Travel Smart – Our Favorite Travel Apps

Are you ready for the world’s worst kept secret? As travel writers, we spend a lot of time traveling. Travel apps are the only way we can maintain some sanity in our crazy, hectic lives, so we thought we’d take a moment to share our favorite travel apps with you.

Planning and booking applications

“Wishing takes as much energy as planning.” – Eleanor RooseveltT

We love planning and booking apps because they turn wishes into reality. Here are the apps we use and the order in which we use them.

• Trip Advisor —We recommend trying out travel and adventure first, then filling in the fields with unique places to stay and delicious food to eat. If you find a travel writer you trust who has been somewhere you want to visit, that’s gold. Otherwise, there’s TripAdvisor. The crowdsourced reviews of food and activities are a great place to start. They also have accommodation reviews, which we find useful for inspiration, but the interface and pricing aren’t ideal for a point-of-sale tool.

• Expedia —Hotel aggregator sites like Expedia are a great way to find discounted hotel rooms when you book in advance. Do your research carefully and check the hotel’s official page for comparable rates. All things being equal, we prefer booking through the hotel because it avoids the hassle of rebooking and cancellation. It also eliminates a step of entering your reservation into the system, so less things go wrong. Of course, if you have a travel writer you like, you can always book through their article and support freelance writing by using affiliate links.

• Hotels4Tonight —Whenever we book at the last minute, we search Hotels4Tonight. Sometimes, we get a smoking deal that is too good to be true. Ironically, you often pay full price if you show up at the hotel lobby without a reservation and ask if they have a room.

• Google Apps —Google apps like Google Docs and Google MyMap are where we build most of our travel plans. First, they’re a platform-independent collaborative environment, so you can share your plans with your travel partners and emergency contacts. And because wishing and planning require the same energy, you can build a searchable library of potential trips using Google apps. Finally, Google MyMaps is integrated with Google Navigation, so you can get reviews and photos while creating your own personalized travel map that you can use in real time. We love these maps so much that they’re embedded in many of our articles because they’re so helpful.

• Trip it —TripIt, especially the paid version, does a great job of creating itineraries. The design is very easy to read, and a lot of the information is automatically filled in when you connect your email account. Another feature that has saved us a few times is the automatic notifications when an event is coming up (like a flight coming in at 12:05 a.m.).

Physical safety applications

“If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up somewhere else.” – Yogi Berra

Good old Yugi. He's smarter than your average bear. But he's right. The best way to ensure physical safety is to know where you're going, especially in an emergency.

• Allianz / Allez Travel Smart — Travel insurance from Allianz may be a good idea as it covers unexpected and unforeseen events and includes 24/7 travel assistance. Of course, you should read your plan as it has important terms, conditions and exclusions. Even without a policy, it is worth downloading Allyz Travel Smart AppNon-political features include trip planner, hospital finder, medical translator, drug dictionary, and embassy finder.

• Strava — Strava isn’t just a workout app. You can set a beacon so you can find your travel group in real time. It also sends your last known location, in case of an emergency. Plus, if you tap on the map while running, you can see heat maps of nearby roads so you don’t accidentally end up on a less-trafficked route.

Cybersecurity Applications

Sad Strong: Have you been using the Internet irresponsibly?

Strong Bad: Not more reckless than usual.

I consider myself a wine connoisseur because of the weird Strongbad quotes I use, I don’t know. One thing you should definitely know is that there are some unstable internet connections on the way, so these cybersecurity apps will help you use the internet more responsibly.

• Alosim — One of the best ways to avoid suspicious connections is to connect directly to the network using an eSim. We love AloSIM for its excellent customer support. By the way, having a data connection can also help with other issues, like getting walking directions on Google Maps, booking a last-minute hotel with Hotels4Tonight, or staying connected to TripIt so they can tell you that your flight from Colombo, Sri Lanka leaves in four hours and you’ve ruined your departure day because it leaves five minutes after midnight. Fortunately, traffic is pretty good in Sri Lanka at that time of night; trust us.

