When you visit a foreign country, you generally expect to pay in the country’s currency, adapt to the new times, follow the local customs and speak a certain language. But you might not be ready when Uber and Lyft take off.
Devices that are popular in the United States are sometimes not available in other countries, and when they are, they may not offer the best prices or service.
Using a local ride-hailing service, for example, can prevent you from paying double the rate, or failing to find a driver at all, said Cara Laban, 32, who founded TravelReddi, a website that helps users find local services, after her frustration when using Uber in Spain led her to a local destination.
While ride-hailing apps are among the most popular alternatives abroad, travelers can use local apps for navigation assistance, public transportation, restaurant recommendations, and reservations.
It’s best to download and test apps before you go, Laban said. That includes filling out settings such as payment methods, tracking location and display language. You don’t want to be caught breaking your phone on a busy foreign street.
Here are some resources to help you travel like a local:
Get a Ride
Uber is very active in other parts of the world. But across most of Europe, Bolt and Freenow can be good options.
Operating in 30 European countries, Bolt “is usually the fastest, cheapest option”, said Alex Sarellas, 40, who lives in Germany and is the CEO of a GPS tracking company. It is also widely used throughout Africa. Freenow, acquired last year by Lyft, now covers 150 cities in nine European countries.
In Spain, Cabify, based in Madrid, is a popular choice. It also has a strong presence in South America.
If you want a ride in Japan, where ride-hailing platforms face regulatory restrictions, look to Go, which claims an 80% share of the taxi-hailing market there.
Across Southeast Asia, locals use Grab to hail cars, motorbikes and scooters. Unlike many other apps, Grab is billed as a “super app” for other services, including digital payments and food delivery.
“When I lived in Bali for five years, Grab organized my entire daily life – breakfast orders, dinner delivery, grocery shopping, scooter rides to meetings, everything,” said Tom Abraham, 45, a digital entrepreneur who now lives in Spain, in an email.
Other notable regional brands include DiDi, the growing behemoth in China, and Careem in the Middle East.
Find a Place to Eat
Japanese people have long relied on Tabélog, the country’s top restaurant review and reservation service, which launched an English app last year.
“Tabélog is the only way to find 10 people’s hidden gems in Shinjuku,” Suzy Jackson, a health care executive from North Carolina, said in an email. Jackson added that five-star reviews are not available on the platform, where discerning diners reserve scores above 3.5 stars for a “foodie win.”
In Europe, TheFork manages restaurant reviews and reservations. It is also popular in Australia and New Zealand and is making inroads into South America.
Messaging and social media app WeChat, with nearly 1.4 billion users worldwide, offers powerful tools to book and reserve restaurants and manage ordering, payment and delivery in China.
Other regional competitors include South Korea’s CatchTable, India’s Zomato, and Kenya’s EatOut and other parts of East Africa.
In many countries, messaging the restaurant via WhatsApp or Instagram can be more effective than calling to make a reservation.
Find Your Way
Although Google Maps provides adequate navigation in most areas, experienced travelers say that for specific activities and locations, they prefer other map applications.
Dovi Geretz, director of flight ticketing service SlickTrip, loves Citymapper for traveling around Europe.
Geretz, 32, of New Jersey, said in an email that Citymapper combines options for bus, train, bike and walking trips into one clear interface and “provides real-time updates on delays, platform changes and other travel disruptions.”
Japan Travel by Navitime helps navigate Japan’s complex train network, provides up-to-date information in English and offers information on fares and details such as which platform to use.
For traveling in China, many travelers turn to the super app AMap Global, which provides English language support for some indoor locations such as shopping malls and train stations. It also deals with car boarding, hotel and ticket booking, dining and catering.
Moovit, which provides route options for buses, trains, ferries and transit in more than 112 countries, has received praise for its global reach, particularly in small cities and developing countries such as Ghana, Madagascar and Vietnam. The app also offers features for blind and partially sighted users and search filters for wheelchair accessible routes.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
#tools #trip