58 Useful Travel Websites and Apps to Cover Every Stage of Your Journey
There are so many travel websites and mobile apps that you can often feel overwhelmed and rather use old school methods.
I personally tried and tested more than hundred of them and created a collection of the best travel websites and mobile apps. I promise that this post will make your nomadic life much easier, enjoyable, and will save you money at every stage of your journey.
We live in a fast-paced environment where new products emerge on a daily basis. Therefore, this post is meant to be continuously updated - don't forget to bookmark it so you can get back later on.
Airfare Search
This is where it always begins. When you decide to travel abroad, your first clicks definitely lead to some airfare search engine to check flight availability and fares. Every service below has its pros and cons, and I would encourage you to give a try to each of them. Basically,
Every service below has its pros and cons, and I would encourage you to give a try to each of them. Basically, you never know which one included some hot fares into its inventory.
Since the price of the flight ticket always plays the key role when deciding where to buy, I compared following search engines by using the same flight:
London (all airports) - New York (all airports)
May 1st, 2015 / Max. stops: 1 / Economy
Skyscanner
Price: Free
Cheapest Offer: $397 - Norwegian / London Gatwick (LGW) - New York (JFK) / Direct Flight
Skyscanner is one of major flight search engines. It searches flight fares across travel agents and airlines, including low-cost carriers. Skyscanner's user interface is responsive and multilingual.
You always book directly with the airline or travel agent, so you don't pay any extra fee to Skyscanner. Once you select the flight, Skyscanner redirects you to appropriate fare provider. If the fare is still available, you can continue with the booking. In the case of my reference flight, the fare eventually increased to $444.
You can set price alerts by entering your email address, so Skyscanner can notify you about drops or rises of the fare. Click to tweet the love
Pros: Multilingual responsive website. Great mobile app. Fare alerts. Low-cost airlines are included.
Cons: Flight fares can change significantly. Redirecting to the seller's site makes user experience quite confusing.
Momondo
Price: Free
Lasse from Momondo recommends: Splittr Google Maps WhatsApp
Cheapest Offer: $369 / Norwegian / London Gatwick (LGW) - Stockholm (ARN) - New York (JFK) / 1 Stopover
Momondo is another web & mobile flight search engine. It searches flight fares across travel agents and airlines, including low-cost carriers. Its user interface is responsive and multilingual.
Once you select the flight, Momondo redirects you to appropriate fare provider. If the fare is still available, you can continue with the booking. Our flight fare eventually dropped to $373 which was a nice surprise.
You can freely use Momondo's basic flight filters but in fact, it's not necessary. Momondo shows you the cheapest, quickest and the best flight offer on the top of the search result page.
You can also set a fare alert. You will then receive Momondo's notification about possible price drops right into your mailbox.
There is also a basic graph on the top of the page showing you estimated prices for different dates. I don't know Momondo's algorithm, but I think it's worth a try if your travel dates are flexible. Click to tweet the love
Pros: Nice user interface. Fare alerts. Low-cost airlines are included. Multilingual and mobile friendly website.
Cons: Redirecting to the seller's site makes user experience quite confusing. Shows slightly different fares in the mobile app (cheaper in our case).
Kayak
Price: Free
Cheapest Offer: $398 / Norwegian / London Gatwick (LGW) - New York (JFK) / Direct Flight
Kayak is another flight fare search engine you should visit. It has also a clean user interface, mobile-friendly website and powerful mobile app.
As above-mentioned search engines, Kayak searches flight fares across travel agents and airlines. It also includes low-cost carriers and once you select the flight, it redirects you to the seller's website.
If you consider it important, Kayak shows you an operating airline right under the flight details. When Kayak redirected me to the Norwegian's website, the fare of my reference flight eventually raised to $453.
When Kayak redirected me to the Norwegian's website, the fare of my reference flight eventually raised to $453. It made a difference of more than $50 which is more than I would accept.
I believe that Kayak is primarily focused on its mobile app. In comparison with the website, the app provides you also with flight tracker, price alerts, and information about airlines and airports. This is the main reason why I consider Kayak as my favorite travel mobile application. Click to tweet the love
Pros: Great user interface both on the website and mobile app. Mobile-friendly website. Low-cost airlines are included. Flight details with an actual operating airline. Multipurpose mobile app.
Cons: Fare alert only on a mobile app. Redirecting to the seller's site makes user experience quite confusing. A flight fare can change significantly.
