Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Best Travel Apps From 2013

If you have a smartphone or a tablet then you already know how flooded the app market is. Sometimes it can feel impossible to sift through everything and find an app that is even worth the time that it takes to download. We all have those select few apps that we have been using for years, but sometimes you just have to wonder if there is anything else out there that might be better. Unfortunately, this past year didn't give birth to any game changers, but there are in fact a few new apps that could give you a breath of fresh air and help you out in your business travels.

1. Hipmunk

This app has really set the bar in searching for hotels and flights because of it's unrivaled sorting ability. Hipmunk lets you search for flights by class off service and also access your past queries. You can get really in depth and pick your flight based off of travel time, price, or just by airline. You can also choose the "Agony" option and it will show you the flight with the least amount of travel time possible. The hotel search is great as well and can be narrowed down to specific neighborhoods. All of the search results are very easy to read and follow with it's nice looking color coded charts. It will also show you popular places in different areas like restaurants or stores. You can narrow your search by choosing different options like business, kid friendly, luxury, or romantic.

2. Refresh

This app lets you get your creep on. Basically, it shows you all of the available data about a person that you are getting ready to meet. This could be a potential new employee that you are about to interview, someone you may be considering working for, or even just someone you're thinking about taking on a date. It uses various social media profiles of the person that you search to gather most of the useful information that you may need and puts it in one place for you. They claim that the purpose of the app is to eliminate the grueling pain of awkward small talk when meeting someone for the first time, but you can choose to do with it what you will. I think it's a neat idea for job interviews.

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3. Viber

Viber is an absolutely fantastic app for the traveling business person who finds themselves in a place where they don't have very good cell service, your mobile plan doesn't cover roaming, or your plan isn't unlimited. Basically, this app lets you make phone calls and send text messages for free as long as you have a Wi-Fi connection. Most people probably think that Skype would be the best for this, but when you make a call or send a text with Viber, it uses your existing phone number. On top of that, syncing all of your existing contacts with the app is probably the easiest thing in the world.

4. MyCityWay

This app gives you a very quick description of any city that you may want to know more about. You can choose categories for dining, pharmacies, weather, local news, and public transit. This is the perfect app for when you are traveling and end up staying in a city that you aren't familiar with. I would recommend that you download it instead of skipping over it because the name makes it sound dumb

5. Taxi Magic

This is one of the easiest ways to get a cab. It works in 60 U.S. cities and provides you with immediate pickups, fare estimates, and you can even make reservations to be picked up at a later time or date. You can also track your taxi to find out where its at so that you can be inside until the moment it arrives. Possibly the best part is that you can pay ahead of time via credit card and get a receipt emailed to you. Doesn't get much easier than that, right?