Not all trips are about unplugging. For adventurers who consider their smartphone a second appendage, explorers who are interested in documenting their every move or solo-travelers who need some guidance with language or maps, this list features the best apps for travel in 2016. It's time to get downloading.
The hottest apps for travel in 2016.
A great tool for frequent travelers, this app allows users to organize multiple flights, hotel reservations and plans in one place. Users can also follow along with each other’s itineraries, allowing families or friends to keep tabs on someone’s travel, without constant updates.
“My sister travels all the time because she is a consultant,” says Alberto Bustani Garcia, a Mexican businessman living in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. Bustani likes that he stays in the loop with his family’s travels, and vice versa, even though he is far away.
Once a flight or hotel booking is made, users forward the confirmation to an email address and the app automatically loads the booking into its system. If your flight is delayed or changed, notifications are automatically shared.
“Imagine you are picking someone up and their flight is delayed,” says Busanti. He’s used TripCase over 15 times in the past two years, keeping track of his business and pleasure trips on the platform.
Instagram was last year’s photo sharing and exploring app-du-jour, but it seems that Snapchat will take the cake in 2016. An easy way to share quick photos or funny videos with friends and family, users can save snaps and upload them later when internet is available.
Similar to Instagram, Snapchat also lends itself to exploring areas and learning more about a location. Some fun accounts to follow include Expat Edna at expatedna; The Hungry Partier at drewbinksy; Travel Sassy at Travel_Sassy; The Hostel Girl at the_hostelgirl.
Pro-tip: thanks to Geotagging, filters for locations can change wildly, ranging from raining money in Las Vegas to graffiti on Long Island. Swipe left on the picture in the application and get those fun filters going.
For pet-lovers, this app helps users travel the world with their furry friends, from mapping out parks where dogs are welcome to booking pet-friendly hotels.
Featuring a basic phrasebook in over 13 languages, Bravolol is a modern-day Rosetta stone.
Although the vocabulary is fairly basic, the app pronounces phrases and offers phonetic spelling, which is great for languages that might not be familiar or feature different alphabets. The best part is that once it is downloaded, no internet connection is required. Move over, Google Translate.
With sections like Romance and Sightseeing, Bravolol would be a great app for a solo-traveler or anyone interested in venturing off-the-beaten touristic path.
If multiple countries are on your itinerary, a currency app goes a long way to keep track of finances. While there are a few options on the market, Currency features less advertisements than most and allows you to add over 10 different currencies.
If you don’t have data on your phone, be sure to download the appropriate currency while you have access to the internet, as it can calculate the conversion without data.
Featuring downloadable maps and guides to over 7,000 destinations around the world, this application is great for travelers without an internet connection as maps can be pre-loaded onto a phone. The app also features articles and suggestions for destination, if someone is interested in a more robust itinerary.
