Avoid Car Rental Hassles On Your Vacation With A Clever Public Transportation App

Wherever you're going, car rental can be stressful. There are a lot of things to consider when choosing a car rental company, like pricing, drop-off points, whether you need insurance, and the simple worry about how to get around. Should you pre-pay for your rental car or is that going to cost you more money? Are you going to be hit by the common car rental travel scam where they claim damages you didn't cause? It's a lot of hassle, and that doesn't even take into consideration whether you'll have to drive on the opposite side of the road where you're going. 

Fortunately, there is an app that can help. Moovit can be used on Android and Apple devices, as well as on your desktop. It tracks public transportation options like buses, trains, rideshares like Uber and Lyft, bicycle services, scooters, carpooling, and more. It covers 3,500 cities in 112 countries and has approximately 1.7 billion users at the time of this writing. 

Moovit works with government and city agencies, as well as companies like Uber, TomTom, and Microsoft to make sure you have every option for public transportation that is available. While you may have to walk a bit to a bus stop or train station (or take a rideshare), you can plan your trip without dealing with an expensive car rental or the hassle of pickup and returning it at the airport. (Is there anything more stressful than returning a car when you're late for a flight?)

The Moovit app is free to use, but there are in-app purchases and features available for a fee. A Moovit+ subscription includes no ads, Safe Ride, so friends or family can track your route, updates on arrival time, live views of your ride, as well as a route comparison feature. There is a 7-day free trial for new users, and it's less than $2.50 a month. Even if you use the free version, there are new features like adding an extra stop to your route if you're trying to plan out your day in advance. You can also see if your line is delayed by traffic with the traffic icon. 

In addition to using information from public transit and their partners, Moovit uses data points from users to keep the information accurate, as well as worldwide local editors. Instead of worrying about driving your rental car through narrow streets in a hill town in Italy, you can peacefully sit on a train or bus to get to your destination. 

One reviewer on the Apple app store claimed to use it in Rome, Venice, Paris, and Lisbon and said, "It automatically changes your metro city, tells you which bus/train/metro/vaporetto/traghetto to take, gives you time estimates for your whole trip as well as public transport schedules. You can pick your route based on what's available right now, when you want to leave, or when you want to arrive, so it's super handy when you're trying to figure out when to leave your hotel the next morning to get to exhibit 'x' by 8 am ... SO effective and reduced the stress of figuring out cheap transportation. Really, this app is a 100 out of 5 stars, absolutely LOVED it!!!!" 

If car rental is stressing you out, this is a great alternative.