Organizing airline tickets, hotel bookings, and car rentals can be both frustrating and time consuming. Luckily, there are free travel apps that can not only aggregate all of these tasks, but also give you advice on your travel destination.
Out of all the travel apps out there, which one is the best for you? How do you know which one to use? There are several options, but we’ve narrowed it down to two: Google Trips and TripIt.
Here is a list of things to look for when choosing the right service:
- Easy to use and mostly automatic itineraries
- The ability to share the journey with others
- Automatic updates for flight changes
- Synchronize data across multiple devices
- Smooth and easy to use user interface
Tip: You may also want to use a travel app to help you find travel deals.
TripIt
TripIt offers both free and paid services ($49 a year) for frequent travelers. TripIt Pro includes some additional features such as real-time flight alerts, seat tracking and alternative flight finder. However, for most of us, the free version is enough.
TripIt is very simple in its execution. Simply forward to TripIt all confirmation emails from services you’ve purchased (e.g. hotels, car rentals, tours) and the app will instantly create travel itineraries to suit your needs. friend. You can also ask it to scan your email for new confirmations so it can automatically add and organize them into trips within the app.
The TripIt travel app not only consolidates all services into one place, but also lets you know when you’ll arrive at the airport, when to pick up your rental car, and when you can check-in at your hotel. TripIt even keeps all your restaurant reservations in one place!
We also really like the alerts you can enable in the TripIt app. You can receive notifications about when your booking email is received, when an upcoming trip is approaching (as if you forgot!) and when a trip itinerary has been shared.
There’s also a neat calendar subscription feature built into TripIt so you can share your travel itinerary (as an ICS file) with anyone and all they have to do is add the source URL feed your data to their calendar. It’s as simple as that to share your travel plans through calendar events.
Google Trip
Google has joined with a “personalized tour guide in a pocket” app called Google Trips. When you sign up for Google Trips, Google automatically syncs the app with your Gmail account, so the booking is added to your travel schedule immediately, which is super convenient. You can also enter your own reservations manually.
The Google Trips app also has an offline mode that allows you to open your schedule even without an internet connection, which is perfect when you don’t have cellular or Wi-Fi service, and also serves as a budget saver. save battery when needed. Offline mode also works for your entire destination guide.
This is all starting to sound the same, right? The biggest highlight of Google Trips is the combination of data from Google Maps and community contributions from what people post about restaurants, attractions, points of interest, etc. Things to do tabs show local places like historic sites, museums, parks, shopping, and kid-friendly places of interest.
Google Trips also has helpful transportation information, including walking routes, carpooling, and public transportation. While looking for a ride, you can access information on local places to eat, bars and clubs, or even where to grab a good cup of coffee.
As an added bonus, Google Trips includes a deals tab, its items vary depending on the destination but can include discounted things like car rentals, airline tickets, tours , events and even select restaurants.
If you’re not sure if you really want to visit any particular place during your trip, just mark it as the one you want to visit. maybe
want to access and it will be stored in Saved places. This is a great way to plan a tough trip without feeling like you’re bound by a super strict schedule. All your saved places can be browsed on Google Maps for a great view of all your potential visits.
Difference
No one is stopping you from using both services, but the main difference between TripIt and Google Trips is their travel itinerary features or Google’s lack of it. For example, TripIt lets you add a traveler who can share recommendations and edit trips, which is hugely useful if you’re bringing someone with you but they also have an idea for a trip.
What Google Trips offers is the ability to bundle suggested day trips together with a Google Maps planner. This allows you to view the sites on the interesting list, making the service more like a personal electronic guidebook.
Plus, Google Trips is simply easier to use. You can install the app, sign in with your Google account, and see all your past and upcoming trips in seconds. Quickly find things to do in a new town and locate restaurants quickly will be what you can do using Google Trips.
TripIt also includes auto-add from email, but it doesn’t seem streamlined. However, it is a bit more customizable and includes easy-to-use web access (Google Trips can be used online, also). If you want to practice your trip and store specifics like your passport and driver’s license, you’ll love that app.
Both TripIt and Google Trips are available on Android and iOS and are fully compatible with each other. In other words, you can use both apps at the same time without feeling like they’re tripping over each other.
