Updated: 2/2/2020 | February 2nd, 2020
There’s no shortage of travel apps cluttering up the Android and Apple marketplaces these days — and that’s a problem, as most of them are terrible. Sorting out useless ones from those worth installing is not the most fun you’ll ever have with your smartphone, but no one wants to pay for a worthless app.
If you’ve got a trip coming up, rather than wasting a week of your life downloading useless junk, start with these 10 great travel apps instead:
1. LoungeBuddy
I’ve spent enough of my life waiting around in airports to know that it basically sucks. I usually fly on budget airlines with long layovers and terrible connections, so dirty seats, expensive Wi-Fi, and bad food are a depressingly regular part of my life. The only places that offer any respite are the lounges — but without a membership or business-class tickets, I’m not inclined to wander around and ask random lounge staff if they’d like to let me in.
LoungeBuddy takes the pain out of the process. After entering your credit card, airline status, and lounge memberships, the app tells you which lounges you can access at any given airport. Even for people like me who don’t have any of those things, the app still lets you know about any free lounges or ones you can purchase a day pass for. It’s slick, easy to use, and free!
Get it for iOS.
2. AirHelp
If you’ve ever endured the pain of a delayed or canceled flight, or been denied boarding because of overbooking, AirHelp will be right up your alley. Both US and EU laws provide for compensation in such cases, although the details differ. It’s a complicated process, though, and apparently fewer than 1% of passengers entitled to compensation ever get it.
This app makes the process simple and something you can do in a few minutes while still waiting around at the airport. Just enter your flight information and a few details about the problem, and the company takes care of the rest. If the claim is successful, they take 25% of the payout and you get the remainder. You also get a referral bonus for anyone else on your flight that you send the company’s way.
3. Hostelworld
The Hostelworld app has does all the usual things you’d expect an accommodation booking app to do — searches, descriptions, filters — and looks particularly good while doing so. The full-screen interactive map makes it easy to work out whether the hostel you like is anywhere near where you want to be, while those all-important reviews are only a tap away.
Hostelworld is available for both iOS and Android.
4. Airbnb
Airbnb lets you rent individual rooms, couches, or an entire apartment from locals. I love Airbnb, as it’s a happy medium between hostels and hotels. Plus, if you stay with local hosts, you’ll still get the social aspect of a hostel. The app does everything the website does but at the tip of your fingers. I find it a lot more effective way to communicate with your host.
You can get Airbnb for both iOS and Android.
5. Skyscanner
Skyscanner is my preferred method for finding cheap flights. The mobile app searches millions of flights from over 1,200 sources and then gives you the best options available (whether it’s the cheapest route, or the easiest one). The handy chart feature lets you look at the cheapest days or months to fly to your destination and sends you notification of price changes.
The Skyscanner app is available here.
6. HotelTonight
HotelTonight gives you amazing last-minute discounts on empty hotel rooms. It’s incredibly easy to use, and it doesn’t take long to reserve a room. You can search by city or attraction, or on the map, and then check out the reviews and photos from other travelers. It also has 24/7 customer support. When I’m stuck in a place and need a last-minute room, this is the app I use.
7. TripIt
TripIt helps organize your upcoming travel itinerary. All you have to do is forward your hotel, restaurant, flight, and car rental confirmation emails to plans@tripit.com and it automatically transfers all the information to your master itinerary, so that you can easily view all your upcoming plans at once. If you upgrade to the pro version, the company will find you alternative routes for when your flights get canceled, as well as send you automatic notifications from airlines about flight delays, cancellations, and more. If you travel a lot and have a lot of bookings you need to organize, this is the best app to have.
TripIt is available for iOS and Android.
8. OpenRice
OpenRice is the Yelp of Asia. It shows a city’s most popular restaurants, ratings, menus, booking numbers, and everything in between. It’s widespread in Southeast Asia and a better resource than Yelp. It has listings for Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. The app puts the power of the website at your fingertips.
OpenRice is available for Android and iOS.
9. Detour
Detour is a fantastic GPS-guided audio walk that offers an immersive experience in 17 cities around the world. Each audio tour is narrated by a local who knows the city inside out, so you’ll be getting beneath the surface of the place. Currently, they have tours for San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Austin, Washington DC, Boston, Portland, Savannah, Charleston, Chicago, Rome, Berlin, Marrakech, London, Paris, and Barcelona.
Detour is available for Android.
10. Trail Wallet
Trail Wallet is an easy travel expense tracker. I used to have a similar app, but it was too hard to update. This app is now the best. It takes the headache out of expense tracking. You can organize your expenses by trip or by month, set a daily budget, and easily add expenses. When you get a bill or receipt, pull out your iPhone, add the amount using the Quick Add screen and you’re done.
Trail Wallet is available for iOS.
