As I learned from Bruce Willis’s character in the classic film Hudson Hawk, when you travel, you can never be too prepared. And to that end, you can fill your iPhone with a slew of single-purpose travel apps and URLs to access information via the Web, but why bother when you can carry a single app that does pretty much everything a road warrior or Bruce Willis could need?
USA Today AutoPilot is a surprisingly comprehensive travel app that pulls in your travel itinerary from TripIt, along with flight tracking, flight delays, and a robust travel directory with contact information for airlines, hotels, and rental cars. And, of course, don’t forget about the USA Today-powered weather information for your destination and smattering of USA Today articles.
You might recall that we’re big fans of TripIt and recently gushed abot their cool iPhone app. And while TripIt for the iPhone does some of the same things as USA Today, USA Today is far more comprehensive. TripIt lets you track flights and get contact information for airlines in your active itinerary, for example. But USA Today gives you the ability to look up any flight — by flight number or by airport and flight time — to track it. Likewise, you can zero in on any airport in the country for a peek at its delay status.
I’m only left wondering “why USA Today?” It’s like discovering that the local pizzeria sells a really good office stapler. But no matter — this is an app that should be on every business traveler’s iPhone.
