There’s a myriad of handy apps for booking, planning and preparing for your trip. ISIC combed through them and listed the best apps for student travelling in this article!
Best travel apps for students
Are you planning your next adventure? Make use of your smart phone every step of the way! There’s a myriad of handy apps for booking, planning and preparing for your trip. We combed through them for you and listed the best for student travelling in this article. Check them out and download your favourites!
Apps for flying
Finding cheap flights is an art and to help you become a pro there’s a ton of great apps available. The most popular ones are Skyscanner, Hopper and Kayak, all of which also help you book a hotel or a rental car to your destination. Kayak, for example, also lets you plan your entire trip itinerary in the application and share it with other users. This is a great way to keep friends and family informed an aware of every step of your way.
Many airlines also have their own apps. It’s a good trick to download these apps as well and compare prices inside airline and other travel apps to make sure you land with the best price and the best time for your flight. Most airline apps also hold your mobile flight ticket, so you don’t have to worry about losing the paper ticket anymore!
Please remember, however, that student flight tickets are not visible in these apps or on websites selling cheap flights. You can purchase your student flight ticket via KILROY here.
If flying gives you the creeps, there are apps to help you manage and/or overcome your fear of flying! Check the live map for flights globally, the global flight routes, schedules, delays and the weather in Flightradar24. Nervous about take-off? Check out Takeoff Mode, an app that will keep you occupied when you’re most nervous. LoungeBuddy will make your time at the airport a bit more relaxed and comfortable; check the app what type of lounges the airport hosts and book your spot in one with a discounted price in the app.
- Skyscanner
- Kayak
- Airline apps
- Hopper
- Flightradar24
- Takeoff Mode
- LoungeBuddy
Apps for planning your trip
A great plan usually means a great trip. Sure, you don’t want to schedule every minute of every day, but a good plan cuts the time you’ll spend on finding out about activities, sights, restaurants and things to do at your destination. Wandering around aimlessly is fun, but not when you’re trying to find a place you’d planned on visiting! The Lonely Planet apps are a fantastic companion on short and long trips alike. The Lonely Planet City Guides can be downloaded free on your mobile phone and are available offline. The Lonely Planet Trips app shows you pics and stories of other travelers in your destination.
It’s useful to plan your trip into a meaningful entity before you leave. Hitlist will help you find great discounts on the move, but also shows you tips and reviews by other travelers, and general information about your destination. With Hitlist, you’ll the hitlist of your trip, and get to enjoy your destination with the best prices and the least hassle. Rome2Rio is an application that allows you to check all option on how to travel from one destination to another, or to plan a multi-stop route. The app shows you flights, trains, buses, cars and ships as options to cover the distances between your destinations.
Having trouble choosing what to pack? Packpoint lists the weather conditions at your destination, combining it with your desired activities and the length of your trip before giving you a list on what to pack. If you are an outdoor person, Komoot is your friend when planning hiking, biking or canoeing trips wherever, observing the local weather conditions at the time.
Before you leave, brush up your language skills with Busuu or Duolingo. The majority of students are already active with Whatsapp, but if you’re not, make sure you download it to stay easily in touch with your friends, family and loved ones at home! To make sure you’re covered if your valuables get stolen, get Prey Anti-Theft to help you lock down your laptop or mobile device and recover your files remotely.
Apps for accommodation
Widely known accommodation booking sites also have their own apps. Hotels.com, Momondo, Trivago and Booking.com all offer a ton of options to choose from, and it’s useful to have at least one of them available in your smart phone as an app, when you start looking for a roof above your head. Airbnb is also a great and usually affordable choice for accommodation. HotelTonight will help a traveler in immediate need for accommodation; in the app, you’ll find the best rates for what’s available for the night. Hostelworld’s app shows you hostels around the globe: don’t forget that there’s a student discount on both Hotels.com and Hostelworld for ISIC cardholders!
Apps for your destination
Even with a marvelous, meticulous plan you can never know what’s going to happen when you finally get to your destination. But you can be prepared for not being prepared! Here are a few apps that will help you to save money, find things to do, navigate in your destination, and get a hold of time zones, local language, currencies and taking the best pictures on your holiday. Our very own ISIC app shows you student discounts on the map in 130 countries and of course also carries your digital ISIC card that works offline. In Google Maps, you can download maps of cities, regions and countries beforehand, and navigate offline. Google Translate works with the same principle: download the language in your phone beforehand, and you sit on the road offline. To keep you on the map with money, use XE Currency to give you the latest exchange rates to your phone offline. This way you can check the current price for your souvenirs and won’t have to guess how big a bite that is on your budget!
Figuring out where to go and what to do when you get to your destination can be a bit of a pickle sometimes. Find your local soulmate with Cool Cousin, an app that helps you find a local guide who’s interests match yours! Your “cousin” will help you around your destination and show you the best spots from a local’s point of view. Prefer to go out and about on your own? TimeOut gives you great tips on good restaurants, pubs, gigs and nightlife around you. Local public transportation is one of the most common things to baffle a newbie in town. Use Citymapper to find out whether to use the bus, the metro, trains or taxis to easily get where you want to be. To make sure you remember your best moments abroad also back at home, use Snapseed to make the most out of your camera. Snapseed is a photo editing tool that allows you to edit your photos easily and quickly, right after you’ve taken them. Are you on the road for weeks on end and don’t know what time to call home? Circa will keep you on track about timezones and schedule phone calls and online meetings from the other side of the world.
- ISIC App
- Google apps: Google Maps and Google Translate
- Cool Cousin
- XE Currency
- TimeOut
- Snapseed
- Citymapper
- Circa
This is quite an exhaustive list, but planning a trip requires an effort, and it’s good to have help readily available when you’re on the road. Pick the best travel (planning) tools for you, and make sure that your next trip is smooth from start to finish!
Sources:
Forbes: The Best Travel Apps in 2018 – Tips From a Travel Writer
God save the points: The 10 Best (And Most Useful) Travel Apps 2018
The Independent: 20 Of The Best Travel Apps To Have On Your Phone This Year
Digital Trends: The 20 best travel apps for vacations and trips
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