Everyone wants a memorable trip but you don’t want the bill to be the one thing you never forget. From finding drinks specials to gas stations, we’re sharing with you, our favorite apps for saving money while traveling. Check them out!
Book a tour with a local
Skip the overpriced double-decker bus tours and check out Lokafy. You can book tours with a local who is passionate about their city and will give you an authentic off-the-beaten-path tour.
Similar companies that cover more international destinations: Viator and Shiroube.
Save on eating and drinking
If you have time to do some online lurking you can find referral codes (think $15 or $20 off) for food delivery services like UberEats and Delivery Hero that will deliver food straight to you from local restaurants.
If you prefer to eat in the actual restaurant, make a reservation beforehand with OpenTable, which works at more than 37,000 restaurants worldwide. You earn points that can be converted to gift cards. Most restaurants might give you 100 points, or $1, but you can find restaurants that offer 1,000 points; that’s worth $10! Who doesn’t want to get paid for eating?
Now that you’ve saved on meals, you don’t want to get slammed with overpriced beers. DrinkOwl scans your surroundings for drink specials and happy hours taking place in the city—think $3 mimosas and $3.75 for pints.
Find cheap accommodations
We’re not talking cheap, rundown places to stay. We mean finding deals on hotels! If you’re flexible on when you’re booking, you can find great last-minute deals on unsold rooms in the Hotel Tonight app. Whether you’re in Sydney or New York, you can find luxury or budget hotel rooms you can book within minutes.
Fill up at the cheapest gas stations
Rental cars can already be pricey—you don’t want to be paying a fortune for gas too. GasBuddy displays the lowest gas prices in North America from stations near you. The app gathers gas price information provided by users with a time stamp so you know how recent the data is. You also might want to get in on the fun—GasBuddy rewards users who report prices with a daily giveaway of a $100 gas gift card.
Save money on flights
Stop wasting your time trying to figure out if Wednesday is really the best time to book your flight to Dubai. Hopper analyzes flights to help you find the best deals as well as times to fly and purchase your flights. You can set up alerts and Hopper will notify you when prices drop. They will even make the recommendation to book now or wait because they predict lower prices coming.
Hipmunk is another one of our favorites. It collects prices from top travel sites and compares them, letting you determine where you’ll get the best deal. You can set up email alerts and Hipmunk will continue to send you cheap flight information—you just have to book quickly.
Read more: 4 startups changing the way you travel with money
Avoid those costly roaming charges
We’re always here to help keep you connected while saving you money. Our Global SIM Sticker seamlessly connects you in 200+ countries and territories at low rates so you can access Google Maps, stream your favorite music, access all these apps mentioned and more. Plus our KnowRoaming app makes it easy to manage your usage and spending.
If you have any other travel apps you use to save money, tell us in the comments below!