5 Travel Apps to Download Before Your Trip

January 3, 2019 Nicole Wegscheid No Comments

Category Cultural Connections, Experiential Learning, Pre-Trip Planning: Students, Pre-Trip Planning: Teachers, Teacher Resources, Technology, The Global Classroom, Travel Inspiration, Travel Tips, Your Tour Done Right

It can be daunting trying to decide which travel apps would be best to download on your smartphone for your upcoming trip abroad. There are too many to choose from these days! All of us here at ACIS have gone through trial and error to find our favorite travel apps so you don’t have to. Here are the top 5 to help break up the clutter.

ACIS Travel App

Is it any surprise that we recommend the ACIS Travel App? This app is specifically designed to help you each day of your tour with ACIS. It will include everything you need to know about your destination including history, climate, gastronomy, etc. as well as specific details about your customized itinerary. The best part is you can download an offline map to help track your destination and help you get you to and from major sights, restaurants and your hotel. Perfect for exploring and learning about a new culture! You can learn more about the Travel App here.

Viber

In our smartphone dominated world, we need to be able to stay in touch with our friends and family outside of iMessage. Viber helps you stay connected across time zones, borders and oceans. We all know family and friends back home will want a daily update while you are on tour and downloading Viber will help them feel as if they are right there with you! There is a free version in which you can text/call/video chat while in wifi or on your international service plan, and you can add chat extensions for funny gifs and video sharing. Other than texting capability, you can also access audio and video calls or even instant voice and video recordings. This app is available on Android, Iphone/IPad, Windows PC, Mac and Linux!

XE Currency Converter

Money is a very hot topic when it comes to travel as well. Before heading overseas and while on tour this app can be extremely helpful to determine how much money to tip, take out at an ATM and to know how local currency relates to the US dollar. All you need to do is add in the type of money you will be using in each country and you can start converting on the spot. Euros, British Pounds and the US dollar tend to be similar, but when working with other currencies, like the Icelandic Krona, you could be seeing pricing in the thousands when it is realistically $12-$15 US dollars. You can download this app on Google Play and the Apple App store.

Mobile Passport

We all know the struggle and stress of standing in endless airport lines, especially when you are ready to hop in bed after a long flight. Mobile Passport was created to help you “Breeze Through Customs” at 26 airports nationwide. We recently compared using the Mobile Passport app and standing in the typical customs line at Chicago’s O’Hare airport and the difference was about 45 minutes of waiting to answer a few questions! Download now at the App Store or Google Play.

Microsoft Translator

Whether you have studied the local language or not, the Microsoft Translator app is a lifesaver when in a foreign country. This app can help translate over 60 languages and you can easily download the language you want to read/speak while in Wifi to translate on the go. The best part: you can translate by voice, keyboard or taking a picture. This way if you are having trouble communicating with a vendor or at a restaurant, you can ask them to speak into the phone or type out their question to better understand! It was particularly helpful when getting directions and reading a menu. This app is available on multiple platforms including Windows Store, App Store, Google Play and Amazon.