Lyndsay Fogarty
During the Planning Stages
Book Flights with Hopper
Saving money on certain aspects of your vacation frees up funds for more fun once you reach your destination. Hopper assists with finding the best possible prices on one of the most expensive parts of travel: the flight. When you search by the date of your trip, Hopper predicts the cheapest time to purchase and shares whether you should wait or book right away. The app sends you notifications when the price drops if you choose to wait, and you can book through the app when it’s time to buy. Through specific data analytics, Hopper claims a 95 percent accuracy rate for its predictions.
Available on iOS or Android devices, Free
Pack Your Bags Like a Pro with PackPoint
You get to your destination and realize you forgot to bring sunscreen or the weather is much different than you expected. We’ve all been there. PackPoint can help by organizing everything you need to pack based on length of travel, the weather at your destination and the activities you will be participating in. Answer a couple of quick questions about what you have planned for your trip and PackPoint will put together a detailed list of what you will need. Traveling in a pack? You can share your list with your travel companions so they know what to pack, too.
Available on iOS or Android devices, Free for basic version or $2.99 for premium package
Organize Your Entire Vacation with Google Trips
In the months and weeks leading up to a vacation, you’re researching things to do, scheduling activities and making restaurant reservations. You end up with an inbox full of unorganized confirmation codes. Google Trips not only maps out a half or full-day adventure with suggestions on where to go, but it also organizes all of your travel details in one convenient place by gathering the reservation information straight from your inbox. The app is available offline, too, so you can access your information at all times.
Available on iOS or Android devices, Free
As You Travel
Breeze Through Customs with Mobile Passport
Officially authorized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Mobile Passport expedites the customs process for U.S. citizens and Canadian visitors at one cruise port and 25 airports across the country. All you have to do is enter your profile information as it appears on your valid, official passport and answer five short questions about your trip. Then you will receive a CBP receipt with an encrypted barcode that is valid for four hours. At your port of entry, find the designated line for Mobile Passport Control, show your passport to the CBP officer and scan the barcode on your receipt. Doing the work before you arrive helps to avoid the hassle.
Available on iOS or Android devices, Free
Relax at the Airport with LoungeBuddy
Whether you book a flight with a long layover or run into unexpected delays, LoungeBuddy helps keep you comfortable during long hours spent at the airport. This app provides access to any of the lounges in its network with no memberships, elite statuses or first class tickets required. On the day of your trip, or even up to two months in advance, you can browse through the lounges at your departure or arrival airport and purchase access directly through the app. Then enjoy premium amenities while you wait for your flight.
Available on iOS devices, Free
Find the Best Road Trip Route with Waze
You might already use Waze here at home, but it’s even more helpful on a road trip. It provides the best route to your destination with real-time help from other drivers who are sharing traffic-related information and road hazards like potholes, accidents and traffic jams. The app also helps you find the cheapest gas stations on your route through community-shared gas prices. Waze can be used anywhere with cellular or GPS reception, both domestically and abroad; however, the quality of maps may differ in certain areas depending on the size of the user community.
Available on iOS and Andoir devices, Free
While You’re There
Get Around with Uber or Lyft
Nervous about navigating a new city on your own? Use a ride-sharing service like Uber or Lyft instead. Both are available in most major cities across the country, so you can decide which one is most cost effective on any given day. Depending on where you’re visiting, relying on these apps for transportation could cost you less than a rental car and hotel parking fees.
Available on iOS and Android devices, Free
Stay Safe on the Go with GeoSure
When you’re walking around a city you’re not familiar with, you may not realize you’ve wandered into a not-so-great area. GeoSure logs data like crime statistics, tourism and travel alerts, real-time reports and mapping technologies to determine location safety ratings across six categories: overall safety, physical harm, women’s safety, health and medical, political/basic freedoms and theft. The app shows GeoSafeScores for specific neighborhoods and locations through a color-coded, 1-100 ratings scale, so you can know the safety rating of where you are and where you’re headed.
Available on iOS and Android devices, Free
Manage Group Travel Expenses with Splittr
When you’re traveling with a group, one person may pay for a rental car while another covers the hotel. You take turns paying for dinners and rounds of drinks. So how do you know if your payments have evened out? Enter expenses into Splittr as you go, and it will keep track for you. At the end of the trip, you will see who owes what to whom. You can’t make payments through the app as you do with apps like Venmo – it just does the math for you.
Free for basic version, $3.99 premium lifetime membership
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