Most of the travel preparations today can be done online. It's easier than it seems. But there are nuances.
How and where to look for tours, buy airline tickets, and book lodging? How to play live roulette on the road? What apps may be needed on a trip? How not spend too much on cell phones?
Booking tours
If you don't want to spend time and effort organizing your trip, you can buy a tour at a travel aggregator website. There are offers from different travel agencies: plenty to choose from.
Unfortunately, the more choice, the more likely you are to fall for crooks. So when you start communicating with a company that is going to buy a tour, be sure to pay attention to these points:
The period of existence of the travel agency.
One-day firms should be immediately alerted.
The price of the tour.
Do not trust suspiciously cheap offers. The level of service in the penny tour is likely to disappoint you.
Carefully read the contract.
It should state all the conditions of the tour.
The certificate of registration of the company.
The name listed in it should coincide with that in the contract.
The presence of a contract and travel voucher.
They should be given to you immediately after the payment. These are the documents that confirm that you bought the tour.
We organize our trip.
Air tickets.
Nowadays, you can buy an air ticket online and through special mobile applications. We also advise you to check the chosen airline's website: often, it is even cheaper to buy directly, bypassing the aggregator.
After the ticket payment, you should be sent an itinerary receipt with the flight number, date and time of departure, and arrival (local time). It should also state the flight time, connection flights (if any), and luggage allowance. You will receive your seat number when you check-in online or at the counter at the airport.
Safety rules
Check the total price of your ticket before you pay. The price indicated on the website may be subject to additional fees, taxes, and insurance.
At best, the price should be slightly lower than the market average. Suspicious cheapness is a bad sign. Chances are you're just being lured to a fraudulent site.
If a phone number is listed on the site, call and ask for the actual price of the ticket.
Download mobile applications to buy tickets from official stores: App Store, Google Play, Windows Store. Always pay attention to the reviews of other users.
Accommodation
Many ticketing sites offer immediate hotel reservations at the destination. Only book accommodation on well-established sites (e.g., booking.com).
Please pay attention to the booking conditions: Not all hotels have a free cancellation policy, so it is better to clarify this point before paying.
Visa
Anyone can make a visa by himself. Follow our advice, and you will succeed.
You can always find the most updated and reliable information on the embassy's website of the country you want. Find out what documents you need, download the application form, carefully fill it in according to the sample and bring it to the embassy on the agreed date.
Make an appointment online to file documents to choose a date and time convenient to you.
You can use an online visa application service (on the website or in the application for iOS or Android).
Cellular phones and mobile Internet.
It is often cheaper to buy a local SIM-card operator. You can check the rates in advance on the website prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com.
If traveling with your SIM card, download your operator's mobile app in advance. It's easy to control your spending and activate and deactivate services.
When traveling abroad, it is essential to monitor the traffic. Don't forget to turn off background updates and geolocation in applications you don't plan to use while traveling. A radical way is to turn off the Internet altogether in the phone settings.
Wi-Fi
Use free Wi-Fi to access the Internet, and to avoid accidentally switching to mobile Internet, put your phone in air mode.
Look for a list of free Wi-Fi hotspots in the Wi-Fi Map app for iOS and Android.
Check for free Wi-Fi at the airport on its website or with staff on site. You can also find free Wi-Fi at train stations, city squares, city parks, libraries, and shopping malls.
When using an open Wi-Fi network, don't forget about safety: it's better not to log in to mobile and Internet banks and not enter confidential information.
We also advise you to read the material "Thing’s newbies need to know before playing at online casinos," which may interest many.
Mobile cards
Download in your smartphone or tablet mobile maps, which work offline. There are such, for example, at maps.me.
Apps for motorists
Car travelers will need a good navigator who can be used without connecting—for example, Be-on-road.
Guides
They help find the most exciting things: sights, entertainment, lodging, and food. It's best to take care of these things beforehand and download an app that works offline.
Audio Guides
Don't want to look at the screen but prefer to listen? Download an audio guide. The only possible disadvantage of such applications is that most of them are in English, so you may additionally need a translator.
The best apps for travel planning
CheckMyTrip
One of the most versatile apps for business and leisure trips is CheckMyTrip. With its help, you can receive timely notifications on your smartphone about an upcoming flight. In addition, your travels can be added to a particular calendar with the ability to share them with friends. Free access to online services is provided. Afraid you'll forget your next trip?
Thanks to a structured interface, that's out of the question. On the left, you'll find upcoming dates and following themed photos with the name of the trip. At the same time, you can check each trip by opening detailed information—book hotel rooms and tickets. The close integration of the program with Foursquare will help you find the most exciting places.
HOTSGO PLAN
HOTSGO PLAN is an excellent app with a detailed description of each trip. A calendar of your entire tour is available even without an Internet connection. In this case, it will be much easier to travel the whole route with the popular Google Map service. Were you traveling on business to another city or country? In this situation, it won't hurt to have an accurate calculation of travel expenses with a quick print option.
With this app, it's easy to prepare for your upcoming trip. You can create packing lists that include everything you need. Sharing your plans with others is possible by sending ready-made PDF files to acquaintances and relatives. If necessary, it is even realistic to start editing the project together. At the same time, each note can be supplemented with various photos and other images.
Sygic Travel Maps
Sygic Travel Maps planner has extended functionality. It allows you to plot detailed itineraries for every day. More than 50 million different points of interest are loaded in the program, so you'll have no problem finding something suitable for sightseeing or vacation.
You can also buy a Premium account with access to all the online maps of the world. And these maps work even when you are offline. If we are talking about the popular places, they are attached not only detailed descriptions but also pictures. A guide on the cities will help you quickly orient yourself in the parts of the world that are unknown to you.
It is possible to order tours, excursions, cruises, and much more. You can instantly find a particular street or institution thanks to the powerful search engine.