This article originally appeared in the July/August issue of WiFi HiFi Magazine
Many travel booking Websites offer mobile apps, which is helpful when you need to make changes to your itinerary en route. There are apps to help you plan and pack, apps that provide sightseeing tips and recommendations, and apps that help you consolidate your itinerary. Many have a free version and a paid "pro" version with added functionality. Here's a sampling of a few of my favourites:
TripIt and TripIt Pro
"Consolidator" that helps you organize travel plans in one place. Forward your travel confirmation e-mails to plans@tripit.com and it will automatically create a detailed itinerary for your trip.
This, however, implies that you will remember to forward all of your e-mails. Alternatively, you can link your e-mail to TripIt, allowing the app to automatically import travel-related e-mails from your inbox. I haven't done this because I don't like any apps automatically importing anything from my inbox. But some people will find it handy.
Supports 3,000+ booking sites, including 200 airlines, 200 hotels and 60 car rental companies, as well as airport shuttles, cruise lines and event planning sites like OpenTable, Evite and StubHub. I've recently become a convert to OpenTable, using it to book dinner reservations at home and on the road, so I like that these types of sites are supported in this app.
Turns info into an itinerary that you can customize with maps, notes, directions and even photos.
Share itinerary with family, friends and colleagues, or post travel plans on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. This is handy if, say, you're relying on someone to pick you up from the airport.
Upgrade: TripIt Pro adds real-time flight alerts and notifications; and can help you find flights and manage points. The beauty with this app versus others that offer similar features is the ability to consolidate the details, but you do pay a premium.
Bottom Line: For an organization junkie like me (or, on the other end of the spectrum, for someone who can't keep track of anything), it's a great way to access all of your trip info in one place - no more desperately searching around for that e-mail when you get to your hotel and they don't have your confirmation number.
TripIt: Free TripIt Pro: US$49 for an annual subscription
Platforms: iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry
Packing Pro
I travel a lot, so you'd think I have the packing thing down. But, inevitably, I forget something, or have a nagging feeling that I did. I've tried Internet checklists, but that list changes depending on the nature of the trip. A vacation in the Bahamas will require a much different wardrobe, for example, than a business trip to New York in the middle of winter.
This app helps you create customized packing lists for business or pleasure.
Provides sample lists (including "light" and "super light" to help avoid checking baggage), as well as hundreds of items for creating your own lists, including images and alerts.
Share lists (Create a "master" packing list to share with family members for an upcoming vacation, for example). iCloud syncing and other sharing options.
"To do" lists to remind you to water the plants before you leave or buy a local SIM card when you get there.
Bottom Line: User interface isn't very sexy, but the app does offer an impressive level of detail. You'll find nine different types of socks under the "socks" category. For some, the app might be a bit too tedious. For others, it will bring peace of mind.
Packing Pro: $2.99
Platform: iOS
Gogobot
This travel review app uses "social discovery" to provide insider reviews and photos from its user community - helping you find hotels, restaurants and sights. Organize your trip by day, activity or city, reorder it on the fly, and sync it with family, friends or colleagues.
The beauty of this app is it helps you discover places when you're already at your destination, like a hole-in-the-wall diner that's popular with locals - the types of places you may not have discovered in your pre-trip Googling.
Has information on 60,000+ cities, and destination-specific activity feeds.
"Tribes" is a questionnaire-style filter that lets you sort results by interest, such as "foodie," "local culture" or "on a budget" to help access recommendations from like-minded travelers. Trending button to see what's trending in a locale.
Stay, Eat and Play buttons. Type in "Quito," for example, then tap "Play," filter by "Adventure" and sort by "Best Match," to get a list of user reviews on options like hiking Cuicocha Lake.
Bottom Line: It's a sleek app with gorgeous photos and an easy-to-navigate user interface. What I like about this app is you don't have to create an account or share your personal Facebook and Twitter account info to benefit from its database of 450 million check-ins and location-tagged results. However, if you do connect to Gogobot through your social networks, you can see friends' trips, reviews and photos.
Gogobot: Free
Platforms: iOS, Android
Kayak and Kayak Pro
Based on the popular travel search engine that helps you find and book hotels, flights and car rentals, this app allows you to create trip agendas, offers price alerts, a flight tracker and a "buzz" feature for flight search trends, as well as airport information (powered by GateGuru), packing list and currency converter.
But it does what Kayak does best: allows you to compare hundreds of travel sites then book directly from the app, with the ability to create multi-city itineraries directly from your mobile device.
Price alerts if pricing goes up or down (a feature I've always liked - I've set alerts on flights to some of my favourite cities, so I'll know if an amazing deal ever comes up).
When booking a hotel, app brings up a map that displays results by location (prices are prominently displayed). Tap on the hotel to get more detailed info and user reviews.
Upgrade: Features are essentially the same in free and pro versions, but pro version has fewer ads (it's supposedly ad-free, but there are some ads mixed into the search results).
Bottom Line: What I've always liked about Kayak is if it can't sell you a seat on a flight directly, it will bring in a partner that can. Sometimes this takes you off the Kayak app, which is the one downside - I'd prefer to book everything directly from one app.
Kayak: Free Kayak Pro: $0.99
Platform: iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Kindle
GateGuru, Airport Info & Flight Status
Anyone who knows the frustration of two-hour security lineups and last-minute gate changes will appreciate this app, which is designed to make your trip easier from gate to gate.
Now part of TripAdvisor, it covers 204+ airports in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. View security wait times (super-handy feature!), see a list of airport restaurants, shops and services (is there a Starbucks in the terminal?), and read 35,000+ reviews and tips from fellow travelers. Also view your TripIt and Kayak itineraries.
Handy airport maps. If there's one thing that stresses me out about travel, it's not knowing how far the gate is to my connecting flight and if I'll be racing 2km through multiple terminals in a state of panic.
JourneyCard keeps you in the loop of any changes or updates, such as security wait times, flight delays and gate changes. Tap on the airport code to get airport-specific info.
AirportCard allows you to access maps, amenity info and weather forecasts - based on your personalized itinerary.
Bottom Line: It doesn't do me a lot of good to know there's a Starbucks in the airport if it's in another terminal and I don't have access to it. The app provides information based specifically on your departure and arrival terminals, which makes it far more useful than just a general map of the airport.
Cost: Free
Platforms: iOS, Android, Windows Phone