It’s summertime again and with the World Cup wrapping up in Brazil, many of us are already itching to make travel plans. This past Fourth of July saw a slight increase in domestic travel according to AAA. Marshall Doney, AAA’s chief operating officer stated, “With school out for summer, the Fourth of July holiday is typically the busiest summer travel holiday, with 5 million more Americans traveling compared to Memorial Day (2014) weekend.”

The increase in travel oriented apps and pricing options offer more incentive for travelers to pack their bags and join the jet set. Before you do, here are 4 tech tools for a better summertime travel experience.

1. Use location-based apps – Companies like Uber and Hotel Tonight allow users to find rides or book last minute hotel deals with a touch of a button. Apps like these enable you to become mobile and avoid hotel booking commitments. This is especially important when traveling to a new location and the hotel you booked online doesn’t exactly look live up to the posted photos or is located in a less desirable part of town.
2. Track your luggage – Aside from flight delays, nothing is more frustrating than losing a bag while en route or transferring to another plane. Gadgets like Trakdot is a Bluetooth-enabled baggage-tracking device that syncs to the user’s smartphone. Knowing where your luggage is provides peace of mind, not to mention savings on time and money.
3. Keep it clean – If you are traveling to less developed countries where clean water is a concern, gadgets such as the SteriPEN eliminate over 99.9% of bacteria, viruses and protozoa that cause water-borne illness. This comes in handy when there are no supermarkets in an area and is a cost-effective alternative to drinking the heavily marked-up bottled water offered in hotel room mini bars.
4. Know some local phrases – While it helps to be fluent with the local language, it is even more important to know a few certain phrases to make your way around a new city. Apps like Duolingo offer free language lessons, while other dictionary and translation apps such as Google Translate or iTranslate can come in handy as well.

Smartphones and the latest app technology are continually evolving with new products to help make travel more convenient, just make sure to power up your phone before boarding a flight!

For the latest apps and gadgets, follow us on Twitter. We at ARTÉMIA Communications wish you safe travels over the summer!