Best Travel Apps for 2014
Travel with technology has never been more exciting or easier. There is wide availability and proliferation of travel apps designed specifically to help anyone travel smart on the road. Whatever your interests or travel needs may be, “There is an app for that”. Traveling smart means making your life easier and your holiday more enjoyable. Here is my list of best travel apps to use in 2014.
Trip It
The All-in-One travel organizer. This is not a new app but it is still the best way to keep your itinerary in order. It stores all of the various confirmations and informational details for your trip. Simply forward your confirmation email from your hotel, airline, car hire, etc…and it keeps track of it all in a simple format. Tripit does not require an internet connection for reference.
Drop Box
You probably already use this at work or for personal needs. Why not use Dropbox for travel? I like to store all correspondence with airlines, hotels, car hire, etc…in dropbox just in case I need to refer to the original confirmation for whatever reason. If you have scanned copies of your passport and other security info, this is a great place to store these documents. You can even access documents when you are off line or not connected to the internet.
XE Currency
The best and most accurate currency converter is XE. The XE Currency App for the iPhone lets you keep track of live rates for every world currency, view historical charts and calculate prices with the mobile currency calculator.
Google Translate
This is another quality app from Google. Google Translate helps break the language barrier wherever you are. It’s also a great way to practice your foreign language skills. Requires data but you can save translations to keep them stored on your phone when not connected to WiFi.
DB Navigator
In my opinion, this has taken the place of the old Thomas Cook Rail Timetable. This app is run by the German National Railway, but it includes times and connections for mostly every train in Europe. It is great for scheduling and planning. You can also purchase tickets directly from the app. This app provides the most comprehensive information service for European trains.
Yelp
This is popular app that has been expanding internationally for years and now has good coverage in different parts of the world. Yelp is a review driven site (much like TripAdvisor). It’s free and helps you find great, local businesses on the go! Internationally, I use it to find cafes, restaurants and bars.
Über
Booking a private car & driver is now within your reach. This seamless and intuitive app gives you the best private transportation at your fingertips. All business and payment is booked through the app (including tip). Great for the urban jungle! For $20 off your first ride, click here
On the Fly (ITA Software Matrix)
This is the secret app and website that all pro travelers use to book travel. ITA Software products for airfare pricing and shopping are among the most innovative and flexible on the market today, preferred by many of the world’s leading airlines. Today, ITA Software is used by some of the world’s most successful travel companies, including American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Bing, Kayak, and Orbitz. Matrix, ITA’s public airfare shopping engine powered by QPX, has proven a tremendous asset to travelers shopping for air travel.
This same service is now available for mobile devices like the Android, BlackBerry®, iPhone®, and iPod touch®, via their airfare shopping mobile application, OnTheFly™. If you are already using Google Flight Search, then you will love this.
Waze
This is the best app for the All-American road trip. Waze is the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app. Join other drivers in your area who share real-time traffic and road info, saving everyone time and gas money on their daily commute. Outsmart traffic, get alerted before you approach police, accidents, road hazards or traffic jams, navigate to the cheapest station on your route, all in one app.
Seat Guru
Make an educated decision when you are booking your flight and picking your seat selection. This app is full of airline seat maps, flight information, seat advice and photos. This app includes detailed info on each seat including A/V, Power input and Pitch. Never pick a bad seat again.
Gate Guru
This is the most helpful app for navigating the airport. Gate Guru provides a wealth of airport information. You can quickly access amenity information, maps, weather forecasts, airport tips and much more. Have a tight connection or a long walk to another terminal? Gate Guru will help.
Hotel Tonight
This last minute hotel booking app and website has to be seen to be believed. Hotels of all classes sell their unsold rooms to Hotel Tonight, allowing last minute bookings at a basement bargain price. This is easy mobile booking of same-day unsold hotel inventory for the benefit of the traveler.
Communication Apps
Viber
WhatsApp
Skype
These communication apps and the others listed above can be used for free while traveling internationally. For more on that, CLICK HERE for my full article on Traveling with your iPhone Abroad
