NEWTON, Mass., March 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- SeatGuru®, the ultimate guide to air travel, today announces its first mobile app for the iPhone. The free app features SeatGuru's extensive collection of color-coded airplane seat maps -- over 700 with detailed seat recommendations covering nearly 100 airlines. The app also provides users with helpful travel tools by integrating the acclaimed TripAdvisor® flight search engine, allowing travelers to book a flight on the go, and the ability to get real-time flight status updates.

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"We're excited to put the power of SeatGuru's flier-backed seat maps and recommendations in the hands of iPhone users," said Jami Counter, senior director of SeatGuru. "Our free app gives travelers the peace of mind that they've found the best airplane seat at the lowest price, in an easy-to-navigate display to help make the air travel experience less stressful."

The SeatGuru iPhone app includes the following useful features:

• Color-Coded Seat Maps — Backed by more than 45,000 flier reviews, SeatGuru offers more than 700 color-coded airplane seat maps across nearly 100 different airlines. Each seat map includes indicators for good seats (green), seats with some cautionary attributes (yellow), and seats to avoid (red), as well as detailed hoverover comments summarized from fellow travelers.
  
• Flight Meta-Search Engine — Powered by TripAdvisor Flights, the app's flight shopping engine searches for the lowest airfares across online travel agencies, discount airfare consolidators, major airlines, and low cost carriers, so travelers can find the right flight at the best price.
  
• Real-Time Flight Alerts — The app offers real-time flight status updates, supplied by FlightAware, to alert travelers if their flight is delayed or canceled. Travelers can also have notifications sent to family and friends, so they can be kept updated on flight arrival times and other relevant travel information.

The SeatGuru app can be downloaded for free worldwide in the Apple App Store, and has an enhanced flight shopping experience with localized information for users in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia. For more information, please visit www.seatguru.com.  

About SeatGuru

SeatGuru (www.seatguru.com) is the Internet's most comprehensive resource for airline information, incorporating 45,000+ flyer reviews on airline seats, services, and amenities, as well as providing useful travel trips. SeatGuru offers more than 700 airline seat maps covering nearly100 airlines so that travelers can find the best seats before they fly. SeatGuru is part of the TripAdvisor Media Group.

About TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor® is the world's largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools. TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 50 million unique monthly visitors*, and over 60 million reviews and opinions. The sites operate in 30 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to TripAdvisor's millions of monthly visitors.

TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) manages and operates websites under 18 other travel media brands, and together the sites attract more than 69 million unique monthly visitors**. TripAdvisor's travel media brands include www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.onetime.com, www.seatguru.com,
www.sniqueaway.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.travel-library.com, www.travelpod.com, www.virtualtourist.com, www.whereivebeen.com, and www.kuxun.cn.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, Worldwide, January 2012

**Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Inc. and its subsidiaries, Worldwide, January 2012

©2012 TripAdvisor, Inc. All rights reserved.

SOURCE TripAdvisor