Here are the best travel apps to help you have a smooth travel time!
- XE - Free currency converter allows you to calculate live currency and foreign exchange rates.
- GlobeTips - will advise you on how much to tip in more than 200 countries. It also offers a tip calculator for easy math.
- Tricount - for trips with friends, family members, or simply splitting the cost between groups. Tricount calculates shared costs and splits bills so you don’t have to think twice about who owes what. Just enter your trip, currency, and invite your travel mates to join you. Each time someone pays for something, you enter the amount in Tricount and the app splits everything evenly. You can also snap and store photos of receipts in the app. At the end of your trip, it will show the balances of who owes who what, making it easy to settle up at the end.
- Metric Conversions - this app makes easy conversions in volume, weight, temperature, area, and more.
- TripLingo - will help you sound like a local abroad. You select a destination and download the country pack, such as France. The app will translate your voice into French, image translator, selection of key French phrases, Wi-Fi dialer so you can make calls from abroad (you must add the credit, starting at $10), tipping section, safety, and cultural norms to help you blend in. The phrase section has tabs on humor and fun, nightlife, and flirting, all of which you can download and access offline.
- Speedcheck - lets you test your internet connection on both Wi-Fi and cellular networks, keep track of your speed tests and contribute your results to a crowdsourced map of Wi-Fi Hotspots that shows the speed of each hotspot. You can use the included Wi-Fi Finder to find Free and Fast Wi-Fi - in Hotels, Cafes, Restaurants anywhere in the world.
- Google Translate - instantly translates 103 languages, words, phrases, and web pages. The app also allows you to translate any poster or printed text in real-time using the camera on your smartphone.
- Hopper - tracks flight prices and gives you periodic updates on whether you should buy now or wait. It doesn't just tell you to wait to buy your ticket but gives you a date when the price will likely rise. You can book reservations through Hopper as well.
- Kiwi.com - is used to book flights, hotels, car rentals, even activities, and tours. The app provides information on destinations, airports, how to find lounges, ATMs, and luggage storage during a layover. The Nomad feature, has flight itineraries mapped out for you in packs, like the Tour Europe option. This one has a customizable itinerary featuring the cheapest way to enjoy three to five nights in Barcelona, three to five nights in Amsterdam, and three to five nights in Paris.
- FlightStats and FlightAware - allow you to get the latest flight information. Quickly access global flight status by flight number, airport or route, and watch the flight travel to its destination with the flight tracker.
- LoungeBuddy - offers access to premium airport lounges around the world, regardless of the airline or class you’re flying. When you create a trip in the app, it tells you which lounges you have access to based on the airports you’ll be transiting through, as well as how to purchase access if you don’t already have it.
- Priority Pass - gives you access to more than 1,300 lounges and provides meal vouchers at select airport restaurants across the world. You’ll have to pay an annual fee to be a member, and an additional fee to enter each lounge depending on your membership. Use the app to pull up the lounges or restaurants that you have access to, including photos, hours, amenities, and specific location information.
Several premium credit cards offer free Priority Pass membership for all cardholders.
- GateGuru - Comprehensive airport information on shops, restaurants, and other amenities in both domestic and international airports.
- Timeshifter - helps you avoid jet lag before your flight takes off, and offers in-flight and post-flight suggestions. The app relies on neuroscience research about sleep and circadian rhythms to provide personalized recommendations for each traveler, taking into consideration your age, gender, normal sleep patterns, specifics about your trip, and travel plans. Timeshifter maps out when you should avoid or seek light, take a nap, or try to stay awake. It even tells you if you should consider supplementing with melatonin or caffeine.
- SkyGuru - an app designed by pilots that provides weather and turbulence forecasts for the route you’re flying. If you’re fearful of turbulence or flying, it allows you to be mentally prepared.
- Hotel Tonight - last-minute discounts on rooms booked the same evening or up to seven days (up to 100 in some markets) before your stay. Available hotel rooms are categorized by basic, luxe, charming, and high-roller. The app has features such as being able to save favorite hotels and scroll through reviews, user-generated photos, rewards programs, and the daily drop feature. The daily drop gives you personalized deals with a special price only valid for fifteen minutes after unlocked.
- Roomer Travel - If you have to cancel a trip last minute, this app and website help people sell prepaid reservations to others who can use them, usually at a lower cost. It can help you recoup money that might otherwise have been lost, and it can also help you save money if you buy a reservation from someone who can't use it.
- Hilton Honors - allows you to see a map of the hotel layout and tap on the exact room you’d like when checking in via the app. Options include upper-level rooms, near the elevator, or a specific view (ocean or pool). Other features allow you to pre-order your favorite pillow type, request specific snacks and beverages (at an added cost), check out, view your points balance, and elite status benefits.