Hipmunk
Price: Free
Fiona from Hipmunk recommends: Citymapper WiFi Finder Yelp
Cheapest Offer: $437 / Norwegian / London Gatwick (LGW) - New York (JFK) / Direct Flight
I wouldn't leave home without Hipmunk. It's not because it is the best search engine with the greatest deals possible. It's because I really like their clean user interface and flying hamster logo.
You can sort search results by price, duration of a flight, takeoff and landing times, or by Hipmunk's Agony index. Agony index is a combination of price, number of stops, and duration of the flight.
Hipmunk found my reference flight at a price of $437. The same as other search engines above, Hipmunk redirects you to appropriate fare provider. In this case, the final fare was the same as displayed which is a plus.
Fare alerts work reliably. You can also integrate your own calendars into Hipmunk's search results, so you never book a wrong date. Click to tweet the love
Pros: Great user interface both on the website and mobile app. Low-cost airlines are included. Promised fare was the final one. Sync with personal calendars.
Cons: Redirecting to the seller's site makes user experience quite confusing.
TripAdvisor
Price: Free
Cheapest Offer: $398 / Norwegian / London Gatwick (LGW) - New York (JFK) / Direct Flight
Although I initially found TripAdvisor useful only for hotel search and as a destination guide, its flight search engine works well too.
It searches flight fares across travel agents and airlines, including low-cost carriers. Once you select the flight, TripAdvisor redirects you to appropriate fare provider.
TripAdvisor gave me the same fare as Kayak and Skyscanner. What is more important is the fact that it also allowed me to book it for the same price. TripAdvisor's mobile app showed me different fares than its website for the same travel agents.
Pros: Multipurpose travel website and mobile app. Promised fare was the final one. Mobile-friendly website.
Cons: Doesn't include major low-cost airlines (e.g. RyanAir). Fare alert missing. Different fares on the website and mobile app. Redirecting to the seller's site makes user experience quite confusing.
Kiwi.com
Price: Free
Jozef from Kiwi.com recommends: Uber HotelTonight AZair
Cheapest Offer: $347 / Norwegian / London Gatwick (LGW) - Stockholm (ARN) - New York (JFK) / 1 Stopover
Best Offer: $427 / Norwegian / London Gatwick (LGW) - New York (JFK) / Direct Flight
Kiwi.com is my favorite flight fare search engine. They've developed an extensive in-house inventory of thousands of low-cost flights, so there is no need to redirect you to the seller's website.
User experience is outstanding. The main part of the website is covered by an interactive map showing fares based on your selection.
If you have a free weekend and don't care about a destination, just select your origin and Kiwi.com will show you all possibilities.
Kiwi.com found that my reference routing is the cheapest with one stopover in Stockholm (the same as Momondo did) for a fare of $347. It is an unbeatable offer. The fact that Kiwi.com doesn't redirect you to a fare provider and finalize the booking on its own makes from Kiwi.com a winner of our flight fare competition (at least for me).
The direct flight was more expensive than with Momondo or TripAdvisor. However, I would personally take them into the account also in this case since their booking process seems smoother without the redirection to the seller's site. On the other hand, if you travel on a budget and look for a direct flight, vote for Momondo.
Kiwi.com's mobile app is simple but great for our purposes.
There was just one little bug on Kiwi.com's overall score. Although Kiwi.com allows you to set fare alert, it didn't work. Click to tweet the love
Pros: Extensive in-house inventory of low-cost flights. Works without redirects to the seller's websites. Outstanding user experience. What you see is what you pay. Interactive map. Responsive and innovative website and simple mobile app.
Cons: Fare alert didn't work.
Google Flight
Price: Free
Cheapest Offer: $397 / Norwegian / London Gatwick (LGW) - New York (JFK) / Direct Flight
When you need to find anything on the internet, google it. It can be easily told also in a case of a flight search because Google has its own search engine dedicated to flight fares. It searches across travel agents and airlines, including a limited number of low-cost carriers.
Google Flight redirects you to a seller's website to complete the booking.
In the case of my reference flight, the fare eventually increased from promising $397 to $444. It was the same situation as with Skyscanner, which makes me believe that Skyscanner runs on Google Flight engine. Nevertheless, it looks that both of them should update their inventories more frequently.
There is also a graph icon under the search details showing you estimated prices for different dates (like with Momondo). This feature can come in handy when your travel dates are flexible. Click to tweet the love
Pros: Easy and intuitive user interface. Multilingual and mobile-friendy.
