:

Deal:
Enjoy a $75 resort credit and special room rates of $99 (Sunday – Thursday) and $129 (Friday & Saturday) from May 31 – September 9, 2010. You may also upgrade to a Corner Suite for an additional $50. And for a truly exceptional experience, upgrade to the ARIA Sky Suites for an additional $150.

If you do plan to stay at Aria, then experience the Viva Elvis show from Cirque du Soleil with tickets starting at $50.

Call 877.253.5847 and mention “Summer”.

Fine print:
This offer requires a minimum two consecutive night stay. The resort credit has no cash value and will be applied to charges posted to the guestroom, excluding the room rate, retail purchases, gaming, taxes, or gratuities. This offer is subject to promotional availability over select dates and may not be combined with any other offer. Rates are subject to change and restricted dates apply. Rates are per room/suite, per night, plus tax based on single or double occupancy. An additional per person, per night charge applies to third or fourth guests in the same room.

Click here for reservation and details

Photos: Oslo, Norway

Click here to see the photos
Pictures by: Prasad Bhide

Source & Copyrights: The Daily Beast

Although airplane travel is the safest mode of transportation, and America arguably has the safest air traffic system in the world, there are differences worth noting for the millions of global travelers who will fly a U.S.-based airline this summer. Incidents, and accidents, do happen!

The Daily Beast ranks America’s most dangerous airlines and U.S. Airways and JetBlue came in near the top, while Delta, United and Continental came in at the bottom.

See the results and read more at: America’s Most Dangerous Airlines

Expedia's LGBT Store

Expedia.com users can search for LGBT-friendly hotels and destinations on their new LGBT Store starting today.

Ten gay-friendly cities are featured on the store along with mini guides. Partnered with the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association to find and identify “LGBT-welcoming” hotels, Expedia now allows travelers to search for hotels that have courtesy breakfast and also welcome gays.

From the NYTimes:
Some of the listings seem a bit arbitrary. In New York City, for instance, the Hilton New York makes the gay cut, but not the Bowery hotel. In Miami, the Standard makes the list but the new W doesn’t.

Still, where Expedia’s new gay store really distinguishes itself is in far-flung destinations. In the United Arab Emirates, there’s only one gay-friendly hotel listed, Aloft Abu Dhabi. There are no gay-friendly hotels, according to the site, in Africa.

Expedia: Expedia’s Gay Store

Itinerary
5th June – Night at Jaipur – Trip starts from Delhi at 8:00 am | Transfer to Jaipur – Sightseeing at City Palace, Hawa Mahal, Elephant ride to Amber Fort, Paint Ball Game

6th June – Night at Pushkar – visit the world’s only Brahma Temple, Sunset in dunes, Camel Ride.

7th June – Night at Udaipur – the most romantic city. Experience the art of City Palace,Jagdish Mandir, Shelion Ki Bari, spend some time for your self at Fateh Sagar Lake.

8th June – Night at Mount Abu – nature at its best.. Considered to be hill station of Rajasthan

9th June – Night at Mount Abu – Explore abu at a leisurely pace Dilwara Jain Temple, Bhrama Kumaris Org., Sunset Point, Nakki Lake.

10th June – Night at Kumbhalgarh – On the way from Abu, the group will halt Ranakpur and then to Kumbalgarh for Jungle Safari, Kumbhalgarh Fort.

11th June – Night at Jodhpur – parasailing in Jodhpur followed by a royal dinner at Mehrangarh fort.

12th June – Mehrangarh Fort Museum,Umaid Bhawan Palace and the Train reservation in AC 3 tier with packed Dinner from Jodhpur back to Delhi in the evening.

Key activities:
Paint ball, Para sailing, Elephant ride, Camel Ride, Jungle Safari, Para Sailing and a royal dinner at Mehrangarh Fort

Package Cost
INR 25,000 (approx $545) per person

Limited number of seats.
Confirmation only after 100% payments before 30th May 2010.

This will include
1. Air conditioned Transport
2. 3 star plus/heritage accommodation
3. Breakfast and Dinner
4. All sightseeing, guide charges included

More details – www.78mmadventures.com
Contact – rathore@78mmadventures.com