Travel + Leisure India & South Asia — May 2017

TRAVEL + L E I S U R E / M AY 2 0 1 7 67

21 AUTOSLASH

With rates for car

rentals fluctuating

every day, it’s not

easy to know if you

got the cheapest

price. AutoSlash asks

you to input your car

reservation details

into its mobile site—

an app is in the works

for later this year—

then tracks the rates

for your dates and

scouts competitor

pricing, including

coupons and

discount codes.

If a lower price for

the same rental

becomes available,

you’ll be notified

by e-mail and can

rebook your

reservation.

autoslash.com

22 MAVEN

The new car sharing

app from General

Motors is taking on

Zipcar as the most

affordable short-

term-rental service

on the market,

starting at US$8

per hour for most

vehicles and US$14

per hour for SUVs.

The fleet features

many Chevrolet

brands, including

the eco-friendly Volt.

Every Maven vehicle

is equipped with

24/7 OnStar

assistance, remote

start, Sirius XM radio,

and Apple CarPlay/

Android Auto. It’s

currently available

in 10 cities in the US,

with more coming.

DRIVING

23 RIDEWAYS

Instead of taking

your chances with

an Uber after your

flight lands, use

Priceline-owned

Rideways to book

reliable airport

transfers, taxi rides,

trains, and buses

in more than 500

cities worldwide.

Just enter your

trip details and

the type of

transportation

you want, and

the app presents

you with several

options; on a recent

trip to Paris, we

had the choice of

taking two different

buses to our hotel

for US$5.30 each

or splurging on a

US$160 transfer

in a chauffeured

Mercedes-Benz.

24 TURO

Formerly known

as RelayRides,

the peer-to-peer

app that lets you

rent cars directly

from their owners

has received a big

upgrade. Available

to users in the US

and Canada, Turo

allows you to

search for exactly

the type of vehicle

you want—often

at prices lower than

what the big rental

agencies charge.

We found a 2014

SUV for US$40 per

day, while rates on

Kayak were US$140

per day from Hertz

and Avis. The

company recently

expanded into

Europe.

25 WINGZ

Prebook affordable

airport and other

point-to-point

transportation in a

dozen metro areas

across the United

States. There are no

surprises: travellers

know in advance the

total cost and who

their driver will be—

and can even

request their

favourite driver

on future trips.

Reliability and

safety is a company

hallmark: all

drivers have

had their DMV

records checked.

18 BINAURAL

Alleviate jet lag

and reset your

sleep clock with

the help of binaural

beats—repetitive

sounds that

cultures around the

world have relied

on for centuries

to create relaxed

states of mind.

Besides helping you

sleep, the beats can

HEALTH &

SAFETY

tells you the level

of security in the

area via GPS. In

some destinations,

such as New York

City and Los

Angeles, there’s

a feature for the

fastest route to

the nearest police

station and the

option to call local

authorities with

one tap.

improve focus and

attention, foster

learning, and

reduce anxiety,

according to

the app’s creators.

19 GEOSURE

This location-

sensitive personal-

security app will

provide a safety

score reflecting

health risks,

political uprisings,

and environmental

threats, and gives

crowd-sourced

information about

thefts and assaults

that have occured

in the area.

20 MY PANDA

Founded in

response to the

2015 Paris terror

attacks, My Panda

SMART

MONEY

26 AIRHELP

Get paid for your

cancelled, delayed,

or overbooked

flights. AirHelp

goes to bat trying

to help get

disrupted travellers

money for their

woes: the average

reimbursement is

more than US$500

per claim, and the

company takes

a 25 per cent cut.

27 AIRMULE

Do you have extra

space in your

luggage? Consider

subsidising your

trip by selling it to

a stranger looking

to ship something.

The app verifies the

cargo and sender—

and guarantees

that you won’t be

transporting

anything illegal.

28 PLANCHAT

Great for group

travel, PlanChat

lets connected

travellers construct

their own itineraries.

Add restaurants,

activities, and

sightseeing ideas,

plus keep track of

expenses. You can

also use it to share

photos and videos

with the group.

GAME

29 GEOGUESSR

This game for travel

buffs will virtually

drop you into a

surprise location

and then provide

street-view photos

to give you a clue

about where you

are. Play by

yourself, or

challenge friends.

The app is free to

download, but

has optional in-app

purchases.

30 500PX

Looking for

inspiration or ideas

to spark your

wanderlust? With

better content than

Instagram, this

photo-sharing

community

showcases some

of the world’s

best photography.

Each image comes

with technical

information, such as

the type of camera

used, shutter

speed, and ISO.

PHOTOS

T + L T I P

Unsecured Wi-Fi

networks can put your

phone or laptop at risk.

Sign up for NordVPN

(from US$5.75 per

month) for your own

virtual private network.

TRAVEL + LEISURE / MAY 2017 69