Cons: Flight fare can change significantly. Redirecting to the seller's site makes user experience quite confusing. A limited number of low-cost carriers.
GTFO - Get The Flight Out
Price: Free
Fred from GTFO recommends: Airbnb TripIt Flyertalk Mile Writer
GTFO is formerly known as Flight Tonight. It is a mobile app from a data-driven air travel deal site Hopper. Check Hopper's website too as they'll tell you when to fly and buy to get the lowest fares possible.
GTFO is a perfect fit for spontaneous travelers. The app helps you find the best last-minute flight deals from your city. Enter your home airport and view last-minute deals. Flights are updated every second, so results may vary throughout the day - warning, it's addictive!
The app lets you book a trip in as few steps as possible. In about five taps, you could have your itinerary secured, leaving more time to pack and get to the airport. Click to tweet the love
GeniusTravel
Price: Free
Gennie from GeniusTravel recommends: Tiqets Wunderground Uber
GeniusTravel is another travel booking platform that stands out of the crowd. It allows you to search for flights based on a budget rather than a destination.
Just enter your budget using a slider, travel dates, and departure point, so GeniusTravel can show you all possible flights.
It brings you a great way to explore the world. Why visiting well-known Paris when you can fly to Marrakech for the same price? Click to tweet the love
Accommodation Search
Skyscanner, Momondo, Kayak, Hipmunk, TripAdvisor, and GeniusTravel are included in our airfare search category above. They all allow you to book also an accommodation so you can give them a try.
However, I believe it's much better to use some dedicated service. It can bring you better deals as accommodation industry is their core business.
Here is my collection of the best accommodation websites and mobile apps.
Airbnb
Price: Free
Is there anybody who doesn't know Airbnb? It allows you to rent unique accommodations in people's homes.
If you look for hotels, Airbnb isn't a right place for you. Its listings vary from houses and apartments to tree houses, igloos, and castles.
Properties always clearly explain what you'll find in the space, show you reviews of recent guests, and allow you to contact hosts and ask them a question.
Airbnb accommodation is usually cheaper than the cost of a hotel room. As a bonus, you can get perfect recommendations about a destination from the local host.
You don't have to worry about paying in advance to some local stranger. Once you pay for a booking, Airbnb holds the payment for 24 hours after your check-in before releasing the funds to the host. You can pay with credit cards, PayPal, and Google Wallet (Android app and U.S. only).
I believe that Airbnb is in most cases perfectly safe way to rent a place to stay. On the other hand, I also found an article named 11 nightmarish Airbnb horror stories, thus you should always be careful and listen to your inner voice. Click to tweet the love
Hotel Tonight
Price: Free
If you are a last-minute traveler, you will love this mobile-only app. Hotel Tonight made partnerships with hotels all over the world to sell their free capacity in a last-minute. Of course, with appropriate discounts.
The app shows you a hand-picked selection of hotels so there is no need for endless scrolling. They claim you can book a room in just 3 taps and swipe - and they are right because Hotel Tonight's user experience is simply brilliant.
It makes a perfect duo for spontaneous travelers in combination with GTFO - Get The Flight Out. Click to tweet the love
Trivago
Price: Free
Trivago is a hotel search engine that compares prices of more than 250 booking websites at once. It provides you with a map or list view of hotels and you can easily use standard filters.
Beside of prices, it also scrapes overall rankings from its sources and average them into Trivago's own rating.
Once you pick the deal on Trivago, you are redirected to an appropriate site to finalize the booking. Click to tweet the love
Tingo
Price: Free
Tingo team recommends:Airfarewatchdog SmarterTravel
Tingo is my another must-visit website. It is a side-product of TripAdvisor and promises the best price on the market by comparing major booking sites.
It is an ambitious claim, so I decided to put it to a test. Actually it failed. Tingo showed me a rate of $233 per night for a superior twin room, whilst Trivago found $225 with an additional offer of a superior double room for $211.
Although Tingo also claims that it would always match a lower price you found somewhere else, I wouldn't probably bother with it and book elsewhere.
However, don't cast Tingo aside prematurely. It monitors your rate and if it drops, Tingo will refund you the difference automatically. Moreover, if a rate of a better room drops and is lower than what you paid for, they'll let you know so you can switch and enjoy the free upgrade. Welcome back to the game Tingo.
