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The best trip planner apps to make your travels easier

Booking a trip can be an exciting yet daunting task. As if booking airfare, hotel, and transportation weren't enough, you also need to consider food, sights, and attractions. As a travel lover myself, I often dread planning and preparing for a trip. Not only do I never have the time, but I often get oversaturated by the vast amount of information found online and the fear of getting scammed. 

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Over the years, I've found the best websites and apps to help smooth out the planning process. These apps help me keep track of all my reservations, send me booking reminders, and guarantee I always find the best prices -- because there is nothing worse than falling for tourist traps or overpriced offerings. 

Whether you are a spontaneous or a nitty-gritty planner traveler, ZDNET has tested and reviewed the best trip planner apps on the market. Our top pick for the best trip planner site and app is Booking.com due to its easy-to-use user interface, extensive booking capabilities, and pricing. However, since not every trip or traveler is the same, we've included several options to help you plan and stay organized during your travels. 

Keep reading to learn more about ZDNET's expert-tested and reviewed trip planner apps. 

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The best trip planner apps of 2023

Booking.com, best overall trip planner.

• Multiple bookings
• Great deals
• Can earn points from bookings and reservations
• Easy to use
• No group planning
• Can't organize bookings per trip

Booking.com features:   Platform: App and website |  Compatibility:  iOS and Android |  Pricing:  Free |  Booking:  Yes |  Group planning:  No

When planning my trips, I always make a stop at the Booking.com app, especially when reserving hotels. I find their user interface visually appealing and easy to use, and that it provides just the right amount of information I need when scrolling through hotel suggestions. Personally, I enjoy that I can add my top picks to my favorites with a quick tap of a heart, glance through reviews, look at cancellation policies, and even find out how far away hotels are from key spots. Through Booking.com, you can also book flights, car rentals, taxis, and city attractions, making it a great all-in-one place to plan and book upcoming weekend getaways or longer vacations. While I have personally never used the car rentals, taxis, or city attractions components of the app, I enjoy knowing that if I ever needed to, I can quickly hop on my phone and glance at the latest offerings. 

My favorite feature when using Booking.com to plan trips is the offers and promotions it displays for users. In the app, when you click your profile, you can see your "Genius" loyalty program status as well as discover the best deals around the world for your specific chosen dates. My only critique of Booking.com is that it does not enable group trip planning or let you organize your bookings per trip. This means if you are planning a trip with a friend, only one person can book and have access to reservations. 

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Best trip planner for organization

• Synced with e-mail inbox
• Organizes reservations no matter where you book
• Works offline
• Can't make any bookings
• Need to pay for advanced features
• UI could use an upgrade

TripIt features:   Platform:  App and website |  Compatibility: iOS and Android | Pricing: Free or $49 per year | Booking: No | Group planning: Yes

In terms of planning a trip, creating an itinerary, and keeping all your information in one place, TripIt is one of the best travel apps to keep yourself organized. When you first create an account, TripIt will sync with your inbox and automatically add all of your upcoming flights and reservations to your account. You can then modify each trip to include as little or as much information as you'd like. As someone who likes to be spontaneous when traveling, I usually only add the essentials: flight information, hotel reservations, and important documents. However, if you like to plan your trips down by the hour, you can also include activities, restaurant reservations, transportation, and more in your trip plan to share with fellow travelers.

As your trip approaches, TripIt will also send you packing reminders, give you COVID-19 travel guidance, and show transportation options. While you can get most of the essential features within the free version of the app (this is the one I use), you can also pay $49 a year to get advanced features such as check-in reminders, real-time flight alerts, point tracking, and even notifications for drops in airfare prices. 

Keep in mind that while TripIt gives you transportation options and finds places near your hotel, you cannot book or make any reservations directly from the app. The app is solely used to organize and keep track of all of your travel plans in one place, no matter where you book them. 

Best AI trip planner

• Personalized travel itinerary
• Hotel booking
• Can modify recommendations
• Group planning enabled
• Only available as a website
• No flight or restaurant booking

Guide features:   Platform: Website  Compatibility: all major browsers |  Pricing:  Free | Booking: Yes, but hotels only | Group Planning: Yes  Generative AI is everyone's favorite buzzword this year, and slowly but surely, it has been making its way across all industries -- including the travel industry. Guide is an innovative AI travel planning tool that creates personalized travel itineraries based on your preferences. (Full disclosure, it's also owned by ZDNET's sister company. It's currently in private beta, but you can join a wait list.) All you need to do is select your destination, the dates, whether you are traveling alone or in a group, your budget, and the types of activities you are looking for, and Guide will do the planning. 

After generating a trip itinerary for you based on your prompt, Guide then lets you modify and customize the itinerary to your liking. I recently used Guide to plan a six-day trip to Austin, Texas, and this was the feature I enjoyed the most, since I had specific restaurants and activities I wanted to incorporate into my trip, but I also needed some additional recommendations. While you can't book flights or restaurant reservations through Guide, you can book and find great hotel deals powered by Expedia on the platform. 

Guide will also give you an overall budget for your trip, a packing list, and a comprehensive list of things to know about your destination -- which may be helpful for some more than others. While my trip to Austin was a solo trip, Guide has a feature where you can invite other fellow travelers to collaborate in planning your trip through Guide's chatbot, GuideBot. This chatbot also works sort of like ChatGPT, where you can ask GuideBot questions about your trip, your destination, or recommendations. Keep in mind you can not ask GuideBot to directly modify your trip for you, and instead need to manually do it yourself -- believe me, I tried. 

Tripadvisor

Best trip planner app for reviews.

