From booking your flights to translating your lunch menu.
Flickr/Johan LarssonWith the right apps installed, your smartphone is basically like a handheld personal assistant. If you are traveling this year, the following apps could be super useful. From booking your flights to translating your lunch menu, all you’ll need to do is make sure you have a working smartphone that’s all charged up!
1. Skyscanner
iOS version – Android version
Booking a trip used to be so much hassle before services like Skyscanner appeared on the scene. With this nifty app you can organize flights, hotels and rental cars all in one place – and what’s more the app searches for all the cheapest options available. Skyscanner will give you helpful information on your local airport’s best deals too, as well as giving you alerts when prices change. Get instant inspiration by entering ‘Everywhere’ into the destination box and Skyscanner will give you cheap flight recommendations from across the world.
2. Google Trips
Flickr/cocoate.comGoogle Trips organizes your essential travel information in your Gmail calendar, as well as making it available offline. The app creates a framework for your trip and will also suggest customized activities based on where you are staying. It’s a great app for people who have a busy itinerary planned, always keeping you on the right track.
3. Packpoint
There’s an app for everything these days, even packing. Packpoint analyses the weather forecast for the dates and location of your trip and makes packing suggestions based on the data. It will also ask you what kind of activities you have planned for your trip – business meeting, water sports etc. – and suggest relevant things to pack. The lists that you collate can be shared with any friends and family you are travelling with.
4. Guides by Lonely Planet
If you are traveling somewhere for the first time, it is always helpful to have a guide on hand to consult if you need to. Lonely Planet is among the best in the business at finding and sharing what a destination has to offer. In each informative guide you’ll have access to an amazing range of sightseeing options, restaurants and local hotspots. Experienced locals and expat authors write everything and there are guides to places as diverse as Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona and Beijing.
5. Tinder
If you are traveling on a gap year or taking a solo trip, Tinder can be a great way to meet people. Far from being simply a dating app, many travelers use Tinder to meet people while they’re on the road. The app encourages complete strangers to form a connection quickly, and you can often meet a local person who may be able to guide you to the best spots in town. If you are traveling in a group, Tinder’s new Social feature allows groups of friends to connect with each other.
Flickr/Denis Bocquet6. Google Translate
Not all of us are blessed with the ability to speak multiple languages, which can sometimes make traveling in foreign countries tricky. With Google Translate in your pocket, you needn’t be worried. This remarkable app provides conversational translations and image translations in over 100 languages – and thanks to machine learning it is improving all the time. The app is capable of translating over 50 languages offline; perfect for when you take a trip to a remote destination.
Wherever you travel this year, make sure you deck your phone out with these mega useful travel apps. They take seconds to download and by the time your finished you’ll have everything you need to enjoy a hassle-free holiday!
Article written by KARL FRASER.
