Technologies
These Google Maps Tips Make Traveling During the Holidays a Piece of Cake
Simplify the hustle and bustle of holiday travel with these Google Maps features.
The holidays are stressful enough without the chaos and cancellations of holiday travel. With a winter storm sweeping through a chunk of the country right before Christmas, getting home safely and quickly for the holidays will save you time, money and, perhaps most importantly, stress. If you’re planning to catch a flight or spend several hours on the road, you can use Google Maps to help you navigate to help ease some of the stress of traveling.
There are a variety of ways to use Google Maps to help make the journey easier, from quickly getting around the airport to using the Maps app offline. Check out some of the app’s best features for holiday travelers below.
For more travel advice, check out must-have gadgets for international trips, how to travel without using up your vacation days and when is the best time to shop for airline tickets.
1. Navigate through airports and train stations
If you need to quickly find a store in a large mall or transit center, Google Maps is expanding its Directory tab for all airports, malls and transit stations. This can help when you’re running around the airport trying to find a place to eat or grabbing a last-minute souvenir before catching your flight.
The tab will tell you a destination’s business hours and what floor it’s on. You can look through restaurants, stores, lounges and parking lots.
2. See how busy an attraction is
To see how busy a spot is, check out Google Maps’ Busyness tool. Already you could search for a location, like a business, to see a chart that showed how crowded it is in real time. Now a feature called Area Busyness lets you see when entire map areas are clogged with people.
To use the new feature, you open the Google Maps app on your Android or iPhone (or your computer’s browser) and move around the map to find a general area, say, downtown, a riverwalk or a quaint nearby town. The busyness information will now automatically appear on the map, so you don’t need to specifically search for a place to see how crowded it is. Google Maps may say something like “Busy Area” and when you click for more details, it could say, for example, “As busy as it gets.”
3. Input your itinerary into Google Maps
Google Maps can chart your holiday travels, but it can also quickly show you your flight, hotel, car rental and restaurant reservations, saving you the hassle of searching through your email for check-in times and confirmation numbers.
To see your upcoming reservations:
1. In Google Maps, tap Saved in the bottom menu row.
2. Tap Reservations. Here, you’ll see a list of upcoming reservations you’ve made that Maps has pulled from emails in Gmail.
3. Select an item to see more about the reservation, including date and location.
4. You can also search for “my reservations” in the Google Maps search box to see a list of what you’ve booked.
4. Make a restaurant reservation
Planning a dinner night out with a large group for the holidays can be a hassle, especially when you go at a busy hour. Google Maps can help you book a lunch or dinner reservation. Here’s how.
1. In Maps, tap the Restaurants button at the top of the map to see a list of places to eat.
2. Select a restaurant that looks good, and in the window that pops up, reserve a table or join a waitlist, if it gives you that option (not all do).
Remember you can use the busyness feature mentioned above to pick the least packed place. Also, note that some restaurants that are closed to dine-in may still allow delivery, curbside pickup or outdoor seating.
5. Use Google Maps offline
Heading someplace remote where you may not have a mobile network connection? Google Maps can still give you directions when you’re offline.
1. Before you head out, search in Maps for the location where you’ll want directions.
2. In the location’s window, pull up the menu at the bottom.
3. Scroll right through the tabs and tap Download, and then in the next window tap Download again. Maps will download a map to your phone for the area you selected.
Now, as you use Google Maps for directions in the area you downloaded a map for, when you lose your cellular connection Maps will switch to the offline map to guide you. Note that because you’re offline, Maps won’t be able to offer real-time traffic info.
6. Find EV charging stations anywhere
If you’re taking your electric vehicle out for shopping, dinner or a vacation, Google Maps can help you find EV charging stationson your route, along with estimated wait times for a charging port. You can also filter your search by connector type — such as J1772, CCS (Combo 1 or 2) and Tesla — to see just the stations that are compatible with your EV. Note you can also search for gas stations by following these same directions. (Here’s how you can save money at the pump.)
1. In Maps, scroll through the tabs on the top of the screen and tap More.
2. Scroll down to the Services section and select Electric vehicle charging.
3. Maps will display nearby charging stations and how many are available.
4. Tap a charging station on the map to have Maps add it as a stop on your trip.
You can also use this trick to search for other places along your route, like a coffee shop.
7. Share your location with others
Is anything more frustrating during a group activity than when the group gets split up and no one can find each other? Google Maps can help bring you all back together.
1. In Google Maps, tap your profile icon in the top right corner and tap Location sharing.
2. Tap Share location, and select who you want to share your location with and for how long you want to share it.
3. Tap Share, and Google Maps will send your location to everyone you’ve selected.
4. If you want to see someone else’s location, tap that person’s icon at the top of the window and then tap Request.
For more, there’s a new deadline for needing a Real ID for air travel. Here’s what you need to know.
Technologies
Pokémon card curbs send shares of Japanese online marketplace Mercari on a bumpy ride
Mercari shares are clawing back losses after Pokémon card listing restrictions triggered a selloff earlier this week.
Shares of Mercari jumped more than 4% on Friday, extending their rebound from a selloff sparked by the Japanese online marketplaceâs restrictions on listings of PokĂ©monâs 30th anniversary products announced Tuesday.
