Best travel apps

[Stargazer]

Over a decade ago I launched a thread on best travel apps. The information was indeed valuable. But in the intervening years new apps have been launched. I was wondering what are your go-too apps for travel that you can’t live without.

 

[SYD]

There’s been a few similar threads - one not long ago from memory but obviously having relevant airline and hotel apps (some are much better than others - AAs feature of letting you know your bags are loaded is great and possibly unique?).

Some airport apps are useful for alerting you to boarding, delays and gate changes!

Transport apps - train, metro, bus and Ride-share etc. Usually the local apps are best but Google maps does a pretty good job in many places. MoveIt used to be good but it’s moved to a subscription service. Not sure it’s worth the expense.

TripIt for collating past and future travel bookings.

ExpertFlyer for checking seat maps.

The list goes on…. You can end up with a lot so best to put them in folders eg Airlines, Hotels, Transport etc I also “offload” the ones I’m not actively using (eg location specific). I don’t need to hear about London Tube disruptions when I’m at home.

 

[FishFood]

• TripIt
• CheckMyTrip
• FlightRadar24
• Airline apps (Qantas, Virgin, Velocity)
• Hotel app (IHG, Accor)
• Trainline
• Finance apps (XE currency conversion, Wise)
• OSMAnd

All I can think of for the time being

 

[Albert Hoffman]

TravelSpend - Itemise your fine wine and karoke bar expenses with currency conversion
PackPoint - Creates a checklist of things to pack based on destination and duration.

 

[Pushka]

Really like TripIt. It helps me ensure all my bookings line up properly. Use it also to store notes, tickets etc.

 

[papeto]

Rome2Rio for planning. They give you the flight frequencies and also compare train travel to flying , which is useful for european destinations

 

[Albert Hoffman]

Really like TripIt. It helps me ensure all my bookings line up properly. Use it also to store notes, tickets etc.

The excellent airport maps are a nice bonus too.

 

[Pushka]

The excellent airport maps are a nice bonus too.

I don't think I've poked around there! Thanks.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Flighty is my new fave.

Absolutely awesome !!!!

 

[RB]

Flighty is my new fave.

Absolutely awesome !!!!

Apple only?

 

[SYD]

Apple only?

and apparently quite expensive (for the subscription plan). From what I can see, it could be handy in the US of A. Not sure of the benefits over free or paid TripIt, TripCase etc?

 

[p--and--t]

How can this possibly be the 12th post and nobody has mentioned Loungebuddy

I only use the freebie ones. Of course TripIt and above apps previously mentioned, plus

Seat Guru

XE (xe.com)

Grab /Bolt / Uber

Packing lIst

Mark O'Travel

Like A Local

 

[Princess Fiona]

and apparently quite expensive (for the subscription plan). From what I can see, it could be handy in the US of A. Not sure of the benefits over free or paid TripIt, TripCase etc?

It’s all about the graphics for the Gram
That and the widget and flight plans are brilliant.

 

[SYD]

It’s all about the graphics for the Gram
That and the widget and flight plans are brilliant.

Yeah, I gathered that from some of the app comments!

 

[ayebee]

Rome2Rio for planning. They give you the flight frequencies and also compare train travel to flying , which is useful for european destinations

agree on that plus, while not an app per se, particularly for European trains I use the "Man in Seat 61" website for research.

The Man in Seat 61 | The train travel guide

How to travel by train in Europe & worldwide: Schedules, fares & how to buy tickets.

www.seat61.com

 

[VPS]

Google translate

 

[SYD]

Google translate

Especially the real-time visual translator. It used to be a seperate app “Worldlens” but Google bought it.

 

[Pushka]

How can this possibly be the 12th post and nobody has mentioned Loungebuddy

I only use the freebie ones. Of course TripIt and above apps previously mentioned, plus

Seat Guru

XE (xe.com)

Grab /Bolt / Uber

Packing lIst

Mark O'Travel

Like A Local

Seat guru has let me down in recent times.
I like TripIt because it isn't just about flights. It's the whole trip.

 

[p--and--t]

Seat guru has let me down in recent times.
I like TripIt because it isn't just about flights. It's the whole trip.

There have been so many last minute (sometimes not announced) type swaps by airlines in recent times, my carefully selected seats went out the window (see what I did there)

 

[Pushka]

There have been so many last minute (sometimes not announced) type swaps by airlines in recent times, my carefully selected seats went out the window (see what I did there)

I had to go into Flyertalk to ask why seatguru had a warning against one seat but be damned if I could click on what the warning was for!

There was one travel app I used years ago, can't remember it now, that advised me while waiting in the Qantas Flounge that there was a change to our flight and seats. Went immediately to the service desk and they knew nothing. Then the phone rang advising them .

In their wisdom Qantas had reallocated our specially selected single window seats (J). So one of us was in the aisle seat in the middle in row 2, and the other was the bulkhead (which we hate ). I asked the service people why the heck they'd done that! She replied that likely they wanted us to sit together. . Well firstly we didn't need to sit together, and anyway, their seat selections still didn't have us seated together. It got changed.