In 2015, I took the step from an occasional traveler to a regular traveler. You can see my business travel summary here. If you add my personal travel, I did manage to get in a plane 39 times, fly close to 52000 miles, and spend almost 50 nights in hotels. While not close to a “Road Warrior,” it is the most travel I have done in 12 months. I have to say; mobile made my traveling experience, both for business and personal trips, exponentially better. I am not surprised that an Expedia/Egencia Mobile Index Study of Global Travelers reveals that the smartphone is their “Most Indispensable” travel companion.
According to this study, 84% of travelers worldwide want to access information from anywhere while they travel. More than 50% of respondents claimed they would be “lost” without a mobile device on vacation. In my opinion, an alarming statistic is that 60% of travelers admit that they never truly ”unplug” on leisure trips. And 35% claim to use their mobile device more on vacation than they do at home.
This post will focus on the use of smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches, not laptops. I want to share some examples of how I use mobile apps when traveling. Hopefully, it can be useful for your future travels:
Planning and booking:
- Air: I book all my flights on my computer, not my mobile device. I think it is due to a couple of reasons. One is that being at a hub city for one of the big airlines left me little choice. Two, this particular carrier’s mobile app does not let you book flights directly in it. It is easier to do it on my computer on a full website. After booking, it is all mobile. Changing seats, reviewing itineraries, looking at my frequent flyer account, all is done in the app.
- Hotels: In terms of hotel accommodations, it is all mobile. I use Google Maps to decide what was the most central location to stay based on my schedule. Then TripAdvisor to check on hotel ratings. The booking is made directly in an app, on my phone or my tablet.
- Ground Transportation: All mobile, Uber is king in this category. If Uber is present in the city I am visiting; I use it exclusively. Recently they added the option to create a personal and a business profile. That way, you can store two different payment methods and email addresses to get receipts, making it even better. There is another service similar to Uber that I have not used called Easy Taxi. It seems like a great alternative in cities where Uber does not operate. I downloaded the app recently and will give them a shot on one of my next trips. I did not rent cars a lot last year. Between business and personal trips, I accumulated 20 rental days. Once again, all of them were booked on my phone in the rental car company’s app.
- Organizing: I use TripCase, and it is handy. Just forward your confirmation emails (flights, hotels, rental cars), and all the information is there in the app. You can link all the activities under one trip, and it arranges everything chronologically. The app also has directions, weather, and Uber integration inside the app. You can even add contacts to receive automatic notifications about your trip details. I never have to scramble to find a confirmation number or a flight number, launch one app. It is all there.
- Stating the obvious here, but you cannot use mobile without access to either Wi-Fi or data while on the road. When traveling internationally, make sure you or the person responsible for your phone plans contacts your company’s carrier and “activates” whatever international plan your company has negotiated. You can purchase a global plan from your carrier’s website for your personal trips in most cases. If you have an unlocked phone, you can buy a SIM card upon arrival to activate local service.
At the Airport
- I very seldom use a printed boarding pass. For the most part, I use a mobile pass on my phone or my watch.
- I use my Priority Pass Digital Membership Card for lounge access. Again from my phone or my watch
- The trend now is to find free Wi-Fi in airports. It is pretty much a guarantee in a VIP Lounge. I’m not particularly eager to run the risk and use the Boingo app to find free Wi-Fi access points. In my particular case, I get the benefit via a credit card. I have not paid for Internet access in airports in a few years.
In the Air
- E-Books: When traveling, I try to pack as lightly as possible. I can carry a collection of books that weigh nothing on my tablet.
- Download your favorite movies or TV shows. Invest in higher storage capacity (I use a 64 GB tablet, more than enough). That way, you will not have to worry about the space your favorite movie is taking on your tablet. I usually delete the film from my device once I arrive. That frees up that storage space.
- You can connect to the internet in-flight and perform basic browsing, use Wi-Fi enabled messaging applications, send and receive emails. I do not use it a lot, but it is there if you want it.
- A lot of us work on our laptops in-flight. As mentioned above, this post’s focus is on smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches. With that being said, I have, on occasion, finished a presentation or a report on my tablet. However, my preference, other than making corrections and minor changes, is to work on my laptop when on an airplane.
At your destination
- Google Translate and iTranslate are great for communicating with people at your destination if you do not speak the language. I use both as they both have features I like. Google Translate has a feature where you point with your camera to a sign, and it translates what the sign says, which is excellent. iTranslate, on the other hand, has an Apple Watch extension to do quick translations without typing on your phone. It also has a keyboard extension for your smartphone where you can type in your native language, click a button to translate and add the translated text to your text, email, or document.
- XE Currency is excellent for doing currency conversions. You can add up to 10 different currencies and get real-time quotes in all those currencies in relation to the primary currency you selected. For example, if you choose the US Dollar, you can see how much US Dollars you entered is worth in nine other currencies. Note that to get a live quote, you need connectivity via Wi-Fi or use data.
- I also use SpeedTest to see what the internet connection speeds are and Google Authenticator for VPN.
- Maps app: It does not matter if it’s the native app or downloading a 3rd party app. Every time you move from place to place, get the directions from your app first. Then, while in route, check that the driver is going in that direction. When using Uber, you can see the recommended directions in the Uber app. You can (and should) request for the driver to stick to their directions provided by the Uber app. Use it as a safety tool. If, for some reason, the driver is not going in the right direction, speak up. Also, remember you can share your location with someone via messaging app rather quickly.
- To find a good place to eat, I rely a lot on TripAdvisor or Yelp. I have one rule: the site has to have at least 50 reviews to consider the rating valid. Another reason I use these apps is to see the hours of operation, and the payment methods
- To stay in touch with work, friends, and family, I use text messaging. It is usually is free with your international data plan, including picture and video messages. I also use WhatsApp since it is prevalent. Be aware that WhatsApp will use your data if you are not on Wi-Fi. Of course, when connected to Wi-Fi, I use FaceTime or Skype to conduct meetings or see my loved ones. I have done Skype meetings with people in Guatemala from Mexico. Also, with people in Brazil from Honduras and people in Mexico from Brazil. I even “attended” a school meeting from Rio de Janeiro. I wake my children up almost every day I am traveling and help them with homework. One time I “ate” with them from Guatemala and read bedtime stories from Buenos Aires, all via FaceTime
There you have it. These are examples of how I have used mobile when traveling. What do you think? How do you use mobile apps when you travel? What are your go-to apps while on the road?
This article is also published on LinkedIn.