Best Travel Apps Ever
There are thousands of travel apps and websites to choose from. How do you know which are worth your time and which are duds? It will be smooth sailing from here on out, once you read my list of the best travel apps ever!
All of the following lists I have personally used and navigated trough. The lists are in random order. I will cover the best apps for flights, hotels, things to do, commuting, and others.
Table of Contents
Flight
To find the right flight feels overwhelming. There are so many questions and worries, like will this flight price skyrocket, or is this the best day of the week to depart? I have found some great travel apps that answer those very questions.
Hopper
Hopper is a great app that I use all the time when booking my upcoming flights. It helps you save money by letting you know when you should book your flight based on algorithms.
You can watch a particular date and it will let you know if you should book it now or wait. It also tells you when the price will start to rise. They will send you push notifications with any changes.
Once you are ready to book your flight you can do it directly from the app. It is simple and fast, there are no surprises like scams, pop-ups or spam. Once all of your information is saved it takes only a few clicks to book. You can also add other passenger’s information to the app for quick booking.
Skyscanner
Skyscanner is a great app for comparing different flights and carriers. It lets you book directly with the airline you choose by directing you to their website. You can also choose multi-cities with just a click. With this app, there are no hidden charges or booking fees.
You can also book your entire trip on one app. They also offer hotels and car rental.
There is also an explore page where you can search for different destinations, types of travel like solo, great deals, a weekend getaway, or specials by the month.
Mobile Passport
Mobile passport is a great app to save time at the airport. It is used for going through US customs. This app can be used by US passport holders and Canadian visitors. This app will help you feel more relaxed and save you loads of time.
Mobile passport has its own dedicated customs line, which allows you to jump to the front of the line. This has saved me over an hour of time just by having it on my phone and ready to go. The best part is it is actually FREE!
There are two versions of mobile passport to choose from. There is the free version that allows you a secure digital submission of passports and customs forms. The downsides with the free version are you will need an internet connection on your phone to submit and you can only submit the forms four hours or less from when you land to your destination. The free version also does not save your data, so you need to type it in and take a picture of your passport every time you use the app.
The paid version saves you time and stress. It allows you greater convenience with the secure storage of your information for each use. It allows you to have multiple people saved from the same family and household traveling together.
Hotel
Finding a good, clean, reasonably priced place to stay while traveling is a difficult task. Luckily there are some good apps out there that help take away the angst and stress of finding a great location to rest your head at night.
Booking (Booking.com)
Booking.com is a one-stop-shop. They offer an entire range of services including flights, hotels, car rental, and taxi. It is a great app that makes it easy for you to keep all of your reservations in one place.
It has a rating score when booking a hotel from 1-10. There are tons of reviews to scan that are from past guests. They will help you gauge if you want to book that particular location.
There are multiple types of properties to choose from. They offer everything from vacation rentals, villas, cottages, hotels and hostels. Making it a great app because there is something for everyone’s price range.
Expedia
Expedia is also a great app for booking all of your travel needs. They offer flights, hotels, cars, cruises, things to do, and vacation rentals. You can also book more than one type of travel need and save money while bundling.
They offer no cancellation fee if you need to cancel your hotel on almost any hotel reservation. They are a huge company that offers 24/7 customer service. This is a huge plus for people that struggle with anxiety.
They also offer daily deals that add up to 40% off your booking. Keep checking back to their website to see what the deal of the day is.
By using the app they also offer exclusive hotel discounts, helpful in trip updates, and real customer reviews at your fingertips.
Airbnb
A newer travel app to hit the market has been changing the way we travel. Airbnb is a travel app that helps you find vacation rentals at different hosting locations. It is easy to search by the location you will be staying in. They offer an average rate so you can budget and compare prices.
This app also has a 1-5 star rating scale that can help you judge the quality of the host, location, and unit. They also offer secure payments, account protection, scam prevention, watchlist, background checks, safety precautions, and workshops. They also offer secure communication with your host.
One downfall to Airbnb is that most of the rentals are individual rooms or homes so if you are planning on staying for an extended period of time it can be difficult because other people might book the same unit in your requested time frame. So when booking, book as early as possible for longer stays.
Hostelworld
For the budget-friendly traveler, Hostelworld is a great app to use. It is easy to use and to search. You can search by top destinations for some inspiration. You can book by date and amount of guests, perfect for the single traveler or group.
The app also has all of your bookings easy to view on the platform once you make a login. They even have the past trips you booked and can view for reference.
The app also makes it easy for you to make a wish list. You can compare different hostels at your travel location or start to plan a future vacation.
Itineraries
Here are two itinerary apps that I recommend giving a try.
Visit A City
Visit A City is a great app to plan out an itinerary for your upcoming trip. You can search by the location and it will give you choices based on how many days you are planning on staying.
Once you choose the amount of time you can choose different popular plans. Like top attractions, landmarks, and must-sees. Some of the plans also include the type of pace you are looking to keep.
You can also search for attractions that are not on the base list and add them as you go. You can also add your hotel to the itinerary so you know how far you are from your beginning and end of the day plan.
Another great perk of this app is it tells you the average amount of time to get to each location. It offers both walking and public transportation. It also will give you recommendations on which day is best to add each item.
You can also purchase electronic tickets and tours directly from the app and save them to your phone.
