Thinking of travelling again? Avail yourself of these nifty innovations to help make your trip smoother and hassle-free.

After nearly three years of COVID-19 restrictions and fears of catching the disease, people are starting to hit the road. If you’re planning a trip any time soon, consider taking up the following suggestions to save yourself time, money and exasperation.
KEEP TRACK OF LUGGAGE
With the spike in the incidences of lost luggage at airports, it would be wise to slip a wireless tracker, such as Tile or AirTag, into your luggage. These let you monitor your luggage’s whereabouts via a phone app. Tile works with both iPhones and Android mobile phones, using Bluetooth technology to find items; AirTag works on iPhones using an ultrawideband chip. In the event that a bag or suitcase is lost, open the app, select an item, and tap the ‘Find’ button to pull up the tracker’s approximate location on a map. The app will look for the tracker and send a signal to connect. Even if you don’t lose your luggage, having a tracker will give you peace of mind.

STORE DOCUMENTS ON YOUR PHONE
Another safety measure you can take is to digitally scan your documents — passport, driver’s licence, insurance information, vaccination certificates, and road assistance cards — and keep these images on your smartphone. This will come in useful in case any or all of these are lost or stolen. You may have to scan the backs of these official papers as well. On a related note, you may wish to consider adding your credit cards to your Apple Pay or Google Pay wallet. Make sure your smartphone is locked with a password or PIN, and keep an extra copy of your scanned documents on a password-protected cloud account so that — if your smartphone becomes lost, stolen or damaged — you can access them on another device.

SAY “YES” TO TRAVEL APPS
Studies show more than 60% of mobile users make use of travel apps regularly to plan trips. Thanks to these apps, travellers can now easily arrange their own trips and won’t need to rely on travel agents to arrange trips for them.

Now, all it takes is a few clicks to get your flight booked. Among the tourist-friendly apps, you have ones that:

• check and book flight tickets
• arrange accommodations and organise trips
• plan activities, such as sightseeing tours
• locate nearby hospitals, restaurants, banks and more

Mobile Travel apps have also made it easier to save copies of essential documents related to travelling in your mobile phone. There are also hotel apps you can download to manage your reservations. Some of the major travel apps even let users check in via the app so that their rooms will be ready the moment they arrive at the airport.