by 29 people |
I travel frequently: almost every week for work, for nearly every vacation we take, and usually via commercial airline. When people find out how much I fly they usually ask if it's a drag; my answer is "it depends on how well you adapt." This Squidoo lens is my portal of air travel adaptation shortcuts. It's a work in progress, but if you fly often, I hope it's of interest to you, too. Finally, I also publish a blog, Seat 1A, here.
ATC Status via RSS
Current ATC status for major US airports
This is an RSS feed of current ATC status. The most recent updates are at the top. If the airport doesn't appear -- no news is good news.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byA-List Resources
These are links to sites that, as a frequent flyer, I just can't live without.
- The Frequent Flyer Wiki
- Another project of mine, the Frequent Flyer Wiki is a collaborative resource of notes and information of interest to frequent flyers, especially regarding making the most of spending time in airports. Read, and if you like, contribute.
- Air Traffic Control System Command Center
- Real-time air traffic control delay status for every major airport in the United States.
- FlightAware
- The best real-time flight tracking site out there. Also lots of info about when airports are and aren't busy. Free.
- SeatGuru.com
- "Your Enlightened Guide to Airplane Seating." A website for information on airplane seats featuring the best seat, legroom, recline information, and more.
- Wait Time Database
- The TSA portal of security checkpoint wait time information. Information on average wait times for every hour of every day of the year, for every major airport.
- FlightStats
- From the homepage: "Welcome to the FlightStats community. Like you, we want the best possible travel experience and know perfectly well that price is only a piece of the puzzle. We are tired of delays, cancellations and the hassles involved in flying." The tag line is "Travel Smarter," and FlightStats has a very robust set of resources -- especially their on-time ratings of specific routes and flights.
Mobile Resources
Pages for when you're in line at the ticket counter.
Most of us who live in airplanes and airports access the web from mobile devices. Nothing can drive you nuts more quickly than a travel page that loads slowly. This is a list of pages to visit via your PDA or web-enabled phone, or from you PC / Mac, if you want pages that load fast.
- AA Mobile
- Mobile timetable, gates, and flight status for American Airlines.
- Continental for PDA
- Mobile light status, reservations, account information, and more for Continental Airlines.
- Delta Mobile
- Delta Airline's site in mobile format.
- NWA.com From Anywhere
- Flight information, fares, reservations, and more for wireless devices for Northwest Airlines.
- Southwest Mobile
- Mobile info from Southwest, including flight checkin, the ability to cancel boarding passes, and contact information.
- United Easy Access
- Mobile flight and Mileage Plus information for United Airlines.
- Air Traffic Control Command Center: Text Only
- A text-only version of the US National ATC system noted in the "A List Resources" section above. This baby loads in about 15 seconds. Access it via your phone at the gate and you'll always have better information than the gate agent.
- Google Mobile
- Google search for mobile devices. Also does currency conversion (just type the conversion in the search box, e.g. "3.5 USD in GBP").
- Mobile.SeatGuru.com
- SeatGuru information in mobile format.
Links For Road Warriors
Links for that special fraternity of people who live on the road.
- One Bag
- A site devoted to packing, luggage, and travelling light out of one bag. Because baggage claim sucks.
- Road Warrior Resources
- Road warrior resources from The Travel Insider.
- Tribute to an Extreme Road Warrior
- Want to feel better about your carry on? Read the story of a man who carries three laptop computers, two power adapters, four mobile phones, a collection of spare batteries and a portable printer in his.
- The Woman Road Warrior
- Business travel advice for women.
- Fast Company: Business Travel
- Fast Company's collection of their "best resources for business travelers looking to improving their life on the road or finding ways to avoid travel altogether."
Killing Time
The delay's been extended ... again?
Stuck in an aiport and looking for ways to kill some time? Here's a set of tools that work for me.
- Watch Movies via HandBrake
- HandBrake is a "GPL'd multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4
ripper/converter." In English, that means it's a free application that lets you convert DVD's into a format suitable for viewing on your video iPod (or laptop, if you choose). I convert a few movies before a week on the road and watch them on my iPod when I'm too fried to work or read. - Netflix
- The best way going to get those DVDs noted above. If you don't convert them for your iPod, take the discs with you on the road.
- Atum
- An addictive little game where you combine atoms into molecules. Shareware for $5 and worth it. For Palm
- Bejeweled 2
- "Bejeweled 2: The legend has returned...and is more wildly addictive than ever before!"
Truer words were never typed. Addictive. Very addictive. "What have I been doing for the last three hours?" addictive. For Palm, Pocket PC, and PC.
Other Lenses
There are a number of other Squidoo travel lenses that might interest the frequent flyer; here are the best I've found so far.
- Flights UK
- A lens about air travel in the UK.
- Time Stands Still In Travel
- Links and tips for travelers.
- Worldwide Travel
- A lens that focuses on travel to the far corners of the world.
- Travel, Airlines, Holidays & Tour in Asia
- A lens that focuses on travel in Asia, with a slight holiday bent.
- Frequent Flyer Programs
- A lense devoted to frequent flier programs.
- Expert Frequent Fliers
- "Do you spend more time in the air than on the ground? Here are the links and resources you need."
Things I Use
Products that help me survive on the road.
Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones (White)
You won't hear anything other than your music, and they're tiny, too.
Amazon Price: $74.95 (as of 07/13/2009) 
IBM Thinkpad X40 2386 Pentium M 713 1.1 Ghz Ulv - Ram 256 Mb - HD 20 Gb - Mdm -
ThinkPad was made for road warriors.
Amazon Price: (as of 07/13/2009)
Mobility PS0055-11 iGo Juice Combination AC and Auto/Air Power Adapter
Take one charger for all your devices.
Amazon Price: $181.99 (as of 07/13/2009)
