Travel Apps for Students

Many college students are heading home soon for Thanksgiving – the first real visit since school started.

Whether you are leaving this weekend or mid-week, we want you to be prepared for the holiday traffic. Here are some smartphone apps to make your travel go a little more smoothly.

Free Wi-Fi Finder. As a student who is traveling, you probably need to know where you can find free wi-fi for your phone, iPad or laptop. The Wi-Fi finder app contains a database of around 110,000 free hot spots in more than 100 countries.

Flight Status. Whether you are flying home for the holidays or if you just happen to fly frequently, Flight Status is a good app to have on hand. It will give you the status of thousands of flights, the arrival gate and baggage carousels. It will also give you real-time updates on your flight, including delays and expected arrival times.

TripIt. TripIt is the perfect app if you have a lot of details involved with your trip. The app organizes all of your travel plans into an itinerary so that you have them all in one place. It takes information – such as confirmation emails – and makes it available to you easily when and where you need it.

Sit or Squat. Sit or Squat is the ultimate restroom finder. If you are taking a road trip, it might really benefit you to have an app that can show you nearby restrooms on a map, all sorted by distance. If finding a clean bathroom is your biggest concern, Sit or Squat has you covered. You can read reviews and ratings. Plus, see pictures of the bathroom’s condition in advance!

Gas Buddy. This is another essential app for students traveling home by car. Gas Buddy will find you the gas stations with the cheapest gas. With one click, you can receive a listing of local gas stations and all of their prices so you can find the least expensive one. On top of that, if you report a current gas price to the app, you will be entered into a weekly contest for a $250 gas gift card.

Waze. Waze is a free traffic and navigation app. What sets it apart from others, however, is that users can also become part of the local driving community in their area in order to outsmart traffic, save time and help improve other users’  commutes.

Read more tips on traveling home from college.

What’s your favorite travel app? What tips do you have for stress-free travel?