Best 10 Travel Apps Now

Posted By Terry Gardner in App Picks, Lifestyle, Mobile, Travel

BreakingModern — A flipphone is beyond yesterday. Worse, it could leave a traveler trapped at the gate with a flight delay. Here are 10 essential travel apps for hip smartphone-istas like you and me. Yeah, I invented that word.

1. TripIt (Free or Pro version for Android, iOS, Blackberry and Windows): Organizes flight, hotel, car rental and more for each trip. TripIt uses booking confirmation emails to create and track a master itinerary. The Pro version costs $49 annually and provides real-time alerts. If you travel frequently, go Pro.
2. Kayak (Free for Android, Apple iOS, Windows and Amazon Kindle Fire): Provides one-stop shopping for hotels, flights, cars, deals and more. And it can help find a hotel tonight from multiple sites including Expedia, Hotwire, Priceline, etc. Travel is either purchased in app or Kayak transfers you to the preferred site.
3. GateGuru (Free for Android, iOS and Windows): Puts airport info in your pocket, ranging from amenities to where to find the best food. If you let it access your TripIt or Kayak accounts it will import trips and automatically know your airports.
4. Airbnb (Free for Android and iOS): Helps book Airbnb’s nontraditional lodging, which includes castles, tree houses, igloos and private homes. In April, it won the 2014 Webby Award for Best Travel App possibly because you can swap emails, call a potential host or book last minute lodging in app.
5. Free Zone Wi-Fi (Free for iOS and Android): An app that finds free Wi-Fi near you. And, it truly works. Some free Wi-Fi finders steer you to places with no or poor quality Wi-Fi. Free Zone will automatically connect you to Free Wi-Fi when you’re in range.
6. Dashlane (Free or Premium for Android and iOS): Manages, protects and secures your passwords on one device for free or across multiple devices for $29.99 annually. Dashlane can generate passwords or tell you if a password is weak. Travelers need password and ID protection. Forget AMEX, don’t leave home without this.
7. WAZE (Free for Android, iOS and Windows): Uses crowd-sourced info to navigate users around traffic on a trip or at home. It’s available in more than 30 countries, but voice turn-by-turn directions are only available in about a dozen languages.
8. Roadtrippers (Free for Android and iOS): Helps you plan road trips and enjoy sights along the route ranging from waterfalls to historic hikes, offbeat attractions and places to eat and sleep. You can build your trip from scratch or plan a trip choosing attractions from Roadtrippers classic American trips.
9. Phramed (Free for iOS): Lets you easily create a photo collage of iPhone snapshots or images shot with another camera that have been imported into your phone or tablet. Phramed helps capture highlights of an entire trip or one day on vacation.
10. Starbucks (Free for Android and iOS): Find a nearby Starbucks and to discover new songs, apps, etc. for free with Starbucks’s Pick of the Week, which gives you an iTunes download code for a free song, book, app or TV episode.

Well, there you have it. Ten travel apps that will make anyone breeze through life.

For Bmod, I’m Terry Gardner.

Featured Image: By itravel - the best smartphone travel app for New Zealand (Flickr: Lake Brunner)  via Wikimedia Commons