• tunnel bear — When to use a VPN? The safe answer is anytime you’re on a public network. Most VPNs work well, but we like Tunnel Bear because we can pinpoint our “home,” which helps our home network, too. Sometimes internet prices, especially for flights and hotels, are geo-restricted. For some reason, Spaniards aren’t expected to understand or pay spring break prices for flights to Orlando, which is why our daughter visited us during spring break when we were living under the mouse.

Air Transport Applications

“You shouldn't leave a living dragon out of your calculations if you live near one.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

In this scenario, the dragon is air travel. There are a lot of moving parts and dire consequences if things go wrong. That’s why we keep our suite of air travel apps ready.

• Airlines Apps — I get annoyed when I’m asked to download yet another app… and get off my lawn too! In the end, I discovered that these apps are here to help. They keep your boarding passes ready and alert you to flight changes. They also connect to free onboard Wi-Fi so you can access gate information and check if your baggage has made it to your flight. You can also take advantage of in-flight entertainment, order drinks, and use your miles to purchase in-flight internet, which we love to keep up with our onboard work.

• Entry priority — We get Priority Pass with our travel card, and it’s useful at about half the airports. That’s why we check into Priority Pass lounges while we’re still on the tarmac. The Denver deal is $28 worth of food per person, including a guest off the plane. Taking a guest out to lunch in Denver led to Ed getting his day job in Huntsville. If you get a chance to check out the Chase Sapphire lounge at LaGuardia, it’s a great deal! They have table service and even a free spa facial.

Land Transport Applications

“By not preparing, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

Some people prefer driving to flying, but unless you’re staying at the airport, you’ll be using ground transportation during your trip. That’s why you have ground transportation apps that will get you closer to being prepared than to failing.

• Uber/Lyft — I love the taxi mafia as much as anyone, but I also love saving money. That’s why I check prices on both Uber and Lyft before booking a ride. In some places, especially abroad, there are better organized taxi mafias, so Uber/Lyft may not be available, but it’s worth checking.

• Google Maps — You can replace Waze if you want, but having a navigation app in a new city is essential. Don’t forget to download regional maps beforehand so you don’t have to worry about internet connectivity. You may not have real-time traffic information, but navigation still works unless you’re walking. In that case, Google requires a data connection to provide it for some unknown reason. I mean, walking through a foreign city without data is when I want my navigation to work, but I digress.

• roma2rio — Google is great in the US and many other places too. However, Rome2Rio shows you how to get anywhere by plane, train, bus, ferry, or car, which is great for international travel. They also provide a fairly accurate breakdown of prices by option.

• Gas body — If you’re like us, you know where the “cheap gas” is in your town. Thirty cents a gallon adds up. If you’re on a road trip, it adds up fast. That’s why we use GasBuddy to get cheap gas once you’re a quarter tank empty.

Various travel applications

“Just because you have a good plan, doesn't mean that's what's going to happen.” — Taylor SwiftT.

The best way to avoid things is to know things. With these various travel apps, you'll be prepared when things come to a head.

• weather channel — We always look at the next day's hour-by-hour weather forecast before going to bed. It's remarkably accurate and more useful than the common tropical weather forecasts that say it's going to rain every day at some point.

• Google Translate — When all else fails, use the translator. The text scanning feature is great too.

• flow — When you're on the go and need to go to the bathroom, Flush will help you find a public restroom.

Wrapping up our favorite travel apps

There are many travel apps out there; these are the ones we use the most. We’ve provided justifications for each suggestion so you can see if you’re already using a similar app. The most important travel app is the one you know how to use on your phone. It’s not a bad idea to try a few apps while you’re in town, so you can see which ones work for you.

DisclaimerThis post was sponsored by Allianz Global Assistance (AGA Services Company) and the Allyz Travel Smart app, and we received financial compensation.

However, as always, the views and opinions expressed are entirely our own, and we only recommend brands and destinations that we 100% support.