For flying: FlightAware, SeatGuru, MyTSA

For getting around: Citymapper (great for public transportation)

I love FlightAware, especially when watching other people's flight. My cousin was flying from Philly to Amsterdam recently and I saw exactly when her flight landed. I find it kinda fun.

Oh yeah, I overlooked Gmail. I love how it syncs everything. And yes, I have Global Entry/TSA precheck. I too love walking by the long immigration lines to the kiosk. I have 4 years left on my 10-year Chinese visa. I'll probably never go back to China but can if I want. I've been all over China - about 33 trips there. Not much left to see there that I haven't seen already.

Whatever local transportation apps are appropriate for that location and my plans (subway, train, bus, etc) - often there are English versions. Also the app for my hotel and airline, of course.

Then, there's Google Translate, Google Maps, TimeTape (excellent to visualize time zone changes), XE.com (currency conversion), and Sunrise Sunset Times. And TripAdvisor.

You could get the DB ("DeutscheBahn) app for much of the public transportation. There's also the BVG Fahrinfo app.

If you don't speak German, Google Translate has a camera function where you can point the phone camera at an info sign, restaurant menu, etc. and get a real time translation.

Given all your travels, you may be familiar with TripIt, one I've found useful for organizing an intinerary down to very fine detail, day by day with notes, and sharing with others, both fellow travelers, and with those staying home who might need access to trip details. You simply forward all your confirmations to your TripIt account and the itinerary is built and maintained for you, several trips simultaneously if needed.

You may already know that recent phones have capacity for two SIM cards simultaneously, one as a E-card that usually comes pre-installed, and an addititonal physical SIM card. It gives you the ability to have two phone numbers and two phone plans at the same time. I found it useful in a recent trip to Germany, when I purchased a one-month phone plan on a SIM card, got a German phone number, and abiltiy to text without using the Verizon plan that is far more expensive. Perhaps you also know (so I'm just including for other readers) that due to former European terrorists using temp SIM cards, you must now provide a photo ID to buy a temp card, so that they can be tracked/traced if the temp card number is used planning violence.

Note: I don't know which airport you're flying into (likely Frankfurt if Lufthansa), but in case you're going into Berlin Brandenburg BER, don't buy a SIM card at that airport, they only offer one carrier that's not the best re coverage. In that case, wait until you can get to a local store with better choices.

No need for the TSA app, the PRE lines are usually quite speedy.

They are indeed, but in the benighted Philadelphia airport there is no dedicated TSAPre line in one of the main terminals. If the regular lines are short that day, then no problem (and you do get a card to show the agent, so you don't have to take off your shoes, take your liquids out, etc.) But if they're long, we then know to go to one of the other terminals, go through the Precheck line there and then make our way to the gate.

Rick Steves has some good walking tours you can download. And if you're traveling with anyone with whom you'll be splitting expenses, as our extended family occasionally does, Splitwise is super helpful.

I love Rick Steves! His office/store in Edmonds is open every Saturday and I was just there this past Saturday.

Splitwise sounds super useful.

Rome2Rio is good for finding travel options between any two places.

Email is a perfectly good way to communicate but for those who like text messages, WhatsApp is free - the message goes over a data connection (whether it be wifi or a mobile signal), not as an SMS telcom line message. You can also use it to make free to anywhere WhatsApp "phone calls" to someone who also has downloaded WhatsApp.

Same is true for iMessage from iphone to iphone, or Skype.

Yes, I forgot WhatsApp - - which is the dominant messaging app in most of the world. I never use it here, but I have it on my phone to use when I or friends are travelling.

I don't know about Germany, but I used Travelocity to get info about Fiji before I went there, and that was the best site for that location.

I have not found any sites that I liked for Europe, and I especially do not like Rick Steves - he mispronounces almost all foreign words in his shows, and that really turns me off. I'm fluent in German and Italian (plus Spanish), and so I do not need his help there.

I do want my next trip to include Germany and/or Greece, but I have not researched it myself yet. I plan to brush up on the Greek alphabet before I go, but I only know a couple of words in Greek.

WhatsApp used to use the same terms of service and privacy policies as FaceBook (it's a FaceBook/Meta Company), but there was a public reaction and they may have changed in the past year or so.

Most of the people I know in Europe have switched over to the Signal app becasue it's fully encrypted end-to-end with better privacy protections. Signal provides texting, voice calling, and video calling with the same ease as WhatsApp.

I would not rely on Rome2Rio it produces some really bizarre routes and misses obvious ones. Friends and family all use WhatsApp. You can wait days for a reply to an email.