• Countless reviews
• Used by travelers worldwide
• Variety of information
• Booking capabilities
• Great for local spots
• Booking is not its strongest feature and you may not always find the best deals
• Doesn't vet reviews

Tripadvisor  features: Platform:  App and website |  Compatibility:  iOS and Android |  Pricing:  Free |  Booking:  Yes |  Group planning:  No

Reading customer reviews is one of the most important steps when planning a trip. While you shouldn't base all of your decisions on reviews, you should consider past customer experiences to get a feel for the brand and company you are about to trust, or the experience you are going to pay for.  When it comes to travel reviews, Tripadvisor is the best trip planner app to rely on. Since the platform has so many reviews for restaurants, activities, accommodations, and locations all over the world, it is always easy and convenient to log onto the app or website to help you make an educated decision. (However, remember that not all Tripadvisor reviews are legit, since the platform does not independently verify customer postings.) Beyond reviews, TripAdvisor also lets you book hotels, restaurants, things to do, and more while also providing detailed insights into their offerings -- including cancellation policies, ratings, and features. 

Tripadvisor's "Travelers' Choice" best-of list is also a popular part of its platform, allowing visitors to see top-rated destinations, hotels, restaurants, and things to do around the world. With Tripadvisor, you can plan a trip yourself from scratch, hire a trip designer, or get a custom itinerary built by AI. 

Best trip planner app for transportation

• Great multi-mode travel comparison
• convenient and seamless transportation booking
• Multiple currency and language availability
• Flight deals and suggestions are not the strongest
• Limited offers depending on the country or city of travel
• Not the most reliable customer service

Omio features:  Platform:  App and website |  Compatibility:  iOS and Android |  Pricing:  Free |  Booking:  Yes, transportation only |  Group planning:  No

I first discovered Omio when a friend recommended it to me while I was studying abroad in Spain, and ever since I downloaded it, it has become my go-to app for booking the best deals and fares on transportation within Europe. The concept behind Omio is simple: You plug in your departure and arrival location, including the number of people you are traveling with, and add whether you are looking for a one-way or round-trip journey. Omio will then show you the best deals by train, bus, or plane to and from your desired destination, including how much time each option will take you and the number of stops. 

The German-based travel booking site is great at aggregating travel information from multiple sites, allowing you to view all of your transportation options in one place. This is incredibly beneficial when planning trips within Europe since there are several ways you can cross each border and often various languages and regulations to keep in mind. Omio is set in English but has multiple additional languages available, as well as currency options. During my time abroad, I solely used Omio to book all of my transportation, including planning a 17-day trip across seven different European countries. Overall, using Omio was not only convenient and seamless but also helped me save hundreds of dollars by helping me maximize my travel time by switching between flights, trains, and buses. 

However, since returning from Europe, I have not used Omio as much as I thought I would -- maybe because I have a car and take most of my trips by plane. And Omio's flight deals and suggestions are not the strongest compared to Booking.com or Skyscanner's, which heavily focus on flight deals. I have also found they have some limitations depending on the country or city you are traveling in. Be mindful of the deals and tickets you buy through Omio since some tickets are non-refundable, and some customers complain their customer service is not the best -- although I have yet to have any issues with them. 

What is the best trip planner app?

Booking.com gets our vote for the best trip planner app due to its wide selection of accommodations, its points and promotions offerings, and its easy-to-use user interface. Not only does Booking.com help you find the best deals throughout your trip, but it will also help you stay organized throughout your trip by keeping all of your reservations in one place. To determine which trip planner app or combination of trip planners is best for you, check out this comparison chart below. 

Which is the right trip planner app for you?

The best trip planner app ultimately depends on your travel and planning style. If you like booking and planning everything in one place while also earning points and getting great deals, then Booking.com is your top app. However, if you are looking for a place to keep all of your accommodations, reservations, and activity details organized, then TripIt is a better app for you. Check out the following chart to help you find the best trip planner app or a combination of apps for you to plan your next adventure. 

How did we choose these trip planner apps?

To find the best trip planner apps, we drew upon real-life experiences and tested their performance and capabilities during our latest trips. Ultimately, we weighted the following factors when choosing which trip planners to include on our list: 

• Features: Each app can vary significantly with the features it offers, whether it is solely to book flights and hotels, help you plan your next trip using AI, or help you find the best deals and booking information, each app on this list can help you address several common inconveniences that present themselves while planning that next adventure.  
• Compatibility: An app is of little use if it does not work with your devices, so we look to see what compatibility each trip-planning app offers and which platforms you can access it from. Personally, I enjoy apps that combine an app and website component since this quickly helps me switch between my wide computer screen and my tiny yet portable iPhone screen. 
• Customer reviews: We study real customer reviews and ratings to evaluate customer satisfaction and service. This is incredibly important since most times when you travel, you visit an unknown city or country, and you should be mindful of past experiences others have had. 
• Cost : Most trip planner apps are free, but you may have to upgrade to receive special access to exclusive features or deals. If your app is already free, it means you only have to pay a small amount (often unnoticeable) when you book your accommodations. 

What is a trip planner app?

A trip planner app is an app that provides organizational features for your upcoming trip. It is often free and incorporates trip planning tools, whether you are traveling by ground, water or air.   

How does a trip planner app work?

A trip planner app can incorporate special features, like an itinerary, calendar, reservation and booking hub, and map assistance. Depending on the app you choose, there is even trip-sharing with friends and family to simplify the entire trip planning process.  

How much does a trip planner app cost?

