How do you decide where to travel? Where do you research destinations? How do you find good deals on flights and accommodations? How do you find your way around a place once you arrive? The best travel apps answer all these questions.
From the time you start thinking about your next destination to the moment your feet hit the welcome mat back home, having the right Android and iPhone apps on hand can make the whole experience smoother and less stressful.
How Can Apps Make Your Trips Better?
Pack light, set a budget, make an itinerary, and make backup plans. What else is there to say about travel? Plenty. Some of the best travel apps inform you about your destination, with advice, insights, tips, and warnings for how to spend your time. Apps for driving and road trips let you know what to expect along your route, where to buy gas, and which exit to take to find a reliable ATM. Other apps keep your itinerary organized, alert you when you can get a deal on flights, or give you a way to explore your options for where to go next.
What's Not Here?
We didn't see the need to include all the big-name search aggregator sites such as Expedia, Hotwire, Orbitz, and Priceline, seeing as most people are already familiar with them. They help you search for and book (usually by prepaying) flights, hotels, car rentals, and sometimes packaged vacations and cruises. The same goes for hotel search aggregators, like Booking.com, Hotels.com, and Trivago. I've only included here the ones that serve a specific niche or those that are excellent but not well known.
Listed in alphabetical order, here are the best travel apps to keep on hand.
Airbnb
Airbnb started by connecting travelers with people who have rooms, apartments, homes, and other accommodations to rent. The site now offers much more for travelers, including tours, classes, workshops, and restaurant reservations. Whether you use Airbnb to find a place to sleep or for inspiration about what to do on your next trip, you're guaranteed to see big, beautiful photographs of it all.
AllTrails
AllTrails is a mobile app and website that helps you get outdoors. It has lists of trails for hiking and walking around the world with pictures, maps, and directions to trailheads. You can download trail maps offline if you sign up for the Pro version of the service for $29.99 per year. It's a great resource for quickly finding the best places to be outside when you're in an unfamiliar area.
Culture Trip
A friend of who's an avid traveler recently tipped me off to Culture Trip. It's a cross between a travel magazine and an SEO-driven website that runs articles with headlines that start The Top 10… or The Best Places to… The content is supposedly written by locals, and the real hook is that the Culture Trip app lets you save articles to Wishlists that you create. Make a Wishlist for each destination you want to visit or some theme that drives your travel (Snorkeling Spots, perhaps), and you can save Culture Trip articles there for your reference.
GasBuddy
On driving road trips, you'll be happy to have GasBuddy at hand. It helps you find gas by location and price either in real time on your phone or via its website, if you like to plan ahead. If you can save a couple of bucks by cruising a little farther down the road, GasBuddy will let you know. It's available in the US, Canada, and Australia.
Google Flights
Never turn down a second opinion. Despite all the excellent travel search sites available these days, Google Flights is one to add to your list. Use it when you need a quick check on airfare for round-trip, one-way, or multicity flights. It also lets you explore destinations based on price and dates.
LoungeBuddy
There's no need to be jealous of frequent travelers who have airport lounge access through their membership status or a high-flying credit card. With the LoungeBuddy app, you can find lounges in airports that let anyone in for a fee. LoungeBuddy tells you not only the fee, but also what you can expect inside, from the food and drink to whether there are showers. And if you happen to have lounge membership through other means, the app can often tell you that, too.
Roomer Travel
What should you do when you've prepaid for a hotel and your trip suddenly gets canceled? Download Roomer or go to roomertravel.com/sell. This app and website helps people sell prepaid reservations to others who can use them, usually at a lower cost. It can help you recoup money that might otherwise be lost to the travel gods. It can also save you money if you buy a reservation from someone who can't use it at a discounted rate.
TripAdvisor
Sometimes people have to go to unexpected places that they didn't choose, like for a wedding or a business trip. When I don't know anything about my destination, I turn to TripAdvisor. It's one of the most comprehensive online sources for travelers, with background information about different cities and regions, plus highlights of what to see and do. It has reviews of hotels, restaurants, and activities, written by members of the TripAdvisor community, as well as photos from their travels so you know what to expect before you arrive. TripAdvisor has relationships with various booking sites, too, which means once you finish researching hotels or restaurants, you can easily reserve them.
