Recently my partner and I were traveling in Japan for 3 weeks. We flew in from the states to Tokyo and took trains and buses to Hakone, Takayama, Hiroshima and Kyoto. We’ve traveled internationally together before and enjoyed the mishaps that come with the territory, but this trip we were armed with a tablet. My mom gave me an HP coupon to get one and I thought, sure it’ll be nice to play with during down time, not have to lug around a heavy book to read and keep up with email so my family wouldn’t worry. Little did I know what an amazing and helpful tool it would be on our trip!

Never get lost again. Sure, a good guidebook has hundreds of maps. I usually rip out the ones of the town I’m in and carry them in my pocket for easy access, but inevitably I take a wrong turn somewhere. Try to navigate your way to Tokyo’s Kappabashi street from Asakusa with a map and then try using the map function on a tablet that shows you on the map, so you know exactly where you are and tell me which one is more effective.

Store and post pictures online immediately. You can do this with certain phones too, but data plans may apply. With a tablet, you just need to be in wifi range. We visited the Hakone open-aired museum and were able to snap shots of us in front of Rodin’s exquisite sculpture Drowning. It was my Facebook profile picture less than 5 minutes later.

Get up to date reviews fast. I’m a big lover of Lonely Planet Travel Guides, but they are super bulky and go out of date every year. Their website is the best way to have instant access for places to stay and eat, and everything else you might need to know. Book your hostel for the next town before it fills up. Book your Bullet train tickets, decide what you want to do next and find advice on nightlife all from something that weighs about a third of the guidebook.

Our entire trip was enchanting. We always said we never minded getting lost, as it was part of the journey, then we went our entire trip not getting lost once and realized that was just as fulfilling. The important thing is that you visit Japan, but if you grab an HP coupon to take advantage of a cheap tablet you’ll be glad you did that too.

United Airlines – My rating: 5/5
I’ve flown with this airline one time.
Exit row gave me tons of leg room. Personal TV screen to watch movies was nice. Adjustable head rest was awesome! I was comfortable. I was not bored. Flight attendants were curtius and helpful. The ticket counter was friendly as well. Food was okay.

US Airways – My rating: 4/5
I’ve flown with this airline a few times.
Overall decent. First class seats are great. Leather, lots of room. Friendly staff.

Northwest Airlines – My rating: 3/5
I’ve flown with this airline many many times.
Customer service is nice, but the seats are pretty ghetto. Fabric is usually busted up, feels like you’re on a plane they never clean or update. First class is basically the busted up economy class with more leg room. It’s better to save the money and get an economy exit row seat. They’ve always been on time for me though which is nice. The international flight from Thailand sucked because you’re stuck in a busted up seat for hours.

ATA Airlines -My rating: 3/5
I’ve flown with this airline a few times.
Cheap as hell! Same satisfaction as NWA but a fraction of the cost!

Frontier Airlines – My rating: 3/5
I’ve flown with this airline once.
Average. Comparable to ATA Airlines.

Southwest Airlines -My rating:2/5
I’ve flown with this airline a few times.
Flight attendents are a bit strange and too talkative when I take this ariline (which is way early or way late in the day). Also about 50% of the time there are some drunk obnoxious passengers that get out of control with yelling and screaming and having a good time.

Want more information about United? Here you go!

Airline Code:UA
Website:www.united.com
Frequent Flyer Program:Mileage Plus
Lounge:Red Carpet Club
Airline Alliance:Star Alliance
Magazine:Hemispheres

If you are interested in finding the perfect seat, check out my posting:Airplane Seats and Airline Information and here’s a page about Japanese airlines.