Tingo doesn't have a dedicated mobile app, but its mobile version of the website works well on small devices. Click to tweet the love
AllTheRooms
Price: Free
AllTheRooms is another web-only search engine. While Tingo and Trivago search only through hotels, AllTheRooms covers all kind of accommodation.
They've partnered with major providers including Airbnb. Definitely worth a try. Click to tweet the love
Hostelworld
Price: Free
If you travel on a budget and aim for a hostel accommodation, you will love this site.
Hostelworld's inventory contains more than 30,000 properties in 180 countries so it looks that anyone can choose.
Besides availability and pricing, you can check hostels' photos and reviews too. A mobile application is available both on App Store and Google Play which is a plus. Click to tweet the love
Couchsurfing
Price: Free
Have you ever heard a term “couchsurfing”? It's another product of current sharing economy. In fact, it is a global community of 10 million people in more than 200,000 cities.
Couchsurfers share their lives with people they encounter so you can basically stay with locals in every country on earth.
Thanks to Couchsurfing you can travel like a local, stay in someone's home and experience the world from a different perspective.
As a bonus, it's free. Why? Some people simply want to make new friends. If you like it, you can give back by opening your home to foreign travelers.
You think about a safety, right? Couchsurfing covers your back by encouraging you to communicate through their website, review hosts' profile carefully or check a feedback of recent travelers.
Couchsurfers can also become verified, but I didn't find further details about the verification process. It looks that you just pay $20 / year which makes you verified - I'm not sure whether paying $20 would discourage anybody from bad acts. You can also contact their safety team in case of emergency. Click to tweet the love
Trusted Housesitters
Price: Free
Do you like pets and know how to care about them? Then you can find a place to stay all over the world for free with Trusted Housesitters.
Of course, nobody won't ever let you enjoy their home completely for free. In exchange for a free accommodation, you must take care about their lovely pets - feed them, walk them a few times a day - and keep their home well maintained and tidy.
In a meantime, you can explore the city. Trusted Housesitters is a marketplace where you pick a destination and preferred dates of stay, and then select a suitable house from a listing.
To be perfectly true, you must first register with Trusted Housesitters. They offer only annual membership which can be paid monthly and starts at $7.99 / month. Click to tweet the love
Hipcamp
Price: Free
Alysaa from Hipcamp recommends:HotelTonight Hitlist Lyft
If you like camping and stay near California, Hipcamp is a great place to start searching for your next outdoor adventure.
I really like their user interface. You can filter results by type of accommodation, possible activities (backpacking, biking, boating, caving), or camp amenities.
The website provides you with a list and map view which makes the whole process easy. Currently, you can't book your stay with Hipcamp but this feature is on their roadmap. Instead, the site redirects you to a camp official site to book a stay. Click to tweet the love
Vamo
Price: Free
Ari from Vamo recommends:Rome2rio Skyscanner TripAdvisor
Vamo is a great place to look when you plan a multi-city trip. You just specify your stops and dates of travel and click a search button.
Vamo searches through thousands of flights and hotels to show you the best itinerary, balancing cost and travel ease. You don't book directly with Vamo. It walks you through the booking process and redirects you to appropriate booking sites like Expedia, TripAdvisor etc.
Just give them a try and let me know what you think. Click to tweet the love
Trip Planning
With so many confirmation emails and receipts, it's hard to keep things organized. This apps will help you with it and save your space in a baggage for something more important.
Rove.me
Price: Free
Aleksandra from rove.me recommends: Airbnb Uber HipCamp Wander Co
The travel guide which will help you to enjoy your traveling destination and save a lot of time in a preparation phase of your trip.
The motivation behind it is obvious - because you travel mostly to gain some new experience. But to plan your trip in order to get the best possible, well that used to be a time-consuming matter. Not anymore, rove.me will give you all experiences your destination offers at one place.
You can use a wishlist and receive reminders to book your trip on time and even save some money! Click to tweet the love
Wander Co
Price: Free
You all know that question which comes while you're showing some photos from you adventure - where was this photo taken? Wander is a great solution how you can share all aspects of your journey like photos, routes and it even allows you to find interesting places around you.
Probably a must-have app for your next trip! Click to tweet the love
Travelistly
Price: Free
Do you plan a trip but still lack of ideas or tips? Travelistly will allows you to find a lot about your destination like amazing travel articles or videos.
You can either gather information or create a content and inspire other travelers. Click to tweet the love
TripIt
Price: Free / TripIt Pro is $4.09 per month (30-day trial)
TripIt is a web & mobile app that lets you create a travel itinerary for your trip.