TripCase
TripCase is a free app that helps you organize your trip by making an itinerary for you. The itinerary can include flights, accommodations, rental cars, restaurant reservations, and more. To make an itinerary, you forward travel confirmation emails to TripCase, and the app does the rest. The next time you launch the app or log into the website, a complete chronological lineup of your trip is waiting for you. You can manually add details, too. The result is similar to what you get from TripIt (see below), but the method of collecting the information is different.
TripIt
TripIt is similar to TripCase in creating an organized itinerary for you, but TripIt builds your travel plans by sniffing out confirmation emails in your inbox and pulling out the most important information. If you don't want to give TripIt access to your email, you can use the app by forwarding emails to it instead or manually entering details, but that's not the point of the app. If you are disorganized and haphazard with your travel details, TripIt might do you a lot of good.
Uber
Uber operates around the world, and while the in-app options vary from place to place, the general concept is the same everywhere. There are a few reasons that ride-on-demand apps work so well for travelers. First, it eliminates the need to carry local currency. Second, you don't have to speak the same language as your driver to get to where you need to go. Third, there's no haggling. If you don't want to give Uber your business for one reason or another, do a little research on what other riding hailing apps operate in your destination
From the time you start thinking about your next destination to the moment your feet hit the welcome mat back home, having the right Android and iPhone apps on hand can make the whole experience smoother and less stressful.
How Can Apps Make Your Trips Better?
Pack light, set a budget, make an itinerary, and make backup plans. What else is there to say about travel? Plenty. Some of the best travel apps inform you about your destination, with advice, insights, tips, and warnings for how to spend your time. Apps for driving and road trips let you know what to expect along your route, where to buy gas, and which exit to take to find a reliable ATM. Other apps keep your itinerary organized, alert you when you can get a deal on flights, or give you a way to explore your options for where to go next.
What's Not Here?
We didn't see the need to include all the big-name search aggregator sites such as Expedia, Hotwire, Orbitz, and Priceline, seeing as most people are already familiar with them. They help you search for and book (usually by prepaying) flights, hotels, car rentals, and sometimes packaged vacations and cruises. The same goes for hotel search aggregators, like Booking.com, Hotels.com, and Trivago. I've only included here the ones that serve a specific niche or those that are excellent but not well known.
Listed in alphabetical order, here are the best travel apps to keep on hand.
Airbnb
Airbnb started by connecting travelers with people who have rooms, apartments, homes, and other accommodations to rent. The site now offers much more for travelers, including tours, classes, workshops, and restaurant reservations. Whether you use Airbnb to find a place to sleep or for inspiration about what to do on your next trip, you're guaranteed to see big, beautiful photographs of it all.
AllTrails
AllTrails is a mobile app and website that helps you get outdoors. It has lists of trails for hiking and walking around the world with pictures, maps, and directions to trailheads. You can download trail maps offline if you sign up for the Pro version of the service for $29.99 per year. It's a great resource for quickly finding the best places to be outside when you're in an unfamiliar area.
Culture Trip
A friend of who's an avid traveler recently tipped me off to Culture Trip. It's a cross between a travel magazine and an SEO-driven website that runs articles with headlines that start The Top 10… or The Best Places to… The content is supposedly written by locals, and the real hook is that the Culture Trip app lets you save articles to Wishlists that you create. Make a Wishlist for each destination you want to visit or some theme that drives your travel (Snorkeling Spots, perhaps), and you can save Culture Trip articles there for your reference.
GasBuddy
On driving road trips, you'll be happy to have GasBuddy at hand. It helps you find gas by location and price either in real time on your phone or via its website, if you like to plan ahead. If you can save a couple of bucks by cruising a little farther down the road, GasBuddy will let you know. It's available in the US, Canada, and Australia.
Google Flights
Never turn down a second opinion. Despite all the excellent travel search sites available these days, Google Flights is one to add to your list. Use it when you need a quick check on airfare for round-trip, one-way, or multicity flights. It also lets you explore destinations based on price and dates.
