My favorite sites and apps for traveling
I've used a few apps the entire year I've been traveling and loved them. There have been some that I've found too late in the game and sad I didn't know about them earlier and some I kept trying to make work for me but just didn't. One thing I will say though is I've learned to appreciate the ease of traveling with tickets in your Apple Wallet as opposed to on paper. It may seem archaic that someone of my age would use paper tickets for everything but thats just the kind of person I am, always wanting to have a back-up in case my phone died or the scanner didn't work. But since that's neither environmentally friendly nor budget friendly when you have to pay to print I've modernized and switched everything to my phone. Which has proved efficient and easier than I imagined (unless you're traveling with someone and you have both your boarding passes on one phone, then less efficient and not at all easy but there are glitches in every system I suppose).
As you can presume, my favorite app is Apple Wallet. Don't let your fear of the government getting your passport or credit card information stop you because they already know it all and just save yourself the hassle of digging a crumpled boarding pass out of your pocket and just put it on your phone. Also, pro tip, if you check in on your phone they don't have the chance to weigh or measure your carry-on! There are a few other sites and apps I check every time I'm going to travel anywhere that have made my life so much easier, I hope they save you some hassle at some point as well!
Whats App: my all time favorite messaging app to connect with people all over the world via text, call, or video chat regardless of whether or not you have an international phone plan. It's the only way I keep in contact with my friends and family at home because I am not about to pay an extra 15 pounds per month just to get my phone provider to allow me to contact the U.S. when I can do it for free on the app (all you need is data or wifi). The best part about it--it hardly takes up any data. I really love it you can't loose with it. And if you're going to the U.K. in particular everyone here already uses it so you're one step ahead of the game. Set it up at home and the number associated with it won't change so you don't need to frantically send everyone you want to keep in contact with a new, foreign number.
XE Currency: a free app that lets you add up to 10 currencies at a time to have to compare. It makes shopping easy, I just go onto the app, plug in the amount I'm spending in pounds or euros or whatever currency and I can see how many U.S. dollars I'm spending. Perfect for the less math inclined people like myself.
Good Translate: so convenient. You can just point your phone camera at some forieng words and the app will convert it for you. Don't get caught in a country where you don't speak the language without it. And also don't be a fool and carry around a dictionary, you're hurting your back by carrying that thing everywhere.
Trainline UK or EU: find train times and prices to and from any city at any time. If there aren't train routes it will let you know if there are bus routes!
Uber: we all know and love this one already.
Flixbus: find cheap buses to take you all around Europe. And store your tickets you purchase with them in this app.
Viator: if you've read any of my other posts about traveling you know I love Viator. Get the app to see day trips in your area on the go and add the tickets you have to your Apple Wallet.
Ryanair/ easyJet/ any airline you're traveling with: always good to have the airline apps. You can see your flight status, get notifications of when to check in, and download your boarding passes.
National Express: buses throughout the U.K. for cheap! And you can keep any tickets you have on the app.
Google Maps: far superior to Apple Maps and will (almost) always get you where you need to go or help you find a place for dinner.
Google Flights: the best starting point for every trip. Even if you don't know where you want to go you can explore the cheapest destinations to fly to and get some inspiration that way!
As you can presume, my favorite app is Apple Wallet. Don't let your fear of the government getting your passport or credit card information stop you because they already know it all and just save yourself the hassle of digging a crumpled boarding pass out of your pocket and just put it on your phone. Also, pro tip, if you check in on your phone they don't have the chance to weigh or measure your carry-on! There are a few other sites and apps I check every time I'm going to travel anywhere that have made my life so much easier, I hope they save you some hassle at some point as well!
Whats App: my all time favorite messaging app to connect with people all over the world via text, call, or video chat regardless of whether or not you have an international phone plan. It's the only way I keep in contact with my friends and family at home because I am not about to pay an extra 15 pounds per month just to get my phone provider to allow me to contact the U.S. when I can do it for free on the app (all you need is data or wifi). The best part about it--it hardly takes up any data. I really love it you can't loose with it. And if you're going to the U.K. in particular everyone here already uses it so you're one step ahead of the game. Set it up at home and the number associated with it won't change so you don't need to frantically send everyone you want to keep in contact with a new, foreign number.
XE Currency: a free app that lets you add up to 10 currencies at a time to have to compare. It makes shopping easy, I just go onto the app, plug in the amount I'm spending in pounds or euros or whatever currency and I can see how many U.S. dollars I'm spending. Perfect for the less math inclined people like myself.
Good Translate: so convenient. You can just point your phone camera at some forieng words and the app will convert it for you. Don't get caught in a country where you don't speak the language without it. And also don't be a fool and carry around a dictionary, you're hurting your back by carrying that thing everywhere.
Trainline UK or EU: find train times and prices to and from any city at any time. If there aren't train routes it will let you know if there are bus routes!
Uber: we all know and love this one already.
Flixbus: find cheap buses to take you all around Europe. And store your tickets you purchase with them in this app.
Viator: if you've read any of my other posts about traveling you know I love Viator. Get the app to see day trips in your area on the go and add the tickets you have to your Apple Wallet.
Ryanair/ easyJet/ any airline you're traveling with: always good to have the airline apps. You can see your flight status, get notifications of when to check in, and download your boarding passes.
National Express: buses throughout the U.K. for cheap! And you can keep any tickets you have on the app.
Google Maps: far superior to Apple Maps and will (almost) always get you where you need to go or help you find a place for dinner.
Google Flights: the best starting point for every trip. Even if you don't know where you want to go you can explore the cheapest destinations to fly to and get some inspiration that way!
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| My go-to travel folder on my phone! |
Sabrina, this information is going to be so helpful for my husband and son: they are signed up to go to Germany with the German club next Spring and I can foresee disaster with paper tickets, passports and chaos unless my son can use an app for that! Enjoying your blog!!
ReplyDeleteGood, so glad it helped! Doing a post on Berlin soon so check back soon :)
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