You only forward all your hotel, flight, car rental, and restaurant confirmation emails to plans@tripit.com so TripIt can automatically transform them into a master itinerary.
TripIt offers a Pro version which boosts your travel with real-time flight alerts. It can also help you locate alternate flights, find out when a better seat is available and track your loyalty points. Click to tweet the love
Travel Butler
Price: Free
Sebastian from Travel Butler recommends: Airbnb Skyscanner Foursquare
Travel Butler is an iOS-only app that makes preparing the next trip a breeze. The app checks the local weather at your trip's destination and creates a packing list based on the latest forecast.
Travel Butler then queries Foursquare to find trending restaurant, bars and cafés at your travel location, as well as a selection of interesting places for sightseeing. Click to tweet the love
City Maps 2Go
Price: Free
Barbara from City Maps 2Go recommends: Get Your GuideTravelbird Airbnb
Every traveler should have a map of a destination city installed in their smartphone.
I believe that City Maps 2Go is the best solution. It provides you with detailed offline maps, in-depth travel content, popular attractions, and insider tips. Click to tweet the love
Airport & Flight
Do you remember your first flight? Although you were looking forward to enjoying the holiday, I guess you felt stressed and faced a fear of the unknown. No matter how often you fly, this apps won't let you fear again anymore.
ClaimAir
Price: Free
Jakub from ClaimAir recommends: Skypicker LoungeBuddy Trakdot
There are few guarantees in air travel these days. Delays, cancellations, and mishandled baggage are never within your control. But having a place to check for possible flight compensations definitely is.
Did you know you can get $650 for a flight delay or cancellation, and $1,300 for denied boarding due to overbooking of the flight? And did you know that slight delay of your baggage is valued up to $3,400 of financial compensation?
Yeah, it sounds good, I know.
On the other hand, the rules are damn complicated and tricky airlines make the issue even harder. ClaimAir is here to simplify the whole situation. You just enter flight details, answer several easy questions and let the app tell you what you can get.
The possibility of financial compensation is great, but sometimes the right to care, reimbursement, and free re-routing can come in handy too. In every case, the app gives you thorough instructions how to get what you deserve.
We created ClaimAir to help travelers on the go, right at the airport at the time of inconvenience. Nevertheless, the legislation allows you to claim your compensation up to six years back.
We give you the power and knowledge to solve the situation on your own. However, we are always here to help you out by acting on your behalf for 25% success-based fee. It's risk-free, you won't pay us anything until we get your compensation from the airline. Click to tweet the love
LoungeBuddy
Price: Free
Brent from LoungeBuddy recommends: Hipmunk FlightTrack 5 TripAdvisor
Airport lounges aren't just for long layovers and VIP passengers thanks to LoungeBuddy.
LoungeBuddy works best once you completely fill out your profile. Just tell the app which elite statuses and lounge memberships you currently hold or which kind of credit cards you have. Based on this information, the app tells you which lounges are accessible at your airport either for free or for an access fee.
I have Citi Executive AAdvantage World Elite MasterCard so I wanted to check lounges at London Heathrow airport. LoungeBuddy offered me 2 lounges with a free access and 7 paid lounges with a price ranging from $8 to $90. Yes, I won't ever wait for my next flight at a boarding gate.
Prices without any memberships or credit cards are unaffordable, but it's definitely worth a try in every case.
Right now, you can buy an access to lounges directly from the iOS app. Android users have to pay for the access somewhere at the airport. Click to tweet the love
GateGuru
Price: Free
GateGuru's mission is to cut the stress, anxiety, and frustration from your travel experience. Their mobile app is useful on a day of travel.
Once the app receives data on your next departure, it will show you basic information right on the home screen. Detailed information are accessible from so-called JourneyCard.
The app keeps you posted in real-time on any updates to your itinerary such as flight delays and cancellations, gate changes, security waiting times or layover time adjustments.
Tapping the airport code will bring you to the airport specific information which is personalized based on your itinerary. You can also access airports' amenity information, maps, weather forecasts, airport tips.
Last but not least, you can easily rent a car with Avis through the app at a discounted price. Well, there are so many features that I could write a full-length post about it. Click to tweet the love
SeatGuru
Price: Free
Although SeatGuru's website looks somewhat outdated, their service can come in handy when booking your flight. It helps you choose the best airline seats and in-flight amenities (audio, video, AC power, internet connection, food).