Google Maps
My number one go-to travel app is Google Maps. I use it to explore destinations before I arrive and make a note of places that look interesting by adding a star or flagging them on the map. As my travel plans shape up, I use the map to put together a plan for the day by visiting places that are grouped together. You can also save your maps offline so that you won't get lost even if you don't have data on your phone.
Hopper
The mobile-only app Hopper tracks flight prices and gives you periodic updates on whether you should buy now or wait. What makes this travel app valuable is its level of detail. It doesn't just tell you to wait to buy your ticket, but gives you a date when the price will likely rise. You can book through Hopper, too, with a commission fee of a few dollars.
Hotel Tonight
Some people, myself included, panic at the notion of having to book a hotel room at the last minute. For travelers ready to fly by the seat of their pants, there's Hotel Tonight. This travel app specializing in selling off same-day hotel reservations, often at steep discounts. It has options to book in advance, too, but the best deals are same-day bookings.
My number one go-to travel app is Google Maps. I use it to explore destinations before I arrive and make a note of places that look interesting by adding a star or flagging them on the map. As my travel plans shape up, I use the map to put together a plan for the day by visiting places that are grouped together. You can also save your maps offline so that you won't get lost even if you don't have data on your phone.
Hopper
The mobile-only app Hopper tracks flight prices and gives you periodic updates on whether you should buy now or wait. What makes this travel app valuable is its level of detail. It doesn't just tell you to wait to buy your ticket, but gives you a date when the price will likely rise. You can book through Hopper, too, with a commission fee of a few dollars.
Hotel Tonight
Some people, myself included, panic at the notion of having to book a hotel room at the last minute. For travelers ready to fly by the seat of their pants, there's Hotel Tonight. This travel app specializing in selling off same-day hotel reservations, often at steep discounts. It has options to book in advance, too, but the best deals are same-day bookings.
LoungeBuddy
There's no need to be jealous of frequent travelers who have airport lounge access through their membership status or a high-flying credit card. With the LoungeBuddy app, you can find lounges in airports that let anyone in for a fee. LoungeBuddy tells you not only the fee, but also what you can expect inside, from the food and drink to whether there are showers. And if you happen to have lounge membership through other means, the app can often tell you that, too.
Roomer Travel
What should you do when you've prepaid for a hotel and your trip suddenly gets canceled? Download Roomer or go to roomertravel.com/sell. This app and website helps people sell prepaid reservations to others who can use them, usually at a lower cost. It can help you recoup money that might otherwise be lost to the travel gods. It can also save you money if you buy a reservation from someone who can't use it at a discounted rate.
TripAdvisor
Sometimes people have to go to unexpected places that they didn't choose, like for a wedding or a business trip. When I don't know anything about my destination, I turn to TripAdvisor. It's one of the most comprehensive online sources for travelers, with background information about different cities and regions, plus highlights of what to see and do. It has reviews of hotels, restaurants, and activities, written by members of the TripAdvisor community, as well as photos from their travels so you know what to expect before you arrive. TripAdvisor has relationships with various booking sites, too, which means once you finish researching hotels or restaurants, you can easily reserve them.
TripCase
TripCase is a free app that helps you organize your trip by making an itinerary for you. The itinerary can include flights, accommodations, rental cars, restaurant reservations, and more. To make an itinerary, you forward travel confirmation emails to TripCase, and the app does the rest. The next time you launch the app or log into the website, a complete chronological lineup of your trip is waiting for you. You can manually add details, too. The result is similar to what you get from TripIt (see below), but the method of collecting the information is different.
TripIt
TripIt is similar to TripCase in creating an organized itinerary for you, but TripIt builds your travel plans by sniffing out confirmation emails in your inbox and pulling out the most important information. If you don't want to give TripIt access to your email, you can use the app by forwarding emails to it instead or manually entering details, but that's not the point of the app. If you are disorganized and haphazard with your travel details, TripIt might do you a lot of good.
Uber
Uber operates around the world, and while the in-app options vary from place to place, the general concept is the same everywhere. There are a few reasons that ride-on-demand apps work so well for travelers. First, it eliminates the need to carry local currency. Second, you don't have to speak the same language as your driver to get to where you need to go. Third, there's no haggling. If you don't want to give Uber your business for one reason or another, do a little research on what other riding hailing apps operate in your destination