TripIt Travel Organizer – The TripIt travel app tops the list of many must-have travel apps and for good reason as it’s an invaluable little tool that once you start using you can’t imagine ever doing without. Once you’re up and running with the app you’ll never have to worry about jotting down flight numbers or booking confirmations, with all your travel data and itineraries accessible with just a tap of a finger.
TripIt gives you several options of inputting your travel information — including a handy tool that syncs with Gmail and scans for, finds, and automatically updates when you receive a confirmation email for flights, restaurant reservations, and hotel bookings — which is stored and organized per upcoming trip.
The latest release of the app has also added terminal maps for more than 130 major airports as well as a realtime plane positions for flights in progress.
You can also sync and share your itineraries with other users so you never have to worry about letting friends and family know when your plane arrives or where you’re currently at in your adventures around the world.
Cost: Free with ads and $3.99 for ad-free version – click here to download.
Packing Pro – Travel enough and you’ll definitely learn to sharpen up your packing skills (especially if flying on low cost airlines with hardcore luggage restrictions) but the Packing Pro app can help you step up your packing and preparation game.
The app makes it a breeze to keep and manage packing to-do lists, helping you with the mundane — such as a checklist for toiletries and other day-to-day items — as well as tools to manage more complicated info, such as automatic reminders to renew visas and other tasks.
You can use pre-built lists for common vacations and destinations or completely customize it for your own personal tastes; lists you use can also be saved and stored and re-used for future similar trips, so once you create personalized lists they can be re-used again and again.
You can also sync your Packing Pro lists across multiple devices, so it’s a snap to manage your packing and travel checklists on your iPod, iPhone, iPad, or other mobile device.
The same maker also provides a slimmed-down Packing (+ TO DO) app, which offers the same basic functionality and fewer bells and whistles for $0.99.
Cost: $2.99 for Packing Pro and $0.99 for Packing (+TO DO).
FlightBoard: There are plenty of different apps for tracking and displaying flight information but FlightBoard gets the nod from many travelers as its interface is easy to use — using the layout of the flight board at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris as its visual and graphical inspiration — to keep you updated on the flight status for air travel that day.
This app is not only invaluable for travelers who need to see the status of their connecting flights (as well as boarding gate location) but also for anyone who is planning on picking someone up at the airport.
FlightBoard tracks and displays data from over 4,000 airports and 1,400 airlines around the world, with real-time status for all flights updated every five minutes.
Users can toggle between the departures and arrival board for any airport as well as sharing data and updates to Twitter, Facebook, and via email.
Cost: $3.99 – click here to download at iTunes.
Hotel Tonight: This handy little free app can save the day (or night) as well as tons of money in some cases, letting you instantly access deals on available hotel rooms at hotels in major North American cities; they plan to expand international but now only work with hotels in the US and Canada.
The makers of the app negotiate directly with hotels looking to fill up any rooms they have available — sometimes at a huge discount over the standard rate — with users able to take advantage of those deals and find and book a room at a nearby hotel immediately that same day, with check-in available until 2 AM in many cases.
If you’re the adventurous type who likes to fly by the seat of your pants this app can be a perfect way to find and book a last-minute hotel room; budget-conscious travelers also use the app exclusively when booking hotels as the deals offered are often far lower than even what’s found on Priceline and other similar sites, with none of the restrictions or hassles.
Cost: free – click here to download at iTunes.
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