Hotel Apps

Travel apps can be a lifesaver. I have a variety of apps downloaded on my phone, and many have come in handy on various trips. Having a diverse array of hotel booking apps on your phone is helpful since you will be booking on the go. I have Airbnb, Best Western, Hilton Honors, Hyatt, Marriott Bonvoy, Radisson Hotels, and RIU Hotels. These are just a few of the many hotel apps you can download. Hotel Tonight is also quite popular among standby travelers. ID90 can sometimes have good deals for airline employees on hotels.

Transportation Apps

I keep a few transportation apps on my phone as well. For example, Uber, Lyft, Avis, National, Hertz, and Rome2rio are good to have on hand. It can be great for a short trip to Uber/Lift in from the airport to the city and walk/use public transit for your trip. With the American Express card, I also get $15 in Uber credits, which helps reduce some of my transportation costs. (See my blog post about the perks of having a travel credit card) Rental car apps are beneficial so you can quickly check availability and book a rental car if you need one at your destination. I get status with some rental car companies through my American Express card.

Rome2Rio is a great app to help you deduce how to get from one place to another. For instance, it can give you information about how to get from London to Paris and what each method of transit costs.

Depending on where I end up, I download the local public transit apps to help track the bus/train schedules and load money onto a transit card. In Chicago, it was convenient to have the CTA app downloaded. I could upload money onto a virtual card on the app, so I wouldn’t have to spend time as a solo traveler messing around with my credit card at a CTA stop. In London, transit apps were unnecessary because you could use Google/Apple Pay on the Tube, which was super convenient. In some cities, where systems are less tech-friendly, I hold on to my transit pass in the event I ever return. Often, the card itself is at least $5. You never know when you will be back to utilize any unused money previously loaded onto the card.

Airline/Airport Apps

I also keep a variety of airline apps on my phone. These serve as a catastrophe contingency for when flight loads change. These situations are the perfect time to use some credit card points. For tracking planes, I downloaded Flight Aware. Tracking planes is especially useful for airport pickups. It saves me from excessively waiting in a cell phone lot in the airport to pick someone up. It is also fun to see where on the flight path someone I know is. For the airports, I keep a Priority Pass app, since I get access with a credit card which allows me to access the lounges.

Another great resource is Staff Traveler. Using this app, one can request flight loads to see your odds of getting somewhere. This feature is advantageous, as a spouse, since we do not have access to the employee portal to check for this information. (Abide by these rules, or the employee’s job could be at stake!) Staff Traveler can also be helpful when flying ZED on another airline. You can answer others’ requests to gain credits or purchase credits for $0.60 a credit to request flight loads.

Other Apps

Recently, I downloaded Airalo. I have yet to use it, but it can work as a sim card internationally if your phone provider does not cover you when traveling abroad. You will need to have an unlocked phone to use this app. Another app I have yet to try is Time Shifter. This app is supposed to help you transition to your new time zone with as much ease as possible to reduce symptoms of jet lag. MyTSA is another helpful app that lets you see the TSA wait times at the airport. This is helpful so you don’t miss your flight and can time your airport arrival.

It’s helpful to have the app XE for currency conversion. I used this frequently in London to ensure I knew what I was spending since they use the British pound. We heavily rely on Google Maps when traveling, but most people already have this downloaded. Be careful, and do not look lost and confused while navigating. It is advisable to try to know at least some basic directions so you only have to glance at your phone periodically. I also have a compass, just in case, to point me in the right direction.

Some additional apps I also use for traveling are Fitbit, because it’s fun to see how much we have walked, and some entertainment apps for the journey. It can be nice to have some music, shows, and or audiobooks downloaded. Frequently I use the in-flight entertainment, but you never know when you will be grateful to have resources if you end up stuck at an airport for a few hours (or more).

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