Their extensive library of plane seat maps provides you with comprehensive seating details with traveler photos and featured user comments.
I was really impressed by following information regarding a flight with Boeing 777-300ER (77W): “American Airlines serves first class from the front on even-numbered flights and the back on odd-numbered flights. Being served first usually results in getting your first choice of meals”. Click to tweet the love
Flightradar24
Price: $3.99 (iOS) / $2.99 (Android, Windows Phone)
Mikael from Flightradar24 recommends: Google Maps GPS Status Live ATC
Flightradar24 is about real-time flight tracking. It is perfectly useful for aviation lovers and to your friends and family members who expect your arrival.
With Flightradar24, you can watch aircrafts move in real-time on a detailed map. I was fascinated by the feature allowing you to identify aircrafts flying overhead by pointing your phone to the sky.
You can turn the app into the board of arrivals of any major airport to get status updates for all flights. Moreover, you can set custom alerts to receive notifications relating to a specific flight through in-app purchases. Click to tweet the love
Clear
Price: $179 per year (another family member for $50 per year)
Clear is a service which helps you get through the airport security faster. Once you become a Clear member you can breeze right past the long lines and go straight to a security screening.
To get Clear you must sign up online and register in person to verify your ID, capture your fingerprints and iris image.
It's free for children under 18. For adults, there is an annual membership fee amounting to $179. If you are a frequent flyer, I believe it's worth the money.
I wasn't able to test this service on my own as it is available only on several U.S. airports. The list includes Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Antonio, San Francisco, San Jose, Westchester County, and Miami (coming soon). Let me know your experience in comments. Click to tweet the love
Valet
Price: Free
Sometimes it can be difficult to find your car in a huge parking lot at the airport. Valet is an Android-only mobile app that gets you back to your vehicle.
Once you park, just click “Park My Car” and the app will drop a pin on your current location. You can also set a timer right within the app to be notified if your meter is running low. When you are ready to get back to your vehicle, the app will show you walking directions to help you out.
If your car is equipped with Bluetooth, you can set the app to automatically mark the car as parked once the Bluetooth connection is lost.
Since the service is based on GPS connection, it doesn't work underground. Click to tweet the love
FlightCar
Price: i.e. $39 per day (Ford Focus, 100 miles included)
FlightCar is another US-only service so I wasn't able to test it on my own. It lets people parking at the airport rent their vehicles out to other traveling members.
Every rental is insured up to $1 million. For security reasons, every renter is pre-screened and must have a good driving record and meet FlightCar's rigorous standards.
Members get free parking, a car wash and get paid if their car is rented. The amount paid depends on a type of your car and year of manufacture. Of course, rental rates vary depending on car type too. The cheapest one I found for Oakland airport was $39 / day for Ford Focus. Click to tweet the love
FlightTrack 5
Price: $4.99
Tarran from FlighTrack recommends:Expedia FlightBoard
As the title suggests, FlightTrack 5 is a flight tracking mobile app. The app is well-designed and allows you to search flights by a number, route, or airport.
FlightTrack 5 also provides you with a real-time departure and delay information. It keeps you posted via push notifications with flight updates, and gate numbers.
The app should also inform you of cancellations and should help you find an alternate flight. I haven't got a chance to try it yet - yeah, I'm a lucky one.
No wonder that the app is paid as it has so many useful features. Click to tweet the love
TPG to Go
Price: Free
TPG to Go is a no-brainer when thinking about your travel points seriously. This mobile app comes from The Points Guy named Brian Kelly whose blog read thousands of people including myself.
The app is very intuitive. You just specify which credit cards you have and what airline, hotel, and other travel programs you care about, so the app can handle the rest.
It gives you real-time recommendations about which card to use so that you can maximize your points and travel first class literally for free. Click to tweet the love
AwardWallet
Price: Free
Alexi from AwardWallet recommends: AwardWallet Google Maps Uber
AwardWallet keeps track of your loyalty programs such as your frequent flyer miles, hotel and credit card points.
You can select from more than 650 reward programs, add them to your account and keep track of them from a single place.
The app will notify you when your balances change and before your points expire. Click to tweet the love
Mobile Passport Control
Price: Free
Hans from Mobile Passport App recommends: FlightBoard MyTSA
Mobile Passport Control has the same purpose as above-mentioned Clear - to skip the long lines at the airport. Unlike Clear, which deals with a security screening process, Mobile Passport Control allows you to go straight
to Custom and Border Protection (CBS) checkpoint.
The process is pretty straight forward. You just enter your profile information as it appears on your passport and answer CBS's four brief questions about your trip. Your data will be then encrypted and submitted to CBP.
Within a moment, you'll receive a CBP receipt with a barcode allowing you to follow a shortcut and skip the queue.
The service is currently live only in Atlanta, Seattle, and Miami.
Destination Activities
It's boring to spend several days with planning your tours and activities in a destination. Instead, try one of these apps and websites, and select appropriate activities from curated listings.
Peek
Price: Free
Peek is a one-stop shop for travelers and locals to book amazing things to do.
It works best for U.S. trips but few locations in Europe, Mexico, and Hawaii are covered too. It's great that you won't find endless listings. Instead, Peek handpicks only the best activities and offers them for competitive prices.
Peek also works as an online booking and payment platform so you can book everything in one place. Click to tweet the love
Gogobot
Price: Free
If you think TripAdvisor is cool, Gogobot will simply blow your mind.
It is an efficient way to build an itinerary based on recommendations from friends and other travelers (a community is huge).
It gives you an easy way to review hotels, restaurants and activities and share them with friends. You can also ask a question and post it both to your social networks and a specific community on Gogobot.
Last but not least, you can also sync with Foursquare and Facebook so your check-ins on these sites show up on your Gogobot profile as well. Click to tweet the love
Triposo
Price: Free
Jon from Triposo recommends: Atlas Obscura TripIt Carousel from Dropbox
Triposo helps you make decisions on the spot. A great advantage is that their mobile app works offline. Just download a destination guide conveniently from your home and use it later in narrow streets of a town you haven't visited before.
The app promises personalized recommendations about activities, museums, and shopping. It shows you also parks, beaches and places to eat, drink and dance with the locals.
Triposo has an extensive community providing you with short reviews and insights. Click to tweet the love
Field Trip
Price: Free
Field Trip is a location-based mobile app that runs on a background and notifies you once you approach any interesting place.
It covers all kind of places from historical buildings and architecture to shopping malls and restaurants. The app includes plenty of third-party travel services that will provide you with expert recommendations.
Field Trip also supports Google Glass devices so you can see everything without touching your phone. Click to tweet the love
EatWith
Price: from $44 in New York City
Paz from EatWith recommends: Duolingo Unlike City Guides Stuck On Earth
EatWith is another disruptive and in my opinion quite controversial service for food lovers.
It can be considered as a brand new type of dining experience. Forget eating in restaurants because EatWith can take you to a dinner party at the chef's house.
The hosts range from professionally-trained chefs to the most passionate and practiced home cooks. Every host is precisely interviewed by the EatWith team which guarantee a certain level of quality.
You just pick something tasty from the listings, book a seat and join the party. The service covers many cities all around the world. Unfortunately, Prague isn't on the list so I wasn't able to try it on my own. Let me know your experience in comments, I'm so curious. Click to tweet the love
AllTrails
Price: Free
If you are an outdoor enthusiast, AllTrails is a right place to go during your visit in the U.S.
It provides information on many outdoor activities including hiking, mountain biking, skiing, and snowboarding.
You can explore over 50,000 trails and reviews. Click to tweet the love
Party with a Local
Price: Free
Locals know the best places you would never normally find as a traveler. That's why this mobile app exists. You can connect with locals, other travelers, and expats nearby, and discuss with them via real-time chat
about the upcoming party.
You can also set your own party status so others know what you are most interested in - go clubbing, grab a beer or just have a quick coffee.
The app creates a unique way to meet travelers, see your own city with fresh eyes and make friends for your next trip abroad. Click to tweet the love
Citymapper
Price: Free
No more confusion when traveling through a city thanks to Citymapper.
Citymapper makes your next traveling through one of the 17 supported cities really smooth. As a bonus, it has an awesome user interface.
You can easily pick your starting and ending point on an interactive map or write down exact addresses. Citymapper shows you suggested routings and estimated prices no matter what kind of transportation you
select.
When you select traveling by bike, the map shows you an exact location of bike-sharing checkpoints with a number of available bikes.
I also like their “Meet Me Somewhere” feature. You just select a meeting point and send your friend a link with a few clicks. Click to tweet the love
HeadOut
Price: Free
Although HeadOut is currently available only for activities in New York City and Las Vegas, I wanted to include them to the post because they simply impressed me on a first sight.
HeadOut gets you last minute access to carefully hand-picked experiences in a town.