Most trip planner apps are free, but some may offer in-app purchases to upgrade or enhance your experience. Within this list, only Tripit costs money, but only for their advanced features version, which costs $49 a year. However, you can get access to most if not all, trip-planning features, through their free version. 

Are there alternative trip planner apps worth considering?

As I mentioned earlier, trip planning heavily depends on your personal style of travel and preferences. However, whether you like to plan your trips down by the minute or prefer to just have the basics, there are several apps that can optimize your planning. Here are a few apps worth considering that almost made it onto our list: 

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Plan Your Perfect Trip!

Planapple helps you create , organize , access and share all your vacation plans, what's planapple (watch this short video & see).

How Planapple Simplifies Travel Planning

Organize ideas.

Collect your vacation ideas in an online trip notebook, and keep everything organized in one place.

That's where Planapple comes in. A web travel binder of sorts, Planapple helps you collect your ideas, possibilities, and plans — and saves them all in one place, organized and manageable.

Planapple even creates a custom map tailored to your plans, so you can actually see which hotel is closest to your daily destinations!

Plan Together

Discuss and decide your ideal itinerary with your tripmates.

Planapple eliminates the communication challenges and email negotiations, making group planning far simpler.

And, as your burgeoning itinerary comes together, it's all captured in your Planapple binder for you and your tripmates to see, so no one misses out on one juicy detail.

Carry Your Plans

Carry your plans on your mobile device —  or access them anywhere.

Planapple's mobile app puts your plans right in your pocket. Access your entire trip: itinerary, bookmarks, addresses, phone numbers, emails, even discussions with your co-travelers. (And Planapple can download it all to your phone before you go, avoiding scary international data charges.)

And, if you're a paper person, you can print your plans just as easily and take them anywhere you go. We get it.

Share With Friends

Create recommendations to share on Pinterest and Facebook.

Planapple makes it easy to share what you did, where you went, and what you liked (or didn't!). Offer up your entire itinerary or just a few highlights — either way your friends will marvel at your travel-planning prowess. After all, what good is finding something wonderful if you can't scream it from the tippy top of the World Wide Web?

For family vacations, holidays abroad, or group trips of any sort… from a weekend getaway to an adventure across countries and continents… it's easy to plan your perfect trip with Planapple.

Ready to get going?

What is planapple.

Expedia Rewards is now One Key™

Simplify your travel plans with trip planner.

Get started now

Plan with ease

Save and compare travel plans in a seamless experience.

Stay organized

Keep all of your bookings and saved travel plans in one place.

Decide together

Collaborate with family and friends to plan your dream trip together.

Easily save, collaborate and book - all your travel plans in one place

Make your travel plans easier with Expedia's Trip Planner. From saving favorites and organizing, to deciding with your group and booking your ideal trip, everything is together all in one place. You can select your favorite stays and activities while you search, and then find them later in your account. Avoid the hassle of sending multiple links to a group chat by inviting your family and friends to collaborate on a group trip where they can share ideas and see everything at once. After you've settled on your itinerary, you can make the bookings you need and keep them organized all in one place. Its ease of use makes it one of the best trip planning tools around.

How Trip Planner works

Sign into your Expedia account to save and compare your favorites to a new trip, work together with your friends and family on your group vacation, and keep all of your bookings in one itinerary planner. It just takes a few clicks to get the ball rolling.

Create a trip and save your favorites to plan your itinerary

Go to the Trips tab on the homepage, click on "Create a trip", and type in a new trip name. Start trip planning by searching for stays or things to do at your destination. Tap the heart icon to save your favorites to the right trip.

Invite friends and family to create a group trip

Open your trip and invite your fellow travelers to collaborate in the Trip Planner. Once they accept the invitation sent to their email, they’ll be able to view, save more items, comment, and like their favorite options to help decide on the best ones to book.

Book and manage your trip itinerary in the same place

Make all the bookings you need by tapping the three dots on your saved options. You can also change and cancel bookings in the same place.

Scan the QR code and download our app

Scan the QR code

FAQ: Learn more about Trip Planner

What should I do to plan my trip?

Get started with our Trip Planner in one of two easy ways:

1. Sign into your account, search for places to stay or things to do, and tap the heart icon on the image of a listing that you want to save. You'll be asked to create a new trip by giving it a name and saving it to your trip planner.

2. Head to the Expedia homepage, click on Trips in the top right corner (on desktop) or in the bottom menu bar (in the app), and then select "Create a trip".

How do I create a trip plan?

Once you've signed into your account and created your trip, you can save accommodations and activities to your trip. Soon you will also be able to save your preferred flights in our Trip Planner.

Why is trip planning important?

Saving items in a travel planner online helps you stay organized by keeping all your favorite stays and activities saved in one place. Instead of switching between multiple browser tabs, just open our Trip Planner.

When you're ready to book, it's easy to compare options , see all your locations on a map, and book directly from your saved items.

When should you start planning a trip?

Any time is a good time to start planning travels, and our Trip Planner can be used for everything from last-minute weekend getaways to a summer vacation planned over the winter. Just click on Trips on our homepage to get started.

How to plan a successful trip?

Saving your stay and activities to a trip helps Expedia better understand your preferences, so we can recommend more places to go and things to do to fill out your travel plans and make your trip unforgettable. Take advantage of our vast inventory and useful filters to make sure you get the accommodations and activities for your ideal trip.

Where can I find the items that I saved to a trip?

Head to the Expedia homepage and click on Trips in the top right (on desktop) or in the bottom menu bar (in the app). Select the trip that you want to view and look for "Saved items" to see all the items you've selected for that trip that haven't been booked yet.

With our trip planner, your booked and saved items are all in one place, which makes it easier to book your trip piece by piece.

