TRAVEL TECH
MUST HAVE APPS FOR THE GLOBAL TRAVELER
Where the airline passenger experience is failing travelers, the tech industry is stepping in with app-based services that aim to simplify and relieve stress in traveling.
A surge in various travel apps may prompt a certain level of app fatigue, but collectively they point to the potential digital technology has to enhance the passenger experience. We look at apps that make travel more seamless and painless.
AIRGUIDE AIRPORTS, FREE
AirGuideAirports is your guide to making the most of your airport departure, arrival, or layover or to find what is near your gate, or airport lounge. Try also AirGuide’s flight tracker for real-time live flight tracking, arrivals, departures, gates, delays, security wait, weather and more.
WIKITUDE, FREE
Just like Wikipedia, Wikitude helps you learn about things you’re exploring while traveling. Just point your phonecam and it annotates the scene with pop-ups on everything from ancient ruins to taco stands.
ROME2RIO, FREE
Rome2rio is a comprehensive global trip planner that helps you get from A to B worldwide. You can enter any town, address or landmark as your destination and Rome2rio will instantly display flight, train, bus, ferry and driving options with estimated travel times and fares.
MY DATA MANAGER, FREE
My Data Manager – your most precious currency abroad is your data allowance – don’t run dry in a strange city. This tool tracks how much of your limit you’ve used, and it shows how much each app is sucking up so you can spot the bit hogs.
LOUNGEBUDDY, FREE
Create a trip and let LoungeBuddy tell you which lounges you already have access to. Don’t have access? No worries – you can purchase instant lounge access in seconds.
DETOUR, FREE
Lose yourself in the mysteries and histories of the world’s great cities with this superb walking-tour audio app. Detour tracks your location to cue the audio, so it’s all hands-free and you can go at your own pace. In 10 cities so far.
MAPS.ME,FREE
Download free maps for any place in the world—even the top of the Andes— and use them when you don’t have an Internet connection. Bonus: Since it all happens on your device, zooming and swiping is faster than with web maps.