Travelling these days on your own or with friends and family has never been simpler – and that’s down to a couple of pretty impressive phone apps. Designed to help any novice or seasoned traveller, the hotel hospitality industry is delighted with the variety of free and helpful apps available to travellers these days. Benefits of using travel apps include:

 

WiFi Finder

This nifty little app helps you to locate Wi-Fi hotspots and lets you know if the Wi-Fi is free or you need to pay for it. You can search for over 550 000 free and paid Wi-Fi locations in 144 countries worldwide, including South Africa. You’ll never have to worry about running out of data again with this app – available on Android.

Kids Aid

This award-winning South African app is vital to any parent travelling anywhere with children. It offers a talk-through explanation on how to treat various medical problems including poisoning, drowning, bleeding, choking, CPR and so much more. In a panicked situation, this app will help you to know exactly what to do, and what not to do. Available on Apple and Android.

Awesome South Africa

This location-based travel app allows you to see the latest events, specials, promotions and news in the area within South Africa where you may be travelling. If someone is having a local festival or burger and beer special, you’ll be able to access this info instantly. It includes a currency converter, foreign exchange information and emergency numbers. Just an all-round useful app if you are travelling within South Africa. Available on Google Play and Apple.

Uber

For a reliable taxi service that doesn’t need cash to operate, Uber is the perfect app to have on your phone. Operating in hundreds of cities around the world, you will know who your driver is, what vehicle they are driving and how much you will need to pay ahead of jumping into your taxi – and you never have to worry about late night drinking again when you have Uber on your phone. Uber App is available for Download on iOS and Android.

Wildlife Tracker

Useful when travelling to Kruger National Park, Wildlife Tracker is helpful in locating your favourite wild animals when you traverse the stunning Kruger landscapes. It’s like having a game ranger in the car with you directing you to exactly where you should go. It also allows you to protect endangered animals by sending out an alert if you notice any illegal activity. This is a windows phone app and “Live Updates” or “Drive-to” updates are in-app purchases that you will need to pay for.

Flipagram

This is the fun side of travel management – the side where you get to be creative with your travels, by sharing beautiful photos and videos with family and friends via this free app called Flipagram.  With Flipagram you can create slideshows and videos and incorporate plenty of free licensed music to add a little extra ambience. You can also share your videos or slideshows on social media for those friends far away. Download it on iOS or Android

22Seven from Old Mutual

You don’t have to invest with Old Mutual to take advantage of this really helpful financial app which creates a personalised travel budget for you. Simply input your multiple account information with all your transactions, and this helpful app will create a budget for you that is honest. It will also guide you so that you don’t overspend and get into a financial pickle. All private information put into the app is encrypted, so it’s a super safe app to have. Download it for Android here or iOS here.

(Content sources and images: https://www.travelground.com/blog/10-terrific-travel-apps/; http://www.travelstart.co.za/blog/10-south-african-built-travel-apps-you-should-be-using/. Main image: Photograph: David Malan/Getty Images for http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/oct/25/travel-industry-virtual-augmented-reality)