- Roadtrippers - helps you organize your road trip. Roadtrippers lets you plan out your driving route, book hotels, and activities along the way. The app is useful for finding interesting and off-the-beaten-path roadside attractions as well as cool restaurants and can’t-miss landmarks you can bookmark.
- PackPoint - The app shows you what to pack based on the length of your trip, the weather in your destination, and the activities you’re planning. If you are using laundry facilities in your destination, PackPoint will allow you to account for washing your clothes and wearing them multiple times.
- AllTrails - lists of trails for hiking and walking around the world with pictures, maps, and directions to trailheads. It helps you find the best outdoor places when you're in an unfamiliar area.
- Culture Trip - an SEO-driven website that runs articles with headlines that start "The Top 10" or "The Best Places." Locals write the content, and the app lets you save articles to wish lists. Make your wish lists for each destination or theme you're interested in (Salsa, Snorkeling Spots, etc.), and you can save the Culture Trip articles for your reference.
- GasBuddy - it helps you find gas by location and price either in real-time on your phone or via its website. If you can save money by driving a little farther down the road, GasBuddy will let you know. It's available in the US, Canada, and Australia.
- Google Maps - the best travel app for exploring destinations in most parts of the world. You can plan trips, star attractions, group attractions together, or save your maps offline so that you won't get lost even if you don't have data on your phone. Google maps also gives you directions in different forms (walking, driving, public transit, or ride-hailing), with time and distance information included.
- iExit - travel app for driving trips, tells you exactly what's near every highway exit. You can mark your favorite chains, and the app informs you if there's one coming up on your route, including gas stations, ATMs, and restaurants.
- Rick Steves Audio Europe - If you’re planning a trip to Europe, travel writer Rick Steves has an app for European travels with dozens of audio files. Some give you background information on a particular city or region, while others are audio guides for navigating popular sites.
- TripAdvisor - one of the most comprehensive online sources for travelers with background information about different cities and regions, plus highlights of what to see and do. It has reviews of hotels, restaurants, and activities, written by members of the TripAdvisor community, as well as photos from their travels, so you know what to expect before you arrive. It also allows you to make reservations for any of the previously mentioned services through the app.
- TripCase - a free app that helps you organize your trip by making an itinerary for you. The itinerary can include flights, accommodations, rental cars, restaurant reservations, and more. To make an itinerary, you forward travel confirmation emails to TripCase, and the app organizes the information for you. When you open the app, a complete chronological lineup of your trip is waiting for you. You can also manually add details to your trip.
- TripIt - helps you organize your itineraries, travel confirmations, flight itineraries, tickets, hotel and Airbnb booking info, rental car reservations, ferry tickets, and driving directions. It creates an organized itinerary for you by finding confirmation emails in your inbox and pulling out travel information. You also have the option of forwarding emails to it instead of manually entering details and sharing travel plans with others.
- Meetup - is an app for interacting with locals and other travelers who have mutual interests or shared hobbies. The app shows you groups that are formed around particular interests in your city, including yoga, family-friendly meetups, photography, cooking, wine tasting, hiking, cinema, and much more. You can join groups to get updates on particular events you may want to participate in, and the app can even help with networking, as there are many groups dedicated to business and technology.
- Viator - specializes in tours and packages, from daily excursions to week-long adventures with transfers included.
- Wanderu - allows you to search for buses and trains the same way you search for flights. You can also use it for flights, car rentals, hotels, Amtrak, Megabus, BoltBus, and other ground services.
- Happy Cow - helps vegan and vegetarian eaters locate more than 100,000 restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, farmer’s markets, and grocery stores in over 195 countries around the world. The app also allows you to organize by gluten-free, cuisine type, read reviews, and get recipes on the app as well.
- Triposo - allows you to download city guides, maps, and walks in your destination that works offline. You can also read about the background of the city you’re visiting, weather, safety tips, what to see and do. Triposo also offers options for booking hotels, restaurants, tours, activities, and experiences in over 50,000 destinations.
- Smart Traveler - specifically for U.S. travelers, you can see what visas and vaccines you’ll need before traveling and where to find help if you need it during your trip. Register your trip on the app, which gives your information to local embassies and consulates in your destination. If there’s any disaster or tragedy, the local embassy can contact you to see if you need help.
- TripWhistle - maps your location and allows you to text or send your GPS coordinates or location easily. It also provides emergency numbers for firefighters, medical personnel, and police in nearly 200 countries.
- ByPost - Postcard Creator