Travel Apps: How Do They Work?

Travel apps are an indispensable tool for modern travellers, offering convenience, flexibility, and monetary benefits. They can help with every aspect of a trip, from planning and booking to getting around and finding things to do once you've arrived.

The best travel apps allow users to research and compare prices for flights, accommodation, and car rentals, as well as book these services directly through the app. They can also provide essential tools for navigating new places, such as maps, currency converters, and language translation apps.

Travel apps are also useful for discovering local gems, with apps like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google Maps offering user reviews and recommendations for restaurants, bars, and attractions.

With so many travel apps available, it's easy to streamline the entire travel experience, from planning to booking to enjoying your trip.

Travel apps for planning and organising

Travel apps have become indispensable for planning and organising trips. They can help with everything from outlining a packing list to booking flights and hotels, and even translating words from a different language.

One of the most well-known and useful travel apps for planning and organising is Google Maps. This app not only provides directions for travel by car, public transit, foot, or bicycle, but also offers information on local public transportation options in many countries. Additionally, Google Maps allows users to download specific areas for offline use, find local restaurants, bars, and attractions, and even search for hotels with specific features like free Wi-Fi or pet-friendliness.

Another popular app for planning and organising travel is TripIt, which automatically tracks confirmation emails for flights, hotel bookings, car rentals, restaurant reservations, and event tickets. It then populates these travel plans into a single itinerary that can be easily shared with family or friends. The app also offers a paid version called TripIt Pro, which includes additional features such as real-time flight alerts, TSA wait times, and loyalty reward program updates.

For those who prefer a more flexible, collaborative, and social approach to trip planning, Wanderlog is a great option. This app allows users to create and share itineraries, as well as discover new places through its community of travellers.

When it comes to booking flights and accommodation, Skyscanner and Kayak are two of the most popular apps. Both search across various travel sites to find the best deals on flights, hotels, and rental cars. They also offer features such as price alerts and the ability to explore destinations based on price.

For last-minute hotel bookings, Hotel Tonight is a reliable app that partners with hotels to offer discounts on empty rooms. Similarly, Booking.com offers a wide range of accommodation options, from hotels to motels, B&Bs, and luxury apartments, with paperless confirmation and 24/7 support.

For language translation, Google Translate is a handy tool that provides translations between more than 100 different languages. It also offers camera translation in 37 languages, making it useful for translating signs or menus while travelling.

Finally, for those who want to keep track of their packing list, PackPoint is a useful app. It considers the weather forecast, activities planned, and other factors to provide a customisable packing list.

With these travel apps, planning and organising a trip has become easier and more efficient than ever before.

Travel apps for searching and booking

Travel apps have become indispensable for many travellers, with almost 50% of travellers booking and paying for their trips through their smartphones. The total revenue generated by travel apps worldwide was $300 million in 2021 and is projected to increase to over $500 million in 2022.

The main goal of a travel app is to simplify trip planning, booking, and management. Users can search for flights, hotels, or activities, with the app gathering data from various sources to present them with options and prices. Once a user has made their choice, they can book directly through the app, which securely handles payments. Many travel apps also organise all travel details in one place, including the user's itinerary, maps, and confirmation numbers. Some even offer real-time updates, such as flight changes.

• Expedia: An all-in-one travel aggregator site that allows users to search for flights, accommodations, and car rentals across many providers and book directly from the site.
• Booking.com: A site for booking accommodations, flights, car rentals, and various attractions. It is well-known for helping users find hotel rooms that fit their needs and budget.
• Airbnb: An app that helps users find a place to stay, whether it's a simple room or a luxurious property. It also offers other types of bookings such as tours, classes, and workshops.
• Skyscanner: A mobile app that searches millions of flights from thousands of sources to find the best options available. It offers various filters to sort by price, duration, number of stops, etc.
• Hopper: A mobile-only app that tracks flight prices and notifies users when the price drops. It can be used to book flights for a small commission fee.
• Google Flights: A website that helps users research and compare flight options, although it doesn't allow direct bookings.
• Hotels.com: A search and booking site for accommodations, including vacation homes, bed and breakfasts, motels, and apartments.
• Hotel Tonight: This app specialises in selling same-day hotel reservations, often at steep discounts.
• Kayak: A travel search site that covers hotel stays, rental cars, train and bus tickets, and travel experiences. It doesn't allow direct bookings but redirects users to other sites for finalising their deals.
• Orbitz: A search aggregator for flights, hotels, rental cars, and cruises. Users can sometimes get discounts by bundling purchases together.
• Priceline: A mega travel search app for flights, hotels, rental cars, and cruises. It also offers discounts when users bundle purchases.

Travel apps for language learning and translation

Duolingo

Duolingo is one of the most popular language learning apps, with over 300 million users. It offers short, bite-sized lessons that cover reading, speaking, writing, and listening skills. The app is free to use, but also offers a paid version for $7 per month with no ads and more personalized lessons. Duolingo is best suited for beginners and is a great way to learn the basics of a new language before travelling.

