American Airlines' app

A screen shot of American Airlines' app.

By Terry Gardner Special to the Los Angeles Times

February 28, 2011
With an app and a smart phone, you'll find it easy to plan your family vacation. You can book a flight, reserve a hotel room, find a mall, scout an adventure or rent a car while lounging at your favorite diner or waiting for that foursome to play through. The apps below work on Apple iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads; availability of BlackBerry and Android versions are also noted.


Alaska Airlines

Pros: Schedule flight notifications, generate boarding passes, select seats

Cons: Unable to book flights, track mileage or send push notifications

Cost: Free

Info: http://www.alaskaair.com/as/mobile/apps.asp; works with BlackBerry

American Airlines

Pros: Book flights, schedule flight notifications, monitor standby status, get mobile boarding passes, track mileage Cons: Unable to book award flights or generate push notifications

Cost: Free

Info: http://www.aa.com/app; also for Android; BlackBerry version due this year

Continental Airlines

Pros: Book flights, including Reward Travel, get mobile boarding passes, track mileage status, get push notifications for flight status, currency converter, flight timetable and access to Continental's tweets

Cons: Basically none; it's almost most perfect

Cost: Free

Info: http://www.continental.com/web/en-us/content/travel/wireless/default.aspx; works with Android

Delta Airlines

Pros: Get mobile boarding passes, airport info, weather reports and push notifications, track mileage status, allows for flight re-booking

Cons: Unable to book flights

Cost: Free