After reading a slew of stories about best smartphone and iPad apps for this and that, I reflected on what apps I tend to use the most while traveling. I keep coming back to the basics that save me time and money. Here is my simple list of my basic travel apps.
Google maps
This is the king of apps on my iPhone. If a button could get worn out on the iPhone, this would be the one. I use this app to figure out where I am when traveling across farmlands and in obscure villages. It finds tiny roads that connect here with there along paths not traveled. It tells me the best way to walk across town or take public transportation. It gives me alternative routes when stuck in traffic or forced to reroute because of flooding, which was the case last week in Pleasantville, New York, along the Saw Mill Parkway.
Cheap Gas!
I can’t tell you that this is the best gas price app because it is the only one I have ever downloaded and used. But, I can tell you that it works. I first downloaded this app when traveling across New Mexico between Taos and Farmington. The next day, during a tour of Chaco Canyon, I mentioned the Cheap Gas! app to our tour guide. He said, “Let’s test it. I know all the best gas prices in town.” Lo and behold, the app came up with the best spot in town and saved me about 5¢ a gallon. It works just as well here at home in Springfield, Virginia.
Best Parking
I only discovered this parking lot site a couple of months ago, but it has sure come in handy and saved me at least $13 a night in New York last weekend and $24 a night in Boston. Closer to home, parking in Washington, DC, is a hassle, but Best Parking shows me parking lots that cost $41 for four hours and $13 for the same time within two blocks of each other. Guess where I park. The app tells those of us planning to park where coupons are needed to get the bargains and where they are the normal price. Plus, this app covers more than only one parking company, so the coverage of possible parking lots is just about total.
Flashlight
“Come on,” you say. There is nothing technical about this app. You’re right, but it has been a lifesaver time and time again. Whether searching under the seat of my car for a gadget I dropped or loose change, or navigating a friend’s apartment and avoiding the coffee table in the dead of the night, or fumbling with matches on a camping trip, this app has saved the day.
Airbnb
Writers and consumer advocates, contrary to popular belief do not live the life of luxury. Saving money when traveling is a necessity. In the old days friends with couches and spare bedrooms were mandatory. I have plenty of friends who have put me up (or put up with me) in cities from Phoenix to Boston and New York the LA. These days, I still count on friends, but where I don’t have any close by or when the friend’s extra bed is occupied by another freeloader, I use the Airbnb app that connects me with hundreds of folk who have a spare couch, extra room and in some cases extra apartments where I can crash.
It’s worked for me in San Francisco during a convention when every affordable hotel was booked (I found a room for $40 with king-size bed and free wireless) and it worked last week in New York when the the town was packed and even Hotwire only had Manhattan hotels for more than $300 (I found an entire apartment in midtown for $125).
Priceline Negotiator
Priceline’s Name Your Own Price is my Go-To Site when it comes to buying hotel rooms. My luck has been phenomenal over the years and the app makes it easy to bid from anywhere. I almost always check in with www.biddingfortravel.com to see what recent winning bids have been. It is a great companion to Priceline’s bidding process.
Groupon, LivingSocial and Travelzoo
I used to use these deal sites when planning in advance for trips. If I saw an interesting restaurant or activity, I would buy the deal and use it when I got to town. Now, their apps make finding deals addictive when out and about. Their location-based instant deals make using these apps even more compelling. I am even getting a bit obsessive about checking for nearby deals in major cities.
Each app, based on your location will serve up dozens of food discount deals (30-50%-off) for everything from smoothies to Indian Curry joints and pizza to donuts and coffee. The deals from these apps include bars and nightlife and some theater events. I found wood-fired pizza for half off two weeks ago through Groupon, bargain carwash coupons that I am using as a Christmas gift for my brother via LivingSocial, and $75 Rockette Tickets for Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular for only $40 through Travelzoo.
I have other apps I love
– Compass does exactly what its name implies
– QR Reader
– BofA has been a lifesaver when searching for no-fee ATMs
– Happy Hours finds those in most major cities
– GPS Drive has replaced my normal GPS
– Sirius XM lets me listen to home football games wherever I travel
– Turboscan creates pdf files of almost anything
I am sure that readers have their favorite apps for travel. Share them with the rest of us.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
