6 must-have apps for spring break
Mint, a free app, can help you keep track of your budget on spring break.
For a break that’s supposed to be carefree, spring break has a way of piling up vacation-distracting details. Pricing out the best deals and coordinating group members all mean less time to enjoy the final break before the end of the semester. Updating your travel apps can mean the difference between a headache of a trip and an unforgettable one.
• Mint
Mint’s free app gives users brief summaries of their bank accounts and breaks down where their money goes, including rent, gas, groceries and bar tabs. The app tracks purchases instantaneously, making it easy to stay on budget and identify any fraudulent charges while you’re away.
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• TripIt
Few things are more annoying than fumbling through stacks of papers at check-in, so compile everything in one master itinerary through TripIt. For every confirmation email your hotel or airline sends you, simply forward it to plans@TripIt.com and bam -- no printed papers to look after.
• Packing Pro
When your mind is already thousands of miles away, it can be easy to forget things like a cellphone charger. Packing Pro ($2.99) does all the thinking for you with personalized packing lists and pre-departure to-do lists (so you don’t forget to take out the trash).
• Find My Friends
Keeping track of a group of friends can be tough when visiting a new destination. Whether you’re skiing down the slopes or splitting up for a Caribbean excursion, make meet-ups a snap with pinpoint views of your friends’ locations and arrival confirmations. Users can set their privacy preferences on who, when and how long their friends can track their location.
• AroundMe
The nearest brunch spot, parking lot or ATM is never far away with the help of this app. AroundMe quickly helps users find the nearest location of what they are looking for in more than 19,000 cities worldwide. The app is supported by data providers Foursquare and OpenTable to provide reservation capabilities and Web-based navigation. Users can pull up data in three different formats: a list, a map view and a live view.
• Find My Phone
Of course, none of these apps are much use without a phone. Misplaced phones can be a hassle and no one wants to spend a day retracing steps. Apps like Find My Phone use GPS technology to track down cellphones to the nearest mile, helping to reunite users with their phones and get on with vacation. The app also shows nearby safety points -- hospitals, police and fire stations -- as well as recent crimes or threats, and has a one-button panic alert to notify friends or family of any trouble.
Caitlyn Finnegan is a Spring 2013 Paste BN Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.
This story originally appeared on the Paste BN College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.