The Travel Dispatch is an essential source of travel news and information. It will be sent to your inbox.
People are still dreaming of their next vacation despite travel being fraught. There are new apps that make it easier to plan trips. When travel was at a standstill, a number of them were introduced. Wondering which to try? Here are a few solutions, including how to turn award points into a hotel suite, join a ranger for a national park hike, hear the history of the place you're driving through, and see the latest Covid-19 travel protocols.
There is a single official park service app for America's more than 400 national parks. The app was created by the National Park Service staff and provides practical information such as fees, hours, directions, webcams, where to find food and restrooms, park news and events, and volunteer opportunities. You can search for parks by name, state, activity, or topic. If you want to go dog sledding through national parks and preserves, a visit to Alaska is required, but if you want to go horse trekking, there are dozens of national sites to choose from. You can download park details for offline use on mountain trails and other spots you don't have cell service, and keep a running list of the parks you've visited. The cost is free.
Kevin Costner probably isn't one of the images that come to mind when thinking about a road trip. That may be about to change. HearHere is an app that uses your location and interests to play audio snippets about the history, culture and natural wonders of the places you are driving through. There are tidbits about landmarks and people who walked the land before you. The app, which rolled out last year, has recently announced an expansion that will include more than 8,700 stories across the United States, including details about the early history of Portland, Maine, and the burning of Washington by British troops in 1814. Only on the iPad. For the first five stories, it's free, after that, it's $30 for a 30-day unlimited access, $35 for a one-year unlimited subscription, and $699.99 for three years.
You can save and organize your content in eye-pleasing folders and share it with others with the help of the cloud storage service, Bublup. You are planning a trip to Vermont. You can create a vacation folder with a few taps and add a packing list and a note about what you want to do with it. You can add links to travel articles and potential bed-and-breakfasts by forwarding flight or car rental confirmation emails. One of the things that makes the app delightful for visual planners is that you can choose the colors of your folders and even put your own photos on the front of them. It's easier to scroll through information if you see each type of content in its own tidy box, which makes scrolling through information less like work and more like a vacation. To get started, you can use the template which has handy folders for flight information, food and beverages, location, lodging options and must-see sights. Adding and editing content can be done by fellow travelers using the "invite" option. There are more ways to use the app for vacation planning. If you pay yearly, you can get more storage and features for less than the cost of three gigabytes of storage. Premium features are included in the price of the product.
The Points Guy website, known for demystifying the ever-changing world of loyalty points and airline miles, now has an eponymous app to help you earn, use and keep an eye on your hard-won travel awards. A points wallet allows you to enter your airline and hotel loyalty program information, receive notifications about using your miles and points before they expire, and see how close you are to scoring a trip. You can enter your credit card information, track bonus offers, as well as see how you might spend to earn more points. Search for estimated award trip prices and learn about redeeming points and miles with the award explorer icon. You can get the latest travel news in your pocket with a news feed. Only on the iPad. The cost is free.
The app asks about your travel style, like the types of places you prefer to stay. The cuisines that make your mouth water. Before offering itineraries and recommendations of things to do. The creators of the app emphasized responsible travel by including a lot of outdoor activities like hiking, cycling, camping, visits to parks and landmarks, and meals at restaurants with al fresco seating. You can plan and collaborate on a camping or cycling trip with your friends and family. The cost is free.
The creators of Cameo, a mobile video app that was acquired by Vimeo in 2014, are behind Welcome, a new app that aims to help users quickly discover places to go and things to do. Travel experts and friends can be followed. The app will give recommendations based on real-time considerations such as the weather and holidays, as well as your preferences. To sign in to Welcome, you have to enter your phone number. Only on the iPad. The cost is free.
If you want to know if a travel app deserves a place on your phone, you can try them out, since they are free to download. Elude App suggests destinations based on your responses to questions such as "Crave or hard pass?" and "Try", with accompanying photos of food such as a charcuterie plate, sushi rolls and dragonfruit. You can search for itineraries by entering your total trip budget and the city you are leaving. It is only available for the iPad. The cost is free.
It is not easy to keep up with the latest travel information. Travel Planner wants to help by gathering details from different government portals and putting them in one place. Find out where you are and not allowed to go, as well as see requirements for Covid-19 tests, vaccinations and scurries. The cost is free.
You may want to revisit familiar apps like Hopper, Skyscanner, TripIt, and Tripadvisor, which have recent updates, including Covid-19-related requirements. The app in the Air has a digital health passport that you can add a P.C.R. test and a vaccine certificate to before you travel. Memberships with additional features like flight status updates are available for a fee.
An update to the free Google Maps app may be useful for getting around outdoors. The bike and scooter share information has been expanded to more than 300 cities. In places like New York and Barcelona, use the app to see how many bikes are available. An update to Trivago, which helps travelers score deals on accommodations, may be of interest to you. Trivago Weekend is a new way to discover nearby experiences. If you set your current city or town, you will be able to see places to stay and getaways that don't require a boarding pass.
