Best Travel Itinerary Apps for iPhone TripIt vs Sygic Travel vs Google Trips ... and 3 more
Edited by Jasmin, Eng, Maria Quinney
There's already enough to worry about when planning a vacation; choosing the best flights, booking the best hotels, making sure to pack the right items, and much more. Trip itinerary apps can give you a little peace of mind while traveling, because they consolidate so much of what's important to a successful holiday and put it all conveniently at your fingertips. There's no need to fuss over remembering to pack several different documents, maps, and notes. Most apps will even free you of having to scroll through emails to find reservation numbers and confirmation codes. Whether you're a first-time traveler, someone venturing far from home, or a frequent flyer, you're sure to find some benefit from one of the 6 apps outlined below.
Method 1: TripIt
- 1With TripIt, you can consolidate all of your travel confirmation emails into one complete and convenient trip itinerary. Simply forward all of your confirmation emails to the app and let it do the rest of the work for you.Description.
- 2Basic version is free. A subscription to TripIt Pro is $67.99 per year, and unlocks features like real-time flight alerts, alternate flight finder, seat tracker, and more. 30-day free trials of the Pro version are available.Pricing/Upgrades.
- 3Pros.
- Opt to allow TripIt access to automatically transfer travel emails so you don't even have to do the forwarding.
- Supports emails from thousands of different travel booking sites, and hundreds of airlines, hotels, railways, car rental companies, travel agencies, etc.
- Edits or additions to itineraries are easily made with the simple to use interface. #*Include notes, photos, links, etc. to any stage of your plan.
- Maps will be included when they are necessary to steps in your plan.
- Share your itineraries via text or email, with fellow travelers or anyone you want to keep updated.
- View your itinerary offline, anytime.
- Optional Traveller Profile can be used to store important info like passport ID or driver's license, for quicker access at airports. The profile can store fellow travelers' info as well.
- Traveller Profile information is encrypted. A 4-digit passcode must be entered to access documents.
- View local transportation options in your current city.
- Clean, streamlined design.
- Syncs with iCal.
- Regular updates.
- 4Cons.
- Supported by ads.
- Could be a little more intuitive. If you have a flight at 3:30 but your hotel's official check-in time is at 3, the app may have you scheduled to be at the hotel before the airport.
- 5TripIt takes a wide variety of traveling needs into account and collects them all into one handy app. If you're a frequent traveler, and you don't have a serious forte in organization, the Pro version is likely worth every dollar. Download here.Verdict.
Method 2: Sygic Travel
- 1Formerly known as Tripomatic, this app is your personal travel guide. Create itineraries for some of the world's largest cities and let Sygic help you find great attractions along the way.Description.
- 2Free, but with an option to upgrade. A one-time purchase of $13.99 will get you access to the app's premium features, including offline access to maps and itineraries, removal of ads, and more. You can also purchase travel guides for select cities.Pricing/Upgrades.
- 3Pros.
- Provides a travel template to help get you started.
- Book hotels and tours in-app.
- Change currencies depending on your location.
- View 360-degree photos and videos of nearby attractions.
- Provides time and distance estimates, as well as weather forecasts, for each destination.
- Provides walking friendly maps for exploring on foot.
- See all of your destinations at once in the map view, or filter your destinations by type to remove clutter.
- Add participants to itineraries simply so they can view them, or allow them to edit and build the trip together.
- Basic, yet charming design.
- Very user-friendly interface.
- 4Cons.
- Doesn't offer any details on local public transportation.
- Not enough data on nearby places of interest for smaller cities and towns.
- 5If you're traveling to a big city and want to make sure you see all the hottest attractions, this app's for you. The 360-degree photos and videos are a perfect way to help give someone their bearings in a foreign place. Travel templates, for when you need a little creative boost, are a bonus, too. Download here.Verdict.
Method 3: Google Trips
- 1Google Trips makes travel plans even smoother for existing Gmail users. Simply sync the app directly with your Gmail account, and all your email travel confirmations will be transformed into a travel itinerary and waiting for you in the app.Description.
2
Pricing/Upgrades
. 3
Pros
.
- Intuitive planning; if you're going to multiple cities in one trip, perhaps Vancouver and Victoria, the app will consolidate it into one larger trip titled British Columbia.
- Every city has its own profile, outlining restaurants, local transportation, and more.
- Offers personalized activity ideas, based on weather, time, and place.
- Provides pre-set day trips for a variety of locations.
