I recently went to Spain with two friends from Spanish Class. We had a great time and we were able to stay on top of everything using a number of different apps. I thought that it would be a good idea to publish this information for those people planning to plan and take a do it yourself trip.
- TripIt – Trip Itinerary and Planner. The free version of TripIt works very well and if you are an infrequent traveller, you likely won’t need the PRO version. In addition to helping organize Flights, Hotels, Attractions, City to City transport, Insurance, etc., TripIt will watch your email to capture anything related to your trip. You can also share access with people travelling with you and contacts at home.
- Trip Advisor. I have been using Trip Advisor for many years and am a Top Contributor. Trip Advisor is a good source of information. You can read reviews on prospective hotels, locate great restaurants, find attractions, and hopefully write reviews afterwards to help others.
- TextFree Pinger. Pinger is a great app for phoning and texting that has saved me many times on my travels. When the others in my party could not use their “Global Texting Plans” from their wireless provider, I could always connect using Pinger for voice and text calls. The service is free and provides you with 20 minutes of usage per month. If you run out, $5.00 buys you 100 more minutes. Highly recommended.
- Avast Mobile Security Ultimate. Yes, you need to pay for this one, but it is well worth it. Aside from being a leader in the security marketplace, Ultimate provides you with an unlimited traffic VPN which allows you to connect to Avast’s worldwide proxy network. In simple terms, when I was in Madrid, I could not get into Google Mail unless I changed my security and encryption for European recommendations. Using Avast Mobile’s VPN, I started it each time I connected to wireless and told it to connect to the Avast proxy server in Toronto. So everything thought that I was located in Toronto and no more problems, roaming charges, etc. When coupled with Pinger, my internet phone calls also originated from Toronto. Thus lowering charges and allowing me to phone people as if I was in Toronto. This was extremely handy when I had to phone Tour Booking companies for refunds or rescheduling.
- Trenes.com. In Spain, this is the app to use for booking inter-city trains and for showing boarding passes.
- ALSA. In Spain, this is the app to use for booking inter-city buses.
- Omio. In Spain, this app with review Train, Airplane and Buses for inter-city travel. It is very handy when comparing the three.
- GetYourGuide. We used GYG exclusively to book all of our attractions and tours. They act as a central booking agency for most of the tour operators in Europe. Through this, you get to compare what the different operators offer on their tours. This helps you choose the best operator for your needs. You can then book the tour or attraction tickets directly through GYG. We had one issue in Granada when a tour operator cancelled. One short call to GetYourGuide and we received refunds right away. They are great to deal with. Highly Recommended.
- Booking.com. Personally, I generally book all of my hotels through Booking.com. They were great as always and we had no issues at the hotels.
- Your Airline’s App. I would have said Expedia here, but I was very disappointed with them. I could not do seat selection online, only at the airport. This would normally not be a problem, but they ignored my preference for aisle seats and booked me in middle seats on every flight. Thankfully I managed to change seats at the various airports. My travel buddies booked through Air Canada and were able to pre-book all their seats in advance.
I hope that this helps prepare you for your next trip. If you have other tips, please send them to Info@Aldersoft.CA
Happy travels.