Summer is just around the corner. Time to get ready for vacations. And since we pack our mobiles for the trip much earlier than our suitcases these days, our team has poked around and is ready to present you some ideas.
Booking.com, Airbnb, TripAdvisor, BlaBlaCar, Uber, SkyScanner, Yelp... Everybody knows these apps and uses them. But do they cover all aspects of a trip? We’ve recollected our own tourist experience and discovered some things which are not so obvious but still often cause problems.
Lists, Lists...
Paper lists are so last century. It’s much handier to use a mobile instead. Of course, if an app doesn’t go nuts. Having analyzed some twenty often mentioned variants, we chose the most convenient, as for us, Packpoint. This app will select all necessary things itself after analyzing the length and purpose of your trip, readiness to deal with washing up and even weather. Fill in the place of destination, date of departure, duration, and supposed activities — and here you are, the list is at your service. Add your favorite jeans and a shirt if you like. Mom worries if you haven’t forgotten a hat? Soothe her heart, send her a link to the list. The app is connectable with TripIt and EverNote. You can save your lists — very handy if you are a frequent traveler.
The Plane isn’t a Single Option
While surfing traveling sites, we have found out that almost all app booking bits of advice concern planes. “What a discrimination!” we thought, “As if everybody were but happy to go up in the sky like migratory birds!” And, of course, we immediately remembered two apps we took part in the development of. The bus is an excellent alternative if airports and smiling flight attendants with life vests have nothing to do with your idea of a dream holiday. And apps like Busfor and Flixbus will help you choose a bus operator just in 5 minutes. What is especially convenient is that you can do it even at 3 in the morning. Busfor provides support all around clock and allows a postponed purchase. And Flixbus even has its own lost-and-found. And, well, without false modesty, the app interface is great. But make your own estimation.
Have Some Rest in the Middle of the Day
Hotel check-in hours is another inconvenience. “Check in at 2 p.m., check out at 12”: every traveler knows it as times table. But haven’t you ever wanted to enter the room after an exhausting trip not at 2 p.m., but at 11 a.m.? To take a shower, relax, and have a nap. Or just spend several hours between the flights in a soft bed instead of a tough airport bench. Dayuse app solves this problem. With it, you can rent a room in a hotel at any time and for as many hours as you like with up to 75 % discount. And all hotel amenities — spa, swimming pools, fitness rooms — are at your service. Visit the site, choose location and time, browse photos and choose the best variant. Now Dayuse database contains more than 4 thousand hotels in 20 countries.
Feel at Home
Just imagine how wonderful would it be to have a friend in any city you visit! The one who knows all local features and is ready to become a guide, and to reveal all secrets. With Cool Cousin, you have such a chance. Not only can you benefit from recommendations of locals, but get in touch with them in person: ask for advice, plan a stroll or just talk if you suddenly feel lonely in an unknown city. A splendid opportunity to see the world through the eyes of another person. For example, an Italian fisherman. Or a French artist. Maps, reviews, stories, photos, “what’s around” function — everything you need to feel at home even in a far-far away place.
Save with Public Transport
Hopping in a taxi may turn out rather expensive in a foreign city. But your legs also can’t work without rest day and night. Use Wikiroutes to find an appropriate public transport alternative. It’s an indispensable database of public transport built on Wikipedia principle. You may track existing routes or plot your own ones. What is also good, there is a rate of routes with comments.
Don’t Let Your Joy Get Shadowed
Museums, restaurants, monuments... There is a place whose popularity is equal to that of seven wonders of the world (or even surpasses them). Because when you suddenly need it all other needs take second place. And it is sometimes as hard to find as a diamond in the mine. Guess where it is going? Thanks to Flush Toilet Finder developers, it is not such a big problem anymore. Free and paid, clean and not so clean, with extra conveniences and without such, even free and busy — all you can find nearby! Feel free to use.
Hunger Breaks Stone Walls
It might seem that having a snack is not a problem at all. Burgers and hotdogs are sold everywhere. But what if you are a vegetarian? Then a HappyCow app will save you from starvation. Its database contains more than 65 thousand vegetarian and vegan venues and health food stores in 180 countries. With maps, comments, and photos.
Haven’t we been here before?
Hansel and Gretel, Tom Thumb, Ariadne and Theseus? No matter what associations this app generates — it is definitely useful when traveling. LiveTrekker tracks the route finished and marks it red on a map. So, you can see where you have already been, how many miles you have done and how much time you have spent. And it’s but pretty. Can be shown to the girl. Or to the friends. Especially if you add photos, videos, and descriptions. Looks like a multimedia travel journal.
And photos?
Certainly, you can make photos yourself with a mobile. But agree, the quality of these masterpieces is sometimes so poor that you even don’t want to watch them yourself, what to say about showing them to other people. And it’s not a way out to take a professional photographer with you every time you go on a journey. Addressing locals also may play a bad joke, as in the case of this couple. Well, there IS a way out. Let us introduce another our product: KeepSnap. It multiplies your chances for professional photo covering of your adventures. Visit the site. Select a city. Use the gallery of local professional photographers. Choose the one you like. Appoint a photo set. Within 14 days, select the photos you like on KeepSnap site. Pay. No pigs in a poke. No 45 letters, hundreds of passwords, clarifications, and misunderstandings. No registrations. In 15 days all your photos are deleted from the site. It’s really easy.
Originally published in Stfalcon
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