Travel apps are some of the most important apps we carry on our mobile phones. Unlike other apps, which we download and only use once or twice, travel apps take the lead with the number of times they’re used because a travel app can help us travel with peace of mind. From researching a destination’s rules and regulations, knowing what safety measures are in place at the airport and during a flight, travel apps can help us with our travel plans pre, post, and throughout.
Here are some of the best travel apps we should download and use for our next trip…
Travel Apps For Pre-Travel
The NHS App
Download The NHS App and set it up before booking international travel. It’s wise to do so at least two weeks before leaving home. This will ensure you’ll always have it at hand to view new updates and proof of COVID-19 test results.
The app will demonstrate your COVID-19 vaccination status when travelling and entering a country or its territories. It’ll illustrate your COVID-19 vaccination status and includes a barcode, with an expiry date. However, this is updated automatically. After having both doses of the vaccine, the NHS app will automatically create your COVID-19 vaccine passport.
Remember that the NHS App is different from the NHS COVID-19 App. This app is used for contact tracing. The reasons why we need to show our vaccination status and carry a COVID vaccine passport have been covered in a previous blog.
The TripIt Travel App
There’s no need to feel overwhelmed when planning and booking each excursion, meal reservation, and mode of transport throughout your holiday with TripIt. Have the freedom to plan ahead or on the go. Forward each booking to plans@tripit.com to create a master travel itinerary. Your itinerary will then be easy to follow and view at a glance, across a range of devices. Travelling alone? Share your itinerary with a close friend and/or family member so they know where you are. Also, included on the app is up-to-date information about the COVID regulations and requirements, mask guidelines, and the infection rates for each country.
Omio
Research up-to-date COVID-19 guidelines, safety, and entry regulations for the country you plan to visit with Omio, available online or download the travel app onto your mobile phone. Receive all the COVID-19 travel information, such as air regulations, business closures, and mask mandates. Also, you can book flights, buses, trains, and ferries in advance or before a last-minute holiday, to give you more time to enjoy the trip.
Air Travel Apps
The Airsiders Compass
This health app for air travel helps you get ready to enter the airport by stating which PPE to wear. Feel confident about air travel with the right travel documentation and learn more about airlines across the world too. Also, information about where the nearest disinfection checkpoints are included.
Check and Fly
To check what you need to know before arriving at the airport, download the Check and Fly air travel app. This app was created by The Airports Council International and provides high-quality information directly to you from your chosen airport such as, what health and safety information you need to check before flying. Download it from the Apple store.
App in the Air
The App in the Air acts as your personal travel advice assistant. It keeps all your air travel information in one place, such as your boarding pass. You can use it online and across both Android and iOS mobile devices. Learn about the pandemic regulations for the country you’ll be visiting, check the health and safety measures for your flight/s, and receive notifications about air changes.
The IATA travel pass app
The airline industry has put many measures in place to ensure air travel is safe. To provide countries with the confidence to keep their borders open (without the need for quarantine), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has created the IATA Travel Pass for travellers. It’s an app that allows you to manage your COVID-19 certifications, tests, and vaccines easily. Therefore, it can make it simple for you to access and provide the relevant information at border control. See if your airline is part of the Travel Pass Program.
A travel app for international travel
Flying outside of Europe? Use VeriFLY to complete all your travel health requirements quickly and securely. Most major airlines are connecting their travellers with the VeriFLY digital wellness application, to make COVID travel requirements for international travel easier.
Simply put, after you confirm all the details of your trip, (the results from COVID tests and any documentation), the app displays a pass message (or not) to give you access to your chosen destination. This message should help streamline your check-in and documentation process before departure.
Useful travel apps to use while on holiday
Hail an Uber
Once getting through passport security and waiting for your luggage to appear, it’s time to find your transport to exit the airport. Unless you have a travel representative or familiar face to greet you, having the Uber app by your side may be the solution. As cashless payments are becoming the norm, you’ll only need to drop a pin into a map and your Uber taxi will arrive. The payment will be settled through your account directly via PayPal or credit card. Just keep your mask on and you’ll be ready for your ride.
Use a translation Travel App
Learned the language of the country you’re exploring?
Communicate with ease from the airport lounge and back again with a translator app. The Microsoft Translator is free and easy to use with large buttons to make it feel like an active translation tool!
It’ll make your phone speak the translations for clarity. Plus, there’s access to offline language translations and a phrasebook whenever you’re on the go. Now you don’t have to learn the language beforehand!
Find the best beverages
These fun travel apps are one way to live as the locals do, while you sit and watch the world go by within an authentic bar, restaurant, or café. To find the best beers and share them with others download Untapped. Or, to hunt down top coffee with friends and family try beanhunter.
Google Maps
You may have to download the travel apps above. However, Google Maps should already be on your phone. Just make sure you have good wifi, plug your headphones in and listen closely to the directions on route to find the best beverages during your city break.
Free Spirit Gadget Cover for Travel Apps
After downloading your favourite travel apps, remember that gadget cover is standard on every Free Spirit Policy. It’s a good benefit to have if you love taking the latest gadgets on holiday to enrich and remember it.
Free Spirit gadget cover includes cover for:
- If your device is lost or stolen during your trip.
- Accidental damage, if your gadget is accidentally damaged.
- Accidental loss, if you accidentally leave a gadget in a location and you’re left permanently deprived of its use.
- Breakdown and unauthorised call/data use for your gadgets.
Also, gadget cover is integrated into our policy, for both Super and Super Duper levels of cover.
Wherever you’re off to with whatever gadget – travel with confidence with Free Spirit Travel Insurance.