You’ve chosen a place and scheduled your vacation time. Whether you still need to plan your flight and hotel or you’re ready to travel tomorrow, your smartphone can be a useful resource for your travel planning. From apps that help you book your trip and track your plans to features that help you record your trip and connect with people back home, check out the following four reasons why a smartphone is your best summer travel companion.
You Can Download Apps for Travel Planning
Image via Flickr by fdecomite
Free apps like Booking.com, available for the iPhone, help you book your hotel and keep track of your reservations from your smartphone screen. In particular, the Booking.com app lets you apply different search filters, such as landmarks, to find the perfect hotel site. You’ll also find options for last-minute reservations, too.
TripCase is one useful itinerary app. Available as a free download, this app lets you forward your reservation confirmation emails to TripCase once you have an account. The app creates an itinerary for you with relevant details, allowing you to share your trip plans with others. TripCase also tracks flight information and notifies you when delays, gate changes, and cancellations occur. You can also search for seats on your flight or look for alternative flight options.
You Can Document Vacation Memories
The days of carrying film, buying disposable cameras, and remembering extra memory cards for digital cameras are over. Now all you need is your smartphone, which probably has better picture-taking abilities than the digital cameras you once used.
Use your smartphone’s storage space and a cloud connection to take hundreds of pictures during your trip, then download free photo editing apps to alter your favorites. Try Snapseed, an app that offers customizable edits through tools you can apply to the entire photo or specific areas of the photo. What’s the best part, you ask? You won’t have to scroll through scores of different filters to find the look you want, since you can create and customize that look yourself with minute adjustments.
You’ll Get Instant Connection to Family and Friends Back Home
Whether you like to upload your photos and videos to social media or want to connect with family members and friends, smartphones can help you out. The Apple iPhone 6s delivers a superior HD display so that you’ll have no trouble seeing loved ones when you connect with a FaceTime call. Plus, you can send an iMessage to your family and friends from a Wi-Fi signal, even if you’re not in a 4G LTE area.
Skype is one of the most popular ways people from different countries can use an app to stay in touch. If you and a friend both chat via Skype, the connection is free. Try Skype if you don’t want to pay international rates when making a call. Additionally, fring is another video chat and calling app. You can chat with as many as four people in one video chat, and you can connect to other apps such as Google Talk.
You Can Put Apps to Work During Your Travels
Taking a road trip? Route planning apps can help you get to places. Try the Roadtrippers app for iOS. With this app, you can plan your trip route, share the route with family and friends, and find cool stuff along the way. In addition, the Roadtrippers app lets you know what kind of interesting food, attractions, national parks, and more are in the area you’re approaching.
Try the free version of CityMaps2Go to help you navigate your vacation destination. This app offers offline maps with insider tips and intriguing places to visit. You can save streets and addresses in the app, then access those saved locations later. You can customize your searches to find exactly what you’re looking for, whether you’re looking for museums, nightclubs, or food. With the CityMaps2Go app, you can customize your experience in a new destination.
Your smartphone can help you document your trip and share your experiences with others. Your phone can also keep you from getting lost and help you find attractions you might have missed. With your summer travel companion at your fingertips, you won’t miss a beat.
