15 Travel Apps That SMART Travelers Use In 2025

Video ID: ZLECidMXOZY

YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLECidMXOZY

Added At: 25-06-25 18:50:45

Processed: No

Sentiment: Positive

Categories: Tech, Travel, Entertainment

Tags: travel apps, VPN service, language learning, trip management, navigation tools, budget tracking, airline apps, lounge access

Summary

["The video discusses the best travel apps and features, highlighting new functionalities that enhance travel experiences. It introduces tools like chat GPT for personalized travel assistance, TripIt for itinerary management, Surf Shark as a VPN service for secure internet access while traveling, and Google Translate for overcoming language barriers.","Other highlighted apps include Pimsler for effective language learning, Hasel and Splitwise for budget tracking in multiple currencies, Citymapper for efficient navigation over Google Maps, and Olaf Travel eSIMs for hassle-free mobile data connectivity abroad.","The video also emphasizes the benefits of airline apps for flight management, Lounge Buddy for accessing airport lounges, and various ride-sharing apps like Uber. Additionally, it suggests using Spotify or podcasts offline, weather apps like Windy, meditation apps, cloud backup solutions like Google Photos or iCloud, and accommodation platforms like Booking.com.","The video concludes by recommending additional strategies to save money on accommodations and encourages viewers to explore these tips in further detail."]

