This year we took a trip to St John, USVI as part of our “Year of the B” travel theme. I’m working on my St John trip report and thought I’d share our trip overview and highlight an iPhone application we used during our trip. A good friend is in an integral role with the travel related start-up, My Virgin Islands iPhone App. Below is a high level St John trip overview and an interview with My Virgin Islands iPhone app.

Hotel Credit Cards

St John Trip Report

1. Trip From St Thomas To Westin St John Resort & Villas
2. Favorite St John Beaches

Award Booking

I used 200,000 Delta miles to book two First Class award tickets from Atlanta to St John (Via St Thomas) in December 2010 through January 2011. We used 80,000 Starwood points for a 6 night stay at the Westin St John over New Years. We took advantage of redeem 5 nights for the price of 4 and then added an additional night to meet the 6 night minimum stay requirement.

Favorite Beach In St John On A Windy Day

My Virgin Island Application Interview

We used this application to help plan our trip including setting up reservations at our favorite restaurants and going to our favorite beaches. Our favorite restaurant on St John is Asolaire, the purposeful, agreeable & leisurely passing of time. You’ll see in the pictures below the app has all the information you’ll need to help you on your trip to the USVI. I hope you enjoy the interview and learning about the application.

What is My Virgin Islands application?

• My Virgin Islands is the official smartphone app for the US Virgin Islands Department of Tourism.  Its filled with 1000 places to explore, dine, shop, and stay at in the Virgin Islands. Users can read and share reviews and pictures about their experiences as they explore the Virgin Islands.

When was My Virgin Islands started and how was it started? What did you see that inspired you to start My Virgin Islands?

• The idea for My Virgin Islands started in July of 2009.  That fall we began working on the app and launched the first version in December 2009.  I was inspired by my experience as a traveling consultant.  I realized that there was no real complete guide to the Virgin Islands.  The existing print guides only included businesses that could afford to advertise.  Many of the popular mobile mainland or global travel apps did not have enough content about the Virgin Islands.

What is special about My Virgin Islands? What is the the most useful feature to a person traveling to the Virgin Islands?

• My Virgin Islands includes most of the tourism related businesses as well as a host of restaurants and service providers that are popular with locals but that you may not find in many of the other guides.  We’re constantly adding new information.  The most useful feature to a person traveling to the Virgin Islands is the bookmarks.  There are so many places to enjoy and so many people offering great services.  If you see an interesting beach or find a place with interesting pictures or great reviews, you can bookmark it.  No pages to rip or ends to fold!  Most of all, the app works offline for those who may incur roaming charges.

What are you hearing about your product from your customers?

• Customers really like the app and like that the app is constantly evolving.

Is there any upcoming news about My Virgin Islands we should be on the lookout for?

• The app will soon feature deals.  No coupons to clip or print — just show your phone.  We’re also updating the Android version to include many of the features of the iPhone version.

How can Points, Miles & Martinis readers learn more about My Virgin Islands?

• To learn more about the app, look for My Virgin Islands in the Apple App Store, Android Market, Blackberry AppWorld or visit www.myvirginislands.vi

Bottom Line

I’m way behind where I’d like to be with trip reports but I’m working to finish my St John trip report and will have it completed in the coming days. The My Virgin Islands app came in handy for us on our trip and since my friend is playing an integral part in the apps development, I thought I’d share the application features with you. It certainly helped us out planning our trip.

We used 80,000 Starwood points for an award stay at the Westin St John. Hotel Credit Cards