40 Useful travel applications (apps)

These 40 applications for your mobile phone, listed in randomly order, will help you plan ahead for your next trip and stay relaxed during your trip. They help you to find the cheapest flights or ho(s)tels, to navigate, to make last-minute changes, to find interesting things to see, or to keep your tummy full of fantastic food.

Packing solutions

For the ones who always occur problems with packing, the Packing Pro application may help solve your problem. When you tell where you are going, how long for and with who, this application will spit out a suggested list of what you might need, split up into essentials (passport, currency), clothes, gadgets and more.

Another packing application is PackPoint. This app helps you providing a checklist of travel essentials that you need to pack. Also, within this app, you can tell where you are going, how long for and with who.

Flight and airport tips

When you prepare for your next trip, you are likely to research your destination and get a sense of how much money you are going to spend on flights, hotels, car rentals, food or other essentials. A good application for helping you draw a quick baseline for the cost of flights is Skyscanner. This application suggest the cheapest days to travel.

Another fun application is Flightradar24. Within this application, you can follow the path of thousands of international flights, but also receive information about departure gates, delays and cancellations.

Personally, I often use LoungeBuddy. This application shows every (hidden) airport lounge in the world. It provides you with detailed information about every lounge, including the location, entry price, included food and beverages, shower possibilities etc.

If you have only booked a one-way flight and need prove for immigration that you’re going to leave the country within your granted visa time, I can recommend using Onward to buy an online (fake) flight ticket for your ‘way back’.

Book an overnight

You will probably also do some research on accommodation possibilities within your next destination. When you are looking for a cheap stay in a hostel, Hostelworld, is a nice application that has directory of more than 35,000 budget ho(s)tels.

You can also have a look at the Couchsurfing app. With this app, you can get in contact with local people from your destination who are offering a free place to sleep at their home.

Airbnb is another app that provides (cheap) accommodation possibilities. This app does not only provide B2C (Business to Consumer) services, but also C2C (Consumer to Consumer) services. You can use this app to rent your house, apartment or room to travellers when you are away, but also to find a place to stay for yourself.

Next to the above apps that provide cheap or free accommodation, you can also book an overnight via the following applications: Booking.com or Expedia.

When you have found a nice place to stay, you would like to make sure it is the best place to stay. Therefore, you can use Tripadvisor or Orbitz in order to read ho(s)tel reviews or watch photos that have been uploaded by travellers rather than the hotels itself.

Changing plans

What do you do when you arrive at a hotel and it is just not to your liking? Or what will you do when you do not get to the destination in time for the reservation and you paid ahead? Well, you can use Roomer. This application is amazing! It helps travelers to sell their prepaid reservations to other travelers, so you will not lose the entire amount you paid for the stay and another person can book the stay for a nice price. Win-win situation!

Another great last-minute application is HotelTonight that helps to find a suitable and inexpensive alternative stay.

Road Tripping

Going on a road trip? GasBuddy is definitely an application you should download before you go. This app helps you to find gas by location and price.

When you are planning a road trip in the United States, iExit and Roadtripper are two nice applications. They show at the upcoming exits a list of restaurants, hotels, gas stations, rest areas, and other useful services that are near your route.

If you do not drive a car, but still would like to take a road trip, try Wanderu. This application provides a price comparison tool for bus and train tickets. Simply enter the dates you want to travel and your beginning- and ending point, and Wanderu will look for the cheapest road possibilities.

Keep your tummy full of fantastic food

You have made it to your destination, but you are hungry. Now what? Well, you can use the Foodspotting or FourSquare applications to find good places to eat in your neighborhood.

Do some sightseeing

You have made it to your destination, but you are looking for something to do. Now what? You can have a look at the GetYourGuide or Viator applications. These apps will help you to find places to eat, play, sleep or other inspirational places close to your location.

GPSmyCity is an app that provides self-guided city walks. You can read an extensive review about this app via this link.

Another good sightseeing app is Local Places. This travel App helps you to find places around you.

Communicate (with locals)

It is always useful to get in contact with a local to receive extra information about the hidden amazing spots or to create some new friendships around the world. Via many apps you can get in contact with locals. Think about Couchsurfing, Airbnb, Roomer, TravelMate or WeTravelSolo. With the last two apps it is very easy to find a travel buddy before you even pack your backpack or make connections during your trip by searching nearby your location.

With Google Translate you can have easily contact with anyone from a different nationality (language differences). This application can translate words, sentences and voice in almost any language.

Moreover, WhatsApp is a very practical communication app. Next to texting with each other, you can record voice messages, send pictures or videos and use the GPS tags to send your location.

Snow lovers

When you go on a skiing holiday, it is very useful to receive the latest ski reports for your local pistes or detailed trail maps to guide you back if you get into trouble. The Snow Report provides all this information.

Camping

If you like to do some camping, you should have a look at the iCampsites app. This application provides a guide with more than 9000 campsite in Europe.

Maps

When you would like to orientate in a city you do not know, it is helpful to use Google Maps or CityMapper for navigating.

Another good application is Maplets, which has a gigantic database of maps (some official, others created by users) and can help you easily to get around a city, underground or sight.

Other useful travel applications

When you travel often, it is very useful to get an overview of the time in your next destination or hometown. The Perfect World Clock provides easy access to the time in hundreds of cities.

Another useful application for the enthusiastic travelers is the TravelSafe application. It shows all the emergency service numbers for just about every country you would ever care to visit.

Another nice application is Wi-Fi Finder. This app provides you with a map including the nearest (free) public WiFi hotspots.

Expensify or WieBetaaltWat helps you to manually track expenses, photolog receipts and even import purchase information from your credit card for IRS validated eReceipts. Within these applications you will always have a clear overview of your holiday expenses.

Other money related useful travel applications are Trip Splitter and XE Currency. With Trip Splitter you can keeping track of trip expenses and split them easily with friends, family and other traveling companions. With XE Currency you can easily find yourself in need of prices and exchange rates abroad.

Author: Daphne

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