Transcript

the best travel apps are constantly
changing new ones are popping up and old
ones are adding crazy new features that
literally blow my mind I can almost
guarantee you'll find a cool new app or
feature that you haven't heard about
before on this list and I'll show you
some cool temples if you haven't jumped
on the AI train yet chat GTP can
essentially act as your own little
personal travel assistant especially now
that they have a handy Phone App instead
of listing out all the ways you can use
chat GTP to help you travel better let's
just ask it now this is obviously all
information that you can search for on
Google but chat GTP is neat in that you
can keep adding in more information to
get more personalized results you're
really only limited by your imagination
for example I asked chat GTP plus to
make me a table that includes the most
popular areas of Catman de to stay in
the pros and cons of each the distance
from the airport prices to get to each
area with different modes of
transportation and a ton of other stuff
including a map of the area as you can
see the table looks pretty dang useful
the map was a total fail but it's only a
matter of time before this is doable
anyway this is all just scratching the
surface I plan to make a more detailed
tutorial showing all the insane ways
that you can use chat GTP to make travel
easier including creating your own
custom GPT so subscribe if you like
traveling smarter and want to see more
videos like these I feel pretty silly
for not using this travel application
sooner all these years I've planned
trips using spreadsheets Apple notes
screenshots and email folders to keep
all my flight information and
reservations organized together but
whenever I need to reference something
i' then have to dig through all those
notes with TripIt all you have to do is
forward all of your booking confirmation
emails to plans tripit.com then it
automatically brings everything together
creating a One-Stop shop itinerary where
you can see all of your hotel bookings
flight
and travel docs all in one simple
dashboard as long as you don't log out
of the app you can continue accessing
the static version even when you're
offline which is super handy I just Ed
the free version and when combined with
number eight on this list it's an
absolute Game Changer the surf Shark app
has been a lifesaver for us on many
occasions while traveling it's a VPN
which stands for a virtual private
Network without getting too Tech on you
it basically hides the data that you
send through your internet connection
and can make it look like you're
accessing the web from a different
location this is essential for travelers
in four different ways first when you're
traveling you'll likely be using public
Wi-Fi whether that be at the airport
your hotel restaurants Etc using a VPN
helps protect your sensitive information
from getting stolen when you're on
unsecure networks second you may find
that a country you're traveling in
blocks the websites that you need to use
here is a fascinating map showing
internet censorship levels around the
world some banks and financial
institutions might also not work if they
detect that you're outside the country
and let me tell you losing access to
your financial accounts is not something
that you want to happen when you're
halfway across the world surf shark
helps with both of these problems
because you can set your location to
your home country or a 100 other
countries this also opens up a little
travel hack that can save some money
when searching for things like flight
and hotels and tours sometimes you can
instantly get cheaper prices by
switching the country that you're
searching from it also comes in handy
with Netflix and other streaming
services each country has access to
different movies and shows so whenever
something isn't available in your
current location whether you're at home
or abroad you can just set it to
whichever country you want I like surf
shark because it lets you use unlimited
devices with just one account so that
Dian and I both use it on both of our
phones both of our laptops and our iPad
this video is not sponsored by surf
shark by the way we're just happy
customers who've been using it at home
and while traveling for the past 2 years
that said you can get around 80% off and
up to 4 months free using our link down
in the description by the way there are
also free VPN out there and I used to
use one of them myself but eventually I
realized that when you use free VP PN
then you are usually the product the
company needs to make a profit one way
or another which probably means selling
the data they have on you to third
parties not cool Google Translate is way
more than a simple language dictionary
it now has some pretty awesome features
making it hands down one of the most
useful apps for travelers you can have
normal conversations with people by
speaking into your phone in both
languages this has saved us on multiple
occasions when trying to communicate
with people who may not have learned how
to read you can also hold your camera
over words that you see in a different
language and the translations will
automatically pop up on your camera
screen you don't even need to take a
picture but I found it works a little
bit better if you do this is super handy
with signs restaurant menus and when
going to the grocery store or Pharmacy
you can even write with your finger
instead of typing I haven't used this
feature yet but I assume it's for when
someone wants to write something with
different characters that aren't in the
English alphabet and you don't have the
other keyboard on your phone just
remember to download the language that
you need so that it works offline as
well to learn languages while traveling
I no longer use du lingo and here's why
du lingo is popular because it's fun and
addictive but in my opinion it's not
super efficient for travelers for
example after studying Portuguese on
Dual lingo every day for over a month
the only types of things that I knew how
to say were things like
it also focuses a lot on reading and
writing which really doesn't help you to
have a conversation with a local but
pimsler is the other way around the main
lessons are purely listening and
repeating so the main focus is training
your ears and your pronunciation which
is what you actually use in a
conversation the actual phrases I
learned in my pimsler tie lessons were
also more practical for travelers for
example after listening to just a couple
lessons I already knew how to say things
like sa
sa in other words all things that would
actually be useful while traveling
pimsler is a little bit more expensive
than dualingo but you can learn quite a
bit just using their 7-Day free trial
which I'll link to below hasel is a
budgeting app that allows you to track
