I received a pocket flight guide in the mail the other day, and it made me ponder . . . really . . . what do I do with this thing? Delete my iPhone apps and walk into a time machine?

I can’t believe that real travelers use these. So enlighten me — why? Before deregulation, I got it. There was a great guide put out by OAG (Official Airline Guide), and it listed every flight in the world. It had four editions: North America, Europe/Middle East/Africa, Asia, and Latin America. I remember some 20 years ago when I would run between flights and airlines. This is when American Airlines could take a United Airlines ticket and sign it over so you could take the earliest flight. I was just a kid and followed the lead of GT Advisory Board member Frank LoVerme as we ran to the earlier flight. He had a stack of tickets in his name and in the name of his partner, Brian Murphy. For this flight he was Murphy. You see, this was the age of the name did not matter — oh, how easy it was!

But now, all flights have some sort of restriction. Even when I fly first class, the ticket has restrictions; and if I were to switch, the flights are often full.

So tell me again, are these books worth it anymore, or have the Internet and apps taken over?

I tossed my guide in the trash. It was useless without immediate rates and offer information. The guides today offer United States to international points only. What I could use is the intra-Europe, intra-Asia and intra-Middle East guides . . . oh wait, I’ll use the Internet!

— Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO