Your guide to travel apps
Simply put, it's an app that allows you to have all your travel plans in a single place, usually ordered in a chronological way. Kind of like the folder you would carry around with your printed flight and hotel reservations...only there's no need to print now. Plus, they usually offer additional features that your folder can't have, no matter how fancy it is(and if it does, call us. We want to know about it), like checking available seats or tell you when you have to leave to the airport.
Cool, huh?
There are two basic "models" an app of this kind can follow:
a) You add reservations that are then compiled into an itinerary
b) You first create a trip where you later add the reservations / items / plans
In the end, though, the final result is always an itinerary: an organised list of your travel plans with its key information.
When you add a flight, you also get regular updates on the status of your flight and things like delays or cancellations. Some apps go the extra mile and offer you other types of reminders, like alternate flights (TripIt) or traffic reports to the airport (Sam).
This means all the apps mentioned below have a similar structure, or at least some screens that have the same objective. For instance, you usually start with an empty screen. You then either create a trip or directly add a reservation (that is categorised inside a trip). The number of taps needed until you can see the specific details of your reservation (like your departure time or a hotel direction) will vary depending on the app, with some of them trading accessibility for a less cluttered interface.
All the apps from the list allow you to add different types of reservations (called plans or items in some cases) except for one, App in the air, which focuses on air travel. Still, it's similar (and complete) enough that we thought it should be included.
iTunes: 4.8/5
PlayStore: 4.4/5
After more than a decade around, TripIt has become a synonym for “trip planner”. It has all the basic features you would expect from this kind of app: you can either forward reservations or connect your whole inbox, add new reservations manually and check information like departure and arrival times or flight status.
It's biggest con: all the alerts are a Pro feature, which costs 49$ a year.
Supported
reservations
Flight
Car rental
Rail
Cruise
Lodging
Meeting
Activity
Restaurant
Parking
Map
Directions
Note
Recommended for:
Road warriors (Pro plan. Otherwise, there are better options out there)
Users who want a no fuss app that delivers
Minus (-): The free version doesn't include alerts
Plus (+): Interesting Premium features available, like 'go now' alerts or alternate flights tracker
Premium version?: Yes, 49$ a year
iTunes: 4.3/5
PlayStore: 4.1/5
Is there something Google doesn't do? Although it shares many characteristics with the rest of the apps in the list, the main difference is that Google Trips doesn't sent alerts. You can add a flight reservation and (manually) see the terminal, gate and all the important info. But if you need timely notifications, it's not the app for you.
Where it excels, on the other hand, is the trip activities planning. Each trip can be individually downloaded for offline access to each of its sections, like things to do, day plans, food and drinks or getting around tips.
Supported
reservations
Flight
Hotel
Train
Bus
Car rental
Restaurant
Note
Recommended for:
Leisure travelers
Users who don't need travel status alerts
Minus (-): You can't forward individual reservations: you either connect your whole inbox or add a reservation manually.
Plus (+): Trips can be individually downloaded for offline access. With the amount of info it has, you can leave your heavy travel guide at home.
iTunes: 4.3/5
PlayStore: 4.2/5
A newcomer to the list, App in the Air focus is (as the name suggests) flights. Actually, it doesn't allow for any other kind of reservation (except for a very hidden car rental and hotel, but they must be attached to an existing flight). That leaves room for quite a lot of airport related info, which is organized in "widgets". Widgets are the individual pieces of information - for instance, "Baggage" or "Aircraft" - which can be activated or deactivated for all flights.
It's similar to TripIt in that it charges for all notifications and includes some extra features in the Pro plan.
Supported
reservations
Flight
Inside a flight in form of widgets (must be attached to a flight):
Car rental and Hotel
Recommended for:
Frequent (air) travelers who don't need keeping track of other types of reservations
Minus (-): General lack of information before security sensitive steps (ie: adding an expense prompts a screen asking to select a bank).
You can't forward individual reservations and have to connect the whole inbox (the same as Google Trips).
Plus (+): if you are willing to pay to the Premium plan, the flight alerts
Premium version?: Yes, 29.99$ a year or $4.99 a month
iTunes: 4.6/5
PlayStore: 4.2/5
Check my Trip covers most of the basics, although it doesn't allow you to connect your inbox. The interface is clean from the "My trips" point of view (actually, I think it's one of my favorites from the list), but it gets confusing if you have too many things inside one trip: the separation is not clear and you have to scroll a lot.
It also includes quite a lot of complementary features like Discover, Taxi, Parking or activities. The is an available seats map, although it's quite hidden inside the flight screen.
Supported
reservations
Flight
Hotel
Vehicle
Train
Meeting
Activity
Recommended for:
Travelers without a lot of different items / reservations inside one trip
Users who either travel by car or have to rely often on taxis
Minus (-): The complementary features, although nice, feel kind of detached from everything else. More like a collection of different websites than one single app.
Changes are not always sent as a push notification
Plus (+): Clean interface if you don't have too many reservations at once
iTunes: 3.4/5
PlayStore: 4.3/5
Trip Case is in many ways similar to TripIt, with two major differences a) It doesn't have an inbox connect (you will have to forward reservations individually to trips@tripcase.com, or add them via form) b) It's free, including all the travel alerts. So if cost is a big factor for you, this may a be a better option than TripIt. It's not super innovative neither in design nor in features, but it does the job.
Two features that I do love are the seat availability and the airport map. Also, it's the only app that lets you switch between the timeline and carousel view for your reservations.
Supported
reservations
Flight
Lodging
Car rental
Ground transportation
Activity
Meeting
Restaurant
Attraction
Cruise
Ferry
Rail
Recommended for:
Users who want real time travel notifications and don't want to pay for a Premium plan.
Minus (-): There isn't an easy way to add other documents to your reservations: if you forward a reservation with an attached document, it will appear in the (generic) "Documents" tab, but that's the only way. That also means no easy way to add a boarding pass.
Plus (+): Notifications usually arrive on time and are free. Two visualisation modes for the itinerary screen.
iTunes: 4.5/5
PlayStore: 4.4/5
Sam also ticks all the 'basic features' boxes, including the (free) travel alerts, but it presents the info in form of messages from Sam, your personal assistant, so it has more of a personal touch. All the data is simultaneously organised in a more 'classic' itinerary view.
You can add different types of reservations - flights, hotels, events - that are organised and displayed in one continuous timeline (the rest of the apps break down the timelines in individual trips)
Supported
reservations
Flight
Train
Car rental
Transfer
Hotel & other accommodations
Events (activities, meetings, restaurants)
Recommended for:
Frequent travelers who like to have all the relevant info in one place, including reminders and alerts.
Lovers of minimal design and a touch of color.
Minus (-): It lacks some of the more advanced Trip It Pro features like the Point Tracker and things like seat and airport maps (available in both Check my Trip and TripCase)
Plus (+): Free travel notifications. Easy to retrieve boarding pass.