- Manually create trips, or edit and add to existing ones.
- Save your favorite places, just like in Google Maps.
- Download everything from maps to itinerary for future offline usage.
- Interface is extremely simple and user friendly.
- Updated regularly; fixing bugs, improving performance, and adding features.
4
Cons
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- Limited search options when looking for local activities, bars, etc.
- No sharing options.
5
Verdict
. Method 4: TripCase
- 1Manage flight details, hotel arrangements, and car reservations all in one app. Similar to TripIt; TripCase compiles a handy travel itinerary based on the confirmation emails you forward to the app.Description.
- 2Free, but offers an in-app purchase called Receipts. This upgrade is only $7.99 for an entire year, with a 1-month free trial. It makes tracking your travel expenses simple by allowing you to capture images of and store all your trip's receipts.Pricing/Upgrades.
- 3Pros.
- Book through a TripCase preferred partner and all your details will automatically be sent to your profile.
- Receive timely notifications when there are any changes to your flight.
- Search for new flights when alternate arrangements are necessary.
- Change airplane seats at the last minute, with real time seat maps.
- Saves your entire trip history in case you want to do something similar in the future, such as book the same hotel.
- Automatically adds directions for each of your destinations.
- Sends helpful messages, like information on nearby activities, at every destination.
- Easy to edit, or add extra details and notes to your itinerary.
- Remember My Current Location saves your new favorite spots directly to your map.
- View your trip in singular details on the Tripfeed page or in full, chronological order in Timeline View.
- Tripfeed has four pages; maps, hotel info, check-in times, and nearby activities. Simply swipe right until you find what you're looking for.
- View photos of your hotel in-app.
- Provides weather forecasts for every destination.
- Share trip details via email with fellow travelers or anyone you need to keep updated.
- 4Cons.
- Interface needs simplification.
- Can't support auto-imports of past trips.
- 5While similar, TripCase sets itself apart from TripIt with its access to certain features that don't require an upgrade. This app will be especially useful to those who already book with any of TripCase's travel partners. Download here.Verdict.
Method 5: TripSee
- 1TripSee organizes existing travel details and helps you add to them. Once the app knows your destination, it will suggest popular places of interest in that area to visit. You can even book hotels by using the map view to search all available accommodations from Booking.com.Description.
- 2Free.Pricing/Upgrades.
- 3Pros.
- As with most itinerary apps, all you need to do it forward your confirmation emails and all your info will be consolidated. You can also create itineraries from scratch.
- Location suggestions come with reviews, photos, addresses, contact info, and more.
- Itemized itinerary list includes costs associated with each activity.
- Add fellow travelers to your itineraries so your trip planning can be a collaborative activity.
- Predictive trip planning allows for more personalized recommendations with continued use of the app, by pulling on data from your past selections.
- Share details of your trip via email and Facebook.
- Saves your itineraries from past trips.
- 4Cons.
- Last update was in October 2016.
- 5TripSee provides all the basic elements of an itinerary app, while also taking a ton of guesswork out of traveling to new cities. By putting multiple websites worth of activity and location information all into one app, TripSee really stands out in the crowd. Download here.Verdict.
Method 6: TripHobo
- 1Enter your travel dates and destination, search and compare prices from over 700,000 hotels worldwide, add attractions and places to eat, and watch as your details become a beautifully designed itinerary.Description.
- 2Free.Pricing/Upgrades.
- 3Pros.
- Browse through itineraries created by other users and edit or use them as a template for your own.
- High-quality photos of destinations throughout your itinerary give the app a very glossy, appealing design.
- Provides estimates on how full each day of your trip is, based on travel times and lengths of activities and tours. This makes it easier to decide where you should add or remove plans.
- View your plans in different ways; list or map of a single day, or every day in list form.
- Book a residential rental through their partner Airbnb.
- Calculates commute times, and offers suggestions for the best transportation options based on price and length of the trip.
- Plan a trip with anyone by adding them to your itinerary. You can even chat with them in-app.
- Save destinations to a favorites list.
- 4Cons.
- Functionality can be poor at times, with freezing and the occasional inability to change options about your trip.
- Does not recognize smaller cities, towns, and villages.
- 5Basic templates are one thing, but being able to view actual users past itineraries and learn what did or didn't work, is a step above. TripHobo is perfect for anyone who already loves Airbnb, prefers their apps to have a sense of style, or is mainly traveling through larger cities. Download here.Verdict.
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