Tips

Tripit – I use this app constantly! It compiles all your itineraries by ‘trips’ so you can see at a glance: air, hotel, car and actitivies in one place. Love it! Plus it tracks your rewards points and sends you reminders for everything. Details can be shared with one or more people. Get it!!!

Rome2rio – Fantastic app! Just when I thought I would never be able to figure out the best transportation for our many European stops, I found this app. Amazing! Just enter your ‘origin’ and ‘destination’ and the app spits out all your options. Each option is broken down by duration, price and operator! Makes transportation planning so easy!!

Skyscanner – Amazing! Great app for looking for the best deals on flights. Not sure where to go? Start with your local airport and skyscanner will inspire you! This is how I found the best price for flights; the app will notify you of changes in pricing too, for flights you are watching.

Eurail – This app is a must have for your train travel!! Not only does it help you decide which train to book, once you are on the train, it shows you the progression of your trip and what stops you will be making. SO helpful because then you know when and where to get off! Another tip: Once I knew which trains I wanted to book, I took a screen shot of them. Then we just showed the images to the ticket agent to make the reservations. So helpful when there is a language issue!

Hoteltonight – I refer to this but have never found a perfect deal on it.

Dashlane – This is how I store my many passwords and account numbers. Very useful. Gives you that extra sense of security.

Evernote – This app is awesome for more than just notes. This is where I create my blog notes and then cut and paste the contents into the post. I also save pictures, web links, anything in here. Great for working off-line. It’s my filing cabinet!

Soundhound – I have discovered so much new and old music sitting in European bars and restaurants with Soundhound! Now we have the sounds of Europe as memories too!

Expedia Tips – Great money saving tip for Expedia: The daily rates quoted are an average of your number of days stay. Because we would be in Seville over Christmas, we decided to splurg a bit here. I noticed the breakdown by day on my invoice for Seville – the rates for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were cheap, but the next 2 days were $300 each! So I canceled those 2 nights and moved us to a $65/night place for the 26th & 27th – savings of close to $500!! I always watch for this now. I also check booking direct through hotels as is often a better rate.