The Top 20 Must-Have Travel Apps for your Next Adventure
When it comes to planning and taking a vacation, I think we all rely on our phones now more than ever. From Google Maps for trains to just having data to get a ride to the hotel from the airport. This list could probably be “the best 100 travel apps for everyone” but who needs 100 travel apps taking up space on their phone.
So from the apps that help with everything from day-of hotel bookings and last-minute flight changes to those that serve as guidebooks and foreign-language dictionaries – this is my list of what I think are the top 20 best travel apps for every traveler.
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Best Apps for Researching Your Trip
Hotel Tonight
While Hotel Tonight is now owned by AirBnB (and we’re not fans of them here) its still one my favorite travel apps. I primarily use it to book for same day or next day reservations but you can use it to book further out. The app categorizes available hotel rooms into sections like basic, luxe, hip, charming, and solid, so you can easily select the type of hotel that suits your vibe. Plus, you can take advantage of the daily drop feature, where you can swipe to find personalized deals with special prices that are only valid for 15 minutes after they are unlocked.
I enjoy a good loyalty program so this is one I thought I’d share. You can “level up” by reaching specific spending thresholds on the app, and you’ll gain access to perks like discounts, VIP customer support, and credits. Plus, your levels never expire, so you can continue to move up and access even more benefits. As with all 3rd party apps – tred lightly. I haven’t been burnt by this one “yet” in terms of the hotel not receiving my booking but as it is with booking anything third party – there is always a chance.
Omio
When it comes to booking or finding train and bus tickets – or just figuring out the best way to get from point A to B – the Omio app is my go to. When you know what cities you want to visit but you’re not 100% sure how to get from each destination, Omio shows you the cheapest & fastest options. Its great for trip planning.
Booking.com
I’ll start out by saying that I’ve been burnt by Booking.com in the past. They’ve said I had a reservation for 8 rooms and I get to the hotel and its only 5 rooms. Was I salty? Yes. Do I still use booking.com? Yes… I actually only use it when its me booking 1 room, nothing more then that. That way if I get burnt, its at my own expense. I also typically call ahead and just ask the hotel if they got my reservation.
Booking has fantastic discounts that you cant find on hotel website and they also have a loyalty program that gives you up to 20% off on hotels. My trick is to be sure I pay on the app – I haven’t had any issues (so far) as long as I pay for the reservation ahead of time on the app.
Aside from the 1 issue I’ve had, Ive had over 100 hotel nights booked via Booking.com because they do give such good discounts. Even if you dont want to book with them, its a great website to check reviews out on – you have to have stayed at the hotel to review it so you know they’re authetic and the reviews are often different from what you’ll find on Google Maps.
Kayak
The Kayak App is a favorite because of all the tools. The explore feature that let you input dates or a budget or just a theme and itll give you all the options of places to go from your home airport. Looking for a Beach vacation and dont know when but you know what month? Throw it in the Explore feature and let it do its magic.
Kayak also has a great price alert tool that will shoot you an email when the price of that flight you want comes down to a better level.
I did a whole 2 part Tiktok on Google Flights if you want to check that out – but its not an app!
Best Travel Apps for the Airport
Flight Aware
Looking for the best flight tracking app? Look no further than FlightAware. With this app, you can easily track flights online, check for delays, see cancellations, gate changes and see a live map of the flight. Whether you have a tight connection or want to track your own flight, FlightAware is literally the best. Plus, it’s great for picking up friends and family at the airport, as you can track their flights and see updated landing times or delays.
Priority Pass
Priority pass is great for lounge access – especially if you dont fly business or first class very often. Several cards, including The Platinum Card® from American Express, the Capital One Venture X and the Chase Sapphire Reserve, offer Priority Pass memberships for all cardholders (enrollment required). Priority Pass offers access to over 1,300 lounges worldwide and provides meal vouchers at select airport restaurants. If you don’t have one of these cards, you’ll have to pay an annual fee to become a member. Depending on your membership tier, a fee to enter each lounge on top of the annual fee.
To use the Priority Pass app, simply enter the name or code of the airport you’re in and the app will show you the lounges and restaurants that you have access to, including photos, hours, amenities, and specific location information. For more information on the Priority Pass Program and how to gain lounge access, click here.
