Using iphone5 instead of lugging printed hotel and airline comfirmations

Just save the confirmation email for everything on your phone. If some are attached documents download a document reader to your phone.

Tom, I haven't tried it yet, but you might have a look at the TripIt App. There's both a free version and TripIt Pro (which is a bit pricey). The App keeps track of all travel arrangements including flights, hotels, car rentals, etc. I believe the information is stored both on the mobile device as well as their website. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/tripit-travel-organizer-free/id311035142?mt=8 Another App to have a look at is Splash Travel. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/splashtravel-all-in-one-trip/id317478207?mt=8 I believe that's being offered at a special price at the moment, and I haven't used that one yet either. I haven't up-graded to iOS 6 yet, so don't have Passbook available to test it. Good luck!

I "printed" my email confirmations as PDF documents and saved them in Evernote (an app for the phone and also a desktop application on your computer). I just pulled up the PDFs on arrival and showed the hotel staff (if they asked - usually the passport was enough for them). Just be sure to open each document on your phone before you leave, so it is stored/cached on the phone and thus you don't need an internet or data connection to access it overseas. You can also do the same with TripIt as Ken mentioned, or just keep the emails in your email box and access through your phone. You might do a quick search on this site to get helpful hints about avoiding large data charges overseas and how to put your phone in "wifi" only mode.

With Evernote you can set up Notebooks to be accessable off line so you can open any documents/emails/files you've saved.

Write all your stuff on the back of an envelope. Take a picture with the phone. Save it. Save the envelope as well. Take the envelope with you. Leave the phone at home.

One word: TripIt. Check it out.

I've found that the GoodReader app, which stores PDFs, is a great tool for travel (and it's completely off line, which I like). I use it for tickets, confirmations, itineraries, background touring material (eg, printouts from websites about places I'm going)... any of the things I used to take along in paper. Not completely trusting technology, I do bring along a reduced-size paper copy of tickets and confirmations, in case my iPhone (and therefore GoodReader) dies or strays. But GoodReader has really reduced the amount of paper I carry.

Ya, Goodreader is my most used app. It is great for managing and reading PDFs. I print all my stuff as PDFs and store them away in Goodreader.

Ed's advice makes the most sense, but I would keep both the envelope and the phone. Why do so many people have one recommendation regarding GPS for cars (always carry a paper/map backup) but see no need to do the same with smartphones? These things work great until they don't or until they are lost, stolen or drowned. An envelope with hardcopies inside does not take up much space or weight, so I would, will take it along, just in case. Re the original question, there are more sophisticated ways, but I have not passed my geek certification yet, so I simply save the original confirmation email to an Archive folder in iCloud that I can call up if I ever need it. But I still print and carry a hardcopy.

Having a hard copy of everything sounds like such a pain until your phone dies. The paper copies wont take up too much room or weigh very much, but you will be thankful if your phone gets lost/stolen/ dropped in the toilet.

You can always store a copy on Google Drive.

Take a screen shot of confirmations, boarding passes, whatever. The pictures will be in your Camera Roll.

Good thoughts, one and all. Esp the part about yoru phone dying...

No way I'm traveling without hard copies of my paperwork. I don't mind having stuff on my phone and ipad, but I like to be able to see what I need at a moment's notice. The poster that suggested you might run out of battery power, or drop your phone into the toilet is right on! It's not a lot of paperwork to keep with you. I tend to throw away the papers I no longer need along the way, so even that gets lighter. Personally, I like the backup idea to hard copies of photos on the iphone. I use that trick to take pictures of business cards I gather at trade shows! It's always a good idea to have 2 ways to access important information. And...if it's not mentioned yet. DROPBOX is also a great FREE app to use to keep items in one place - if they are in form of Excel, PDF, etc. Call Apple, or go to your local Apple store BEFORE you travel to get tips about your new toy....and make sure you turn DATA ROAMING OFF before you board the plane, or suffer the consequences when you get home! You will love having the phone with you....have you discovered FACETIME? Does any of your family have Apple products? Do they have Facetime? Great way to "call home" for free with wi-fi!

Come on! How much of that crap do you really need? I've never walked in to a hotel, hostel, B&B, car place, or cat house where I needed anything but my name and most people don't need to write that down. You sure don't need anything but an ID/passport to hop on a plane. So, what it amounts to is that you need a note about your return flight. If you're a reservation freak it might be handy to have the dates and places of where you're sleeping. On the thread I wrote a while back about accidentally making it all the way around the world, all my notes where on a 4x4 hunk of hotel paper and the only reason I had to use the ass side was for a sketch of where to go in Bangkok to get a phone fixed.

Tripit.com Does it all. Never heard of it until my son started working for them. There is a free version and a "Pro" for about $60 a year. Very cool app that strips all the "good information" from your email confirmations.

I have to echo GoodReader for encrypted, password protected storage on a smart phone. It reads PDFs very well. I create the PDFs using CutePDF which is a free downloadable program. It esspentially "prints" the page into a PDF file, so you get the same thing as if you printed it. I also like TripIt for travel itinereries. They are stored both on your smartphone and in the cloud. This is a good thing if you are like me and fold your smartphone in half in your aunts hide-a-bed. I could go online and retrieve my reservations. Yeah! And that brings up another side topic. Make sure you store your reservations in the cloud as well as your smart phone. You may e-mail them to yourself, or post them in a secure (encrypted, password protected) online document vault. But that way you will always have access to your info even if your smartphone gets clobbered. It is good to store credit card info, passport info, phone numbers, etc.

BTW, as a smartphone newbie, I would reccommend "iphone 5 the missing manual" by Pogue. It is the "real" users manual. Download the Kindle app and then download the book electronically. That way you have a users manual stored on your phone. This book really helped me to use my phone to its full potential. All bunch of things I didn't know it could do!

* Take a photo of what ever you need, this includes guide book pages (why rip up a guidebook when you can take a photo of the pages you want), tickets, etc. * Use Drop Box, which will then be accessible to you in case you would lose your phone, etc.
Easy, peasy.