From a device that turns your bland travel snaps into arty shots, to an extremely last-minute hotel booking program, these applications could guide you towards a more relaxing journey.
I'LL POSTCARD YOU
Postagram
This app lets you send real postcards from your smart phone to your family and friends. You can take a shot with an app, use photos from your photo library or Facebook and then send a physical card.
Free
GET YOUR PAPERWORK ORGANISED
TripIT
The TripIT app is a place to store all your hotel, flight, rental car and restaurant bookings in one neat, mobile spot. You simply forward your confirmation emails to your TripIT account and it automatically builds an itinerary for your trip.
Free
HOW MUCH IS THAT IN AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS?
XE Currency
A currency converter is one of the handiest items a traveller can have on hand. There are plenty to download, including the clean and simple to use XE Currency.
Free
DOES MY HOTEL COME WITH BEDBUGS?
TripAdvisor
This popular travel website and app compiles millions of holidaymakers' opinions and star ratings. It's well worth checking the reviews of your potential home away from home before you make a booking.
Free
PARLEZ VOUS ANGLAIS?
Google Translate
This app translates words and phrases between more than 60 languages. For most of the languages you can speak your phrase into your phone and hear the corresponding translation.
Free
OUCH MY FLIGHT IS DELAYED
FlightBoard
This app lets you view the arrivals and departures board for any airport in the world. It covers over 16,000 airports and 1400 airlines worldwide and is updated every five minutes.
$4.49
A NEED FOR THE SEA
iCruise
This cruise app provides detailed information on 20 different cruise lines and 220 ships. It contains information on deck plans, rooms, route maps and over 12,000 itineraries.
Free
WHAT'S THAT STATUE?
Wikitude
This app allows you to hold up your phone's camera at a tourist location and then provides descriptive content. If you're not sure what that giant tower in Paris is, Wikitude can help.
Free
MAKE YOUR FRIENDS ENVIOUS
This popular app, recently bought by Facebook, lets you transform your travel pics from average to impressive. It lets users take a photo, apply a filter to it and then share it on social networking platforms, including Instagram's own. You can also convert your photos to a square shape, similar to Kodak's Instamatic and Polaroid images.
Free
VERY LAST MINUTE BOOKINGS
HotelTonight
If you're travelling in the US this app is particularly helpful. You can find last-minute deals that could keep you from sleeping on a park bench should you encounter an unexpected change of travel plans. You can also make same day bookings up until noon and grab some excellent bargains. Supported cities include hundreds throughout the US, plus Toronto, Vancouver and London.
Free