Phone apps tend to make our life easier. From booking flights, finding things to do or helping us pack, apps work hard to simplify everything. What used to take guidebooks, maps and concierges to do, is now streamlined from a single device – your cell phone. There are countless travel apps out there, but we’re here to tell you our personal favorite five to help you stay organized, on time and budget your next adventure.
Sky Scanner Flights + Hotels
This app is AMAZING! Josh and I scored two roundtrip flights from Orange County, California to Vancouver, Canada for only $300! That route usually costs upwards of $200 per ticket. Sky scanner will help give you a baseline cost of flights and find you last minute deals. If you can be flexible on your travel dates, they also suggest alternate travel dates to save money. If that wasn’t cool enough, they also have a separate app for finding last minute deals on hotels. You can sometimes score a 4 star hotel for as little as $100.
TripIt
Now that you have all of those travel confirmations, dates, hotel addresses, and rental car company information, how do you keep track of them? TripIt is the perfect app for this. It strips all the important information from your confirmation emails and stores it all in one organized file, chronological itinerary for you.
Google Translate
We have not gotten a chance to use this app in any foreign countries yet, but we are looking forward to it! Simply speak into it to have it translate what to say in the foreign language of your choice. Or, vice versa, record somebody speaking to you to translate what they said! It can translate up to 63 different languages. One of my dream destinations is Italy, so I look forward to using it one day when we visit.
Pack Point
This app is perfect for people that hate to pack. Packing is my worst night mare, and used to leave me procrastinating until the last hour to get it done. Not with Pack Point though! This app takes the time and guess work out of packing for you. After asking you a few questions, it will generate a packing list based on the time of year you are going on your trip, what activities you plan and doing, and the destination you are headed. It honestly has eliminated so many forgotten items. There is also a premium version you can upgrade too with even more options!
AirBnB
This is a relatively new app for us! It is packed with amazing spots all over the world – from Dome’s in Joshua Tree, to New York City condos. Book private rooms, share homes with the host or list your own space! It is mainly funky, hipster places that you wouldn’t normally get to stay in if you opted for a hotel instead. We are excited to try it out!
What apps do you love?
Thanks for sharing. I love to travel and like many people I hate to pack. I am headed out of town next week and will definitely use the pack point app. I had no idea there was an app. that would help me organize what I need for my trips!
Even without excessive traveling, I think google translate is a lifesaver. I live in a diverse area and not everyone speaks english. It’s nice to be able to whip out my phone and know what people are asking me.
I wish I had the Google translate app on our last trip overseas. Definitely downloading for next trip.
Great tips! I’ll definitely use some of these.
Some great apps here. I’m currently working with a new map application, so please check out my blog in the near future for that one. I know many people don’t like it but Trip Advisor is great for checking up on places and getting an overview of what people think. I’m not sure if its an app but seatguru is great for checking seats on planes. It tells you which ones are good / not so good and shows the layout of aircraft for many airlines. Thanks for sharing your apps and I’ll be sure to use some of them in the future.
Regards
Gavin
Great article- I had never heard of TripIt or Pack Point before- I will be sure to check them out x
These are all great! We were recently somewhere and I asked my husband, “How would we have done this without smartphones?” Apps like these definitely make life easier!
Wow I did not know about most of these, thanks! The Maps app, I wasn’t aware it did all of those searches.! Always looking for good travel apps!
Valerie
Fashion and Travel
I just started using Pack Point! Love it!
I have only recently used Sky Scanner and it’s amazing! Never going back after using it. The one thing I would add to your list – instead of the standard Maps add, I recommend CityMaps2Go for travelling abroad. You download maps straight to your phone like of Paris if you know you’re going to Paris, and when you are in Paris on airplane mode, you can still see where you are and the map loads! I used it EVERY time I go abroad! Also, you can pin places ahead of time. So if you go to the Notre Dame and pinned a few restaurants nearby, you can easily pull up your map to see what’s around you without having to memorize the places that are all in the same area. Changed the way I travel! xo
Wow! That sounds like such a great app, I will have to try it when I got to Vancouver this week and see how it goes! :)
I second all of your choices… I have never tried Pack Point so I am going to have to download that asap. Another app we have found extremely useful especially with travel to Europe is Rome2Rio
That packing app sounds awesome! I’ll definitely have to get that for our next trip. One of my favorite apps is Airbnb – if you are staying in one, the app makes it so easy to have everything in one place!
That packing app sounds awesome! I’ll definitely have to get that for our next trip. One of my favorite apps is Airbnb – if you are staying in one, the app makes it so easy to have everything in one place!