This has been a frequently asked question from several of you guys, and I wanted to make sure these apps were up to snuff.
The 12 best travel apps (for the iPhone). Â Download these and you’ll travel like a badass. Â Warning – I can’t promise no flight delays or the like, but you get the idea…
Let’s start with the usual suspects. Â The United and Amtrak apps, synced with Passbook, ensures that I have my boarding passes and tickets with me at all times. Â Uber gets me to and from the airports/train stations/around the city, in most of the major cities I visit. Â I swear by my Marriott and Starwood Preferred Guest apps to both book and manage hotel reservations. Â I’m personally not a fan of TripIt (I’ve had syncing issues), but heartily endorse WorldMate for consolidating all your trip detials. Â I save all my travel loyalty numbers inside Evernote (a random addition to this list, but a necessary one), and also use it to note down airline and hotel employees that do a great job…and those who don’t. Â I’m big on sending feedback.
I’m big on selecting the type of plane I fly on – for domestic trips, I favor 757s with in-seat power (and ample availability in first class, in case I get upgraded). Â SeatGuru is my go-to resource for finding the best seat on the best plane. Â I also use FlightTrack to see the status of my incoming flight and plan for any potential delays. Â Which usually means an extra few minutes at Starbucks or the United lounge.
Citymaps is a new addition to my travel apps, but it’s one that I’m most obsessed with. Â It offers offline maps of major cities (an immediate plus over Google Maps), but it sets the bar higher by showing you the TOP places to visit, marked by other Citymaps customers. Â And I love the option of creating my own Citymaps of my favorite places in a city, so expect to see those incorporated in some upcoming Travel Diary posts!
For the international trips – I swear by XE Currency for money conversions (obviously, have to do some shopping while abroad). Â I also try to learn a few words & phrases of the local language (hello, thank you, how much does this cost, is this vegetarian?), and DuoLingo is my FAVORITE language education app (I’m using it to brush up on my Spanish!). Â Alas, it only covers French, Spanish, German, and Italian, so I’m all for finding resources for Mandarin and Korean.
What are your favorite travel apps? Â Is there anything I missed? Â COMMENT below and let me know!
