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November 2018

TRAVEL APPS MADE EASY

By YAZDI TANTRA
Chartered Accountant
Reading Time 7 mins

We all travel a lot these days – be
it social or professional commitments. And travel has become so complicated –
multiple modes, multifarious options and unlimited variety. Sometimes, it could
get a bit overwhelming. Here are some apps which make travel easy and at times
enjoyable!

 

PackPoint travel packing list

PackPoint is a free travel packing list organizer and packing planner
for serious travel pros. PackPoint will help you organise what you need to pack
in your luggage and suitcase based on length of travel, weather at your
destination, and any activities planned during your trip.

 

Once your packing list is built and
organised, PackPoint will save it for you, and then you can choose to share it
with your friends and family in case they need help packing too.

 

Punch in the city you’re going to
travel to, the departure date, and the number of nights you’ll be staying
there. That’s it!

 

Different lists can be saved and
customised for different types of travel – business, leisure, activities you
plan to do, etc.

 

Use it often and never forget your
_____ Again!

 

Android : https://goo.gl/kA10CP

       

 iOS : https://goo.gl/Ji8AUd


 

Moovit: Bus Time & Train Time Live
Info

Moovit is your personal assistant for Public
Transport.  It guides more than 150
million users in over 2200 cities throughout the world. Commuters will find
updated bus time and train time, transit maps, and, where available, real-time
line arrivals based on GPS devices on-board buses, subways, and trains.

 

You can locate nearby stations,
travel with on-the-go live navigation guidance and receive get-off alerts at
your destination to ensure a smooth ride. This is why Moovit has been named one
of the best apps of the year in 2016 and 2017 by the Google Play and App
Stores, respectively.

 

You have offline maps, rate charts
and an interesting option to become a local guide for your city. You only need
one app to navigate – just MOOVIT!

 

Android : http://bit.ly/2KdWn5r  

 

iOS : https://apple.co/2Mcz5xi

 


Airbnb

If you are
travelling to a far away place, in a foreign country, or even within your own
country or city, and you are looking for some pleasant experiences on a
reasonable budget, Airbnb is for you.

 

Airbnb allows you to choose from
over 2.5 million homes in over 191 countries. Search by price, neighbourhood,
amenities, and more. Go through the reviews before you book. You may search for
last minute accommodation or even look for long term stays.

 

What is on offer, is home stays
where anyone having a spare room with decent surroundings can put up their
room(s) for rent.  You get the benefit of
meeting wonderful people, getting local guidance and a reasonable rate.  For the hosts, they can realise a decent
earning on their unused accommodation, communicate with the guests and make new
friends. A wonderful concept of matchmaking for guests and hosts effectively.

 

Android : https://goo.gl/Y3GUDu 

         
 iPhone : https://goo.gl/WdHJ7i

 


Google Trips

Google Trips
makes it easy to plan and organise your travel. Under beta testing for several
months, it is now available on the Play Store (https://goo.gl/hnBejO)

 

Once installed, it scans your GMail
account automatically to look for past and 
future trips. You can now find your travel reservations and
confirmations all in one place. Besides, it also downloads nearby interesting
places to see, hotels and restaurants, recreation activities – indoor and
outdoor and such interesting stuff automatically. These are curated by experts
and also by other fellow travellers. The best part is that you will be able to
access all of this even without an internet connection when you are in that
place!

 

Thus you can get
activity suggestions based on what’s nearby, customiseable day plans, and your
travel reservations from Gmail all in one place. And every trip you plan is
also available as a Card on your Google Home Page.
A must have
for frequent travellers.


 

Guides by Lonely Planet

Lonely
Planet is world famous for its travel guides – each of them curated by travel
writers who have visited each city and presents it in its true flavour. The
guides are bulky and costly too.

 

Now with this new app – Guides by
Lonely Planet – you get the city guides for free – yes you read it right –
FREE. Each city guide gives you details of what you can see (with friendly maps
and directions and wonderful pics), where and what you can eat, where you can
stay, shop, drink and play! You can save each city for offline use and pull it
out when you are there.

 

Currently, they have more than 20
cities listed and more are being added continuously.

With real life experiences and
essential tips, Guides by Lonely Planet are a boon to first time travellers to
any city – a must have when you travel to an unknown place.


https://goo.gl/daI5Eh


 

FlightAware

FlightAware.com
is a free flight tracker which tracks both commercial and private aircrafts
across the world. Founded in 2005, FlightAware has become the leading source of
flight information across the world.

 

Once you visit the site, all you
have to do is to enter the Airline Name and Flight No. and the site will
magically show you the current status of the aircraft – even if it is mid-air.
You may browse flight data by Operator, Aircraft Type and Airport.  The interface is quite simple and easy to
understand for the lay person while advanced options are available for the
geeks.

 

FlightAware also has an Android App
with the same name, which is very convenient to use. You can even receive
real-time push notification flight alerts, view airport delays, see nearby
flights (in the air!) and more.Remember to look up FlightAware if you are
travelling or assisting someone who travels by air.

 

 

TripIt: Travel Organiser

Tripit is
one of my favorite Travel Organisers for air travel.  As soon as you book a flight, hotel, car or
other reservation, simply forward it to plans@tripit.com and your plans will be
instantly added to your master itinerary.

 

All your important details like
flight timings, confirmation no., seat no. are in one place. No more
frantically searching through your inbox for them.  Important details like when your flight gets
in, or your confirmation number will all be in one place.  You can get to them instantly in TripIt, even
when you’re offline. Plus, it is very easy to send travel plans to your
calendar, or to anyone you choose. You can even update your meetings, hotel
bookings and local conveyance bookings, to give you a complete picture of your
visit in one place.

Manage all your plans for free with
TripIt, or, for about the price of checking your bags, upgrade to Tripit Pro to
get stress-free travel all year long. When you upgrade, you get additional
features like choosing the best seat, receive real-time flight alerts, get
terminal and gate reminders, track your frequent-flyer miles and much more.

An essential for Air Travel –
undoubtedly!

Android : http://bit.ly/2MxJfIS

              

iOS : https://apple.co/2MwOicp

 

HAPPY
TRAVELLING
!

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