It’s summertime again, and with vacations and travel plans coming up, it’s time to review the top travel tips and apps for your smartphones.

iPhone Tips – If you’re traveling abroad for more than two weeks, consider swapping SIM cards and go native. The rates can be as low as $2 per day for unlimited texts and calls.

Travel Tips – Travel to France, Italy and Spain in September. You’ll miss most of the crowds and the airfare is less expensive.

Always Tip – When in Rome, do as the Romans and tip, but make sure you tip before the meal or tour. Your service will be much better and you’ll probably be treated more like family than tourists.

Traveling Abroad

If you are taking your phone outside of the United States, there are a few precautions you can take to avoid expensive cellular bills that result from international data and voice usage while you are abroad. To avoid these charges, you should setup an international plan to save money or turn off your cellular service completely before leaving home. If you want to go off the grid and not receive any phone calls, you can forward all calls to another cell or landline while you’re gone using the call forwarding feature of your iPhone or other smartphone.

AT&T Int’l Plans

AT&T offers the AT&T Passport plan that covers over 200 countries. For $40/month, you get unlimited texting, calls at $1 per minute and 200 MB of data. $60 buys you unlimited texting, calls at $.50 per minute and 300 MB per month. And for $120 a month you still get unlimited texting, with calls at $.35 per minute and 800 MB of data. Call AT&T at 800-331-0500 for more details.

Verizon Int’l Plans

Verizon offers their TravelPass plan that allows you to take your current domestic talk, text and data allowances with you to more than 100 countries for $10 per day, and you are only charged for the days you use your device abroad. They also offer a $40 per month plan which includes 100 minutes of calls ($1.79 per minute after the first 100 minutes), 100 outgoing texts, unlimited incoming texts and 100 MB of data. Verizon’s customer service number is 800-775-8098.

T-Mobile Int’l Plan

The Simple Choice International plan from T-Mobile has no monthly fee and is included with domestic T-Mobile accounts. It includes unlimited data and texts with calls at $.20 per minute in over 140 countries. Almost seems too good to be true. Call them for details at 877-413-5903.

Unlocked SmartPhones

If your phone is unlocked, it makes sense to purchase a prepaid SIM card when you land at your international destination. Look for kiosks at the airport offering daily or weekly plans that cost a couple of dollars per day. They will register and activate for you on the spot. When I traveled to Australia in 2014, I purchased a prepaid SIM card at the Sydney airport and had unlimited texts and calls with 500 MB of data for only $2 per day. To find out if your phone is unlocked or how to unlock your phone, call your cellular provider before leaving the U.S.

WiFi Only

For those of you who want to take your iPhone for WiFi use only, go to your Settings, turn on AirPlane Mode and turn on WiFi. This will allow you to send and receive emails, make FaceTime video and voice calls and send iMessage texts without any additional charges. If you leave your cellular service on while abroad, you can rack up significant charges for data and calls. If someone calls you and it goes to voicemail, you will still be charged for a one-minute call at the international rate ($.20 –  $2.50 per minute)

Top Travel Apps

Having access to a smartphone on vacation can help you book accommodations, check on flight schedules and make reservations at restaurants and museums. Here’s some of the top apps to make your trip more enjoyable.

airbnb

The simple, easy to use interface of airbnb makes it one of the most popular accommodation apps available. It is an online marketplace that enables people to list, find and rent vacation homes (for a processing fee) at over 1.5 million locations in 34,000 cities and 191 countries worldwide. Other lodging apps include HomeAway, VRBO and TripAdvisor.

FaceTime

Apple’s FaceTime is the simplest, most intuitive video and calling app for the iPhone. Calls connect almost instantaneously and are fluid and smooth on WiFi connections. PC Magazine gave it the Editor’s Choice award for best overall video call experience.

FlightBoard

This app turns your smartphone into the Arrivals and Departurs board for any airport in the world. It lets you view all flight information in near real-time as it is updated every five minutes. It’s beautiful, old school design was inspired by the flight board at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

Free WiFi Finder

This app helps you find free WiFi hotspots in more than 50 countries around the world. Once you download the app, you don’t have to be connected to the Internet to find the nearest hotspot.

Google Flights

This app provides a solid, powerful tool for booking travel. The built-in flexible dates feature finds the best price for flights showing real, current prices by month. It also has a Discover Destinations feature that lets you find destinations based on month and duration. According to CheapAir.com, the sweet spot for finding tickets at their lowest price is about 54 days in advance.

Google Translate

Translates between 52 languages offline and 103 languages when connected to WiFi. It also features visual translation when you use your camera to translate text instantly in 29 languages. In conversation mode, it provides two-way instant speech translation in 32 languages. This is the best and fastest translation app available.

HostelBooker

This independent hostel booking app for backpackers, students and budget travelers has no booking fees at over 3,500 hostels, hotels and B&Bs worldwide. The simple and fast interface is easy to use and accessible in English, German, Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese.

SkyScanner

This global metasearch app finds comparisons for flights, hotels and transportation. In addition to its flight search engine technology, Skyscanner also features regular news items from the travel and flight industry.

Stay.com

Download this smart city travel guide (150 city destinations) while connected to a WiFi hotspot and then use the maps offline without cellular GPS to conserve your data plan. This app includes recommendations for adventurous food, pulsating nightlife, independent shopping and cozy cafés all curated by local travel and food experts.

TripIt

The TripIt travel organizer app connects to your email account and automatically compiles your travel information based on the confirmation emails you receive. It finds the important details for flights, hotels, rental car reservations and restaurant bookings and collates them into a simple, readable itinerary.

Uber

This app allows smartphone users to submit a trip request which is routed to independent Uber drivers in over 60 countries and 450 cities worldwide. With an Uber account, you don’t need local currency. When your ride is over, Uber charges your credit card and you don’t have to tip.

WhatsApp

This free messaging app uses your phone’s internet connection (cellular or WiFi) to text message or call your friends and family. It can also share your location with other WhatsApp users.

XE Currency

This app gives you up to date currency exchange rates. It offers live proprietary currency rates and stores the last updated rates so it can be used offline.

To insure that your iPhone is secure, make sure to passcode protect it and turn on Find My iPhone through the iCloud settings. If it does get lost or stolen, no one will be able to access the contents of your phone, unless they have $1.2 million and friends in the FBI.