Masterful Itinerary Crafting: The Top 8 Mobile Planning Aids

Planning the perfect trip can be almost overwhelming enough to take the fun out of what should be an exciting experience. Thankfully, many travel planning apps are available to help you organize your next getaway, right down to the smallest detail.

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01

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Best for Predicting Lowest Flight and Hotel Prices: Hopper

What We Like

• Get notifications about good deals.
• Book flights, lodging, and rental cars.
• Ad-free.

What We Don’t Like

• Some fairly large airlines aren’t included.

Hopper’s proprietary algorithm tries to predict where flight and lodging prices are headed shortly, letting you wait until the right moment to spring into action and book your trip at the lowest price.

The app analyzes billions of prices per day and claims to predict what the cheapest one will be with a 95 percent accuracy rate.

Download For:

iOS

Android

02

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Best For Car or RV Trips: Roadtrippers

What We Like

• Lots of hidden-gem destinations.
• Provides start-to-finish navigation and tips.

What We Don’t Like

• GPS coordination isn’t as good as other apps.
• Live traffic and other features require upgrade.

If dealing with long lines at the airport isn’t your idea of fun, then Roadtrippers may be the app for you. Whether you’re hitting the highway or off-roading, enter your starting and destination points and let Roadtrippers provide everything you need.

From campsites and outdoor attractions to unique adventures that are off the beaten path, this app is the perfect companion for planning an excursion, no matter if your mode of transportation is a small-sized rental car or a giant RV.

An optional yearly subscription unlocks advanced features, including live traffic monitoring and different map styles.

Download For:

iOS

Android

03

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Best For Finding Bargain Flights: Skiplagged

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What We Like

• Frequent travelers can save significant money.
• Book layover flights.
• Offers booking on things to do in layover city.

What We Don’t Like

• Airline baggage fee policies often murky; read fine print.

By showing fares to connecting cities that are sometimes cheaper than a direct flight to that city, Skiplagged lets you book flights where you stay at the layover location (your destination) rather than continuing with the connecting flight.

When it works, you spend less to reach your desired destination. Skiplagged also lets you book last-minute hotel deals and tours and tickets on activities in your layover destination to help pass the time.

Download For:

iOS

Android

04

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Best Overall Trip Planner: Kayak

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What We Like

• Explore feature helps you decide on destination.
• Book all flights, lodging, and transportation together.
• Helps measure luggage to avoid fees.

What We Don’t Like

• Doesn’t always show all flights options on specific route.
• Could miss out on the best deal.

One of the top all-in-one apps for setting up a trip, Kayak searches hundreds of travel sites instantly to provide multiple deals on a flight, hotel, or rental car in the same location. Kayak also organizes everything in one place and includes up-to-date details on security wait times, along with airport terminal maps.

The app also measures your luggage using your phone’s camera, informing you of potential fees and carry-on rules for most airlines.

Download For:

iOS

Android

05

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Best for Avoiding Hidden Fees: Skyscanner

What We Like

• Car rental fuel overcharging protection.
• No booking or surprise fees.
• Savvy Search uses AI to provide recommendations.

What We Don’t Like

• App flight prices might be outdated.

Skyscanner should be included in some of the bigger all-in-one planning and booking apps. Offering reliable price alerts, integrated frequent flyer miles, and no additional or hidden fees like you might find elsewhere, Skyscanner usually follows through on its promises and is easy to navigate.

The AI-powered Savvy Search feature also provides trip planning suggestions if you need some inspiration.

Download For:

iOS

Android

06

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Best Itinerary Planner: Sygic Travel

What We Like

• Great if you want control over itinerary.
• Useful for finding nearby attractions on the fly.

What We Don’t Like

• Offline maps access requires Premium version.

Sygic Travel lets you plan a detailed itinerary for each day of your trip before you leave home, down to the last detail, like walking distances between attractions.

With over 50 million places included, many with 360-degree videos that make you feel like you’re there, the app’s smart search filters help you narrow things down to the perfect daily schedule. Collaborative city guides provide an easy-to-use snapshot of the most popular locales around the globe.

Download For:

iOS

Android

07

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Best For Customer Reviews: TripAdvisor

What We Like

• Get travel-related questions answered quickly.
• Millions of reviews from other travelers.
• Ask about flights, lodging, food, activities, etc.

What We Don’t Like

• Default rankings don’t always correlate with customer reviews.
• Often need to take deeper dive to discover best value.

A stalwart in the travel industry, TripAdvisor isn’t unique in providing a one-stop-shop for booking good deals on flights, hotels, and restaurants for your upcoming trip, though it does a dependable job of each.

The app sets itself apart with its customer feedback on airlines, lodging, food, and activities. By offering over 500 million opinions from real travelers who’ve been there and done that, TripAdvisor helps you make informed planning decisions based on others’ past experiences.

Download For:

iOS

Android

08

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Best For Organizing Confirmations and Reservations: TripIt

What We Like

• App can automatically fetch itineraries from your inbox.
• Send manually; forward confirmation emails.

What We Don’t Like

• Default setting sends annoying number of alerts.
• Upgrade needed for certain perks.

When you plan a trip, it’s not uncommon to receive multiple confirmation emails and itineraries from airlines, hotels, rental car companies, or other sources. Keeping all these details organized can be a hassle.

TripIt solves this problem by taking all your scattered information and organizing it into an easy-to-use main itinerary. This basic functionality is free of charge, while an annual subscription provides the ability to upgrade your seat on upcoming flights and track reward miles, among other perks.

Download For:

iOS

Android

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