Ok, so you’ve booked your flight, your hotel then finally your car rental. Between confirmation, verification and reservation numbers, then you have traveling times, pickup times and check-in times, it’s a wonder you need a vacation.
But hold on, if you are like most people who own a mobile phone, there is an app for managing your entire travel itinerary. Actually, there are several itinerary mobile apps to choose from, such as WorldMate, TripIt, TripCase, TripAssist and Kayak. These apps can be made available on a variety of mobile phones as well as the computer. They let you combine reservations from disparate sources all into one itinerary. That way you can easily access all of the trip details at any point at a click of a button. This will eliminate the stress and panic of hunting through emails or piles of paperwork for the necessary information, especially during a stressful occasion such as a flight rescheduling.
Want to keep your friends and family posted on your whereabouts during your trip on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn? These apps also come with the added benefit of keeping in touch and broadcasting your location. Remember the movie “21 Days”? This feature would have come SO in handy… Anyway, back to the apps. Most of these itinerary apps are free. This will allow you the opportunity to try out their features and organizational methods and decide which one you like and that best that suits your needs. There are some that have the option to upgrade at an additional cost. But, it’s nice that you can give it “test ride” before you buy.
Here is a list of travel itinerary apps to try.
WorldMate App (Blackberry, iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7.5). Organizes flights, hotels, car rentals, other ground transportation and meetings, and integrates them into a single itinerary. Trips can be created by emailing reservation confirmations to trips@worldmate.com.
Pros: WorldMate has the most tools, including LinkedIn connections, restaurant and nightlife search from Yelp, a currency converter, a tip calculator and weather forecasts and its free app.
Cons: The Windows Phone version of the app doesn’t let users edit trips on the phone. But they can edit on the Web which updates on the app.
TripIt App (iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7.5). It creates a single itinerary from flight, hotel and car rental booking confirmations, which are e-mailed to plans@tripit.com. It will scan your Gmail or Google apps inbox for new confirmations.
Pros: Lets you access all your current and past reservations. Maps are integrated to provide airport directions and terminal layouts. There is TripIt Pro available for a $49 annual fee that provides text or e-mail flight alerts with delays, cancellations, gate changes and baggage claim information.
Cons: The $49 annual fee is pricey compared with others.
Tripcase (iPhone, Android and BlackBerry). Like TripIt, it lets you combine your flight, hotel and rental car bookings into a single itinerary.
Pros: Users can e-mail bookings to trips@tripcase.com. When you book through any of the 600 travel agencies (including Travelocity) that are tied into the Sabre distribution system, your itinerary will automatically be imported. There is an attractive feature enabling you to search and call the original airline if you want to change your flight.
Cons: TripCase isn’t very social. You can share your itinerary with your e-mail contacts but not on a social network.
Kayak (iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Phone 7.5). This app enables users to forward email booking confirmations to trips@kayak.com for a consolidated flight, hotel and car rental itineraries.
Pros: When you book your hotel on Kayak.com or through the app on your phone, your reservation is automatically imported into My Trips. Additional Kayak Pro, will let you track flight status and view maps for more than 100 airports with the small cost of .99 cents for the download and no additional subscription fees.
Cons: Because My Trips isn’t Kayak’s core focus, it isn’t as rich in features as some of its competitors.
We hope that we have given you some useful information that you can use for your next vacation or business trip and as always, have a safe flight.
Here at Donald J. Medeiros Insurance Agency our goal is to try to help our viewers by suggesting solutions for all sorts of personal and business needs. By no means can we address each reader’s specific concerns in every incident. So, we strongly advise to check with a professional to address your specific needs. However, you can always contact us for any questions or concerns that you may have about insurance and we will be happy to help you. We are able to offer a complete line of personal & commercial insurance products for all of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.
Come visit us at www.donmedeirosinsurance.com or give us a call at 508-678-1271. We look forward to hearing from you! If you have a Facebook account please “Like” us at http://www.facebook.com/donmedeiros.