Travel Apps You Need
All of these are free apps. I use an iPhone so I’ve put websites where I can and a link to the App Store where I can’t, but hopefully all these are on the Google Play store too. 😊
This is a mix of some of my must-have travel apps and some I’ll need for the UK in the fall.
My fave travel widgets: Google Translate, Been, Maps, and United.
LoungeBuddy—put in your various passes and what fare class you have on your ticket and find out which lounges you have access to that are close to your gate. Check out the reviews to decide which is best!
My Currency Converter—currency exchange rate calculator that downloads rates for offline conversions, but as long as you have cell service or wifi it updates the rates automatically. I used to use Xe which is still a good option if you want to track multiple currencies at the same time, but for shopping and quick calculations abroad I like the large calculator display of My Currency Converter.
TripCase—we’ve been using this one for 10 years! You forward all your emails to trips@tripcase.com and it compiles it all into a cute itinerary with all your confirmation numbers, reservations, etc. You can invite other email addresses to view your itinerary and you can even access tripcase.com on a computer for a printable version.
Been—track all the states/countries you have visited! They just released an update in 2022 and it’s even better than it was before.
Viator—day trips and tours that can be booked last-minute on your trip or pre-booked. In Italy we booked a Tuscany olive farm, pig farm, winery tour that included stopping at 3 small Italian cities and it was heaven. Picked us up at our apartment at 8am and had us back by 8pm. In Jordan we booked this Viator the night before and sure enough the driver was there in the morning! They have a website too, but the app is best for on-the-go.
DayTrip—this is a website, not an app, but it’s mobile friendly. DayTrip is for booking private transportation. I especially appreciate the pop-up option to add on a stop (for very reasonable prices) at highlights along your route and your driver will wait for you. We like to live on the edge so sometimes we just book it the night before. This is terrible advice, but it's what works for us!
Mozio.com—The website Mozio is amazing for booking a ride. This is our go-to Hail Mary for when we need a ride to the airport. (A hard knocks lesson we should have learned wandering the Roman streets at 4:00 AM with luggage looking for a taxi and barely made the flight—but clearly didn't learn our lesson because we still don't pre-book airport transfers!) In Egypt, Uber was super unreliable so we were nervous about getting to the airport. At 11:00 PM the night before, Dantan booked a Mozio and sure enough, at 5:30 AM a driver was there to pick us up. That is super impressive!
WhatsApp—free messaging app used by most people in other countries instead of a pre-installed texting app.
Google Translate—pre-download the language you need for offline use!!
Rome2Rio—this app shows you every possible way to get from Point A to Point B. Maybe you didn’t realize the fastest and cheapest way is a night train, which just sounds fun anyway! Also available as a website, this one might be most helpful in the planning stages, but has use on trips too.
FlightView—this app has saved our bacon before. I have to give my Mamacita, Linda, props for showing me this one. It works best for domestic USA flights and not only tracks your flight, but it tells you where that plane is coming from, if it left on-time, has mechanical problems, etc. Mom set alerts for a flight we had to go to Florida with my Dad for his birthday (she was picking us up from the airport) and she alerted us our flight was CANCELLED a full 30 minutes before the airline told us. This allowed us to book another flight and saved our fun weekend!
Atlas Obscura—A vast list of curious and unexpected places all over the globe. This is where you’ll find cool hidden gems near you (yes, near your home right now) and so many interesting spots all around the world that you might overlook and may even be right along your route. There’s also a regular website and my all-time favorite: the book!
Kayak—You will only use this to get prices before going straight to the airline app to book. Remember that some brands like Southwest Air don’t allow Kayak to index their routes and prices in the results so you’ll have to search for them separately. If it’s way cheaper to book on a 3rd party site, go for it but proceed with caution.
All the hotel apps—Just go ahead and download all of them. Best to book direct when you can. Choose one brand to stay loyal and watch your points and perks grow! I like Marriott. Earn ‘em and burn ‘em: spend points asap to save the most money and don’t ‘save’ for special occasions.
All the airline apps—Just go ahead and download all of them. Best to book direct when you can. The airline’s app often will have free in-flight entertainment during flight, but you have to download it before takeoff or it won't work. Check this app every day leading up to your departure and hope the price to upgrade drops down low enough to go for it! United has a great widget that you can add to your home screen that displays a cute countdown to your next trip.
Find a good audio guide—we like audio walking tours and always pre-download them. Rick Steves Audio Europe is free but we've also paid for them: Izi Travel has one for Petra that was $2.99 and it started auto-playing when we walked by the sites using GPS it was awesome! Just Google and see what you find.
Local transportation app—Google what transportation app is popular in that country, Uber is many places, but some countries have a specific app for their taxis, but don't worry you can also download this while you're there. We love NYC’s app called Curb which allows you to hail a cab and then sync with the app once inside using a code for contactless payment and a record of your trip. If there are no taxis around, you can call one from the app too!
Did I miss one? Let me know! Also, my new favorite hack is to create custom Apple Maps of different places, for example, restaurants in Paris where I want to eat. That way, when we’re hungry we can just pull up that map and go to the nearest one. No need to waste time deciding! -HW