6 “Must Download” Travel Apps for 2018

Mobile technology has revolutionized the travel industry: Countless travel apps have popped up, promising to enhance your vacation experience without missing a beat. Whether I’m looking for inspiration on things to do or simply need to find the nearest money order near me, I discovered that there is an app for everything. But nothing is more frustrating than downloading an app for a trip and then realizing it was a total farse. In foreign lands when you do not have power of your Wi-Fi at all the places , these apps are suppose to be your eyes and ears. So they better be reliable. 2018 is literally flying by so I thought of sharing some of my new finds that have really been helping me in trip planning, money saving and getting me some of the best deals. These are 6 “Must Download” Travel Apps for 2018 and I am sure you will love them.

LoungeBuddy :

Flying on budget airlines means long layovers ,terrible connections,seats with no leg room, expensive Wi-Fi, and no food options. Sounds familiar ?? There is nothing more depressing than sitting in the airline boarding area and watching people in those VIP lounges relaxing and basically having time of their lives. Well lounge-buddy is here to open some options for you so that you may have a better airport experience.
Wondering how does it work ? Well generally these lounges are for Business or First Class ticket holders. However, you can also access many of these airport lounges with a day pass from LoungeBuddy for a nominal fee. You do not need to have an elite status. All you need to do is enter your credit card, airline status, and lounge memberships( if any) in the app. YOu can also sync your tripit or concur ( from work) accounts to the app and Lounge Buddy will tell you which lounges you can access at any given airport. The app will also tell you about any free lounges or ones you can purchase a day pass for. Trust me once you have this app – Layover will never be boring

Available in App Store and Android

Monzo:

Imagine you are sitting in a cafe in some foreign land , sipping your cup of cappuccino and paying in local currency without any transaction fees. What a dream , isn’t it? Well Mondo is here to make that dream a reality. Monzo lets you spend on your travels, with no ATM fees or transaction fees abroad. All you need to do :

1) Download Monzo app. .
2) Fill in your basic details and confirm email address.
3) Once you’re setup, you’ll be asked to verify your identity.
4) Top up account with £100 by either putting your debit card into the app or using a top up via bank transfer.
5) Once that’s done, your card will arrive within one working day.

Simple , Isn’t it ? Once the card arrives, you’ll receive the pin for the card via text message, and you will be able to top it up whenever you choose by using the app. Whenever you pay using Monzo card – MasterCard exchange rate is used ( which is one of the best) and no transaction or foreign fees is charged on the card. It is absolutely transparent. There’s no charge for using the Monzo card abroad for purchases OR cash machine withdrawals.

Available in App Store and Android

Tripcents :

For someone like me who literally dreams about travel every sec of the day – Tripcent keeps me on track for saving money. Tripcents is a travel budgeting app that requires you to sign up and create your personalized profile. Once you are done entering your information and customizing your travel likes, the app customizes your experience and shows you the most relevant travel information. Next, you will set up your automated monthly savings. You determine how much you are willing to put to the travel saving app each month.You can automate your savings. Don’t worry, Tripcents will hold your funds in an FDIC-insured deposit account. Once you have automated things with the travel saving app, you will receive travel recommendations based on your preferences and personalization. TripCents will send you the best deals and will help you stay in your budget! Saving money for travel just got better and easier with TripCents.

Geo- Sure :

With so many things changing around us – politically and environmentally , its more important than ever to keep on top of events and circumstances that might compromise our safety abroad. Geo-sure is definetly a necessity of today. It goes by the conviction – ” Whether on business, for leisure, or schooling, when you’re aware and prepared, traveling is both safer and more enjoyable.” GeoSure collects data from sources like the CDC, WHO, the United Nations, local authorities etc, then provides a Geosafetyscore for your destination that gives you an idea of potential health risks, political unrest, threats to women, and environmental hazards. It rates your safety on a scale from 1 to 100. The lower the score, the safer the neighborhood. The higher the score, the less safe. GeoSure incorporates the most accurate safety and security data on the market, with continuously updated ratings for every popular destination and major

cities across the globe, right down to individual neighborhoods. It even gives crowd-sourced information about thefts and street crime that have occurred

in any given area, and tells you when it’s safe to walk or if it’s better to take a taxi. Technology han ??

Available in App Store and Android

Tripit :

One of the most frequent fights that me and Manhar have revolve around trip planning. For someone who almost always end up being the in-charge of flights and hotels and transportation – managing the address and checkin/checkout timings and coordinating with hotels in case we get late – takes a hell out of me . So over the years , I dreamt of having an app that :

1) Does automatic itinerary creation.

2) has the capability to share an itinerary with family so they don’t panic

3) provides automatic updates in case of flight changes

4) has the capability of syncing data across multiple devices

Thank God Tripit made this dream come true. All you need to do is – set up an account with Trip-it. It will then scan your email inbox for details about a trip (flight times, hotel bookings, etc.) and build an itinerary for you. If email scanning by an app does not sound safe to you , you can also either forward booking emails you’ve received to a standard address to create the itinerary or enter the details manually. Once the trip is in place, the app will generate additional information such as airport info and local weather, and will add it to your itinerary. I am using the basic version of Trip – It but for $49 per year, you can upgrade to TripIt Pro and get flight status alerts by text or email, reward tracking with a number of vendors, check-in reminders,flight refund monitoring, and more. If you are not sure about buying a pro version , you can try Tripit Pro for 30 days for free.

Available in App Store and Android

Hopper :

Hopper ( and google flights) has lately been my go to app for booking flight tickets . Hopper’s mantra is: “when to fly and buy.” We all have seen the pain of making last minute plans and then paying exorbitant prices for flight tickets. The app is designed to assist with decisions about affordable tickets: what dates are the most affordable to fly and what dates are the most affordable to buy. Since I like to plan my trips in advance , I love the fact that it shares its predictions about when the price will fluctuate—as well as push notifications for when it does. Not many people know but now they even share predictions for hotel price fluctuations. I am currently using the app to plan my New Zealand trip. Stay tuned as I will update this blog with my findings on hotel bookings from hopper.

Available in App Store and GooglePlay

If you have any cool apps up your sleeve please share with me in comments below. I will love to hear your experience with any of the apps I introduced above. I am still in pursuit of a perfect app that has flight booking , hotel booking , expense tracking and virtual currency all in one 😛 but I guess that dream is for later. Thank you so much for stopping by. But before you go

Which is your favorite travel app?