Whether you’re planning your travel itinerary, booking accommodation, getting around a new city, or trying to decrypt what a foreign menu says, there’s an app for that!
With technology getting smarter and better each year, you can now listen to travel experts giving their take on top tourist attractions, unlock scooters in cities around the world, and even get told exactly what to pack for different touring destinations.
That said, we’ve decided to hand-curate a list of the top five travel apps for 2020/2021, all vetted and given top ranks by top travel aficionados and bone-fide road troopers.
- Tripwise
Tripwise provides travelers with expert advice, helpful information, and travel tips relevant to the countries they’re visiting. It’s just a TID bit of having a local resident in your pocket. This app should be your number one priority as it literally provides you with that bit of travel insurance.
Tripwise provide you with real-time updates regarding travel alerts, emergency service numbers, and security information on the country you are visiting. It also helps travelers track flights within three days for delays and cancellation, while also using GPS to help find important destinations such as hospital searches.
Using RX and first aid terms, you can as well make use of a medical dictionary to decipher internationally recognized prescription medication in more than 15 languages. This absolutely free application can also help you avoid common local scams and how to deal with other events that may impact your trip.
Tripwise is available to both android and iOS users via their native app stores. This app is as useful for travel enthusiasts as BetAmerica.com is important for NBA experts to check the odds.
- TripIt
TripIt is another resourceful mobile application that made our list. Available to both iOS and android users, this app organizes all your holiday itineraries in one place. The app creates a master doc for each trip you’re planning to take for free and without the need of Wi-Fi, which means you can access it anywhere at any time provided you keep your smartphone charged up. Your master doc will have all your confirmation numbers, reservations, contact information, and directions in a single spot for easy planning and accessibility.
TripIt also synchs your travel plans with your calendar and keeps you constantly posted on important info and sates through email alerts. For premium services, TripIt Pro that goes for about $49 per year boots your organization power with extra, unique features.
For instance, the pro version allows you to keep an eye out for better sets, sends real-time flight updates, delays, and gate changes, tells you what currency, language, and even plugs and electric sockets to use, and even gives you your baggage claim information.
- Uber
Getting a ride in a new city used to be a daunting task in the past, but car-hailing apps such as Uber and Lyft have made it simple. Uber remains the best and most utilized apps in this category with its active service in more than 84 countries and nearly 800 urban communities. This app is convenient, useful, and a must-have when travelling abroad in 2020-2021.
Some of the notable features include automatic location pickup, multiple payment options, driver’s details such as name, picture, vehicle info, and his ETA and options to share a trip with friends and more. Uber helps you not only with cab booking but also comparing the prices on the various fleets of cars available on the app. On booking conformation, the cab can easily locate your location and will be available to your pick-up location within minutes. As with most travel apps, Uber is freely available in both the Apple App Store and Google Play.
- Airbnb
On the hunt for a last-minute accommodation? Don’t worry; there are plenty of useful apps such as Hotel.com or HotelTonight that has got you covered. In fact, you can have some handsome savings with last-gasp hotel bookings on such apps.
However, there’s no brainer that Airbnb has become the leader when it comes to finding a place to live and get to know a city by living more like a local. This application gives you the opportunity to select from a plethora of gorgeous, unique, and quint apartments, villas, cottages, and houses all over the world for you to rent.
You can compare a variety of these dwelling places to hunt down the best prices and amenities, with images there to guide your selection. With the help of Google Maps, you can also see the location of your accommodation.
Whether you are using the app, which is free on both Apple Store and Google Store, you can filter accommodation by number of guests, baths, beds, and even more specific requirements such as parking, swimming pool, kitchen, and Wi-Fi among others. You can also peruse through customer reviews to guide your choice.
- Skyscanner
There’s a good reason why Skyscanner has over 100 million subscribers monthly. This application compares all travel agents and airlines to get you the best prices for your airline tickets, hotels, and car rental. Once you’ve analyzed all the available agents and decided on the ones to choose, the app will transfer you to the provider so you can complete your booking. Skyscanner is also free for users in both iOS and Android operating systems.
If the prices aren’t what you are looking for, you can always set the price range you prefer, and you will be notified when the costs drop. Using this application is absolutely hassle-free since booking will only take your few quick steps, whether you’re using the mobile app or website which are both available in more than 30 languages.
Skyscanner gives you all the options to help you make a decision that is right for you, which includes a ‘Greener Choice’ label that highlights the flights that emit less CO2.
Since this initiative, the app has helped more than 10 million travelers select the lowest emission flights for their preferred routes. To date, the company’s mission remains to lead the global transformation to modern and sustainable travel, which makes this platform one of the must-have travel tools today.