Top 10 Apps for the Smart Traveler

Traveling can be an amazing experience, but often has the potential to get overwhelming. Want to know the best tips to ensure a positive travel experience?

Traveling is one of the greatest joys. Seeing the world, learning about different cultures, meeting new people, and seeing new places are just some of the highlights. As great as traveling is though, planning for it can be stressful and tiring. Fortunately it doesn’t have to be, as there are things you can do and tools you can use to ensure an incredible experience.

Follow our 3 tips to ensure you have a positive travel experience.

1. Prepare for Your Trip the Right Way

The first step of planning any trip is of course buying your tickets, whether it’s plane, train, or boat tickets. Once that’s taken care of, it’s time to get planning. Any good traveler will tell you that you can never plan too much. From packing your bags, deciding on places to see, things to do, and places to stay, planning in advance is your secret weapon.

One of the best parts about going on a trip is the excitement that leads up to it. This is why planning the trip can be so fun, but it can also be intimidating. With so many blogs online and recommendations from friends and family, it’s almost impossible to decide on activities. To help, use Google Trips or Tripit. They’re two of the most popular trip planning apps, and both are available for iOS and Android. You can use Google Trips to get activity suggestions and customizable day plans. The app helps you discover popular attractions around your destination, and lets you read reviews and ratings from other travelers to make sure it’s right for you. One of the best parts about Google Trips is that it works even when you don’t have internet access, like when you’ve just landed and don’t have a new SIM card in your phone yet. Tripit is similar in that it helps you plan your trip, but even more is that it makes an itinerary for you. The San Francisco-based company provides travelers with a master itinerary for every trip they go on by automatically transforming their emails, like car and hotel confirmations, and compiling them into one neat plan. It helps make sure all your plans are in one place so you can find what you need, when you need it. Even better is that because it’s cloud-based, you can access it from any device.

If you’re overwhelmed and just don’t know where to start when it comes to packing, turn to PackPoint. It’s an app that acts as a packing list builder. It tells you what you need to pack based on the length of your travel plans and any activities you plan to do while you’re on your trip. Just type in the city you're planning on traveling to, your departure date, and the number of days you'll be staying there, and you’re set. The app even takes into account business or leisure travel, clothes depending on weather, and whether an umbrella will be needed depending on the forecast. PackPoint was featured as one of Apple’s “Best New Apps”, and in The Washington Post, LA Times, and Lifehacker. The app makes sure you never get to that point where you’re sitting on the plane and hit yourself for forgetting your comb.

Aside from packing and planning your activities, another aspect of your trip you’ll want to plan in advance is accomodations. Airbnb has become extremely popular, as it lets you stay with locals and get a feel for the area. Airbnb is also usually more affordable than hotels. All you have to do is go onto Airbnb’s website or app, type in your destination and dates, and hit search. From there you’ll be able to browse through possible places, read reviews, and book if relevant. If you’re more into the hotels vibe, give Hotel Tonight a try. The company offers great last-minute hotel deals. You can search by city, attractions, nearby hotels, or on a map. Before finalizing, you can read ratings, reviews, and see photos from other people that have stayed there before. Hotel Tonight is also extremely popular amongst users due to its top-notch 24/7 customer support. Need help or a refund? Support will have you sorted in no time.

2. Travel Comfortably

Once you’ve done the planning portion of your trip, the real fun begins – the traveling. When traveling, it’s key to be comfortable. When we talk about comfort we mean cozy plane clothes, noise-canceling headphones, and drool-worthy snacks. But comfort can even be taken one step further by implementing smart decisions at the airport. A favorite app among frequent travelers is LoungeBuddy. The company lets you purchase worldwide airport lounge access starting at only $25, which gives you access to lounges in places like London, Singapore, and Dubai. You can even purchase access on the day of your traveling to ensure you are as comfortable as possible. The best way to use LoungeBuddy is to download its iOS app, which tells you the lounges you have access to and their locations.

It’s also key to be comfortable when getting from place to place. Of course, the top choice here is a private ride service like Uber, which takes you from door to door with no money being handed back and forth, but you can also use an app such as Citymapper. Citymapper is the ultimate transport app that helps you plan your routes on-the-go. View maps, search for bus lines, review walking routes, and even get directions from point A to B, all on your phone.

3. Ensure You Don’t Get Ripped Off

Once you’re at your destination, make it your business to ensure you’re getting the best deals. This is especially true if you’re traveling abroad and don’t speak the language. To be sure that the item you’re buying in the local street market is $15 as you thought, download XE Currency. The app has over 50 million downloads and is used to check currencies on-the-go, access live exchange rates, and calculate prices. You can also be sure you aren’t getting ripped off by clearly understanding what the seller tells you. The best way to know you’re hearing and understanding the same thing is to use an app like Google Translate.

Safe Travels

Traveling is an incredible experience that should be treasured and made the most of. Avoid getting stressed or overwhelmed by following our 3 tips for a positive traveling experience!

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