My Favorite Travel Apps

Thank goodness for technology and travel apps. I remember my early days of travel when I had to rely on outdated books and magazines, and MapQuest directions I had printed off. Or a highlighted map booklet secured from AAA. Things are much better now and over the years I have discovered my favorite travel apps and curated them to a happy little Travel folder on my phone. Without any time wasted, let’s dive right in to the list.

Airbnb

What They Say: “Planning group trips is easier than ever with shared wishlists, group messaging in a redesigned Messages tab, and illustrated digital trip invitations.”

Why I Love It: The quintessential app for vacation rentals and experiences around the globe. You probably already have this on your phone but, just in case you don’t, I do suggest it. I oven bounce around between this and my other hotel apps as I compare pricing and stay options. Sometimes Airbnb can show me unique places and cheaper options . . . sometimes it’s confirmation for me that a traditional hotel is a better or more economical option. It’s beneficial either way. (When comparing prices, always be sure to double check the FULL pricing with taxes and cleaning fees added on. They can really add up over the initial base price.)

Ratings & Reviews: 4.8/5

AllStays Camp & RV: Camping

What They Say: “Get ready for your next adventure with the latest and greatest version of AllStays. Happy Camping!”

Why I Love It: This is a great app for finding parks, campsites & campgrounds in the US and Canada. There are lots of fabulous in-app features to help you really hone in on the type of camping your doing and the amenities available (you know, in case showers or electricity are a must for your adventure).

Ratings & Reviews: 4.6/5

Fly Delta

What They Say: “Welcome to Fly Delta, Delta’s award winning iOS app. With our dynamic Today screen which provides quick access to your boarding pass and other important day-of-travel information, Fly Delta makes travel easier that ever before.”

Why I Love It: Full Disclosure: I’m a Delta girl. They are my preferred airline and I am definitely a SkyMiles member. I love this app because I can easily check my miles and make upgrades and changes to my upcoming flights and trips. I can also choose my seats on my flights, check in for a flight, and access my boarding pass. And, honestly, their app is one of the many reasons I’m a loyal Delta customer. I also love the integration section that enables me to connect other accounts like Starbucks, Lyft and more for additional mile earnings.

Ratings & Reviews: 4.8/5

Lyft

What They Say: “Get where you’re going with Lyft. Whether you’re catching a flight, going out for the night, commuting to the office, or running errands in a rush, the Lyft app offers you multiple ways to get there.”

Why I Love It: I personally prefer Lyft over Uber and will opt for it whenever given the choice. I just feel that Lyft does a better job of vetting their drivers and find their app to be a little more fluid to use and with more accurate tracking of your driver when they are on your way to get you. I also love the schedule ahead option, especially if I need to get from an airport to a cruise terminal. The schedule ahead option can also be great in certain ports when I want to avoid waiting for a cab to get to my own adventure. (Psst, you can tie your Lyft and Delta accounts together to earn extra miles!)

Ratings & Reviews: 4.9/5

MapQuest GPS Navigation & Maps

What They Say: “Get where you need to go with the MapQuest turn-by-turn GPS Navigation app. Whether it’s using voice navigation for walking or driving directions or exploring points of interests on the map, MapQuest has the tools you need to nagivate the United States and Canada.”

Why I Love It: I’m sure this makes me totally old school but I still love me some MapQuest. Yes, I know there are other options but this is still my tried and true map app. I use it for walking and driving and I’ve used it all over the world. I also appreciate that it does differentiate between when you’re walking and driving as paths and directions might differ.

Ratings & Reviews: 4.3/5

Marriott Bonvoy: Book Hotels

What They Say: “Book direct and enjoy exclusive offers with Marriott Bonvoy to take the stress out of travel and find the best hotels deals.”

Why I Love It: While I do have and use multiple hotel apps, Marriott Bonvoy is my favorite. You can easily see individual hotel ratings and reviews (this can be hidden or missing on some other hotel brand apps). I appreciate that I can easily see my membership status and I can earn lifetime status and not just yearly status. I can also transfer my points into miles with Delta. Bonus! It’s very to book hotel stays and trips within the app. And there are options in multiple countries. I’ve used the app to book stays as nearby as the Outer Banks of North Carolina and as far away as Florence, Italy.

Ratings & Reviews: 4.9/5

Roadtrippers

What They Say: “Discover the open road and the great outdoors with ease. Roadtrippers, the #1 road trip planning app in the USA and Canada, now includes the patentpending AI-powered trip wizard: Roadtrippers Autopilot.”

Why I Love It: This app as multiple functions. You can plan a road trip (with hotels, points of interest, restaurants and more!) or camping trip, use the navigation feature, get the inside scoop on places and so much more. I LOVE using this app for planning not only road trips but destination itineraries. I can gauge the time and distance between key points of interest, discover random fun things off the beaten path, and work out logical ways to visit various spots in a city. (There are upgrade options within the app. I can usually get away with the free version if I’m using the app for planning and research. However, there are some years when I’ve chosen to pay for the upgrade and I do this when I know we’re taking extensive or multiple road trips. It’s been well worth it in those situations.)

Ratings & Reviews: 4.6/5

Visit a City

What They Say: “The ultimate travel app for planning your city sightseeing trip.”

Why I Love It: I feel Visit a City often gets ignored or passed over for other apps but there is so much to love about this one. You can plan a trip or vacation for cities (or islands) across the globe and it’s incredibly helpful in so many ways. The app offers Things To Do, Hotel listings for the area, and majors Sights. But my favorite thing about the app is that you can choose from their Day Trips itinerary or there multi day plans. And if that’s not enough, you can also customize those itineraries or build your own. But, wait, there’s more. You can even choose from themes on some of their trip itineraries. For example, if you’re headed to Vegas, you can select how many days your there and then check out the One Day Casino Hopping itinerary or their Best of Las Vegas in Three Days. There’s just seriously so much to love about this app and the elements I mentioned are seriously just the tip of the iceberg. Now I will say, if you’re headed to a small city or uncommon destination, there might not be as many suggestions, listings or itineraries. I think that’s common sense, honestly, and it doesn’t keep me from loving this app.

Ratings & Reviews: 4.8/5

Welcome Pickups

What They Say: “Welcome Pickups is an application for traveler, that helps you to easily access and manage your transfer details, contact your driver or HQ from your mobile phone or tablet.”

Why I Love It: If you’ve traveled outside your home country, you probably discovered at one point or another that Lyft and Uber are not always options. Enter Welcome Pickups. I’ve used the app/service multiple times. My daughter and I first used it in Athens, Greece to get between the airport and cruise terminal for our Mother Daughter Trip celebrating her high school graduation. We were able to schedule our drivers well in advance which gave us great peace of mind, especially in a country where neither one of us spoke the language. (I tried to learn Greek but my brain just couldn’t handle more than a few basic greetings and courtesies.) My husband and I also used Welcome Pickups in Barcelona, Spain to get from the airport to our hotel. Again, I was able to schedule it well in advance and it saved us so much time. We only had one night in Barcelona before embarking on our cruise so we didn’t want to waste time fighting for a cab or waiting for a ride service that we wouldn’t be able to schedule until our flight landed. So this worked out perfectly. Welcome Pickups can also sometimes be cheaper than Lyft and Uber even is those are offered in the same country, especially for longer trips going between airports, hotels, or cruise terminals.

Ratings & Reviews: 4.9/5

Have you used any of these apps? What are your favorite travel apps? Let me know in the comments below!