I bet you’re all steamed up about your upcoming trip – crazy adventures, new people, deep talks, out-of-this-world food, breathtaking views….but what about the organization? Did you check your flights already? And how much is it one night on average in hotels? How will you move around? What to visit and eat first? Besides making life easier, travel apps make boring processes very sexy actually!
So even if you’re not a digital-savvy, here are the 12 apps you should have on your smartphone before and during your trips (but if life is a journey, does it mean we have to keep them installed forever? 🙄 ).
1- Packpoint
This app will help you organize what you need to pack based on how long you’re staying away, where you’re traveling to and its weather, for example (it sounds better than our moms already…).
2- Kiwi.com
If you’re flexible with your traveling dates, this is the app to use to find cheap flights. You set your destinations (or not) and the period of the year you would like to travel – it shows then the cheapest flights among more than 700 airlines around the world!
3- Skyscanner / Kayak
Skyscanner means certainty and simplicity. Great design, easy to understand and snappy to use, it lets you find the best flights in a blink of an eye (and the Everywhere option is amazing, even dangerous – set a departing city and Everywhere as a destination, it’ll show the cities you could go to sorted by price…shake it up and explore new places!)
Kayak is also very well done. With the feature Explore the World, besides the classical date and destination as parameter, you can now set the price, the temperature you’d like to your destination to have, your interests, such as beach, skiing etc, and finally the part of the world. It’s also a nice way to find out new destinations!
SkyScanner for iOS / Kayak for iOS
Skyscanner for Android / Kayak for Android
4- RomeToRio
Flying is not the only option sometimes. So the question is: I am here, how can I get there? It’s not to be intended philosophically, so don’t be upset if it won’t tell you tricks and tips about life. However, it’ll help a lot with how you’ll reach your destination, showing not only flights but also buses, trains and cars.
5- Duolingo & Memrise
“What is the city but the people?” said Shakespeare. Talking with locals and getting to know other voyagers will make your trip unforgettable, so what about learning the local language, or getting better in English or Spanish maybe? These apps will help you learn the basics (but not only) of a lot of languages through nice “games” and cool exercises. 快乐学习 ! Which in Chinese means happy learning (or maybe “the cat is on the table”, not sure..).
Duilingo for iOS / Memrise for iOS
Duolingo for Android / Memrise for Android
6- Wunderlist & Todoist
Plannin’ aint easy! Especially if our mind is overwhelmed by our trip and we can’t think straight – so we need something to remind us about our schedule and time plans. I find that Wunderlist and Todoist are great apps for such purpose (but can be used for other things too). You can have different lists, set priority, date and time, location and much more. Let’s plan!
Wunderlist for iOS / Todoist for iOS
Wunderlist for Android / Todoist for Android
7- Roomer and Hotel Tonight
When it comes to booking hotels or hostels, there are two apps for me: Airbnb and Booking.com. But since you know them already, there’s no point talking about them. Instead, I’d like to introduce to you Roomer and Hotel Tonight. Roomer lets you sell your hotel room if for any damn reason you have to cancel it. On the other hand, you can also check out who’s selling and buy therefore fancy hotel rooms for half the price, sometimes even less!
On Hotel Tonight, you can find unsold rooms and save some money while enjoying nice hotels!
Roomer for iOS / Hotel Tonight for iOS
Roomer for Android / Hotel Tonight for Android
8- Momento
Instagram helps us share our photos and videos with the world. But sometimes you just want to capture some moments and keep them for yourself. Here’s what Momento is meant for: a digital private diary.
Extra: for those of you want to take it up a notch, use 500px for high quality photos where photographers share their equipment and techniques too.
(only available for iPhone)
9- Guides by Lonely Planet & Musement
Who of us doesn’t know Lonely Planet? Well the travel magazine par excellence has an app. Really well done too! For those of you who want to explore other sources, musement is a nice alternative (though a little different) where you can download guides, but also buy tickets and tours.
Guides by LP for iOS / Musement for iOS
Guides by LP for Android / Musement for Android
Extra: if you have a Google email address, then consider Google Trips: it synchronizes emails from your airlines and hotels, understands the destination and provides you with a guide plan of the destinations, without your tapping a single thing! Well done Google, well done.
10 – Budjet
Traveling can be expensive too. We always believe that we have all the expenses figured out, and then we come home broke. It’s not a bad idea tracking them, to have an overview of how much we are spending and where – it could save us a ton of money! Budjet is a cool app and helps you categorize your expenses and set goals. Saving money hasn’t been so easy (…).
(only available for iPhone)
11- Cool Cousin
Let’s talk social. What kind of type are you? A student, maybe a little hipster, into techno music? Good, you can check if in the city you’re traveling to there’s someone similar to you on the app that has saved their favorite bars, restaurants, attractions…and of course, you can also write with them for further questions!
(only available for iPhone)
12 – AirHelp
So your flight is canceled, or has some delay. What do you do? You can start jumping around and screaming like a crazy, or check out AirHelp to see if you’re entitled for a compensation up to 700$. Flight cancelation or delay has never been so sweet.
One more thing…
Despite the fact that it’s not an app, we want to suggest another platform: numbeo.com. It lets you see the average prices of your destination, divided in categories, and even compare it to your hometown to get a better overview of the costs and expenses you’ll be facing.
Do you use or know about other cool apps we should list? Let us know!
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