How Your Smartphone Can Enhance Your Travel Experience

In today’s high tech world Smartphones are used in more and more aspects of our lives. Access to the internet is now widespread and easier than ever, and with many different apps that aim to make daily life easier and everyday tasks quicker, it is little wonder that people are now using their phones to make more of their travel experiences.

But how can a phone help you have a better, more organised holiday? If you are a regular traveller you have probably got your annual travel insurance sorted, but do you know how to get the most out of your Smartphone? Here’s how your phone can enhance your travel.

Leave The Credit Cards Behind

Uber is an app that makes it easy to find transport in different locations around the world. What’s more, the app allows credit card information to be programmed into the phone and retained, so should you misplace your wallet or credit card, you know you can always access transport.

iPhones have an app called Apple Pay, which, despite currently only being usable for travel in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and China, offers a convenient way to pay when travelling. It allows credit cards to be coordinated with the phone. The user can then pay for things simply by tapping their phone screen on the credit card machine. This is great news if you are travelling and don’t want to take your wallet out with you. The use of Apple Play is due to be developed and should be available in more locations soon.

Stay Well

Many travellers who are on the go frequently find it hard to stay healthy and keep up with their exercise. Several apps have been developed for Smartphones that make keeping track of daily exercise much easier. Some apps keep a count of the number of steps you take in the day, while others monitor heart rate too. As stated by Condé Nast Traveller, there is even a new app that allows users to log all their health and exercise information as well as their sleep activity.

Staying healthy while travelling means that you reduce the risk of needing to make a claim on your annual travel insurance.

Get Connected Quicker

Smartphones are a great way to keep in touch. For travellers wanting to stay in contact with friends and family at home when they are on the go, apps like Viber are very useful. Users can call, text and send photos using this app free of charge.

Google Translate and Siri are useful apps for travellers visiting foreign countries and who need information or want to translate a phrase. For business travellers, Dropbox, which is accessible on Smartphones, can be a very important app to have.

Your Smartphone can also be used to store information about your annual travel insurance and the policy details should you require it.

Know Where you Are

Google Maps is one of many navigation apps and it is a great tool for keeping you on the right track. Maps can be downloaded, so even if the Internet signal goes down, you can still access the maps and you won’t waste time looking for things and wandering around in circles.

Armed with all this information, you can now make full use of what your Smartphone offers when you are travelling. Remember your annual travel insurance and your phone and you are good to go.

Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of InsureMore, an award-winning team of specialists in global single trip and annual travel insurance policies. Besides offering great deals on travel insurance, Patrick also collects and shares the best free travel competitions to help his clients get the most out of their holidays.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.