Tag: smart phone

By Vicki Little

I’ll be honest, I am not sure how much I would have enjoyed traveling back before we had smartphones and the internet. How in the world did people book hotel rooms, compare prices, switch flights, navigate a strange town, and keep track of all their business expenses? While I am sure that everyone managed just fine, I am glad that I have nice-and-neat apps on my phone that allow my trips to go as smoothly as possible, barring any weather or human errors. These travel apps save me time, they save me money, and they definitely save my sanity. These 10 apps are must-haves during the travel season.

1. WorldMate: Send all of your confirmations, reservations, flight numbers and other important information to this app, and it will combine it nicely into an itinerary for your trip. It even offers price alerts and counter offers to make sure you are getting the best rate on your hotel.
   • Available for Windows, Android and iOS
2. SkyScanner: The perfect app for airline travel, it compares hundreds of airlines to find the lowest prices on domestic and international travel. You can book a reservation from the app, and there are multiple filters that make it user-friendly.
   • Available for Android and iOS
3. PackPoint: Packing for a trip is a necessary evil. No matter how thorough you are, it is almost guaranteed you will forget something. PackPoint helps avoid that by providing a checklist of packing essentials based on the type of trip, length of stay, and purpose of travel.
   • Available for Android and iOS
4. Expensify: A great app for business travelers, Expensify allows you to manually track your expenses, take photos of your receipts, and even import purchases from your credit card or bank. Also included are options for tracking auto expenses such as travel mileage.
   • Available for Android and iOS
5. TripAdvisor: Powered by crowd-source, TripAdvisor includes reviews, prices and other details for hotels, restaurants and other attractions. You can browse by restaurant, venue or simply what is near your current location.
   • Available for Android and iOS
6. Google Translate: This app translates typed or dictated short messages from one language to another. A must when you are in a foreign country.
   • Available for Android and iOS
7. Gas Buddy: This app is for those who spend most of their travel time in the car. It helps users locate the cheapest gas stations by using their GPS location or searching by address. An additional perk is that the app rewards users who report prices with prizes such as free gas.
   • Available for Android and iOS
8. XE Currency: Converting prices can be confusing, but this app makes it easy to find exchange rates. The user is able to track up to 10 currencies simultaneously and can convert almost every available national currency.
   • Available for Windows, Android and iOS
9. Waze is a user-driven traffic and route app that can automatically reroute the user to avoid traffic, warns of various situation on the route, and finds the nearest gas stations and sorts them by location and price.
   • Available for Windows, Android and iOS

Vicki Little is a work-at-home mom with two young kids. A Colorado native, she is the Publisher and Editor of Macaroni Kid Aurora and Downtown Denver. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering, reading, camping, or enjoying a bottle of wine with friends.

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