Everyone is constantly on the hunt for the best travel apps of 2017, or for each new year!
It’s no surprise that people are finding their phones to be their best travel companion with how helpful their devices are in ensuring their trip goes smoothly.
We’ve reviewed some of the best apps in 2016 and 2015, but we’re ready to unveil our new favorites for 2017.
From apps that help you book the best flight or find the best things to do on your trip to ways of making navigation easier and more convenient, we’ve got you covered.
Check out some of our favorite travel apps of this year:
Have you ever heard of “hidden city” flying?
It’s the idea that you can get to your destination cheaper by getting off and staying at a connection. In this case, you never planned on getting off at your final booked destination.
Why would someone do that? Oftentimes, flyers can find the airfare to be cheaper than a straight shoot to their destination.
We discussed the concept of hidden city flying in this article: Could Hidden City Ticketing Save You Money?
The phone application Skiplagged can help you find these unique flight opportunities to make your research much easier!
This app allows you to listen to audio books, podcasts and more to entertain yourself on your flight without the hassle of lugging around bulky books.
Downloading the right audio book could make that four hour flight tick by in the blink of an eye!
Users can download Audible right on their phone for ad-free listening. From there, you can purchase audio tracks and download them right to your library, so you aren’t using your data to listen.
It’s owned through Amazon, so if you already have an AmazonPrime account, you get tons of free books and great deals.
Audible has a 30 day free trial with a complimentary audio book to get you started! After that, it’s $14.99 a month. If you cancel after your trial though, you won’t lose any of the pieces you purchased previously and can listen anytime.
This app could be a lifesaver for a long road trip where you want something to stimulate your mind without the headache of reading in the car.
Looking for an app that will give you recommendations based on your own personal travel desires?
You simply download Goby and give it permission to access your location and your Facebook. From there it pulls data about you and your interests, or you can manually add them.
Goby then gives you a feed through the app to see things to do near your location based on your interests in sports, games, arts, etc.
Instead of having to go out and search on say TripAdvisor “Things to Do” where you’re at, Goby will deliver at your fingertips ideas based on your unique attractions.
The app is free and also has a map feature to plot the events happening out to plan your stops while traveling and includes details and photos about the happenings.
Waze is a great way for you to avoid traffic jams if traveling to a major city.
Don’t get caught up in a traffic jam during your valuable vacation time! Download Waze to stay up to date.
Sure your GPS or Maps will help get you to your destination, but they often aren’t timely in calculating traffic congestion.
Waze is updated by drivers like you, who share real time traffic updates about their area. This way, drivers can report unexpected accidents or hazards that generic navigation systems are unaware of, and help one another from getting stuck in a jam.
The app allows you to connect with Facebook so you can coordination arrival times and sync when your BFF will be at your door to pick you up.
It’s got a familiar looking interface, since Google Maps purchased it a few years back, so there’s a certain comfort factor to using it.
Users also add fuel prices at local gas stations to help travels know the best spots to fill up and is why we ranked it as the one of the best travel apps of 2017.
Can you please name one thing that Google can’t do?
The powerhouse has most of your needs covered, but they now introduced a new application called Google Trips to help travelers sync up all the details of the vacation in one place.
It pulls information from our Gmail and automatically organizes it so you don’t have to.
The app will save your reservations and confirmation numbers in one easy to access spot.
Google Trips also plots out suggestions on a map to help you find exciting things to do. It hooks up with Google Maps to help you navigate, allowing you to plug in say the five spots you want to hit in a day and outline the best way to get you there to save time. You can even switch to walking navigation mode and let it lead you by foot to each stop.
The entire app is available offline as well, so you’re not using data on the go and you can access your information even in areas where you might not have service.
Save the hassle of carrying around the printed out reservations or sucking up your data and battery pulling information when not linked to Wi-Fi and use this as one of their favorite and best travel apps of 2017!
Hopper is great for people who love to plan ahead of time and is a favorite of new travelers as the best travel apps of 2017.
The best airline prices on your favorite destinations could be just a push notification away with Hopper.
Their moto is “when to fly and buy” and that’s because the company helps users to find the lowest airline prices.
Once downloaded, tell the app where you’re looking for tickets to a Hopper will make a prediction about when your flight will be the cheapest during the timespan you select prior to your travel dates. A calendar will color code the days to see what days will likely be the worst to book.
If you’d like, you can start “watching” flights from say Portland, Oregon to Denver, Colorado. The app will push message notifications to your phone when prices drop, and you can monitor when the best time to buy is.
There are no spam ads, just ease to see the best prices and even the ability to book your trip right through their app.
They achieve their success by collecting trillions of archives about past flight prices for the years and have specialists to analyze their data. They consistently predict with 95% accuracy!
Most people have probably heard of Uber or their lesser known competitor Lyft, but have you actually used them while traveling?
Oftentimes, travelers ask themselves if it makes for sense to rent a car or to Uber, and the statistics show that ride-hailing app services are surpassing taxis in popularity. Of course, they are a big threat to the rental car industry as well.
Uber users can request a ride and have a driver there to get them in minutes.
Sure in a city, you should be able to easily hail down a taxi, but Uber is great for those off hours on your way home from a late night drinking or in locations off the beaten path a bit.
Drivers are certified and screened and usually the experience is not only quicker and cheaper than a taxi, but cleaner too!
Renting a car might be great for travelers who plan on doing lots of driving, but if most of your trip will be on foot, considering downloading one these ride hailing apps to make hopping from one spot to the next quick and convenient.
Cheers to trying new brews and making new friends on your travels! Untappd is one of the best travel apps of 2017!
Untappd is for all our brewery connoisseurs out there.
If you love stopping off at new breweries or trying unique beers and ciders, this handy app helps you keep track of what different kinds you’ve tried.
It’s for those people who like to boast the local samplings they’ve tried and share their favorites with their friends to perfect their palate.
You can check-in at different locations and meet fellow drinkers for a fun night out!
Let’s be honest, you’re going to spend money while traveling.
If you’re out exploring with friends, sometimes it’s necessary to split the bill and that starts to get hairy in the world of card payment today.
Venmo is an app for popping money. Any payments made to your friend via debit card, bank account, or anything is free to send. They only charge a 3 percent fee if you must put it on credit too.
It’s got a high tech security system and is well trusted. Financial information is encrypted and stored on their protected servers.
It’s like PayPal or PNC Pop without the fees!
How hard is it when traveling sometimes to find restaurants that suit your unique food needs?
You won’t have to fear eating healthy on your trip and sticking to your diet with HappyCow! Perfect for anyone to try some different food on their trip.
Vegetarians and vegans felt the struggle and came together to use the obscure HappyCow app.
It’s like the TripAdvisor of food or meat or dairy free restaurants, helping people find veg-friendly spots wherever they go.
Not only does the app help you find location based areas, but if offers recipes and information about dietary needs for vegans or vegetarians.
The app costs $3.99 but is a great tool for those interested in saving time searching for the right places.
This could be an excellent app to experience unique cuisine while traveling even for those who love meat! Give seitan or cashew cheese a whirl.
Do you have an amazing app that’s saved your trip this year?
Tell us about the best travel apps of 2017 that you discovered. We’d love to hear about in the comments below.
Be sure to share this article with the fellow travelers in your life and be sure to check back in with Sundance Vacations for all your travel related news.
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