Where can I find my booked items?

On the Expedia homepage, click on Trips in the top right (on desktop) or in the bottom menu bar (in the app). Select the trip that you want to view and head to "Bookings" to see all the items booked for that trip.

When you plan a trip online with us, you can keep your booked and saved items all in one place, making it easier to manage and build your trip.

Can I move a booked or saved item to a different trip?

Yes, we've made it easy to move items, because we know that planning your trip can mean adding more places to see or splitting favorite destinations up into multiple trips.

First, select the trip that already has the items you want to move. For booked items, tap the three dots on the top right corner of the item and select "move to another trip". For saved items, follow the same process and select "save to another trip" instead.

How can my friends and family help me plan a trip online?

Friends and family invited to collaborate on a trip with you will be able to view, save, and book items in your trip planner itinerary. All they need to do to start collaborating is accept the trip invite sent to their email.

Ready to plan that trip?

We've got everything you need to complete your trip plan, so you can relax and enjoy your upcoming travel.

Where are you starting?

Bring your plan together

Organized trip planning.

Update your itinerary without rebuilding your calendar and trip map - everything works together.

Plan with friends & family

Share with others or collaboratively build a trip in real-time with live updates.

Everything in one place

Gather the pieces of your plan: itinerary, budget, & important documents.

Plan That Trip is here to take the hassle out of your trip planning process.

We eliminate the clutter of traditional planning methods by combining various planning aspects into one intuitive interface.

You're in good company

Your ticket to efficient planning, skip the data entry.

Automatically add flights to your trip itinerary from confirmation emails or other documents.

Plan on your terms

Access anywhere, anytime. Download a PDF for convenient offline access, or use our mobile-ready web app.

Kick-start your research

City-level information about locations. Find out average temperatures during your visit, currency, time zone difference, and more.

Budgeting made simple

Easily manage your travel expenses. Track spending, split costs among travelers, and view a comprehensive breakdown of expenses to keep your budget on track.

Your travel documents, organized

Access all your trip-related documents. From tickets to hotel bookings, keep everything in one secure, accessible place. Forward confirmation emails to a synced address, and we'll include them with your trip-planning documents.

How it works

Chart your course.

Plot your destinations and build your itinerary.

Fill in the details

Add your stays and activities.

Organize your documents

Gather all your travel documents and notes in one place.

See your plan come together!

Can i plan trips for free.

Yes! Our free plan offers you everything you need to plan a trip. Trips with itinerary, calendar, and map views are saved for a year. You can also track expenses and attach notes. However, there are no sharing or collaboration tools, and you cannot upload or sync documents from email with the free plan.

Can I share my trip plan?

Absolutely! Plan That Trip allows you to invite friends, family, or colleagues to collaborate on your travel plans. They can view, edit, and add to the itinerary in real-time, ensuring everyone involved has the latest information. Collaboration and sharing require a Premium plan.

How do I add flights?

Plan That Trip lets you add flights in lots of ways. You can specify the destination and arrival location, or flight number and date. With the Premium plan, you can automatically load flights from any document.

Can I track my spending and budget?

You can assign a cost to any part of your itinerary, and we'll tracks all expenses across the entire trip. Cost splitting lets you determine who owes what for various activities and is a good way of keeping tabs on individual expenses. The complete budget view requires a Premium plan.

Is my data secure with Plan That Trip?

We take your data security very seriously. All your information, including personal details and travel documents, is stored securely and is only accessible to you and those you choose to share your itinerary with. We also give you the ability to download your data or delete your account, so you are always in charge.

Want to learn more?

Plan that trip.

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The 7 Best Trip Planner Apps for Travelers

Sarah Schlichter

Deputy Executive Editor Sarah Schlichter's idea of a perfect trip includes spotting exotic animals, hiking through pristine landscapes, exploring new neighborhoods on foot, and soaking up as much art as she can. She often attempts to recreate recipes from her international travels after she gets home (which has twice resulted in accidental kitchen fires—no humans or animals were harmed).

Sarah joined the SmarterTravel team in 2017 after more than a decade at the helm of IndependentTraveler.com. Sarah's practical travel advice has been featured in dozens of news outlets including the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Budget Travel, and Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio. Follow her on Twitter @TravelEditor .

The Handy Item I Always Pack: "A journal. Even years later, reading my notes from a trip can bring back incredibly vivid memories."

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: "Road tripping and hiking through the rugged mountains of Patagonia."

Travel Motto: "'To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.'—Freya Stark"

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: "Aisle. I get restless on long flights and like to be able to move around without disturbing anyone else."

Email Sarah at [email protected] .

Travel Smarter! Sign up for our free newsletter.

Crafting a trip itinerary can be both fun and overwhelming. Which places are an absolute must-visit, and which ones can you skip? How much time should you spend at the art museum, and how close is it to that bookstore you want to check out? And how can you keep all your ideas and bookings neatly organized?

The best trip planner apps can help you answer those questions. I’ve found several that will help you discover the right places to go and organize your day-by-day itinerary in one handy place. Download these apps, and you can pitch your endless spreadsheets and Word docs into the recycle bin.

All of the following trip planner apps are free unless otherwise noted.

TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor ( iOS | Android ) is the granddaddy of trip planner apps. Unlike other apps that feature only major cities, TripAdvisor offers listings of both top attractions and hidden gems in just about every corner of the globe, along with restaurants, hotels, and vacation rentals. You can create customized itineraries by saving the places you’re interested in to the app’s new Trips feature . (Trips can be kept private or shared publicly.)