Babbel

Babbel is designed to help users not just learn a language, but to speak it in real-life contexts. The app offers lessons created by expert language teachers, as well as live online classes, podcasts, games, and videos. A regular subscription gives users access to one language for $14.95 per month, or $8.95 per month with an annual subscription. A lifetime subscription is also available for $349.

Memrise

Memrise aims to teach languages immersively, using video examples and gamified tests. The app offers a free version with access to most tools, and a paid subscription for $15 per month that includes an ad-free experience and access to all lessons and native speaker videos. Memrise is best suited for beginners and is a great way to learn the basics of a new language.

Tandem

Tandem is a language exchange app that pairs native speakers with learners from all over the world. For example, an English speaker wanting to learn French can connect with a French speaker who wants to practice their English. The app offers a free version with unlimited conversations, and a paid subscription for $14 per month that includes additional features such as the ability to filter by city.

Google Translate

Google Translate is a free translation app that can instantly translate text, images, and spoken language. It supports over 100 languages and can be used offline by downloading specific language packs.

HelloTalk

HelloTalk is a language exchange app that allows users to connect and communicate with native speakers of their target language. The app offers a variety of tools to aid in language learning, including translation, pronunciation, and correction aids. HelloTalk has over 13 million users and supports over 150 languages.

ITranslate

ITranslate is a free app that offers text translation in over 100 languages. The app is known for its voice recognition technology, which can convert speech into text in the desired language. The Pro version offers direct voice-to-voice translations for a fee.

Travel apps for currency conversion

Currency converter apps are a must-have for travellers, helping you to quickly calculate whether that purchase is a go or no-go situation. They are also useful for dining out, sending emergency cash, and making larger purchases.

Xe Currency Converter (iOS/Android) is a favourite among apps in this category. It has an intuitive interface, you can quickly switch between currencies, and it provides mid-market rates for more than 130 countries. It also has offline features, although these are only available with the upgraded version.

Currency Converter Plus (iOS/Android) gives you real-time exchange rates from around the world. It has an easy-to-use interface and you can create a quick list of the countries you will be travelling in, so you can easily access the currency for your current location. This app is a subscription service, costing $3.99 per month, $14.99 per year, or $21.99 upfront for a lifetime subscription.

Elk Currency Converter (iOS) is extremely easy to use. It detects which country you are in and displays that currency automatically. In the free version, you can't enter exact numbers, but it will give you a range of 10 numbers in your currency, showing the values of the other currency compared to yours. This app is free for the first two weeks, then $3.99 to buy.

Currency Converter Worldwide (iOS/Android) supports more than 150 world currencies and provides real-time currency conversion. You can also access currency conversion rates while offline, as the app will tell you the last known valuation for a specific currency.

My Currency Converter & Rates (iOS/Android) gives you currency conversions as you travel to different countries, and it also supports the latest cryptocurrencies. It supports more than 150 currencies and automatically updates currency conversion rates. It is a free app and is ad-supported.

There are many other currency converter apps available, some free and some paid, with various features to help you with your currency conversion needs while travelling.

Travel apps for recommendations and reviews

Travel apps have become an indispensable tool for modern-day travellers, offering convenience, flexibility, and valuable insights to enhance any trip. Here are some of the key ways in which travel apps provide recommendations and reviews:

Planning and Recommendations:

• Travel apps can suggest attractions, restaurants, and activities based on a user's interests and preferences. These recommendations can be tailored to specific destinations and even offer hidden gems off the beaten path.
• Apps like Tripadvisor and Yelp provide a wealth of reviews and ratings for hotels, restaurants, and attractions, helping travellers make informed decisions about their choices.
• Some apps, like Culture Trip, offer award-winning travel stories, videos, and recommendations from local experts, ensuring travellers have access to insider knowledge.

Booking and Reservations:

• Booking accommodations, transportation, and tours is made easy through travel apps. Aggregator apps, such as Expedia and Booking.com, allow users to compare prices and details for flights, hotels, and car rentals, often offering exclusive deals.
• Apps like Airbnb and Hotel Tonight specialise in last-minute deals and unique accommodations, offering authentic and affordable experiences.
• For transportation, apps like Uber and Kayak provide convenient options for booking rides and rental cars, respectively.

Navigation and Exploration:

• Google Maps is a staple travel app for navigation, offering directions, offline maps, and recommendations for restaurants, bars, and attractions.
• Apps like Waze and Citymapper enhance the travel experience by providing real-time traffic updates, route planning, and public transportation options, ensuring travellers can explore their destinations with ease.

Language and Translation:

• Breaking down language barriers, apps like Google Translate and Duolingo offer translation services and language learning tools to facilitate communication during travel.
• Google Translate, in particular, can translate text, images, and speech in over 100 languages, making it an invaluable tool when navigating a foreign country.

The combination of recommendations, reviews, booking options, navigation aids, and language tools makes travel apps an essential companion for anyone planning a trip, providing a wealth of information and convenience at their fingertips.

Frequently asked questions