Aren’t we all looking for ways to make travel easier? Well, here are 17 travel apps and websites you might actually use!
On the Road
Waze is a great community-based navigation app. It advises of accidents and traffic on the road. It’s not just good for road trips – it’s also great for your commute to work!
Roadtrippers, as the name implies, helps you plan a road trip. It offers everything from trip planning, bookings, to navigating a trip, and includes things like suggestions for places to eat and things to do and see.
Numbeo was really helpful for finding gas prices when we were traveling in Namibia. Since we knew we'd have to pay for gas in cash, we wanted to know how much cash to bring. It’s also good for locations in the US, and it gives you info on property prices, crime and even pollution! Super useful!
GasBuddy lets you search for Gas prices by city, state, zip code, with listings for all cities in the USA and Canada and it's updated in real-time. Since I’m on the road a lot, I swear by this!
What’s it Worth to Ya?
XE Currency provides currency conversions in just about every currency imaginable! I use it whenever we go away.
Skimmer Scanner So, it's apparently pretty easy to install a card skimmer at places like ATM’s and check counters. And gas pumps are particularly vulnerable since everybody has to get gas, right? But, the Skimmer Scanner app alerts you if there are any skimmer devices nearby. How's it do that? It checks for nearby Bluetooth transmissions and alerts you when one is detected. Currently, the free app is only available for .Android devices.
Flying Around and Then It All Goes Wrong
Tripit automatically transforms all your hotel, flight, car rental, and restaurant confirmation emails into a master itinerary for every trip so all your plans are in one place. You can even view your itinerary when you’re offline. TripIt Pro is a premium app that tracks your reward points, and fare refund notifications. Those services come with a $49 annual fee.
Flight Aware has live flight data, airport delays, fuel prices, airline operational tools, weather maps, flight planning, flight routes, oceanic tracks, and navigation charts. There are both free and premium mobile apps.
AirHelp Flight delayed or canceled but you're not sure what to do, how to get a refund or if you're even entitled to one? AirHelp helps you through that process But, of course, there’s a catch. If you win your claim, it takes a fee.
What Time is it?
Mobile Passport is an app that's actually authorized by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. It helps U.S. citizens and Canadian visitors speed their entry process into the the United States. Eligible travelers with a smartphone or tablet submit their their passport information and answer CBP inspection related questions prior to CBP inspection. It's currently available a one cruise port and 24 airports. Yeah, it's not available everywhere and you still have to carry your actual passport, but it's a start. For details, go to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol website.
Where to Stay and What to Do
Time Out is great for things to do and places to stay, but also I’ve found really great restaurants on Time Out in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland, and in Portland, Oregon.
Walc is an app that helps you navigate a location by visual clues as you walk, rather than by distances. It’s available for both Android and iPhones.
Trip Happy is a booking site that helps you find the best neighborhood to stay in while traveling based on personal preferences and stay near the things you want to do.
How Do You Say That?
Google Translate I’m pretty lucky that I speak several different languages and I have this weird ability to learn languages easily, so I don't usually need a translation app. But if you’re not a language freak like me, you may need Google Translate. The app also has a camera translation option, which I’ve seen in action and is awesome!
Voice Translator is a conversation app available for Android that lets you record a sentence and have it translated in front of you. The app displays both languages side by side so you can actually have a conversation in real time using your phone.
Waygo: Even though I'm really good at learning languages, I wish I knew about this app when I was in Asia last year. While I could get by on basic Mandarin (and I mean basic), reading Chinese was really a challenge for me. This app translates food menus and signs - just point and translate! Super cool! It's currently available in Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
Have you used any of these apps? What other apps do you use that aren't on this list? Let me know about it on Facebook or in the comment section below!