Carrying on from yesterday, here are a few more apps that are useful when visiting or living in New Zealand. These apps are all free as well.
AirBnB
AirBnB is becoming more and more popular over the years and we use it all the time when traveling in NZ. When you get out of the main cities, accommodation options are fewer and you can often find availability via AirBnB when all of the hotels are booked – especially in the tourist areas during the summer. AirBnB connects people who want to rent out rooms in their houses, stand-alone houses/apartments, etc. with those who are traveling. You pay AirBnB rather than the owner of the accommodation which avoid any awkwardness and quickens check-in and check-out.
I love it because of the diversity. We’ve rented rooms in people’s houses before where it’s like a Bed and Breakfast and we woke up to homemade breakfast and coffee/tea. We’ve also rented rooms in people’s houses where we were two of 5 people in line for the shower in the morning. We’ve rented stand-alone houses, full apartments, and a lot in between. You can specify what you want when booking if you don’t want to share a place with others but if you want to meet the people of NZ then it’s not a bad way to go.
Book a Bach
Unfortunately Book a Bach doesn’t seem to have a phone app but I thought I should mention them anyway since most of today’s apps are about booking accommodation. It is similar to AirBnB in that you are renting mostly privately owned cabins, apartments, etc. The word ‘bach’ is pronounced like the word ‘batch’ and means cabin. Unlike AirBnB, I think Book a Bach is all self-contained so you aren’t sharing with others. Per their website – “Our goal is to provide access to Godzone’s finest baches and holiday homes, apartments and other self-contained private accommodation.”
Expedia.com
I’m biased because I worked for Expedia for almost 5 years but it is a great company and awesome if you’re looking for what I would call ‘normal’ accommodation. If you want standard hotels, flights, rental cars, activities, etc. then it is a great tool to use and their app is free. You will get peace of mind and security and excellent service. Expedia’s hotel review system is fantastic and we look at the reviews before booking any hotel if we’re not quite sure about it.
Booking.com
I used to work for Expedia and they will forever be my favorite travel company. But I’ve found that Booking.com has more options when it comes to bed and breakfast type places, especially if you’re traveling in Europe where these are common. The offering is similar to Expedia when it comes to hotels but all Booking.com offers is accommodation (not air, car, activities, etc.).
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Wendy's Gone Walkabout 