Gate Guru has all of the answers to travelers' dining concerns
Feb 14, 2012
Traveling through an unfamiliar airport after booking cheap flights to Rome can be overwhelming to some inexperienced fliers. Tourists often wish to find a decent restaurant to relax in while awaiting a flight delay, but the options in an airport are not always top-notch. With the vast size of airports like Rome's, travelers may not want to risk exploring too far from their terminals when they are unsure of a particular restaurant.
After experiencing some horrendous pizza at the airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, Dan Gellert proposed a solution: a wireless application with airport-specific dining and shopping information, organized by terminal and location so travelers could determine their tastiest and most convenient options before or after going through security checks. He created Gate Guru, the travel application for iPhone and Android phones.
One of the major problems he had faced in his own airport experiences is realizing too late that a cozy little pub is only available to dine in before clearing security. Once the passenger makes it through baggage checks and the metal detector, they are limited to the options within their own terminal.
Gellert's travel app has solved this issue, contributing to the highly organized mode of travel that technology has provided for frequent fliers. Described as the "Yelp for the airport" by Business Insider, the app provides personal reviews, star ratings and exact destinations of each dining location within participating airports - about 120 within the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia.
For social travelers, Gate Guru also offers a check-in feature, where users can earn points each time they tag themselves in one of the airport's restaurants or shopping boutiques.
Its greatest feature is certainly the personalized restaurant and shopping reviews, but it can also function as the access point for a traveler's TripIt details and itinerary information.
While the service is highly useful to find the best spot to enjoy lunch, dinner or a cocktail while waiting for flights to Italy, there are a few setbacks that could use some improvement. Its real-time checkpoint feature, which includes security line details, is a great concept, but it relies on users logging their own wait times. The more travelers use the app, the better this service can be to users, but for now, it's somewhat lacking in consistent, timely content.
After experiencing some horrendous pizza at the airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, Dan Gellert proposed a solution: a wireless application with airport-specific dining and shopping information, organized by terminal and location so travelers could determine their tastiest and most convenient options before or after going through security checks. He created Gate Guru, the travel application for iPhone and Android phones.
One of the major problems he had faced in his own airport experiences is realizing too late that a cozy little pub is only available to dine in before clearing security. Once the passenger makes it through baggage checks and the metal detector, they are limited to the options within their own terminal.
Gellert's travel app has solved this issue, contributing to the highly organized mode of travel that technology has provided for frequent fliers. Described as the "Yelp for the airport" by Business Insider, the app provides personal reviews, star ratings and exact destinations of each dining location within participating airports - about 120 within the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia.
For social travelers, Gate Guru also offers a check-in feature, where users can earn points each time they tag themselves in one of the airport's restaurants or shopping boutiques.
Its greatest feature is certainly the personalized restaurant and shopping reviews, but it can also function as the access point for a traveler's TripIt details and itinerary information.
While the service is highly useful to find the best spot to enjoy lunch, dinner or a cocktail while waiting for flights to Italy, there are a few setbacks that could use some improvement. Its real-time checkpoint feature, which includes security line details, is a great concept, but it relies on users logging their own wait times. The more travelers use the app, the better this service can be to users, but for now, it's somewhat lacking in consistent, timely content.
