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Knowing so many travel apps depend on wifi, today's Travel App Tuesday series involves human interaction and wifi hints versus dependence on an app.
Half the travel apps I have work in offline mode, and the rest require wifi to render fresh material. When outside of Canada, my iPhone's data won't work without wifi, which is one of the MANY reasons I appreciated my trip to Eastern Canada and the Maritimes last summer. I was able to get data from my carrier anywhere, any time. However, aside from local trips, I usually travel abroad so finding wifi is a massive consideration in how I travel as well as the hotel I choose.
Tips for Finding Wifi Abroad 1. Use a Human "Finder" Ask your hotel's concierge, front desk or housekeeper where to find wifi in the area. In Sydney, I had to initially rely on the hotel's concierge to find wifi given it was $30 a day at the hotel.
2. Buy a Starbucks Coffee In Canada, the US and UK, you can get free wifi at Starbucks. I can remember a surf trip to Oregon a few years ago where I became intimate with the Starbucks near my yurt because I had a ton of work to wrap-up over the long weekend...
3. McWifi Unless you count my copious consumption of McDonald's soft serve ice cream {and only McDonald's ice cream} while in Tianjin, China in 2001, I'm not a huge fan of McDonalds, until I discovered their newest McFeature, free wifi available in most major worldwide markets. Here are the McDonald's locations with confirmed free wifi: Canada, USA, Australia, UK, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, etc... Please let me know if other countries should be included in this list.
4. Is Wifi a Loyalty Program Away? One of the many reasons I love Fairmont Hotels is their complimentary wifi, but it is only free if you're a member of their loyalty program {also free to join}. It amazes me how many people pay between $15 and $30 a day for something they could have free, but how would you know unless you asked or googled it pre-trip?
5. An App for That If all else fails, which I know sounds ironic given this is a weekly app series, use a free wifi finder app when you're out and about to try and find wifi via the app's GPS and downloaded database of wifi locations.
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Other Travel Apps Every Tuesday we feature a new travel app. Don’t forget to peruse the other 70+ travel apps we’ve reviewed from travel first aid, to luxury and boutique hotel finders, to border waits and trip itinerary management. Here are the most recent: