There is a clear difference between how travelling and preparation used to function as little as a decade ago and how modern technology has made the task easier today. The method of travel still remains the same jet travel but the way we go about it changes entirely. This complete change in the forms of preparation and action is almost entirely down to the smartphone which houses itself amongst the majority of our pockets.
In this article, Lookers Audi take us through a list of handpicked apps that should make the holiday process that little bit easier. With apps uses spanning all the way from pre-booking and preparation until the moment you find yourself basking in the sun abroad.
Booking the Trip
The time of year has arrived where work is too tiring and constant, all the bank holidays have come and gone, and you’re left contemplating staying home every day. You’ve decided a holiday is a must to relieve just a small percentage of stress — your work request was accepted, but where do you go from there?
Luckily the times have changed and this no longer means heading to a travel agent and flicking through the huge catalogue of pre-planned holidays. Now, this can all be done on your mobile phone.
The Plane
There are so many different flight comparison apps, each one offering a new focus or unique selling point catering to whichever aspects of the flight are key for you. For the sake of keeping things simple however, we have whittled this down to our favourite three.
The price of tickets generally is the main factor that the purchase depends on. With all of us scanning profusely, watching and summing up whether to wait and buy tickets when they become cheaper. Do we buy them now not to risk them selling out before you can nab one? The moment when you purchase you ticket inevitably the price can drop as little as a few days after purchase. There is no worse feeling — at Hopper however, this is not a concern. The app monitors 15 billion flights every day to find you the right deal. When you’re on the app, things are aesthetically pleasing as well, with colour co-ordination used to help users distinguish between the expense of the flight and the time of year.
Perhaps the only thig affecting your destination is budget and realistically, you have an open mind about the final destination. If this sounds like you, then Kiwi will prove to be a valuable widget. Once you’ve selected your home destination, it provides you with a map and how much it will cost you to get to each destination on it. No more repetitive searching.
Lots of us may have noticed that airlines tend to hide their cheapest options from you. It should come as no surprise that the most economically viable flights are being hidden from us — realistically, why would they not let us pay more? Skiplagged focuses on finding the loopholes in flying — it might be that booking a longer flight, with a stop-over works out cheaper, or by getting off at certain destinations en route can save money.
Where to sleep?
Airbnb is quite possibly the best and most useful app for holidaying. Hotels, as much as they offer a wide range of choice and variation, don’t quite match up to the quirkiness offered by property rental app Airbnb. The site, which operates in more than 190 countries in the world, offers users the potential to rent villas, single rooms, yachts, treehouses, and much more — often at a considerably cheaper rate than that of hotels. Similarly, the experience section now provides customers with the opportunity to immerse themselves in more than just the tourist board suggestions, alternatively getting involved in the activities suggested and often carried out by locals.
Whilst on holiday
Without a transfer at the other side, the next step after landing can be quite difficult. What do we do? Where do we go? Hotelinfo could be an absolute lifesaver. So, while your GCSE language skills proved to be of little worth here, you’ve still managed to navigate your way out of the airport thanks to your inherent knowledge and understanding of exit signs. This trusty app links straight to the hotel, where you can chat to staff, ultimately getting the best directions to the hotel, or suggestions for a taxi — just remember to check your roaming tariffs.
There is little to no need nowadays to visit a travel agent, especially given travellers cheques are no longer a requirement. In fact, we don’t really require currency at all anymore. Using your debit card abroad was always somewhat of a cruel mistress, especially when you arrived home to discover a host of transaction and exchange fees had debited your account. Now however, with the invention of app-only banks like Starling and Revolut, you don’t need to incur fees for using your money abroad. All you have to do is sign up, get your card, and upload cash via your domestic account.
Writing checklists is a thing of the past given your phone can do it all for you. Packpoint assesses the weather forecast for you on a daily basis, while also asking you the activities in which you will be partaking, so it’s impossible to leave your hiking boots or swimming shorts at home.
Whenever you are in a foreign city, there is undoubtably going to be a moment where you spot something and think “I wish I knew the story behind that”. This happens to most of us! Unlike having to devote your entire day to a guided tour, you can do now find out all those unanswered questions. Simply download Detour, plug in your headphones, and listen to a fully narrated tour of the city — from a local with considerable knowledge of the area.
By no means is this an exhaustive list, there will be an app out there catering to your exact needs, given the large variety of choices out there. Make sure you have a browse of any other options out there.
This article was brought to you by Lookers Audi, dealers of the all-new Audi A8