TripIt
TripIt is a great app for planning all your activities. You can link this app to your emails so it automatically will update and create an itinerary. You also have the choice to add items manually. This one app is super easy and pretty much does all the hard work for you.
Things To Do
When traveling finding the best things to do and see is a daunting task. There is so much to see and choose from. Now try deciding what to do in a few days without missing anything important will make you want to pull out your hair. There are apps out there that thankfully make this process much easier.
TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor is one of my favorite apps for looking up things to see and do. I have recommended it before in my other blog post “How to Travel in Your Own Backyard“.
I love it because it is easy to search for your location and you can choose by category for things to do. It also has recommended things to do once you start to use the app. They also have concerts and shows or food and drink to choose from when searching.
I like that people can give the location a rating scale and add a comment. It helps people using the app to choose if it is worth checking out. They also have them ranked depending on past visitor’s ratings so you know what people recommend is the best to do in its category.
Once you click on the thing to do, it gives you a little description of what it is and a map and address of the location.
GoogleMaps
GoogleMaps offers real-time GPS tracking for commuting and public transportation with the ability to explore your location. This is also another app that I use both at home and while traveling.
You can search for restaurants, things to do, hotels and trending locations. It also offers the hours of operation and distance right at your fingertips.
Another great feature is offline maps. If you are in a location without cellphone or internet access you can download the map of where you are going for easy reference.
Commuting
Getting around when you arrive at your destination is usually one of the last things you think about when planning a trip. There are multiple apps that help you get around once you arrive. Check out my other blog on public transportation called “Help! Anything but Public Transportation“.
Uber
Uber is an easy app to download and use. It is the largest ride-sharing service available. They have also reached out to other areas of travel like bike rental or food delivery.
Uber is available in over 500 cities around the world so you should not have trouble finding one in your area.
They have different types of cars available. There is uberX, their most used and affordable option besides uberPOOL, where you need to share the ride with other passengers.
The app also has a rating scale for your driver and lets you know if there is anything thing you need to know about your driver, like if they are hearing impaired. There is a new safety option on the app that you can call emergency services if you are feeling unsafe during your ride.
Lyft
Lyft is another ride-sharing service. It is known to be a little more laid back and friendly service than Uber. They operate in over 650 cities in the United States and 9 cities in Canada.
They have similar services and ride-sharing options like Uber including car ride-sharing, bike, and scooter rental.
All the drivers that drive with Lyft have gone through background and DMV checks. Passengers can rate the drivers once the ride is complete and can contact Lyft with any issues that arise. Lyft also has a 1 million dollar insurance policy for a piece of mind.
Waze
Waze is a navigation app. It offers turn by turn directions and up to date travel times and route details. This is done by user-supported travel information. Users can let Waze know if there are traffic accidents, unsafe road conditions, construction, and even police presence.
The navigation voice is available in over 40 languages. It is also customizable for more individual user experience. You also can get points for distance traveled and obtain different badges.
The map is colored and easy to read. It has both day and night screens for easy viewing on the eyes.
Roadtrippers
Roadtrippers is an app that helps users plan road trips. You can plan out a road trip with points of interest along the way. It gives you the estimated amount of time required for the trip including how much you will spend in gas.
This is a great app to help you plan a beautiful trip around the United States and Canada. Now with the tap of a finger, you can have a more engaging road trip seeing new sights along the way.
There is a free version of this app which includes 7 stopping points along the way. If you would like a more detailed map that includes up to 150 stopping points you can upgrade to Roadtrippers Plus.
Trainline
A more recent app that I found because I am planning on a trip to France and Spain is called Trainline. It specializes in European rail lines. It is easy to navigate through. All you need to do is enter your departure station and arrival station and off you go with what is available with pricing, and time of commute.
You also have the option of choosing a single destination, return trip, open return or even season tickets. Once you choose the type of ticket you need you can easily choose what type of ticket you need, whether it is an adult or child and the type of railcard you need.
Once you find what you are looking for you can purchase and keep the ticket right on your phone for easy convenience. Once you have the ticket it shows you details like the departure time and if it on time or delayed as well as which platform you need to be at.
This app is perfect for traveling all over Europe.
Other Apps
Here are a few other apps that can help you while traveling.
Google Translate
Google Translate is a wonderful app to have while traveling to different language speaking countries. It offers translation for over 100 different languages.
It also has an offline feature for when you are without cell phone service or WiFi.
Another feature that works great while dining out or trying to translate signs is their camera mode which allows for quick translations just by using your camera.
AllTrails
This is a hiking app that works great for when you plan on enjoying some nature. It includes hiking, biking, backpacking, and running trails all around the world.
You can search by distance from where you are or explore by city park or trail name. It has a convenient star rating for the trails and also lets you know the difficulty level of each tail on the home page.
Once you click on the trail you are interested in it ill give you a description of the trail including the distance, elevation and point to point map of the trail. It also has tags to let you know quick snippets of the trail like dogs on leash, kid-friendly, or stroller friendly.
It also has an offline mode where you can download the map if you do not have cell phone service or WiFi connection.
Conclusion
To conclude, there are many apps out there to choose from for travel. I hope this list helps you explore this big world a little more easily and stress-free. Don’t let a mental illness stop you from living life to the fullest. There are options out there that help reduce anxiety and support you along the way. Just remember my travel friends, we are in this together.
Are there any travel apps that you love or ones you think should be added to this list? Please leave a comment below.
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