The sun is out and holiday season is in full swing. But if you aren’t as organised this year and need some inspiration for trips away, technology can help you plan, book and prepare for your break.
Getting there will be the first hurdle, and with the cost of living rising, budgets for holidays may have tightened. But technology can help you bag a bargain. Sites like Kayak and Hopper offer a wide view of potential flights, hotels and car hire for your chosen destination. They also build smarter features into their apps.
Hopper has price predictions in its app so you can see if you are travelling at peak or budget-friendly times. The app will also notify you when prices drop, so you can nip in and get yourself a deal.
Itineraries
AI chatbots can offer up some good suggestions with ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini all slipping easily into the role of holiday planner. A few options for sightseeing in a city or hidden gems near a beach resort are well within their capabilities.
RM Block
But some specialist apps can help you plan the perfect holiday. Available on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, GuideGeek is an AI-powered travel guide that will make suggestions for your planned holiday destination, bearing in mind the information you provide. It can tell you about local attractions, whether cash is preferred or cards are widely accepted, and how to get around once you get there. It is all done in a conversational format too, which makes it easier to use.
Another app, MindTrip, is good for planning group trips with features such as group voting. It will suggest places to stay, see and eat, and it has tips from local experts and other travellers.
Stippl can plan your itinerary or road trip, taking inspiration from other travellers. It generates travel plans that include stops, suggestions for things to see and it takes into account your preferences for activities.
Languages
Years ago travellers would turn up in foreign countries armed with a phrase book, some questionable pronunciation and a sense of adventure. These days there are plenty of apps that will help you translate in real time, but you might want to brush up on some essential phrases before you go.
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Duolingo is one of the most well-known language learning apps out there, covering everything from French and Spanish to Latin and Klingon. You can learn a few basic phrases and enhance your comprehension, even if you never utter a word.
And if you are careful, you need never pay a cent by making full use of Duolingo’s free allocation every day.
Packing
Lists are handy, especially when travelling with children. But we aren’t always great at compiling the right ones. You can hand over the bulk of the process to an AI-powered app, such as TripIt’s PackPoint.
By giving it some basic details like travel dates, locations and the purpose of your trip, it will compile a packing list tailored for you and your needs. You can save the lists for future trips and customise them for family trips, work or weekends away.
There is a limited free option but if you want to customise lists beyond the basics – specialised activities for example – you will need to pay for premium.
PackMate is another option for generating packing lists on your behalf. It gives you country specific tips, weights for items and so on. It also prompts you with reminder lists before you go.
The service is free for seven days to see how you like it and then you can sign up for the full year, which costs less than €10.
eSims
Staying connected while you are away has become easier. Free wifi is often available in restaurants, hotels and shopping centres, and for those times when you aren’t covered, mobile data access is usually available.
For most people, the abolition of roaming charges in the EU has solved the issue of post-holiday bill shock. But there is a catch: it isn’t unlimited. Different mobile operators will restrict you to different data allowances abroad, even if you are within the EU.
Anything above that will cost you extra and if you are a particularly heavy user, it can get pricey quickly.
Outside the EU, of course, data roaming is still charged, and if wifi access is limited, you might end up with a sizeable bill at the end of your trip.
Getting a local data plan can not only save you money but also be more convenient when it comes to retaining coverage. In the past that meant landing at the airport and tracking down a local traveller-friendly sim plan. But virtual Sims, or eSims, can be added to most of the newer mid-range and above smartphones on the market, giving you an easy way to keep your bills low without losing out on data access.
They are easy to install. You scan a QR code or copy an alphanumeric code into the relevant settings on your phone.
Holafly, for example, allows you to pay for what you need, whether it is a three-day trip or a two-week jaunt. The virtual Sims connect to local networks while you are travelling in the country, and once you are done with it, they can be deleted from your phone
GoMo World offers eSims to customers, as does Revolut, which can also be paid for with points accumulated under the fintech’s rewards programme.
There are some caveats. Your phone needs to be compatible with eSims, so check before you go. It also usually needs to be unlocked, which your network provider can take care of.
