Travellers with Star Alliance member airlines such as Air China, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Thai and United have scored a dedicated iPhone app this morning.
As you would expect, "Star Alliance Navigator" makes it easy to find flights for any route with a Star Alliance airline, but also has some nifty features that make it worth the download.
One of the best extras is the ability to quickly create an itinerary of flights...
... and then add them to your iPhone calendar. (We wish airlines would make this a standard option across the board on their booking confirmation emails!)
There's also a well-designed lounge-finder. No matter what city you're in, you can click the 'near me' button and find the closest airport and where the Star Alliance lounges are located in the terminal.
There are also basic terminal maps that can be pinched-and-zoomed.
Flight status lookup is available, saving you the hassle of using airport websites or Star Alliance's ghastly 90s-era mobile website.
The app also has a thoughtful 'offline-mode' addition, which caches data that has already been downloaded and allows you to access the info when a wireless connection isn't available.
Finally, there's the obligatory city guides section, which declares that typical Australian cuisine is a 'meat pie and a can of beer'. (Perhaps not absolutely typical for the Star Alliance business traveller, though!)
Star Alliance Navigator also works on iPad -- but only in "iPhone" screen-size mode (or in the iPad's optional blocky 2x scaled-up mode).
You can download it at the iTunes app store -- Australia | US.
Virgin Blue - Velocity Rewards
12 May 2011
Total posts 66
All we need now them is for Virgin Australia to jon Star Alliance soon!
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