Everything else is slowly going paperless, so why not streamline your holidays too? Before you arrive and can start relaxing, you have the stress of getting there. Nobody wants to lug around a folder full of printouts and travel docs - tickets, boarding passes, passport copies, itineraries. It’s just another thing at risk of being forgotten or left behind. Save yourself the hassle and do it all on your phone.
Most of us don’t go anywhere without our phones, so you might as well keep everything in one digital place and go paperless. It’s better for trees and it’s easier for you. Everyone wins! Here are some top tips for how to nail your paperless getaway.
Tickets and boarding passes
It’s a lot harder to leave paperless tickets at home by mistake. Better yet, adding your flight tickets or boarding passes to your phone is really straightforward. It keeps them just one or two taps away, saving you plenty of hassle when checking in.
Providing you’re using a participating airline, you can save your ticket to Google Pay as soon as you’ve bought the tickets. Then all you need to do is open the Google Pay app, open your wallet and show the barcode or QR code when you travel. If you’re on a Google Pixel phone, you can actually add a boarding pass just by screenshotting it.
Adding tickets to your iPhone or Samsung wallets is equally straightforward. You can either add them directly from the airline’s app or from an email.
Apps for lounge access
Why not treat yourself when you’re travelling? Go ahead, you’ve earned it. Getting into a lounge before your flight is like starting your holidays even earlier. Leave behind the usual chaos, put your feet up in style and travel like a VIP. The tricky part is knowing how to get in.
For Apple users, it’s even easier to access airport lounges. The LoungeBuddy app uses your phone’s location info to display your available lounge options. Some you can pay to enter while others are free when you own a certain credit card.
Airline apps
Having the app for the airline you’re flying with is another way to make sure things go smoothly – as you get all of your important flight information in one place. It beats sifting through a huge folder of travel documents to find out things like check-in and departure times and gate numbers. Apps will also keep you up-to-date about real-time delays, gate changes and more.
If you’re yet to book a trip, airline apps will let you book your flights directly. Even better, they’ll let you filter your searches to find the cheapest flights and help frequent flyers access perks and bonuses too.
Paying with your phone
Going paperless also means leaving the wallet behind. Your bank card is another thing that you can keep stored on your phone, just like your boarding passes. That means having all your cards in one handy wallet.
Just make sure the country you’re visiting supports contactless payments. Most destinations popular with tourists will offer contactless payments, but you should always take a credit card with you in case of emergencies. Also, it’s a good idea to let your bank know that you’re heading overseas – just so you can keep using your card without interruptions.
Navigation
Exploring is one of the best parts of going on holiday but getting lost when you don’t speak the language can be tricky. It’s always a good idea to have some help with navigation. This list of free navigation apps should come in handy for any trip you’ve got planned.
Whether you’re trekking on-foot or renting a car and hitting the road, Google Maps or Waze will keep you on the right track. They’ll give you directions wherever you are in the world. If you’re going somewhere without mobile data, you can even download the maps ahead of time and access them offline.
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The closing date for entries is 23.59 (BST) on 18th August 2023.
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