When you search for a city in the app, you’ll see a feed of other users’ trips, photos, videos, reviews, and articles about that destination, all offering ideas and inspiration. For more trip planning help, you can post your questions in the TripAdvisor forums , where destination experts offer in-depth advice.

Visit a City

Visit a City ( iOS | Android ) helps solve two common trip planning challenges: figuring out how long you need to spend at each place, and maximizing your vacation time by grouping nearby attractions together. When you select a destination, the app offers recommended sightseeing guides based on the number of days you plan to spend. For example, I put in that I was going to Paris, for three days and was given several itinerary options, including Top Attractions, Landmarks for Kids, Parks & Museums, Easy Going, and more. The app automatically puts nearby attractions together and lets you know how far apart they are (for instance, “three minutes by walking”). It also includes the estimated time that you’ll spend at each place.

You can edit the itinerary by changing the day you visit a place, revising the amount of time you spend there, or deleting the attraction altogether. (You’ll almost certainly have to do some editing, as the itineraries don’t include lunch or coffee breaks.) You can also book tours through the app and get general travel information about the destination, such as the best time of year to visit or tips for saving money.

The Best Sites to Book a Last Minute Vacation

CityMaps2Go

CityMaps2Go ( iOS | Android ) offers a handy offline maps that you can customize with personal points of interest. Even better, the app displays your location on the map whether you’re connected to data or Wi-Fi. The app includes thousands of offline maps from just about anywhere on Earth, which means it’s useful for travelers who don’t want to pay international data charges when heading overseas. 

You can create different lists for your trip (for example, separate lists for dining, bars, attractions, etc.), and the locations you add to the list will show up on your map. Info cards for each place include a review score, nearby accommodations, some basic information, and the ability to add notes of your own.

The fun part of trip planning is imagining all the cool places you’ll go. What’s not so fun? Figuring out the logistics of getting there. Fortunately, Rome2rio ( iOS | Android ) can help solve that problem. The app searches just about every mode of transportation—plane, train, subway, bus, ferry, taxi, Uber—to recommend the best way to get from point A to point B.

You can enter either two destinations within a given city or two points farther apart, and the app will display your options, including the time it’ll take to travel and the approximate cost. Note that the listings are for planning purposes only, and you can’t actually book your flights or tickets through the app.

TripIt ( iOS | Android ) is a fixture on “best travel apps” lists, and for good reason. It turns an inbox full of scattered booking confirmations and restaurant reservations into a single master itinerary that you can access offline, sync with your phone’s calendar, and share with loved ones. You simply forward each confirmation email to [email protected] and let the app do the rest.

Upgrade to TripIt Pro ($49/year) for other useful features such as real-time flight alerts, rewards program tracking, and the ability to locate alternate flights if your original plans are disrupted.

Culture Trip

The app arm of Culture Trip ( iOS | Android ) aims to bring travelers a little bit out of the mainstream (tagline: “For curious travelers”) by highlighting unique, off-the-beaten-path options in popular destinations. With recommendations for more than 200 destinations around the world, it’s a great way to bring more local perspective to your trip planning. 

The Culture Trip app uses the publication’s content as a starting point; say, an article on the Top 9 Dessert Spots in Amsterdam. While reading the article, you can save individual places to lists that you create and view their location on maps. You can also explore their curated “Culture Trips”—pre-made itineraries for small group travel bookable within the app.

5 Smartphone Essentials You Should Never Travel Without

TripScout ( iOS ) combines articles and videos from well-known travel publishers and local experts to form what it calls “a personalized, always up-to-date travel guide” for destinations around the world. Every point of interest mentioned in the content is mapped, so you can build a customized itinerary showing your intended destinations on a map.

TripScout can also personalize recommendations based on your travel dates, budget, interests, and even the number of people in your travel group. And like some of the other apps on this list, TripScout works entirely offline, potentially saving you from paying international data fees. The only downside? Android users are left out; TripScout is iOS only.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2019, and has been updated to reflect the most current information. SmarterTravel’s Carl Unger contributed to this story.

Follow Sarah Schlichter on Twitter @TravelEditor for more travel tips and inspiration.

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We hand-pick everything we recommend and select items through testing and reviews. Some products are sent to us free of charge with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions and do not accept compensation to review products. All items are in stock and prices are accurate at the time of publication. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.

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Google for Travel: Plan Better with These 8 Tools

• Updated: 10/28/2023

Google offers a suite of travel planning tools to help you travel better. These tools will make your life easier by saving you time and money and keeping you more organized at every stage of your trip. 

Learn which tool to use and its special travel planning features in the sections below. 

Table Of Contents

Overview: 8 Tools for Better Trip Planning

These eight Google trip planning tools are free, easy to use, and sync seamlessly across devices for excellent on-the-go access anytime and anyplace. Use them for their wide-ranging and flexible travel features.

• Google Maps . More than driving directions—create custom lists and maps.
• Google Explore . Discover where to go anywhere in the world for your budget and dates. 
• Google Flights . Research flights and track price changes for most airlines.
• Google Hotels . More than a hotel search engine—learn the best neighborhoods to stay and ideal times to visit.
• Google Things to Do . Search for top sights, attractions, and activities for any destination.
• Google Chrome . Keep track of trip-related websites across devices.
• Google Docs . Use for itineraries and mobile note-keeping.
• Google Calendar . Schedule bookings and create shared calendars.

Google Maps

If you plan to use any Google tool to help with travel planning, use this one. Its functionality far exceeds driving and walking directions . Use it to create your own custom destination information and route plans in shareable lists and maps called “My Maps.”

See examples of a custom Google Maps list for Saugatuck, Michigan, and a “My Map” for the top things to do near San Ignacio, Belize, below.

