TravelTravel Hacks

13 Travel Apps for an App-solutely Amazing Holiday!

Gone are the travel days when you had to lug around maps, travel books, and printouts of your tickets, flight tickets and hotel bookings. Blend in like a local and have all your essentials conveniently stored onto your phone. Here are the top 12 travel apps you should have for your next trip.

Skyscanner

Finding the best flight deal can be one of the trickiest (and most expensive) things about travel. Skip the travel agent who’ll charge you extra fees and commissions and use Skyscanner. This app is a flight search engine that scours prices and promotional fares from hundreds of airlines to give you the best comparison. And if you’re determined to get the lowest price, explore the apps Price Alert and Cheapest Month feature. Read up how we used Skyscanner to plan a whole week in Seoul under S$1000.

KKday

Book all your travel essentials and activities with KKday! We’ve transformed our website to an easy to use smartphone app. With over 6,000 products in over 52 countries, you’re sure to find local tours to fit your travel style. You can plan your itinerary ahead with their day tours and attraction tickets, or completely wing it by booking whatever fits your fancy once you land. Once you’ve booked, just save the voucher onto your phone and show it right before the tour. It’s that simple!

 

Airbnb

Gone are the days when you had to choose between overpriced hotels or sketchy hostels. With Airbnb, you can find the room or space at your ideal price and location with everything you need. It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking for the bare minimum or something fun and snazzy, like these Fun Seoul Accommodations. And because the system works on reviews and recommendations, you get honest feedback about host (READ: 5 Things to Consider Before Booking Your Airbnb)

Kayak

Level up your travel deal-hunting up by using Kayak. The app hunts travel sites for the best prices on flights, hotels, and even car rentals. Unlike other apps, Kayak is able to monitor price changes and can alert you on the best time to book. Not only that; Kayak often offers exclusive deals on these bookings. This almost always guarantees you the best deal possible. Once you’ve finished your bookings, Kayak summarizes them all into simple itinerary.

TripAdvisor

The best place to get travel advice is from locals and fellow travellers. TripAdvisor has over 500 million user reviews and ratings for hotels, tourist attractions, and restaurants. You don’t have to worry about sponsored posts giving you misleading advice. See accurate photos and read honest opinions and traveler tips from people who have been there and done that.

Duolingo

Hype yourself up for your trip by learning some of the basics of the language. With its fun and simple interface, Duolingo makes learning a game, so you’ll be able to impress the locals with your perfect pronunciation in no time. Among its ever growing catalog of languages are French, Spanish, Japanese and Korean. Best of all, it’s completely free!

Google Maps

Ol’ reliable Google Maps. It’s fairly accurate, updated regularly, and allows you to save the addresses of particular places for offline use. And thanks to the translation feature (for countries that don’t write in English), you can easily show the address to a friendly local and and ask for help and directions

Citymapper

One of the best ways to really explore the heart of a city is by commuting. City mapper lets you check out subway lines, bus lines, and local ride-sharing services in the city, and even recommends the fastest routes to get to your destination. Best of all, City Mapper works offline so you can look at your maps and your routes on the go.

Google Translate

If you don’t speak or read the native language, you need to have Google Translate. Not only does it churn out quick and useful survival phrases, but it’s also handy for interpreting road signs, menus, and other images—just take a picture of the phrase you need translated, and the app will give you a rough English translation.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp has billions of users worldwide and allows you to send text and multimedia messages, make voice calls, and even video calls. Spare yourself from criminal data roaming charges by communicating with everyone using WhatsApp. All you need is a WiFi connection, and you’re good to go.

XE Currency

Exchange rates fluctuate on a daily basis, so it can be hard to keep track of how much you’re actually spending. XE Currency updates in real-time, and lets you compare rates across multiple currencies.

Pack Point

Save yourself the nightmare of over packing for your trip but missing the one thing you need the most. Your packing list will vary depending on your trip (Business Trip? Family Trip? Weekend getaway with your significant other?) and destination (City? Beach? Mountains? All of the above?), and Pack Point knows that. Key in your activities, destination, and travel date, and the app will churn out a list of travel essentials based on the weather and your itinerary.

Uber

After a few drinks with your friends at night in a foreign country the last thing you want to do is to get lost figuring out your way back using public transport. Don’t take your chances and get an Uber to get you back safe to your hotel! But do be careful not to book it when you are near a taxi stand as many taxi drivers might not be happy about it (Eg. Thailand, Malaysia)

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