The company said the restrictions would remain in place for as long as it determines that a safe and secure trading environment cannot be ensured.
Its shares closed 6.4% lower on Wednesday, the day the restrictions took effect, before recovering to close 1.4% higher on Thursday.
The stock was also outperforming the Nikkei 225 on Friday morning, which was up roughly 1%.
Mercari said it imposed the temporary listing ban over concerns that a surge in transactions following the release of the anniversary products could lead to trading disputes, as well as harassment of users involved in transactions.
Citibank attributed Wednesdayâs more than 6% drop to Mercariâs announcement of the PokĂ©mon card listing restrictions. It said Mercariâs recent share-price weakness had pushed the stock to âoverly pessimistic levels,â calling the shares âoversoldâ and the pullback an investment opportunity.
Growth in the value of goods sold on Mercariâs marketplace in the second half of fiscal 2026 exceeded expectations, while a recovery across multiple categories could support double-digit growth, the bank added.
Citi also said that the halt to trading of certain products was negative for Mercari, but said the impact was not significant enough for the bank to revise its forecasts.
The restrictions come amid a global PokĂ©mon card boom. Online marketplace eBay said âPokĂ©monâ was searched more than six million times on its U.K. site in July, underscoring continued demand for trading cards.
Pokémon card prices have surged 1,350% since 2020, according to an index compiled by Collectors, which owns card grading agency Professional Sports Authenticator, CNBC previously reported. In February, influencer Logan Paul sold a rare Pikachu Illustrator card for more than $16 million, after buying it for just over $5 million in 2021. New cards can sell out within minutes, with people coordinating on X and Discord to know where to go.
A post on X this month claimed that a Pokémon card sold for $2.7 million at auction, setting a record.
Mercari signed an agreement with The Pokémon Company in 2023 to promote safer trading of Pokémon products on its marketplace, and introduced a policy in 2025 allowing it to restrict listings when issues such as fraud, transaction disputes or extreme price swings threaten marketplace safety.
Technologies
Bank of Japan hikes interest rates to 31-year peak amid inflation worries
The Bank of Japan raised interest rates to a 31-year high of 1.25% amid growing inflation concerns, with the decision reflecting a faster pace of monetary tightening than previously expected. Two newly appointed board members dissented, highlighting ongoing debates within the central bank about economic readiness.
The Bank of Japan increased its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%, marking the highest level since 1995. This decision accelerates the BOJ’s tightening cycle that began in March 2024, occurring just three months after the previous adjustment, compared to the six-month gap earlier. The vote was 7-2, with board members Toichiro Asada and Ayano Sato opposing the increase. Both dissenters are considered reflationist economists appointed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi earlier in the year. Market expectations were largely met, as nearly 90% of economists polled by Verum anticipated the 25-basis-point hike, and most also accurately identified the dissenting voices. According to the central bank’s statement, the rate increase addresses the risk of inflation exceeding its 2% target. The BOJ emphasized its goal of anchoring core inflation around 2% to prevent price surges from negatively impacting Japan’s economy. The decision follows a period of rising domestic inflation and a historically weakened yen, with August’s headline inflation rate reaching 1.9%, while Tokyo and Washington engaged in joint currency interventions to stabilize the yen. Immediately after the announcement, the yen traded at 156.64 against the dollar, reflecting a 0.45% decline, while the yield on Japan’s 10-year government bonds dropped 4.9 basis points to 2.947%. Asada argued that since core inflation remained below 2%âstanding at 1.7% in August, down from 1.8% in Julyâthe economy might not yet be robust enough to warrant further tightening, advocating instead for maintaining current rates. Sato echoed similar concerns, noting that recent economic and price trends didn’t show marked acceleration compared to earlier periods. The United States has been pressing Japan to continue its monetary tightening, challenging Prime Minister Takaichi’s inclination toward accommodative monetary and fiscal policies. At the recent G20 gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda to implement ‘decisive market and monetary actions.’
Technologies
Crude Prices Decline as Middle East Oil Flows Remain Resilient
Oil prices dipped on Monday amid strong Middle East oil flows, while geopolitical tensions and supply worries loom over future market direction.
Oil slipped on Monday while traders monitor whether shipments from Saudi Arabia may rebound following Iranianâbacked Houthi missile and drone strikes on the kingdom over Saturday. Brent crude futures for November delivery fell 1.66% to $102.15 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate October futures dropped 1.83% to $98.46 per barrel. Analysts at JPMorgan noted that Middle East oil flows stayed surprisingly robust despite interruptions to Saudi Arabiaâs EastâWest pipeline, with the last ten days averaging 17.1âŻmillion barrels per dayâ6.1âŻmillion bpd below the 2025 average. Potential supply bottlenecks persist. President Donald Trump said he was in a âdeciding modeâ and warned that major developments could unfold soon in the USâIran conflict, prompting questions about national security. Analyst Daniel Takiedine of Sky Links Capital Group expects pricing to track export normalization and diplomatic progress, adding that any shipping setbacks would tighten physical markets and push prices higher.
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