Lounge Buddy
Lounge buddy is fantastic for finding and accessing airport lounges around the world. This is regardless of what airline you’re flying or even if you’re flying business vs economy. You can create a trip in their app and they it will tel you what lounges you can access in the airports you’re flying through. If you don’t already have access to the lounges it’ll tell you exactly how you can purchase it too.
You don’t have to wait until the day of your flight to purchase access either – you can check your flights up to 2 months ahead of time!
Best Travel Apps to Plan your Trip
Viator
Viator is probably one of my favorite travel apps to book excursions through. I appreciate the review system and their app even gives you 10% off your first 3 bookings through Viator (vs the website). Its my first place to check when i want to find a company that offers excursions like snorkeling or boat trips.
Get your Guide
Get your Guide is very similar to Viator. Its one of my favorite places to look for activities. It helps me plan what I want to do in an area plus offers tours and local guided experiences when I want to see something but want a local to help me get their or provide more knowledge. Especially when it comes to learning more history about a city or a place – Viator & Get your Guide are always my two places to check.
Trip Advisor
TripAdvisor is a fantastic app that offers a range of services for travelers. You can read reviews of restaurants, hotels, and attractions, or book almost anything related to travel on the app.
You can search by destination or even by interest on Trip Advisor which can provide inspiration for your trip or help you to organize your activities, meals, and accommodations before or during your travels. With TripAdvisor, you can easily book vacation rentals, restaurant reservations, tours, and tickets all in one place.
Open Table
Open Table is great for making dinner reservations. This app is quite popular so it might come as a no-brainer that its super useful to use for travel. I even use it to check out reviews or just places around me to eat in a specific cuisine when Im not quite sure whats nearby.
The Fork
Very Similar to Open Table – The Fork is one of the best international travel apps for making restaurant reservations in Europe. Like OpenTable, you can browse different restaurants by category and make reservations directly on the app.
TheFork has more than 60,000 restaurants in cities like London, Athens, and Rome, as well as outside of Europe in places like Sydney, Australia. The biggest perk is that many restaurant reservations come with discounts – sometimes up to 50% off your meal – just by reserving a table through TheFork.
Foodie travelers should also consider downloading TheFork to earn YUMS, their reward system. You’ll earn YUMS with each reservation, and when you hit 1,000, you’ll receive a discount on your bill.
Best Travel Apps to use when you land
Airalo
What do I do about data? Thats always a question people have when they travel. Airalo takes away the guessing game. Instead of getting a new sim card every country you travel to or paying $10/day for your international data plan, Airalo has e-sim cards you can install on your phone to give you data as soon as you land in the new country.
You can use my code to save $3 on your first purchase too with my code RACHEL965. I make a tiny commission when you use it but I have 10 different e-sim cards from them on my phone if that says anything about the recommendation.
XE – Currency Converter
XE is something you definitely need for international travel. Id consider it one of the best international travel apps for a new traveler. Its a Currency Converter – so when you need to do the math real quick on a bill the XE app can do that for you. Its free and there are occasionally ads but I just skip them.
Google Maps
Google Maps is in my top 5 must-have apps for any traveler. With real-time GPS navigation, you can easily find your way to your destination, whether you’re walking, driving, or using public transportation. Skip Apple maps when you travel anywhere. Google maps is one of the best apps because you can also search for nearby points of interest, such as restaurants, hotels, and attractions, and get detailed information about each place, including ratings and reviews from other users. Plus, you can save your favorite places and create custom maps to share with friends and family. With Google Maps, you’ll always know where you’re going and what to do when you get there.
City Mapper
City Mapper is my next stop after Google Maps. Its super useful in finding the best routes and step by step instructions on how to find the nearest train or bus station. Similar to google maps you can see the next arrivals are and real time information so you get updates regularly.
Google Translate
Find yourself in a country where you dont speak the language? Google Translate is great for translating signs & menus. Its also great for typing things in your language and it’ll translate them for you & even say it out loud if you dont feel confident in the pronunciation. I also always download the language in the app for the country that I’m in – just in case I find myself somewhere with zero service, I’m lost & no one speaks english. From experience – you should never travel without it.
Uber
Most people already use Uber at home but most destinations world wide have Uber too. I’ve used it to connect to Taxis in Greece and take Ubers around South Africa. They even have a safety setting in Uber that allows you to make the driver type in a 4 digit code that you give them to ensure that you are getting into the right Uber! This is super useful in countries like Egypt where all the car plates are in Arabic.
