What’s App?!

You can depend on traveling to be a hassle, and since the main purpose of apps is to make life more convenient, it’s no wonder that there are so many created to smooth over some of the wrinkles that have become a routine part of travel. I traversed the expansive terrain of the app landscape and brought back several of the apps that I found most noteworthy. I hope you will find them useful as well.

Packpoint

Let’s start with the basics: packing. Based on a series of questions for you to answer about your trip, Packpoint generates lists of items you may need to pack. Now, I understand that this app’s job is to figure out what clothes I need to pack, but does the very first question really need to be whether I’m male or female (with no other response options)?

Putting that behind me, let’s see what else this app has in store. After choosing from a list of about 20 general activities, Packpoint gives you a master packing list with sections for all the activities you chose. Then, you pick which items you would actually need to bring to compile your final list.

Packpoint is comprehensive, reminding me of items such as a power adapter for an international visit, which would not have occurred to me (but which I would definitely want now that they mention it). However, the “essentials” section feels a bit excessive, and I feel super low-maintenance being able to weed out items like an eye mask and perfume.

I appreciate that they advised me what the weather would be like two months from now in the Southern Hemisphere, and I liked that they considered how many nights I would be gone and whether or not I would have access to a laundry machine. I found it comforting to have a second pair of eyes looking out for me, even if those “eyes” are actually just a simple algorithm capitalizing on my anxieties.

Scott’s Cheap Flights

Scott is a real person, and he has a self-proclaimed obsession with finding cheap flights. He started out learning and developing strategies to find cheap flights for himself, and he had so much success that he began sharing his systems with others through two books and his website, Scott’s Cheap Flights. Although it’s not an app, this website deserves some attention.

Once you join the Scott’s Cheap Flights listserv, they will send you an email every time they find a flight at a crazy cheap price. And when I say “crazy cheap,” I mean it. I’ve received notifications for flights to Beijing (normally around $850+) at $431; flights to Puerto Rico (normally around $500+) at $155; and I bought a ticket to Quito, Ecuador (normally around $750+) for $256.

If it seems like joining this listserv would be setting yourself up for a barrage of emails, you’re right. However, you can choose which regions you want to hear about so that you only get notifications for select places. I get notifications for all regions because I love seeing all the possibilities.

Scott’s Cheap Flights finds these flights by constantly scanning airlines in search of deals and flukes in the pricing system. Then they send out an email blast with details, including links to the flight in Google Flights, which airlines are offering them, the timeframe for travel, and about how much time before they estimate that the booking opportunity will disappear. Sometimes they’re gone within one to two hours.

Scott’s Cheap Flights claims that they “[do] not receive referral fees from Google Flights, Momondo, or any other booking sites,” and their instructions and tips for booking are very helpful, since nabbing the flights can be a little frantic.

WiFi Map

In a world where we feel entitled to WiFi wherever we go and appalled when we find out that the coffee shop we just settled into “… doesn’t have … WiFi??” it’s nice to have it all mapped out for us. Literally. WiFi Map has over 120,000,000 WiFi networks and their passwords, and you can search them based on the location, speed, or popularity.

The app says that all the WiFi networks it lists are public, but many of them are called “Home WiFi” and have addresses that don’t seem to be connected to any particular business. I feel sneaky going through all the networks and hitting the big, green “Unlock Passwords” buttons, like I’m sitting in a swivel chair in the middle of the WiFi control center commanding them to open for me.

There have definitely been times when I’ve been traveling alone around a new city and realized that I don’t know how to get home and can’t use my cellular data. In cases like that, this app would have been really useful. The information is maintained from the last time you had access to WiFi or data, so you can use it when you don’t have access. Even still, I recommend downloading the WiFi map for the city you’re exploring, just to be safe.

Keep in mind, WiFi Map doesn’t ask nothing of its users. Since it uses crowdsourcing to locate all the networks it lists, you are expected to register and participate occasionally. This app is also heavy on the ads, making it a little overwhelming to use. You have to do a bit of weeding through and careful clicking. So more-or-less free WiFi: I’ll take it.

Sit or Squat

Quick shout-out to this simple but ingenious (and hilarious) app. Sit or Squat is like Yelp for bathrooms. Its home page is a map of all the public restrooms in your vicinity, green for clean (or “sit”) and red for dirty (or “squat”). You can also specify a bathroom with a changing table or one that’s handicap accessible. The app also allows you to add and review restrooms.