The great thing about travel in the digital age is that almost everything you need – besides clothes, your passport and your toothbrush – can go right on your phone. Plane tickets, train tickets, itineraries, hotel reservations, translators, guidebooks, emergency information… it’s all right there.

The downside? Your phone may be as overstuffed as your suitcase. If you find yourself downloading a dozen apps before a trip, it may be time to simplify. The Allyz® TravelSmart app does much more than let you access your travel insurance. It’s one of the best international travel apps  — and it’s free! Here’s how it stacks up to some of the top travel apps.

>Traveling soon? Don’t wait — protect your trip with travel insurance.

What’s the Best Flight Tracker App?

Keeping tabs on your flight is essential when you’re traveling, so you’re not caught unawares by delays and last-minute cancellations. But unless you’re loyal to a single carrier, you don’t want to clutter your phone with several airline apps. One of the best flight tracker apps is FlightAware, a free app with real-time status updates for any commercial flight around the world. Its notifications are super-speedy: “Sometimes, we've gotten FlightAware notices faster than from the airline itself,” says Conde Nast Traveller.¹

One downside to FlightAware: it costs 99 cents per month ($5.99 per year) to remove ads. The Allyz TravelSmart App can monitor your flight status and send you updates on your flight - at no cost to you.

What’s the Best Trip Planning App?

TripIt is a favorite of highly organized travelers. This free travel app gives you simple, rapid access to almost all of your travel information in one place: flights, train tickets, cruise ship fares, hotel and Airbnb reservations, rental car reservations and more. Just forward any travel confirmation email to plans@tripit.com to have the info added to your itinerary. TripIt Pro ($48.99 per year) gives you more nifty features, like flight tracking, a preview of security lines, and even estimated travel time to the airport.

TripIt has a few limitations, however. It doesn’t support every vendor (like smaller hotels, for example) and it can’t add travel insurance information to your trip plan.² For that, you need Allyz TravelSmart. The Allyz TravelSmart app gives you one-tap mobile access to your travel insurance plan, including coverage details, dates and documents. You can even file a claim on the go.

While Allyz TravelSmart doesn’t store your other travel details (besides your next flight), it does have a powerful feature that even the best trip-planning apps lack: concierge service for customers of Allianz Global Assistance.

Call 24-Hour Hotline Assistance from the app, and our multilingual travel experts can help you with almost any request you can think of: dining reservations, special concert tickets, pet boarding, trip logistics, finding a hotel that fits your needs, etc. Better than any travel app or online search, the concierge benefit is a personalized service offered at no additional charge. (You will have to pay the costs for things like ticket fees or deposits for reservations.)

What’s the Best International Travel App?

When you’re heading overseas, must-have apps include:

• Google Translate, an incredibly powerful service that can translate written text and speech
• Zomato, which has extensive restaurant listings and reviews
• WhatsApp for calls and messages
• Citymapper, which helps you navigate public transportation

However, many travelers forget to add apps that provide a crucial service: safety and security overseas. Smart Traveler is the official travel app of the U.S. Department of State. Through the app, you can enroll in STEP, the State Department’s program that notifies travelers of emergencies and possible dangers in other countries. STEP can also help your family and friends in the U.S. reach you in an emergency when you’re traveling.

We recommend all international travelers enroll in STEP. The U.S. Embassy can help in many situations, although you shouldn’t rely on the government to keep you safe during an overseas emergency.

To fully protect yourself on an international trip, you need travel insurance and the Allyz TravelSmart app. The app gives you:

• Location-specific alerts about developing events that may disrupt your travels
• Immediate access to local police, fire, and ambulance numbers in the country you’re visiting
• A map of pre-screened hospitals nearby, as well as doctors, pharmacies, police stations and U.S. embassies. (Location services must be enabled on your device in order to use the Around Me feature.)
• Quick translations of first-aid and medical terms in several languages
• One-tap access to 24-Hour Hotline Assistance, so you can call for help in case of a medical emergency, a natural disaster, lost documents, a car accident, a robbery or assault, or any other crisis you experience on your trip.

Traveling soon? Download the free Allyz TravelSmart app before you go. And don’t forget your travel insurance!

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