There are very few moments in life I enjoy more than travelling to new and unexplored destinations. If you’re a travel lover as well, you know the most painful part of the process is how to get around in a new city, what to eat and what to do. In order to combat the travel planning blues, I’ve curated a list of apps and a couple of quick tips to make travel life a breeze.
Waze
Navigating a new city or a foreign country is no joke. With Waze, you can beat the traffic as well as receive warnings when police, construction, or an accident is on the way to your desired destination. With thousands of “Wazers” (that’s what they call their app users), logged in at any moment in time you’ll always keep an update to date view on the road ahead.
Quick Tip: Not planning to leave for a couple of hours? You can schedule a planned drive ahead of time with the app and receive an alert when it’s time to leave! Waze forecasts the usual traffic on your route to let you know what time would be best for you to make it to your destination in a timely manner.
Uber
Uber is your modern-day taxi gone digital. Uber is a rideshare service that allows users to set pickup times as well as check predetermined trip fares before booking a car. With Uber, you can even book an Uber Pool - which saves money for multiple people taking the same car. For luxury lovers, you can also book an Uber Black car to ride in style.
Yelp!
Yelp is one of the best at what it does. What does it do, you ask? It connects its users to one of the vastest databases of restaurants, hotels, and attractions around the world. You can quickly filter cities for top-rated food/attractions and get real customer feedback on each venue.
Groupon
We should all be pretty familiar with this coupon website turned app. But did you know that you can buy experiences in different cities? From bungee jumping to a day at the spa - Groupon’s got you covered. Log in and search your desired destination to find deals on almost any activity you can think of.
Kayak
We all know how much airplane flights and hotel prices fluctuate. There is nothing worse than buying a flight and then looking a day later to see the price has dropped. Avoid those disappointing moments with Kayak - this app checks historical data and suggests when is best to buy a flight. It will send you notifications of price drops and will tell you to hold off if it thinks a price will drop in the next week. On top of that, uses flight hacks to combine flights from different airlines to get you to your final destination as cost-effectively as possible.
Hotel Tonight
Whether your flight has been delayed or you get an adrenaline rush just looking for a last-minute deal, look no further than this app. Hotel tonight is a one-stop shop for all last-minute accommodation needs. It scans all available rooms and provides you with the best last-minute deal.
XE
This app may not save you money per se but it will save you time. XE.com is a currency site turned app that provides the most up-to-date information on currency exchanges across the world. With this app, you can quickly convert from your local dollar to any currency from over 300 countries across the globe.
Quick tip: Travelling frequently to the same destination? With the mobile app, you can set your top 5 currencies and quickly calculate the exchange rate between them all.
Packpoint
This by far has to be one of my favourite travel apps. Packpoint will check the weather at your desired destination and based on the activities you pick, it will suggest what you need to pack. No more worrying about having the right outfit to match the weather, pack point will handle all of that for you.
Airbnb
This app is your connection to homes, apartments, and condos that are available for short or longer stays. While normally less expensive than a hotel, Airbnb connects you with hosts in all major cities who are looking to rent out their homes. This app is especially great for finding accommodation for bigger groups that require multiple rooms.
Tips
Here are a couple of quick tips to help while you’re away:
Now that you’re geared with the above tips and tricks, you’ll definitely be able to take full advantage of any destination on your travel bucket list for the summer. Feel free to comment below if you had any apps or tips to add to the list. Also, let me know how these apps worked for you while away for your summer vacay!
Happy Travels!
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