The 7 best travel and vacation apps to help you plan your next trip

Vacations should to be relaxing. In fact, that’s the whole point of vacations. But planning a vacation requires a lot of research, organization and attention to detail. Maybe that’s why there are roughly a million and a half apps that exist to ease the pain of planning travel. There are apps to help you book flights and hotels. And there are apps that generate packing lists to your standards and needs. There are so many apps that navigating the app stores for the best vacation and travel apps is another stressful complication. But we’re going to help you solve that problem. Because we’ve narrowed down the list for you. These are the best vacation and travel apps to help you plan every aspect of your next trip.

Roadtrippers

The Roadtrippers app is for making the most of your next road trip anywhere in the world. This app generates the quickest route for you while also giving you an estimate for the cost of gas for your road trip. The Roadtrippers app allows you to look at stops along your route from hotels to restaurants and local tourist sites. You can create stops along your road trip and book hotel rooms. Roadtrippers offers several free features, but if you want to add more than five stops or share your itinerary with your travel buddies, then you are going to have to upgrade to the Roadtrippers Plus version. The upgraded version is $29.99 a year and includes trip collaboration, live traffic on maps, and offline maps.

Hopper

If you are looking for great deals on hotel rooms, car rentals, flights, or renting out a room in a house, then Hopper is your next app to download. Hopper predicts the fluctuating prices of flights and hotel rooms with 95% recommendation accuracy so you can get the cheapest deal. If you are unsure about booking at the time, you can freeze the price for up to 14 days and book at that later date. Hopper also offers flexibility if you need to change your travel plans. The Hopper Instant Travel Refund Promise, which you can add to your tickets, gives you 100% of the ticket cost back as an airline credit or a refund if you cancel for any reason up to 24 hours before your departure. Hopper really is one of the most popular and best vacation and travel apps you can download.

Flush – Toilet Finder & Map

The Flush Toilet Finder app helps you locate public restrooms located around the world. Its database contains over 200,000 public restroom locations and will let you know if there are any fees or keys associated with using that restroom, as well as letting you know if it is ADA accessible. Flush Toilet Finder is an app that is great to use if you are in an unfamiliar area, on a road trip, or traveling with children. When using the Flush app, you do not need an internet connection. This app is free to use and available for both iOS and Android devices.

PackPoint

PackPoint is an app available for both iOS and Android devices that generates a packing list for you. When you first download the app, it asks you questions about your travel destination, length of stay, and if your trip is for business or leisure. You can also select the type of activities you plan to do on your trip, from working out to going out to having a fancy dinner. PackPoint then takes this information and checks the weather conditions during your trip to give you a packing list. The basics are free, but if you want to add more customization, you can upgrade to the premium version for $2.99.

Rebtel

This app is for those who love to travel internationally. Rebtel connects you with the local phone lines, Wifi, 3G, or LTE to give you the best service to allow you to call your family and friends while traveling abroad. The best aspect of this app is that you don’t need the internet to make your call. This app is available for both Android and iOS. There are no contracts or hidden fees associated with using Rebtel. It’s a straightforward app that lets you know the cost upfront. For example, if you want to purchase a calling card for the United Kingdom, it would cost $5 for 250 minutes or $25 for 1250 minutes.

TripIt

The TripIt app is for planning out your trip and keeping you organized. This app is so simple to use, all you have to do is forward your trip information such as your flight and hotel confirmation emails, and TripIt will create an itinerary for you. You’ll be able to access your travel plans anytime and anywhere. The app is free to use, but if you choose to upgrade to TripIt Pro, the subscription costs $48.99 per year. However, the pro version will give you more features such as flight delays, drops in airfare pricing, security wait times, and traffic to the airport.

Travel Tipping With Piper

Piper consists of a database of 84 countries that gives information on the tipping customs. Piper allows you to access this information on and offline. Americans are used to tipping, but the practice doesn’t work the same way everywhere. The next time you travel abroad, you know the tipping customs of the country or countries you’ll visit, or if tipping is necessary there at all. Piper breaks down tipping, from dining at restaurants, taking taxis, or getting haircuts. This app is currently only available for iOS devices. This app is free; however, you will have to pay to access the full range of countries or regions. To pay for an additional area, such as Western or Eastern Europe, will only cost $0.99. If you choose to upgrade to see all 84 countries, it will cost $4.99.