Once you have identified your cheap travel options, including cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, cheap auto rentals and cheap vacation packages for your next trip you should look into free travel apps that can do everything from sharing your adventures with friends to finding your way.
The following are free travel apps recommended by Smarter Travel:
HipGeo allows users to create digital scrapbooks in real time to document trips. The app takes users photos, videos, and texts shared on social networks and transforms them into journals which can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or email. The app automatically tags pictures with the locations they were taken.
Imo.im combines 11 communication and social media platforms into a single app. Its like Skype, AIM, and Flickr all in a single app. Wi-Fi can be used for calling (on Android), instant messaging, and sharing pictures without having to pay international data rates.
Poynt allows users to find local attractions and access turn by turn directions. Its restaurant search feature help would be diners find exactly what they are looking for. Its events search feature identifies what is going on locally.
Waze helps avoid traffic jams and locate the cheapest places to fill up by using real time gas prices. The app is hands free and voice activated, providing turn by turn GPS instructions as well as live traffic information and alternative routes.
Springpad organizes everything from printed reservations, directions and guidebooks on smartphones and tablets. Users can follow other notebooks and see what other people have planned for their vacations.
Tagwhat turns smartphones into personal tour guides on trips. This app uses your current location to provide information about interesting places nearby. You can listen to famous speeches or songs associated with places nearby.
Stay provides recommendations from people you know, such as friends and family, as well as travel experts when you are on the road. Guides and maps for 116 cities are available for download and can be customized with input from other travelers, friends, and your own research. Stays guides and maps can also be used offline.
Lookout provides protection from viruses and spyware, particularly useful when you are accessing unsecured networks while traveling. Users can arrange for automatic data backups so information and photos will not be lost if a phone is lost or damaged. Lookout also locates missing phones on a map, remotely locks or wipes data, and can even sound an alarm on a phone even if it is set on silent.
App in the Air helps find free wireless Internet at a gate and the most desirable food options in a terminal. This app provides packing and to do lists, online check-in, and flight notifications. Users can share their flight details on social media and maintain a log of miles flown and destinations visited.
TripList 2 costs $2.99 organizes all users trip information and creates user lists. The app can support multiple users and has templates for recurring trips and integrates TripIt and Dropbox for optimum organization.
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