11. Couchsurfing
If you’re looking to lower your accommodation costs and meet locals while you travel, this is the app for you. Couchsurfing lets you connect with locals who have space in their home for travelers to stay for free. The accommodation is usually nothing fancy (which is why it’s called “couch” surfing) but it’s free, which will help you keep your budget intact. By staying with a local, you’ll get a unique opportunity to learn more about the destination from someone who actually lives there.
If you don’t want to stay with a local you can use the Hangouts feature to meet other travelers or locals for coffee, drinks, or to do something like visit a museum. It’s a great way for solo travelers to connect and be social. This app is a must for every budget traveler.
Couchsurfing is available for iOS and Android, and you can sign up at couchsurfing.com.
The app world is a constantly changing place, and there are many travel apps out there already that take the pain out of travel. They help you travel better, cheaper, and longer. The above travel apps are some of the best in 2019 and are worth downloading to your phone before your next trip.
Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks
Book Your Flight
Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.
Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time.
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:
- World Nomads (for everyone below 70)
- Insure My Trip (for those over 70)
Looking for the best companies to save money with?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and that will save you time and money too!
DeSallis
When it comes to a location specific guide app Triposo is by far the best I have used. Tourist eye, tripwolf and tripit are all rotting in my iPhone’s travel folder. You can download guides FREE for offline use for each country and region, lots of practical information, even language basics. it gives location specific suggestions, weather specific suggestions. You can even calculate a route or use it in conjunction with yelp for dining options. Triposo is so far better than every paid app available, last time I checked I think it’s still free. I can’t help thinking if it was made by lonely planet there would be a paywall for every one of the dozen features included.
Gabe
Great apps definitely going to get on to a few of them. You’ve got to lock in an app like OffMaps or the equivalent – unbelievably useful for when you don’t want to look like a huge gringo pulling out a giant map in the middle of the street or for when you think taxi drivers are taking you around the long way. Would have been screwed many times without it!
Tony
Great list Dave!
I would also recommend Yapta to the list. Yapta is a price tracking app for flights. Key in your date of travel, your departure and destination cities with a flight number and Yapta will monitor the cost of the flight. When the price drops it’ll alert you.
No more spending hours a day looking for the best price.
Christine
Great apps! Thanks for sharing! I don’t think there are as many as useful apps like that. I do use hotelupgrade. It’s really good.
Also, I often use Justgola app to plan my trip. It’s unlike other apps with the same feature. It helps me to plan my trip with all needed info. They also give tips and notes, rules for each destination or restaurant, spa, activity. I think it’s a good app. You should try it once!
Happy new year! ^^
Andrew
I’ve been looking for a voice recorder that allows me to – rewind and record over my stumbling vocal recording. I want to be able to keep my vocal 10 minute recording, but I would like to rewind a couple of seconds and continue my recording. Is there an android app out there for that.
Sharon M
This is a great list. I didn’t know about lounge buddy, that will come in useful as someone who also spends time in airports a lot. Do you have a recommendation for a packing list app?
Pete Rojwongsuriya
I would recommend you guys to try out Google Trips. I have been using it in conjunction with Google Maps offline mode on Android and I gotta say, it really ease the pain of finding things to do when you freshly arrived in a new city.
I never have a plan when I arrive, I just look through what is available on Google Trips, starred them and then Google will create a walking map for me where I can easily follow on Google Maps.
I also prefer keeping all my favorite places and stars on google maps so I can access it online. It also had proven to be more accurate than Maps.me in many ways and much faster too.
Be sure to give it a go for your next trip. 🙂
Sophia
This was a very interesting list to go through! I had no idea about any of these apps. I will definitely be putting them into use the next time I travel, they’ll definitely make it so much easier. Awesome read, keep up the great work!
Alexis
Hey Nomadic Matt! Have you tested out an app called Rayka yet? It appears to have just launch within the past month in the App Store, but I’m curious to hear what you think of it since your recommendations are always pretty spot on. The app seems pretty legit and a lot of travelers/foodies I follow on Instagram are already on the app?. Can you confirm if it’s worth it or not/how beneficial it will be
Michael
Matt, have you tried that new travel planning app PlanMoreTrips? I’ve been using it for a few months and it is awesome. Basically replaces having to travel plan via spreadsheet which is what I was doing before.
Rob S.
Nice list of apps you rattled off here, but I do think that some of the airline-dedicated apps are lifesavers. For example, Delta’s app has helped me a lot when it comes to pulling up my itinerary and getting through gates quickly. Not having to shuffle through different papers to find my boarding pass is a great incentive.
Jacob Laboissonniere
I’d say that ride-sharing apps like Uber or Careem are must-haves as well!
As long as you can find internet, you don’t need to deal with the hassle of negotiating a taxi fare.
Depending on where you go they’ll have different ride-sharing apps, but they’re all pretty similar to Uber. Sometimes they’ve got cool options as well, in Pakistan using Careem you can call a rickshaw!