8 apps that will save you money on your next vacation

As a recently married man in the throes of planning a honeymoon, one of the first things that I realized is that vacations are very, very expensive when not crashing at friend or relative’s home abroad; two weeks in New Zealand is no joke. Fortunately for us, there are plenty of cost cutting tools available in the palm of our hands via mobile apps. Here’s a list of 8 Android apps that will save money on your next vacation:

Skyscanner
Similar to Kayak.com, Skyscanner searches through hundreds of ticket offers from airlines around the world to bring you the most affordable price, and unlike Kayak, it’s extremely good at what it does. For extra savings, be sure to purchase your ticket within the most optimal time frame (3 to 12 weeks before your trip). Also —consider flying at unusual hours like 4 am or in the middle of the week (Tuesday or Wednesday), when demand is lowest to maximize your return.

Hotel Tonight
Remember — convenience is the scope here, and Hotel Tonight is a hotel booking app that’s extremely hassle-free and made to save you money. Once you’ve selected a room, booking takes a mere 10 seconds. And best of all, Hotel Tonight features an ample of last minute deals, which together with its ease of booking, makes for an ideal situation for saving even more money (assuming your current accommodations offer 24-48 hour refund policies).

AirBnB
If you’re open-minded and willing to sacrifice a bit of luxury for a more affordable, down-to-earth dwelling, then consider AirBnB. The program, complete with its very own mobile app, is clever way to cut out the hotel altogether in favor of affordable lodging via someone’s house. At its core, AirBnB is a couch-surfing program that allows people to rent out their homes as bed-and-breakfasts; its mobile app features with photos, reviews, and maps to the destination. Users are even granted the opportunity to contact the host with any questions.

Triposo’s World Travel Guide
The World Travel Guide app is activity planner curated by Triposo which suggests activities based on your current location, weather, etc., making an invaluable companion for spur-of-the-moment excursions during your trip. What’s more, the app’s many guides (along with relevant maps of the intended destination) can be downloaded in advance for offline use, removing the stress of purchasing an international SIM card for your phone if there’s no available Wi-Fi.

The guides include landmark information, restaurant and nightlife suggestions, as well as currency conversion tools and language phrase books.

TripIt
An organized itinerary is invaluable if you plan on visiting multiple destinations, so why settle for awkward print-outs of your emails when you can easily create something a tad more user-friendly and interactive? The TripIt app auto-populates an itinerary based on confirmation emails forwarded to , consolidating all your airline, hotel, car rental, and restaurant confirmations within a single location. An account is necessary to take advantage of the service, but TripIt does not need access to your inbox.

WorldMate
WorldMate is an alternative “automated itinerary” for those who dislike TripIt’s user interface. It adheres to the same principle of forwarding confirmation emails to a designated email () in order to spawn an organize itinerary.

Onavo Extended
One of the most prolific pitfalls of overspending on a vacation is the roaming fee. Forget to disable the data usage on your phone before you’ve procured an international SIM card and the phone will automatically connect to the nearest tower, charging you an insanely over-priced rate from your domestic carrier back home. The best solution for dealing with this is the Onavo Extend app, a program that routes incoming and outgoing Internet traffic through its servers, compressing and caching the information to reduce data consumption.

GasBuddy
 GasBuddy is a phenomenal life-hack that, unfortunately, is only available in the United States (for now). Through crowd-sourced data from fellow GasBuddy users, the app provides the latest fuel price for all the surrounding petrol stations, giving you the ability to find the least expensive place to refuel.

Does anyone have any other app suggestions?

 
Source: Makeuseof