I’m addicted to my iPhone, and one of the biggest reasons is how it improves my travel experience by reducing stress. Knowing is half the battle, and my iPhone allows me to know when flights are delayed, what weather conditions are like, etc.
- iXpenseIt - tracks all my business expenses. Keeps track of things in multiple currencies, and exports nicely for reporting purposes. This is essential for keeping up with small cash expenses. For big-ticket items, I use my credit card and the statement makes sure I don’t miss something. But when buying subway tickets, taxis, snacks, etc. this makes sure that I get reimbursed for all my expenses.
- Flight Update – this amazing program keeps track of all my flights. It updates the status so that I know what terminal/gate the flight is going from/to, whether the flight is on time, etc. It saves confirmation numbers, seat numbers, and even has seat maps!
- Shopper - for packing lists. I have a standard catch-all business travel packing list that I filter for each trip. This keeps me from forgetting key pieces.
- eWallet - keeps all my passwords, membership numbers, etc. secure
- Exchange - does currency conversions. I like that I can have a “custom currency”, whose value I can set at my real rate (the rate I actually got, including any transaction fees)
- Airport Status – shows systemic problems at airports, like weather delays.
- Flight Aware Live Tracking – tracks a specific flight. While this is useful for tracking a friend’s flight, I use it when my upcoming flight is delayed and I want to monitor the status of my aircraft coming into my airport.
What mobile apps do you use that make travel easier for you?
There are so many travel apps out there today but almost ALL of them are useless. Call me old-fashioned, but in my opinion there is nothing more effective than using a good travel guide. Sometimes, the best thing to do before a trip is to check out an online travel guide, then buy a book. There are now so many iPhone travel apps on the market that people will stop looking at the scenery and enjoying their vacation, instead they’ll be using their smartphone to find out info, text, check emails, flight news and whatever else. Do we need this junk? We managed quite well without travel apps and iphones.
I agree that guide books are helpful, but I think you’ll notice that none of the apps noted are really “guides”. These apps all perform “tasks” that a book cannot accomplish.