When traveling extensively, you get to know what makes your life easier and of course, what saves you money and a lot of this comes down to using the right tools!

With this said, if we could only live with 9 travel apps these would be them. Read below to see why you should download & use them too! All these apps are free unless otherwise noted.

As a side note, we are in no way affiliated with any of these businesses/apps, we just want to pass on the recommendations.

1. Sky Scanner

A true money saver when it comes to finding & booking flights. Skyscanner scans all the airlines for their rates and tells you the best possible rate. Not only this but there is a feature that allows you to see a graph of other dates and times to travel on, so you can choose to fly an hour or day later and save lots of cash. You can also easily set up price alert changes which are very handy if know approx locations & dates you want to travel on. A similar service is HipMunk that has an “agony” feature that ranks flights based on agony caused (eg. red eye, stops, etc).

2. TripIt

If your trip consists of more than a few hotels & flights this app will be your new best friend. TripIt organizes all your travel itineraries into an easy to use interface. All you have to do is email your booking/flight confirmations to their email address and they do the rest. You can also share and sync your itineraries too.

3. Stay.com

This app is like a massive travel guidebook in your pocket and you can download entire cities of info (including maps) so you’re never lost or without a place to visit when travelling. I prefer this over app over the TripAdvisor Guides app as it features local picks and lots of customization for making your own itineraries, all without access to wifi or data. I also use the CitiMaps 2Go app as a backup because they have maps for smaller country towns. Another great app travel guide is VisitACity, perfect for putting itineraries together for you.

4. Trip Advisor

This is my preferred app to use when looking for accommodation as it aggregates many different travel booking sites into one easy to use interface while having a huge community of reviews to make use of. This said, I always check out other sites to ensure the final booking is the best rate, but for initial research, this is the site to use. It’s also great for booking tours and finding out activities to do, wherever you are.

5. Airbnb

If you’re after a more local and authentic accommodation experience, Airbnb is for you. By using the app or website and its filters, you can easily find the right accommodation for your budget and requirements, often for much cheaper than a hotel. It’s also handy to use to find out which area of a city to stay in with their neighbourhood guides.

You can get $25 free if you’re a new user by signing up using my affiliate link.

6. WiFi Map Pro (Free / $5 for offline)

A great way to find free wifi connections and passwords around the world. A true money & time saver! Works best if you have some data though.

7. XE Currency

This app shows current exchange rates and conversions. Very useful to see how much exchanges services are ripping you off. Tip: Always use an ATM to withdrawal money as banks give you the best exchange rates and never change money at the airport, as they have the worst rates. More tips on how to maximize your cash overseas.

8. Google Translate

This is the perfect app for language translation when you have wifi/data available. As a bonus, this app features a “camera translator” which translates words on the fly. Simply hold your phone over the foreign language and it automatically displays the translation on your screen. Great for reading signs and food menus.

9. Lonely Planet Fast Talk (Free/$2.99/$4.99)

A super handy app for quick translations when wifi or data is unavailable. They have a great search feature, which is perfect for any type of communication; directions, food, etc. As an example, you could type in “where” and it will give you all common phrases that include the word “where”. Where is the nearest ATM, where is the nearest gas station, etc.

Do you have any other recommended travel apps to share? Please do!