Useful Travel Apps

As attractive as cheaptravel options such as cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, discounttravel deals, cheapdeals, and cheap vacation packages are,finding and using appropriate travel apps while you are away can markedlyimprove your overall travel experience.

The following are travel apps you should consider usingbefore you depart for your adventure, according to Jessica Festa:

• Forpeople who know when they would like to travel but are flexible regarding thedestination, you should search for flights on Skyscanner and type everywhere as your destination. The app will then show where you can fly thecheapest during your selected dates.

• Ensurethat you will pay the lowest rates on your hotel by forwarding your non-prepaidhotel confirmation to Dreamcheaper which will continue re-booking yourreservation whenever a lower price becomes available.

• Thereare a variety of travel apps (such as Bluesmart, Trunkster, LugLoc andTrakdot) tied into smart luggage sets or add-on devices that come with builtin scales, BPS tracking, Bluetooth enabled locks and USB charging.

Once you are at your destination, Jessica recommends thefollowing travel apps that can help users exercise, eat, find deals, and seethe best sites:

• See thecity while working out with WalkJogRun (available for $4.99 on iOS) that willmap out a safe and scenic route using your hotel as the starting point.

• FoodTripping helps users find fresh, local, sustainable, and healthy food byproviding a map with clickable waypoints. Users can add their own delicious finds via the community driven natureof the app.

• Kaminoprovides complimentary GPS enabled walking tours for cities all around theworld. Utrip creates personalizeditineraries with interactive maps, based on a users location and interests. Sunday Drive (free, iOS only) empowersusers to select points of interest and plan a customized drive, while provinglocal insider tips.

• Grouponis useful in finding delicious deals close by, while Roaming Hungeridentifies local food trucks on a map (currently limited to U.S. locals).

• CoffeeGuru(99 cents available on iOS only) helps find local indie coffee houses. While relaxing create and send real greetingcards or postcards via Touchnote, or speak to friends at home via WhatsAppMessenger. Note, your friends have todownload this app as well for you to be able to communicate.

• Camera+($1.99 iOS) is a terrific all in one picture taking app that also edits andshares pictures. If you want to takedramatic shots such as sunsets and contrasting landscapes consider Pro HDR($1.99, iOS & Android).

• Yelpand Foursquare help identify where to eat or enjoy a drink. Another useful app is Happy Hour Finderwhich indicates nearby happy hour offers and includes hours, deals, and menuhighlights.

• NoWaitempowers users to review nearby restaurant wait times and place their names onwaiting lists. If you would like toenjoy a meal in the home of a local, EatWith is a useful app.

• Findingestablishments that serve your drink of choice are made easy via Untapped forbeer, Cocktail Compass for cocktails, and Wine-Searcher for wines which caneven help you find a specific wine near your location. For those who want to stay in, DrinkAdvisor provides cocktail recipes as well as drink trivia.

• Shazamis useful for identifying the names of foreign songs you might want to downloadlater. Splitwise helps keep track ofwho owes what over the course of a day or evening.