How to use this map:  In the map header, click the square tab to the left of my logo or click the enlarge frame to the right to view detail. You can save the map to “Your Places” on Google Maps by clicking the star next to the map name. Or you can share it by clicking the share icon.

When you create your own lists and maps, save places and attractions you want to visit or those you have already been to. Rely on them when you travel or share them with friends and family when you return.

Check out five reasons to use them and how to create your own in “ Why You Will Love Google Maps for Trip Planning .” 

Google Explore & Google Flights

Google Explore is a powerful map-based search tool built on top of the Google Flights search engine. Additionally, it offers links to outstanding trip-planning resources.

For any traveler who has puzzled over the question, “Where should I go next?”—Google Explore will be your new favorite shortcut to figure it out. 

It shows all possible travel destinations across a navigable map from one location. A recent upgrade now extends beyond flight destinations. Users can now discover driving and combo flying-driving destinations, like National and State Parks and nearby small towns and resort locations.

For example, see the screenshot exploring where to go on a one-week trip in spring , using Chicago as the origin city. 

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Learn more about using this powerful tool in “ Travel Better: How to Best Use Google Flights Explore .” 

Google Flights is a top airfare search engine . And it is the first travel planning website many seasoned travelers go to research route options and fare prices. In addition to cross-comparing fares, you can use Google Flights to track any flight. Once you follow a flight, Google will send you alerts about fare changes. When you see a dip, you can buy and save.

Learn more about setting Google Flights price tracker alerts in “ How to Save Time & Money with Google Flights Price Tracker .” 

Google Hotels

In addition to providing an easy-to-use navigable map to search for top lodging, Google Hotels features three little-known helpful buttons that could save you loads of time when you plan your next trip. 

These buttons include: 

• Where to stay?  
• When to visit?  
• What you’ll pay?

Click any of these buttons, and they will quickly, elegantly, and expertly help you answer some of the most essential questions in travel planning. 

The Where to stay? button will provide a neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown of where to stay in any city—from Miami to Mumbai. Watch this quick YouTube video to see where to find it. 

The When to visit? button will give a month-by-month breakdown of the weather, including temperature ranges and rainfall, crowds, and pricing peaks, to help you determine the best time to visit.

The What you’ll pay? button will show you what you can expect to pay across lodging classes. Then filter your results for hotels in your budget. 

Google also offers a s earch engine for rentals called—wait for it— Google Vacation Rentals . Discover listed rentals from Vio.com, BringFido.com, Evolve.com, BluePillow.com, and others. Find its button at the top of the Google Hotels main page.

Google Things to Do

Once you have your flights ticketed and your hotels booked, your next step is to figure out what you want to do at your destination once you arrive. Google can help with that. Visit its Things to Do page for any destination and get a shortcut to top sights, attractions, and activities. 

For example, see the short clip below showing a scroll down the Google Things to Do page for Paris . 

Scan the page for top sights or take a deeper dive—and search by interest —like Arts and Culture or Outdoors. Or search by neighborhood. 

Click the save ribbon on a place you want to go, and this will save the item to a generic Google Maps list  called Travel Plans. Or you can save it to a custom list you pre-created. 

Learn how to create your own custom Google Maps lists for travel planning in “ Why You Will Love Google Maps for Trip Planning .”

Google Chrome

As part of trip planning—you will review websites for hotels, activities, and service providers. When using Google Chrome as your search engine and while logged in, bookmark and save these sites to a destination-specific folder.  

Organize your folders by location , and you will have all your best resources ready for easy reference anytime you need it, especially as your saved bookmark folders will sync across devices. 

Learn how to create, view, and edit your Google Chrome bookmarks on this Google how-to page .

Google Docs

Google Docs is Google’s cloud-based word document editor that you can use to share and collaborate with others with real-time editing. 

If you have a Google account, you have access to Google Docs. And you also have access to available space on your own free cloud-based Google Drive to store your documents. 

If you do not have a Google account, create one here .

Use Google Docs to create itineraries or to save and store travel recommendations and likely lodging options. 

Docs are shareable, downloadable, and sync across devices. Learn more about Google Docs on this tutorial page from Google, or watch this YouTube video . 

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is another free, web-based tool you may already use for your day-to-day time scheduling and can also use to record trip bookings. 

In addition to syncing across devices, Google Calendar works with Gmail to auto-create new calendar events from booking and ticket confirmation emails, sending them to your mobile Inbox for you to accept, reject, or edit. Learn more about how this works in “ Tips to manage Calendar events in Gmail .”

You can even create a shareable trip-specific calendar on Google Calendar, which is helpful for group planning. See Google’s how-to instructions to “ Create & share a group calendar .”

Related Reading

If you are searching for more travel planning tools to help you save time and money and to stay organized, check out the related articles below.

• 49 Things You Need to Do to Plan Your Best Trip (Free Travel Research & Planning Checklist)
• Why You Will Love Google Maps for Trip Planning
• Travel Better: How to Best Use Google Flights Explore
• How to Save Time & Money with Google Flights Price Tracker
• 5 Proven Ways to Simplify and Organize Your Travel Research
• Rental Car Insurance: When You Need It & When You Don’t
• Pack Faster & Better with This Universal Printable Packing List
• 25 Expert Packing Tips to Help You Travel Better
• Pre-Trip: A Practical Checklist to Close the House & Pack

Additional Trip Planning Resources

To further help you with travel planning, I share my go-to resources for every trip below. 

Google Flights. My first research stop for affordable flights for every trip. Learn why here . 

