10 Apps and websites to make travel a breeze
1st Jan 2015 Travel
Travel expert Richard Mellor takes us on a tour through the most helpful travel apps the digital world has to offer. Simply download the apps or visit the websites to turn your phone into a pocket tour guide.
Accuweather
There’s nowt worse than going on holiday with all the wrong clothing.
Whether you’ve brought mostly sweaters for a week of heat or spindly t-shirts for an unseasonably cold snap, it indisputably sucks.
Sidestep this pitfall by pre-consulting Accuweather, which has detailed, reliable meteorological forecasts for every far-flung corner.
Read more: 11 Suitcase packing hacks
Global Cash Card’s ATM locator
You’ve no dosh left and the restaurant doesn’t take American Express?
With options for Visa, Mastercard and Cirrus users, Global Cash Card can help you swot up on your destination’s local ATMs, so you’re never short of bread in an emergency.
Citymapper
Image via Citymapper
Available in over 30 cities and rapidly growing, not only does this free app help users plan the quickest route from A to B using public transport or on foot, but there’s a brilliant new update.
Citymapper users can now find out exactly where to stand on all relevant metro systems to be closest to their arrival station’s exit point.
WhatPlug
Europe is simple enough—mostly two-pin—but lesser-visited countries often present socket problems.
It’s not just about having the right plug, but also ensuring that your equipment’s voltage is applicable.
WhatPlug gives you the skinny on every global country’s vital electricity stats.
TripIt
Image via Skift
The most helpful travel website of them all?
With its ability to sensibly collate all of your booking references, barcodes, prepaid fees and so forth into one handy document—accessible from laptops, tablets and smartphones—TripIt certainly lays claim to this title.
The (miraculously) free app also offers seat-tracking and flight alerts if you pay a little extra.
Read more: Your ultimate summer holiday checklist
With Locals
No global commodity—gold, euros, Pokemon candies—is more valuable than local knowledge.
With Locals allows for meetings with dwellers in around 130 different countries, as well as homestay opportunities.
The accent is on structured experiences, but you can just request a coffee.
Skiplagged
Image via SkipLagged
Due to strange pricing vagaries, it’s occasionally cheaper to fly to your chosen destination as a stopover, rather than directly.
So, for instance, if you were hoping to go from London to Istanbul, a service from London to Muscat via Istanbul might cost less – even if you skip Muscat altogether – than any direct flight.
Skiplagged specifically looks for such discrepancies.
Rome2rio
Are you hiring a car on your holiday, or planning a multi-centre odyssey?
If so, Rome2rio can help to plan ahead: it estimates exactly how long any worldwide journey will take via car, taxi, bus, plane or train, including a guess at the cost and distance.
Jet Lag Rooster
Flying across time zones? Stop jetlag from ruining your trip or return home by engaging this clever site.
Give Jet Lag Rooster your travel details more than three days ahead of travel, and it’ll design a personalised sleep schedule for you—ensuring acclimatisation as quickly as possible.
Read more: How to overcome jet lag
iFly.com
Airports range from behemoths as big as countries to teeny terminals lacking so much as a cafe.
For those prone to panic-buying sunglasses or travel adaptors pre-flight, iFly is an excellent resource.
It has detailed info about every airport’s shopping, eating options, lost-and-found sections, wi-fi offering and toilets, as well as delivering live departure data.
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