Top 10 best free iPhone and iPod Touch travel apps

The holiday travel season is upon us here in the United States, but thanks to free applications on the iPhone and iPod Touch, that annual nightmare can be made just a tiny bit easier.

Whether you are traveling by car or plane, there is at least one useful app out there for you.  And if you are going to a town you are unfamiliar with?  Boy are you in luck when it comes to get a taxi or even finding a public restroom!  There is something here for just about everybody.

Please note that all of these links go directly to the page in the iTunes store so clicking them will launch iTunes.

AAA Roadside: Now you can use your iPhone to quickly request assistance from AAA without ever having to wait on hold for an operator, not having to dig out your membership info.  All you do is simply enter the nature of your problem, send the request and you will receive a confirmation of receipt and more info on the progress of your request.

Cheap Gas!: Using the GPS in the iPhone, Cheap Gas! lets you know the prices of gas near you, and then lets you automatically map a route to the station of your choice.  It is usable by the iPod Touch also, but it only supports zip code searches.  All gas prices are provided by the Gas Buddy network of sites and includes time stamps to let you know how long ago the gas prices were updated.

Currency: Receive up-to-date currency exchange rates for over 90 global currencies and allows you to do conversions on the fly.  Great if you are travelling abroad over the holidays.

Live Flight Tracker: Powered by FlightAware.com, Live Flight Tracker will allow you to check on the status of any flight and get updates on where the flight is, how much time left until it arrives and more.  Use of the app requires free registration with FlightAware, which can be done in-app if needed.

Restaurant Finder: Find restaurants around you either by style of cuisine or just by looking at what is closest to you geographically.  You can sort the information in various ways, and as an odd bonus, you also get the current weather for your current location during the startup screen.

Sit or Squat: Bathroom Finder: Finding a bathroom when in a strange town can be infuriating, but thanks to this app sponsored by Charmin.  This free application will not only locate bathrooms near you, but you can also see what hours it is open, read & leave ratings on the various restrooms, leave comments and more.

Taxi Magic – Book Instantly: Taxi Magic allows you to book taxis directly from your iPhone in 25 major cities in the USA (and tape to call options for thousands of cities in the USA and Canada), and then you can see your cab’s progress to your current location.  The app also allows you to pay for your fare securely without ever handing over a credit card.

Trapster speed trap alerts: Trapster is a free iPhone app that users the phone’s GPS to track your location and give you warnings as you approach speed cameras, red light cameras, speed cameras and other potential hazards you may not want to run into.  While we are certainly not endorsing that anyone breaks the speed limit, this sure seems useful.

TripCase: TripCase allows you to keep track of your entire itinerary from flights to car rentals, get updates on where you can pick up your luggage, where get your car, alternate flights in case your plans change and a lot more.  You can also import your plans from systems like Travelocity and others.

Wi-Fi Finder: Finding Wi-Fi when you’re away from home can be a pain, but with Wi-Fi Finder you can find both pay and free hotspots near you so you can always stay connected no matter what city you are in.  Currently you can find over 200,000 hotspots in 135 countries all across the world.

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