A fear of flying, however severe, can feel debilitating. You want to explore and travel the world with every fibre of your being, but the thought of getting on a plane leaves you reaching for a paper bag.
Luckily, one of the good parts of technology being so prevalent in our lives is that there are apps out there that can ease a nervous flyer’s mind. Whether they’re specifically for those with a flying phobia or they help indirectly, we’ve rounded up seven apps to help you conquer your fear of flying.
7 Apps to Help You Conquer Your Fear of Flying
1. SOAR
This app breaks down the process of travel, from the airport to take off, turbulence, and landing and was created by an airline captain and licensed therapist, so you know it comes from an expert.
Its features include a G-Force meter which proves that there is no threat to the plane in turbulence; a downloadable step-by-step guide through the flight called “Take Me Along”; and information on how aircraft maintenance works.
Download: SOAR for iOS (free) and Android (free).
2. VALK
Created in collaboration with Air France/KLM, Leiden University and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, this app has collected together information and exercises to keep your worries at bay based on scientific data.
With a simple but effective user experience, you can press a panic button to activate an audio message from a therapist to help decrease tension levels and there’s an exercise where you match your breathing to a ball travelling along a wavy line. What’s great about this app is that once downloaded, you don’t need to connect to the internet to use it.
Download: VALK for iOS ($3.99) and Android ($4.79).
3. ANA Takeoff Mode
Whereas the other apps we’ve mentioned so far deal with flight information and lend themselves as your personal therapist, ANA Takeoff Mode serves as a distraction technique.
During your flight, you can use this app to play their immersive games. The app can detect when you take off and responds to the game you’re playing. Through this app and its unique approach to flying, your experience on a plane can become much more enjoyable.
Download: ANA for iOS (free) and Android (free).
4. Turbcast
If you deal with flying by mentally preparing yourself, this is the app for you. With Turbcast, you can look up turbulence forecasts before your flight so you know what you’re in for and aren’t caught off guard.
The app updates in real time, but as always, the sooner you check the status before you fly, the more accurate the reading will be. Most of the time, turbulence is never as bad as anxious flyers expect it to be, so this app helps relieve a lot of the worry.
Download: Turbcast for iOS ($1.99) and sorry Android users, this isn’t available for you (yet).
5. Flyover Country
This app is the genius we didn’t realise we needed in our lives. For those flyers who find that knowledge is power but also appreciate a distraction, Flyover Country uses maps and geological data to let you know what you’re flying over, providing you with information about notable sites and generally the world beneath you.
Download: Flyover Country for iOS (free) and Android (free).
6. Simply Being
Meditation is something everyone should try, but for nervous flyers, it can be particularly helpful during a time of need. There is a multitude of meditation apps out there, but I’ve found Simply Being…well, the best.
Easy to use, you select how long you want to meditate for, the voice volume, the type of sound you want (choose from natural, soothing sounds like ‘Moderate Surf’ or atmospheric music) and its volume, as well as how long you want the sound to continue for.
Download: Simply Being for iOS ($1.99) and Android ($1.99)
7. Spotify
Of course, we had to include Spotify. Whether it’s while you’re working on your computer at work or listening on your phone as you travel, music is often the key to our moods.
So, it makes sense that creating a playlist, or putting one of Spotify’s many curated playlists to use – grouped together by mood, decade, genre or situation (e.g. road trip, dinner, sleep) – is a great way to distract yourself and soothe your mood while flying.
You can download the app for free but it’s well worth paying the $10 monthly membership for Spotify Premium, with which you can download music right to your phone and listen anytime.
Download: Spotify for iOS (free) and Android (free) – but $10 per month for Spotify Premium is the best way to go. Pro tip: register your Spotify Premium account directly from Spotify rather than in an app store to save the most money.
Share your best travel tips to conquer your fear of flying with our community of travellers below!