Google Hotels . Use its “ Where to stay ” button to discover the best neighborhoods to base your visit.

Booking.com. For hotel and rental bookings, I appreciate its flexible cancellation, candid user reviews, discounts, loyalty program, and easy-to-use interface.

Viator , Get Your Guide , & Airbnb Experiences . Quickly find and book highly-rated tours and activities on these sites.

Google Travel Things to Do & Google Maps . Find more things to do in your destination on Google Travel, then record where you want to visit on a custom Google Maps list. 

AllTrails . Love to hike? Me too. I religiously use AllTrails to discover hiking and biking trails and download its offline maps to manage my hikes.

Guide Along . 5-star self-guided audio tours that are GPS-compatible for US road trips and national parks. We loved the Glacier National Park tour .

Insure My Trip. I never travel internationally without trip insurance. Learn why here . My preferred place to shop and compare policies is InsureMyTrip.com . 

Plus, check out the 15 travel apps I use on trips, my preferred guidebooks , and my free customizable travel itinerary template , downloadable in four file formats.

About the author:  Janice Moskoff is a travel writer and blogger who loves hiking, exploring the world, and reading. She writes to inspire travel-loving families, adult friends, and couples on her blog,  Gather and Go Travel . Check out  her bio , learn how she became  a blogger , and discover how to  work with her . Sign up for her monthly  Discovery Newsletter  to get her latest travel recommendations and  how-to’s .

Love to travel? Sign up for m y monthly Gather & Go Travel Discovery Newsletter and get a free trip budget calculator .

Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links on this page may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I only recommend products and companies I use. And the income goes to keeping the site community-supported and ads minimal.

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Welcome to Gather and Go Travel , a blog inspiring families, adult friends, and couples to explore US and international destinations and to get outdoors. I am Janice, an experienced traveler to over 50 countries and a travel writer, book lover, and blogger. Learn more about me , read our story , and how to work with me .

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TripIt Review: A Worthwhile Travel Planning Tool or an Outdated Resource?

September 28, 2021 6 min read

Keeping all information relating to a trip organized and in one place can be stressful. That’s why finding a great travel planning app is so important. 

TripIt is one option on the market. It claims to organize all travel details, such as flight information and hotel reservations, in one place. You can also receive notifications relating to your travel bookings. 

But is TripIt really the best option out there? This TripIt review intends to offer an overview of how to use TripIt and its pros and cons to ultimately answer the question: Is TripIt worth it? 

What is TripIt?

TripIt is a travel planning app that generates itineraries and keeps all details relating to your trip in one place. As opposed to apps that make travel suggestions, like Wanderlog , TripIt simply consolidates all of your already planned trip information in one place. Things you can add include transport, accommodation, and activity details. 

TripIt intends to take care of your travel details to lower stress and worry when traveling and improve organization. You can use TripIt online, or there’s a convenient TripIt mobile app for iPhone, iPad, and Android.  

This app has been touted as a good choice for those that have their travel plans set. However, TripIt is not the place to find vacation inspiration. 

Despite some drawbacks, the company has caught the eye of many publications and has been featured by The New York Times , NBC , Forbes , Travel+Leisure , and more. 

Is TripIt Free? 

If TripIt sounds like something that would interest you, you may be wondering: “Is TripIt free?” Conveniently, the basic plan is free. However, this plan offers limited features (discussed below.) 

How Much is TripIt Pro? 

TripIt Pro is a paid subscription option offered by TripIt that provides more features and benefits than their basic plan. TripIt Pro costs $49 a year, and you can try it free for 30 days. 

TripIt for Teams 

TripIt also has a third membership option, TripIt for Teams. This option helps plan travel for business and other “team” type situations. 

It keeps all team member’s itineraries in one place and can make different itineraries for different travelers on the trip. The team can then access a travel calendar with everyone’s schedule on it. 

TripIt for Teams costs $29/month for 1-10 users, $49/month for 11-25 users, $89/month for 26-50 users, and $159/month for 51-100 users.  

TripIt vs. TripIt Pro 

So, how exactly do you compare TripIt Pro vs. TripIt basic?  

When comparing the two for this TripIt review, we found that TripIt Pro offers more updates on your trip and a few extra features. 

Extra features you’ll be provided with when using TripIt Pro vs. TripIt basic include:

• Seat upgrade information 
• Check-in reminders
• Fare trackers
• Reward program points tracker
• Flight updates 
• Security wait time updates
• Information on finding connecting flights
• Baggage claim location 
• Gate information and updates 
• Interactive maps 
• Estimates of the best time to leave for your trip (for example, when to leave home to catch your flight) and estimated travel times
• Ability to send travel plans to friends and family
• Ability to add documents and files to your itinerary, like PDFs or photos 

How to Cancel TripIt Pro 

If you purchase TripIt Pro and don’t like the upgrade, it’s easy to cancel. To cancel TripIt Pro:

• Sign in to your account
• Click your user name, then “Settings”, then “Billing Information”
• Press “Cancel TripIt Pro.” 

When looking into cancellation for this TripIt review, we discovered that you can’t get a refund on your annual fee. If you want to cancel, auto-renewal will be disabled, but you must finish the year-long subscription.

If you want to cancel the TripIt Pro free trial before you get charged the annual fee, follow the same steps as above. 

How Does TripIt Work?

• Download TripIt for Android, iPhone, or iPad, or visit tripit.com.
• Sign up for an account and decide if you’ll upgrade to TripIt Pro. 
• Select “Start Itinerary.” 
• Add your destination city, travel start and end dates, a trip name, and a description (if you like.) Then click “Add Trip.” 
• You can then manually add to your itinerary or email information to be added. 

