14 Incredibly Useful Apps When You Travel

In this fast-paced world where demand for efficiency is inevitable, they have become an invaluable asset indivisible and fundamental to our modern lifestyle. Since then, smartphones have become an integral part of leisure travels along with a multitude of downloaded applications further enhancing travel experiences.

Whether you are traveling domestic or pursuing international discoveries, here are some of our favorite apps we have found immensely useful during our travels. Best part of it all, most of them are free to download. Check it out guys.

Hotels.com

Hotels.com allows you to search and compare hotel deals with ease plus you can take advantage of app exclusive hotel discounts.

Best Features:
a. Get a free hotel stay after your 10th booking. You just pay your fees and taxes. (Note: Value of your free hotel stay is equivalent to the average of your 10 prior bookings)
b. Enjoy app exclusive secret deals
c. Save money by bundling flights with your hotel stay

Price: Free
Download: click here

Momondo

Momondo is one of our favorite search engines for finding cheap deals on flights especially to Europe. With this app, you can compare and select from over 1000 flights with a high success rate of finding the cheapest flights for your destination.

Best Features:
a. Search and compare thousands of flights to find the best deals
b. Includes smaller airlines in its search
c. 95% success of finding the cheapest flight
d. Flexible search & price calendar – find the best flight deals by comparing prices on different dates.
e. Price forecasts & alerts – get accurate predictions of the best time to book & get notified when it is

Price: Free
Download: Google Play, Apple App Store

TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor is like having your very own trip advisers right at your fingertips. Find the best places to eat, stay, and do on your travels by comparing submitted reviews from users all over the world. A travel must-have when visiting new destinations and unfamiliar realms.

Best Features:
a. Tons of travel ideas and tips
b. Find the best recommendations from thousands of users worldwide
c. Book hotels, flights, restaurants, vacation rentals and activities directly on the app

Price: Free
Download: Google Play, Apple App Store

Yelp

Get in touch with hundreds of thousands of registered Yelpers around the world and take advantage of finding the best reviews and recommendations where you are traveling. On top of that, Yelp is a social community where you can interact with other Yelpers, follow them and even communicate with them.

Best Features:
a. Get recommendations and real reviews from Yelpers
b. Get detailed lists and suggestions of businesses around you
c. Easily find events and services around you

Price: Free
Download: Google Play, Apple App Store

TV Food Maps

If you are a fan of food and travel shows, then this is most certainly an app for you. It is made especially for foodies out there who would like to personally experience their favorite TV shows like Man vs Food, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and many others.

Best Features:
a. Easily find restaurants featured on popular TV shows
b. Get notified when you are near these featured restaurants
c. Plan your road trip with ease by finding restaurants along your route

Price: Free
Download: click here

TripIt

TripIt allows you to plan your entire trip and create your very own personalized trip itinerary. With this very intuitive app, you can view your hotels, flights, rental cars and more. Plus, it provides you with insights to local points of interests like dining options and ATMs.

Best Features:
a. Integrate and automatically import travel plans to Tripit by connecting your email
b. Easily view your itinerary on an interactive map
c. Easy access to pertinent travel information even when offline

PRO Version Features:
a. Check in reminders
b. Monitor for flight refunds
c. Real time flight alerts
d. Interactive airport and terminal maps
e. Terminal and gate reminders
f. Access to airport lounges with LoungeBuddy

Price: Free (Pro version available)
Download: Google Play, Apple App Store

XE Currency Converter

XE Currency Converter gives you a live up-to-the-minute currency conversion rate that is especially useful when you travel. Never second guess again if you are getting ripped off at a currency exchange kiosk during your travels.

Best Features:
a. Live up-to-the-minute currency exchange updates
b. Historical charts for any currency pair in the world
c. Access to every world currency and precious metals

Price: Free (Paid version available)
Download: click here

Google Translate

One of the challenges of traveling especially to a foreign country is language barrier. With the Google Translate app, you can take the Google translation engine anywhere you go. Plus, you can download languages ahead of time so you can use it online or offline.

Best Features:
a. Instant speech and text translation capabilities
b. Downloadable language packs for offline usage
c. Instant camera translation great for translating street signs
d. Handwriting translation capabilities

Price: Free
Download: Google Play, Apple App Store

mTrip

If you’re traveling outside the country and would prefer not to use up your data plan or pay for costly international roaming minutes, mTrip is the app for you. mTrip is your offline travel guide featuring points of interest locations, maps and most importantly, offline navigation without spending a dime on expensive data plans.

For offline maps and navigation, the app does require that you purchase map packs available for certain destinations.

Best Features:
a. Offline maps and navigation capabilities
b. Automatically generated daily itineraries for your trip
c. Discover new points of interests with ease

Price: Free (offline maps and map packs available for purchase)
Download: Google Play, Apple App Store

GlobeTips

Unsure of how much to tip at your travel destination? GlobeTips has the answer with its database of tipping practices of over 250 countries worldwide complete with full tipping guides, receipt scanning, and easy bill splitting.

Best Features:
a. Complete tipping guides for your travel destination
b. Scan your receipts using your smartphone camera
c. Easily split bills with your group and set up reminders

Price: Free
Download: Apple App Store

Uber

Uber has revolutionized the taxi industry with its app-powered user-driven public transportation system that is both convenient and easy to use. If you need to get around during your travels, with the convenience of your smartphone, you can send in a ride request, track the location of your driver, pay for your ride through the app, and finally rate your driver. Think of it as a social ride sharing app that simply works.

Best Features:
a. Convenient and affordable way to get around without having to worry about driving
b. Pay for your ride and rate your driver through the app on your phone

Price: Free to download, paid service
Download: Google Play, Apple App Store

Trail Wallet

Budget travelers rejoice! Here’s an app for you that can help you track expenses during your travels. The Trail Wallet app is the perfect travel companion for keeping track of your travel expenses with its user-friendly user interface complete with color coding, charts, spending categories, summary generators and many more.

Best Features:
a. Easy to use no hassle data entry system
b. You can easily create categories and group expenses to quickly know what is draining your budget
c. Back up your data automatically to your iCloud account.
d. Export and share with ease with customizable export options in CSV format

Price: Free (Paid version available)
Download: click here

AirBNB

AirBNB offers a unique way to immerse in local experiences wherever and whenever you travel. Elevate your travel adventures with home and vacation rentals all over the world while you engage with local guides for a more in-depth intermingling with the local culture.

Best Features:
a. Easily find local home and vacation rentals at your travel destination
b. Book travel experiences and work with local guides for a more immersive experience

Price: Free to download, paid service
Download: click here

Mobile Passport

Mobile Passport helps you go through US Customs faster by allowing you to submit your passport and customs declaration information on the app and answer questionnaires on your mobile phone or tablet without having to go through the regular line to enter the United States. This app is fully authorized by the CBP and replaces the paper declaration forms required of all passengers.

Best Features:
a. Saves you time bypassing the regular line to go through US Customs when entering the United States
b. Answer US Customs paper questionnaires right on your mobile phone or tablet

Price: Free
Download: click here