What are the Best Apps for Travel?

Expedia is an app that I highly recommend and use a great deal.

Looking for bougie, but cheap lodging is not impossible, it's in the research. Using Expedia for cheap or discounted hotels is the best value I have found for accommodations when traveling abroad. I have found Hilton to be an amazing hotel chain to call home when abroad and their prices are typically cheaper on Expedia.

Expedia is an amazing tool to use for comparing flight prices. Flights and hotels are the most expensive part of travel, all the incidentals are secondary. Expedia offers comparison on flights and will show you the price difference in days, meaning the business class flies on specific days and if you book on an off day, you get a much better deal; sometimes hundreds off. If you download the app and complete all the needed information, the comparison will show you at the top of the screen. There is also a tool within the app that allows you to turn on notifications for a specific trip (date, destination, and airline) that will aware you of fluctuating prices, so you can lock in the best price. It is a best practice to get the cheapest flight and hotel that you book in advance. I have noticed that the word “advance” applies to two or three weeks before departure. The best features of Expedia flights are:

• The website allows you to add a lot of filters to see options. This can give you the cheapest flights to any destination. 
• The search filter results allow further filtering of the data provided. 
• See all layovers, duration, and prices. 
• See options to have a longer layover in a location that you want to explore for one or two days. 
• Further filtering options on all search results.
• Compare dates and pricing. Set notifications for a specific search result to watch prices. 
• Set notifications for search results to your fave destination to watch for the best price. 

When doing your research on Expedia, look for the following things:

• The location of the hotel is what drives the price, anything on a busy beachside can be expensive. Look for a stop further down the populated retail spots on the beach. 
• Look for public beaches that do not have any retail stores. 
• Look for grocery stores near your lodging. Ya gotta have a balanced meal in other countries. You will most likely be walking a great deal. This includes small-ish sized to medium. 
• Expedia does have the same tool for price watching on the hotel, because those do change. 

Citymapper is an app that works in Europe and Brasil. It uses the city map and tells you how to navigate to a destination. This app uses public transportation routes and types (e.g.: trains, subway, uber, taxi, bike, etc.) It is kind of like Apple Maps, it is very helpful for using the subway in a foreign land. When I first used this app in London, I needed to get from my Airbnb to a gay bar. I typed in the name of the bar, and it asked me how I would like to get there. Once I selected the type of transportation, it showed me step by step instructions on how to get there. For instance, when getting on the subway in London, It showed me the train number, and the stop I would get off on. It also showed me each stop along the way. This was very calming when I used it to navigate Germany, because it gives a timeline of each stop along the way, so you know when to get off. From beginning to end, it shows the directions on foot, and on transportation type.

Apple Maps is a map for iPhones that I found to be a lot more user friendly abroad, than Google Maps. The directions are clear and allow you to use headphones and not look at the map. The directions display on my Apple Watch in real time, so I do not have to have my phone out. 

Airbnb is an app that everyone knows and uses. The good side of using this app is that you can clearly see the photographs of the place you are staying at and it allows for communication and entry instructions from the host. A good deal of Europeans and Brazilians use this app to provide instructions on how to enter your rental. A big positive to this app, there is help if you need it. I rented a room in Anzio, Italy that was falsely advertised. I reached out to the customer service department and was able to provide proof and receive a refund within an hour of notifying them of the problem. I have only had the one bad experience on Airbnb, the rest have gone well.

Cheap vacations do not mean that you sacrifice obeyance, by any means. I have used Airbnb and have had various experiences. I have learned from the “whomp-whomp” feeling after opening the apartment or hotel door. Airbnb allows any home or apartment owner to list a bedroom or an entire apartment for rent on their app. Some use filtered, staged, or older photos to boost the posting. The things that I have learned to look for are:

• Review the photographs carefully and inspect every inch of the area depicted. 
• Look at the bedding close (even if you have to take a screenshot and zoom in). 
• Look at the widow frames. This can indicate mildew, water, or poor air circulation. 
• Make sure there are multiple photographs of the bathroom and shower. If they are not, they might be hiding something. 
• Inspect the furniture that is in the photographs. If it is older and outdated-looking designs, that is not necessarily a bad thing. You should look for stains, quality of the surface, and edges. 
•  If there are any unresolved questions, the host on Airbnb can answer any questions you might have.
• Some of them are very helpful and polite.

WhatsApp is a messaging platform that is used in most other countries to avoid carrier SMS charges. This app works just like text messaging on your iPhone, but you can add a story to your contact, and send voice, text, and picture messages to anyone with a phone number, anywhere in the world. It can also be added to your Mac and used just like text. There is a web based version and an app. The link above will open in the web version. 

NordVPN is a web service that provides a VPN connection from your home country, or a desired location. It offers a safe and reliable connection in most countries. I can attest to this being important when trying to send emails to the States. When you visit another country, you are on a local cell service. That provider shares your location with all apps and your IP address is changed. Most sophisticated servers reject or mark emails that come from other countries and bounce off of cell towers, or unknown local WIFI networks. For this reason, it is important to download a VPN server connection and make sure you are logged into it at all times. It also keeps your browser safe and all of your passwords and stored information. 

Misterb&b is an app that I tried once and did not like. In my travels, I wanted to befriend other gay men and see what it was like in other countries. My experience was that the host viewed the opportunity as an extension of Grindr. The feeling that I got form the host and the occurrences led me to believe that this app is a “sex for stay” type of vibe. While I did pay for the room and did not barter with my body, the host took it upon himself to use the opportunity to become sexual in nature with kissing, pornography, picture taking, and walking by the bathroom window every time I was in the shower. The app customer service and help are not good, when I described the situation, I was brushed off and made to feel that it was indeed a stay and hookup type of app.

Kiwi.com is an app that provides cheap airfare to any destination in the world. The prices are significantly lower than that of any other airline or app. There are layovers, but one can take that as an opportunity to explore other destinations. The only downside is custom checks and baggage claim. You will have to pick up your luggage at each transfer (unless you check a bag with the airline you are flying on) and go through customs each time you have a connecting flight. I found this app to be useful when trying to fly on a budget.