Information you can add includes: 

• Hotel and other accommodation reservations
• Flight bookings
• Car rentals
• Restaurant bookings 
• Meetings 

TripIt also shows predicted weather conditions during your trip to help plan activities and what to pack. Additionally, TripIt is currently offering Covid-19 travel guidance. You can see the carbon footprint of the trip along with ways to offset emissions too.   

How do I email an itinerary to Tripit? 

To email travel information to TripIt, forward all travel plan confirmation emails from your email to [email protected] . 

You can also agree to let TripIt scan your email and add travel plans relating to your trip as you receive email confirmations. If doing this, make sure the email account you create your TripIt account with is the one you use for travel confirmation emails. 

How to add itinerary to TripIt

Once in your trip itinerary, click “Add Plan,” and you can choose a range of things to add under the subheadings “Transportation,” “Activities,” and “Other.”

What are the Benefits of Tripit? 

Easy to Add Transport, Accommodation, and Activity Details

When testing the app for this TripIt review, we found that adding information to your trip itinerary was very easy. The process of manually adding transport, accommodation, and activities, and forwarding confirmation emails is straightforward and low hassle. 

Allowing TripIt to scan your email makes the process even simpler as they will automatically add things relating to your trip to your itinerary as you receive confirmation emails. 

Once your itinerary is created, it’s also very easy to understand. 

Automatic Reminders and Updates 

If you opt for TripIt Pro, you’ll receive updates and reminders about your trip. These updates make staying on top of what is going on simple. These notifications include suggestions as to when you should leave to reach a location on time, transport updates, and much more.

Can Use via Mobile Device or Online 

You can conveniently access TripIt both via web browser and an app for mobile devices. Having a mobile app is especially handy as travelers can check their itinerary on the go.   

Does TripIt Have Any Drawbacks? 

Too many notifications and emails.

TripIt sends a lot of emails and notifications, especially if you use TripIt Pro. They send travel updates for almost any activity relating to your travel, many of which you don’t need to know. They also often provide the same updates multiple times. 

This issue results in user inboxes becoming full and can mean they miss other important emails. You can turn off email and other notifications. However, you won’t get notified of significant updates, which is one of the purposes of the app.   

Alerts Can Be Incorrect  

When looking at customer feedback for this TripIt review, we found that some negative reviewers of TripIt mention that incorrect alerts relating to their travel plans were given. In some cases, users have even missed their flights because of this! If you choose to use TripIt Pro, always double-check the alerts before acting on them. 

Imported Trip Details Can Be Incorrect 

Users have also said that automatically added trip information has been imported incorrectly. For example, confirmations not related to the trip have been added along with duplicates. 

TripIt Pro is Expensive 

More and more travel planning software is offering all premium features for free. Therefore, paying $49 a year to access TripIt Pro is quite expensive. For example, Wanderlog offers a host of benefits, including itinerary creation and activity suggestions, at no cost. 

Comparable to Google Docs and Sheets 

Some say that as TripIt offers basic features, it’s comparable to simply adding your travel info to a Google Doc, Sheet, or other similar document. 

Slightly Boring and Outdated Website 

TripIt’s website, and to some extent the app, is relatively outdated and features a basic design. In addition, some of the website pages don’t load properly or don’t redirect as they should. 

This dated user interface ultimately affects usability, and there are many alternatives to TripIt with more functional (and fun) websites and apps. 

Does Not Suggest Places to Visit During Your Trip 

TripIt is simply a place to store information relating to your trip that you have already planned. TripIt doesn’t give any suggestions on where to stay, what transport route to take, or what activities to do at your destination. 

This is a big disadvantage as many alternatives to TripIt do offer suggestions. For example, Wanderlog allows you to create travel itineraries with information you already have planned. But we also offer lots of suggestions to make your trip even better. If you like any of our activity suggestions, you can easily add them to your itinerary. 

This TripIt flaw could occur because the software was originally intended more for business travel than for vacation travel. 

Is TripIt Worth It? 

Having used the software for this TripIt review, we would say that there are benefits to using TripIt. However, there are better options on the market. For example, other travel planning apps , like Wanderlog, offer suggestions on accommodation and activities in your destination. 

Despite this, those that have used TripIt seem to be satisfied. The company receives 4.1/5 Stars based on 220+ Facebook reviews.

Positive reviewers like:

• The convenience of the app
• How all their travel info is in one place
• The fact that alerts and updates are offered, for example, updates on flight information  

One particularly happy user says, “ My [favorite] app! Especially love how the pro version keeps me updated on flight changes including gate updates and delays. Easy to forward. Easy to forward emails from travel Booking confirmations to create your plans. Seeing all my planned trips [on] one screen is what keeps me sane every day when I’m dreaming about my next holiday!”

On the other hand, negative reviewers mention: 

• Trip details not getting imported correctly
• Notifications, especially relating to flights, being incorrect 
• Receiving too many emails and notifications, many of which say the same thing 

Another question many people have when considering using TripIt is: “Is TripIt Pro worth it?” If set on using TripIt, the Pro version is a good choice for those that travel a lot. 

However, the only real added benefit is alerts and updates relating to travel plans. For the most part, you can set those up directly for most things. For example, many airlines will text or email with flight updates.  As mentioned, there are also many free alternatives to TripIt Pro (like Wanderlog) So, paying $49 a year isn’t necessary. In fact, with Wanderlog, you have access to all the features offered by TripIt. Plus, you can access activity suggestions and benefit from our more modern and user-friendly interface, all at no cost. Sounds good? Start using the Wanderlog travel planner today!

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