If I were in New York City today, I would definitely pick a New York Helicopter Tour at impressive discounted price of $126. Click to tweet the love
Other useful stuff
There are so many awesome travel apps and websites, and not every one of them can be simply categorized. Go on and you will find another portion of useful apps and websites that can be used also for non-travel needs.
Instabridge
Price: Free
During traveling the internet connection becomes a necessity. Instabridge will advise you where to find free public WiFi. It's a crowd-sourced and really nice looking app available for Android and iOS for free.
You can use some features like marking hotspots as bad or store info and even sync it to all of your devices. Click to tweet the love
Trakdot
Price: $69.98 for the device + $19.99 annual subscription fee (the first year is free)
Korosh from Trakdot recommends: Johnny Jet Storm Logic Jacket F1 Go Clean Shoe Bags
Trakdot is the only one physical product on the list. It can come in handy if you often travel with a hold baggage (the one that you hand in at a check-in desk).
It is a small device that allows you to keep track of your baggage while traveling.
Once you put your Trakdot device to the baggage and install Trakdot's mobile app, you can see an exact location of your baggage real-time. If you don't instal the mobile app, Trackdot will notify you through a text message.
With Trakdot you are literally the first one who knows whether your baggage arrived at the expected destination or whether your baggage was mishandled.
The device costs $69.98 which includes the first year subscription. Consequently, you must pay an annual subscription fee amounting to $19.99. Definitely worth the money. Click to tweet the love
Google Translate
Price: Free
Google recently implemented two major features into Google Translate.
The first is about automatic language detection in conversation mode, so having a conversation between two people who don't speak the same language is possible.
Although it can be useful for some simple and well-pronounced sentences, this feature is still in its early stage. In other words, don't expect Star Trek's universal translator.
The second feature is much more interesting as it works great. It is about a translation of written text. You just hold your phone up so the text is visible onscreen, and the app will automatically translate the words. Click to tweet the love
Glympse
Price: Free
Glympse lets you share your location in real-time with the people you trust. You set who sees you and for how long. It's great for families, friends, colleagues, and one-time meetings.
You can share your location via Glympse's link both privately using text or email and publicly via social networks.
Anyone who knows the link can view your location on any device with the web-browser, so there is no need to install the app. Click to tweet the love
WiFi Finder
Price: Free
Does it need a description?
WiFi Finder is a great app for finding free or paid public Wi-Fi hotspots. It has an in-app database of available hotspots so you can be offline to find them.
This app is a must if you don't want to pay for international roaming. Click to tweet the love
Shipitwise
Price: e.g. from Vilnius, Lithuania to Malaga, Spain - 3 bicycles and 3 big suitcases for €422 to ship 6 items two ways, €36 per item one way.
Shipitwise is making traveling comfortable by taking your excess baggage.
You can book a shipping of your sports equipment (skis, bicycles, surfboards, golf clubs), luggage or business trip materials such a samples, roll-ups, trade materials and etc. They are delivering documents as well, so if you need send a visa application or other documents fast and at an affordable price - they will do it.
If you are relocating - they can pick up your furniture, personal belongings and everything necessary for your new home.
Pros: service is perfectly designed for a bigger amount of shipments. Send more, pay less per item.
Cons: in some destinations prices are not that competitive yet.
It is a door-to-door delivery that will save you money and energy while traveling or relocating.
SickWeather
Price: Free
Graham from Sickweather recommends: Airbnb Yelp Sickweather
SickWeather uses the power of social media to detect nearby illnesses in real-time.
The app scans social networks for indicators of illness, allowing you to check for the chance of sickness as easily as you can check for the chance of rain.
You can get real-time sickness alerts when you enter a sick zone or find recent illness reports nearby.
So far SickWeather tracks only statuses written in English so the more English-speaking people around, the more data to visualize on a map. Click to tweet the love
Trippy
Price: Free
Trippy is a powerful community of travelers. You can either ask a question relating to your travel adventures or you can support the community by answering those you know.
Trippy is like Quora but focuses only on traveling. Click to tweet the love
Bottom Line
I can't finish the post without saying special thanks to Noah from Okdork and Brian fom Backlinko. Guys, if you ever read this - I followed your Skyscraper Technique and did my best to write the most thorough post I've ever done. I hope you like it.
As I wrote at the beginning of the post, this list of awesome travel apps and websites will be regularly updated as new services emerge every day.
I would appreciate your comments and new tips so I can keep this post updated.