Google Earth is still a PR tool tho, let's be honest. As an application it's still too indulgent for this sort of use case [journey planning], partly because the data layers are proprietary [usually].
Well, I think that there really interesting applications with Google Earth. But I will cede that it is down to what kind of data is available. Recently, my better half flew to San Francisco. Once her flight entered North American airspace, I tracked her flight in real time laid over Google Earth using data from
http://www.fboweb.com/antest/ge/intro.aspx?old=1
http://www.lifehacker.com/software/top/google-earth-live-flight-tracking-161162.php
They have premium services and software, but this was a stunning free service. Granted it only works for 5 major airports in the US, but it is a very interesting concept. Fun possibilities.
best,
k
