Travel Help from Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless has many a feature that will help you out on the road. My favorite of which is the VZ Navigator GPS application. Especially when you’re using it to find cheap gas in your current zip code. I am a long time Cingular user and while their cellular coverage is great, the costs of getting GPS on my phone are unreasonably high. I came across a press release highlighting some of the Verizon features that are useful to travelers and I thought I would pass them along.

VZ Navigator: VZ Navigator is a GPS-enabled Get It Now application enabling Verizon Wireless customers to transform their wireless handsets
into powerful navigation devices. VZ Navigator gives customers visual and audible directions to a destination, helps locate places or provides a map of a location. The service has recently been enhanced with time-saving tools like Place Messaging, allowing customers to send directions to others through VZ Navigator’s new Messages option, and the ability to synchronize searches from the Web site to VZ Navigator-capable phones. VZ Navigator is available for $9.99 for unlimited monthly access or $2.99 for one-day use on select Get It Now-enabled phones in the getGOING or Tools on the Go shopping aisle. Why do I like this better than a regular GPS system? Well, its one less thing you have to carry and it’s (obviously) SUPER portable. Great for when you’re in the city with your car parked.

News And Weather Updates On The Road: Verizon offers current news and weather conditions to help you plan your travel. Not that you normally have much choice in business, but it’s still handy. Whether at the airport, on a first-time visit to a busy city or relaxing on the beach, Verizon Wireless customers can stay connected to the world, office, friends and family with Mobile Web 2.0(SM), a service that lets customers browse news, weather and e-mail right from their wireless phones. Mobile Web 2.0 is available for $5.00 monthly access, plus airtime, if purchased as a standalone service from the phone. Additionally, customers in V CAST coverage areas can get video content on-demand to stay abreast of breaking news, weather and travel information. Customers with V CAST-enabled phones can check out V CAST whenever they want for just $3.00 for 24-hour use or by signing up for the $15.00 V CAST VPak monthly subscription. That sounds fun!

Gas Price Finder: Gas costs add up quickly for frequent summer travelers, so Verizon Wireless customers can use their mobile phones to find the lowest price for gas — even before putting keys into the ignition. FuelFinder enables Verizon Wireless customers with Mobile Web 2.0-capable phones to search for the best deal on fuel by ZIP code, city or recent search, with regular updates on more than 110,000 stations from coast-to-coast, as often as every two hours. Verizon Wireless customers also can view an interactive color map on their phones that plots out FuelFinder’s results and provides turn-by-turn directions to any selected gas station, limiting the amount of time customers have to spend on the road trying to find a gas station. FuelFinder is available on Mobile Web 2.0-capable phones for $1.99 monthly access.

Roadside Assistance: Verizon Wireless has Roadside Assistance service for customers that follows a customer’s wireless phone, so emergency help in the United States or Canada is always easy to reach — whether the customer is in his or her
own car, a friend’s vehicle or a rental. The customer’s wireless phone simply needs to be at the scene of the breakdown. For only $3.00 per month, emergency help including towing, lockout services, fuel delivery, battery boost, tire service, winching and mechanical adjustments is always a phone call away and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Customers who subscribe to this service and who have text messaging-capable handsets can dial #ROAD from the handset for assistance. They will be asked to provide their 10-digit wireless phone number. Sounds even better than AAA (besides missing out on all of the great discounts)