A modern traveler can’t imagine a vacation without a smart mobile device, whether it’s a smartphone or a tablet. And this is caused not only by the desire to stay in touch with loved ones.

Of course, this list is far from complete – there are still many uses for mobile technology, especially if you are traveling by car without the help of travel agencies. Let’s look at the most common ones:

Communication on social networks

The world’s most popular social networks have multi-platform applications for mobile devices. As a rule, they allow you to set the statuses of a traveler, exchange messages, post fresh photos and other content related to the location, read the news of friends and expand your space of acquaintances. Today, mobile devices allow us to solve a wide range of tasks. For example, using your smartphone, you can book a hotel room in Miami, reserve a passenger van rental in Albany NY, or find a free table at a restaurant.

You can also see the merging of some of the major travel resources with social media. TripAdvisor is a good example. This is not only a tourist guide with the opportunity to find information about attractions, rent a car or book a room, but also software to share your impressions and read reviews about the point of interest.

The emergence of tourist social networks has made a breakthrough in the development of independent tourism. You can quickly receive both general and personalized reviews from experienced travelers anywhere in the world.

Map services, navigation and search for points of interest

With the increase in the performance of mobile devices and the use of satellite navigation, it has become much more convenient to use mobile applications to view maps of the area, navigate and find the necessary points while traveling in a rental car.

For example, Google Maps provides the ability to search for various establishments, their details and ratings, set your own ratings and leave reviews, find great deals, plan routes, receive information about the road traffic situation, view streets, building schemes and interior panoramas. There are a number of new applications that make life of car travelers much easier:

• Free Wi-Fi Finder – finding the nearest internet connection points;
• AroundMe – finding gas stations, ATMs, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, etc.;
• Road Ninja – searching for any object near you;
• LocalEats – finding recommendations on local food establishments.

Mobile guides

For almost any large tourist center, you can find mobile guidebooks that have more functionality than the traditional one. They can plan a route and give directions on the way, search for information, objects, and cultural events, make reservations, give useful tips, find traffic timetables, city maps, etc.

Such travel guides are becoming a powerful component of local promotional campaigns. An example of such a solution can be a voice information and reference system using the service for determining the location of the subscriber. When registering an incoming call, the system determines the location of the caller and, depending on the geographical point, offers to receive information about the city as a whole or about nearby attractions. The service is controlled using the mobile phone keyboard and the voice menu.

Hotel reservation systems

The mobile hotel booking market is growing at an accelerating pace. The most common system among travelers is Booking.com and the app of the same name. There are also more exotic offers. For example, HotelTonight is used to search for hot deals for the next night, which sometimes implies big discounts.

Booking transport services

Already most of the world’s air carriers offer the possibility of booking tickets using mobile devices. With the help of applications, you can’t only choose and pay for the best travel option by any type of transport, but also choose a convenient seat, receive a notification about changes in the schedule, and submit your boarding pass electronically for control. In order to simplify your search, some applications also provide the ability to select your preferred airline and base airport.

This also applies to car rental services. Modern applications allow you to book a car near me, as well as anywhere in the world. All you need to do is install the appropriate software on your smartphone.

Travel planners

You probably wouldn’t want to find yourself in a situation when you went to the counter to pick up a rental car, but forgot your driver’s license at home. So, mobile applications can greatly facilitate both preparation for the trip and help out in case of loss of documents or other emergency situations. In the first case, the program will control the collection of things for the trip, offering standard lists.

However, you can create your own lists. The TripIt application will help in case of loss of important documents, phone numbers, etc. It helps all the necessary information about the trip, including transportation, accommodation, and entertainment to be structured in the smartphone.