your expenses in multiple different
currencies splitwise is super handy if
you're traveling in a group because it
lets you easily divide tabs and settle
up accounts in multiple currencies both
of these apps work perfectly for me and
I've been using the free version of both
for years but while scouring through
Reddit I recently found another app that
supposedly does all of these things all
in one app it's called travel spend so
that's worth checking out as well let me
know if anyone has experience with it
speaking of expens is if you want to
learn the secrets that long-term
Travelers use to travel for a fraction
of the cost of everyone else download my
free cheap travel hacks cheat sheet down
in the description when traveling some
exchange rates are trickier than others
I always recommend memorizing the
exchange rate and figuring out tricks to
calculate prices in your head that way
you're not dependent on your phone and
you can calculate prices even if your
battery dies or if you leave your phone
behind in your hotel or if you just
don't want to take it out because you're
in a sketchy area that said apps like XE
currency do come in handy on those days
when your brain is just fried sometimes
you just don't have the neurons
available to convert Egyptian pounds to
US dollars to try to figure out if that
Egyptian cashier is trying to scam you
at the grocery store spoiler alert he
did twice choosing the right Maps app
for traveling can make your life way
easier but that's only the first step
you also need to know how to use all the
helpful features for example I've been
using Google Maps forever for normal
directions but it wasn't until recently
that I learned a new strategy that has
totally Chang the way we travel when we
first arrived in changai Diane asked one
of her friends who had traveled here a
few months earlier for some restaurant
recommendations it took them like 30
seconds to respond with pins of all
their favorite places around the city
including what they liked about each
place I can't even remember what I ate
for breakfast how the heck did they
remember all of the names of their
favorite Thai restaurants 3 months ago
and that's when we got a lesson in
Google maps 101 now whenever I get a
recommendation whether that be from a
friend or social media or a blog post or
whatever I immediately save a pin of the
destination or hotel or restaurant or
attraction or whatever in Google Maps I
also write a quick comment of who
recommended it and why the comment is
important otherwise you'll have hundreds
of pins and you won't be able to
remember why you pinned and pretty soon
your map will be full of pins which you
can use to piece together an itinerary I
also recommend downloading offline maps
of the areas where you'll be traveling
and I show exactly how to do this in
this video having access to reviews
menus and business info is also super
handy although in some places you have
to take reviews with a grain of salt
again I'm looking at you Egypt if you're
traveling to big cities in the US Canada
or Europe I actually recommend using the
City mapper app over Google Maps this
often times has more efficient public
transportation routes more accurate Tim
taes pricing info and the ability to
personalize routes for example you can
choose things like bus only train only
mixed or my favorite simple which
basically shows you the route with the
fewest number of transfers the only
downside is it currently only works in
71 cities travel esims allow you to have
data on your phone the second you arrive
in your destination without the hassle
of having to hunt down those tiny
plastic SIM cards there are loads of
companies popping up and I've tested the
most popular ones in this video If You
prioritize convenience customer service
and not ever having to worry about your
data running out during your trip then I
recommend Olaf unlike most other eim
companies Olaf offers unlimited plans in
many different destinations I've now
tested their service out in eight
countries in counting including way out
in the Sahara Desert and I wrote up a
brutally honest review that shows you
exactly how to set things up just Google
Olaf review project untethered for a
setup guide and special discount code
one thing to note is that Olaf's
unlimited plans do not allow data
sharing so if you're a digital Nomad you
should keep that in mind if you do need
to tether I'll recommend some other
options as well most Airlines now have
dedicated apps that streamline your
experience in fact in several parts of
the world I was actually forced to use
the app because the airlines website
wouldn't work for me you can usually
check into your flights using these apps
get digital boarding passes so you don't
need to print them out manage your
booking get alerts for flight time or
gate changes and even access inflight
entertainment options for flights that
don't have the seatback entertainment
system so when you buy your flights
always check to see if there's an app
for the airline that you're using if
you're from the US you're spoiled for
options that give you access to VIP
airport lounges around the world the
easiest way to do this is to open a
credit card that offers lounge access as
a perk and a link to the one I use down
below but even once you have one of
these cards It's tricky to figure out
which Lounge to use in an airport and
how to actually find it that's where
Lounge buddy comes in to save the day
you can enter in the types of credit
cards that you have that offer lounge
access into the app and then it tells
you exactly which lounges you're allowed
to enter and a map showing you exactly
where it is because sometimes these
suckers are hidden it's also handy
because you can read Lounge reviews from
other Travelers so if you have access to
three different lounges in one airport
you can save time and pick just the one
that offers the best food and comfort
options apart from these travel apps
you'll also want the more obvious apps
like Uber or whichever ride share app is
most popular in the destination you're
traveling to do your research because in
some countries certain ridir apps are
much cheaper than others I also
recommend Spotify and podcast apps with
content downloaded offline a weather app
like windy which is my favorite perhaps
a meditation app if you want to be more
mindful during your trip a cloud backup
app like Google photos or iCloud so that
all your pictures back up each night in
your accommodation and you don't risk
losing them if something happens to your
phone and of course apps like
booking.com which often offer inapp
discounts to help you save money on
accommodation there are actually a bunch
of other small little tricks you can use
to save money on accommodation as well
and you can learn about those by
watching this video next all right guys
bye-bye