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10 Travel Apps You Need to Know About in 2021
10 Travel Apps You Need to Know About in 2021
Last updated: Jan 2, 2024

These 10 travel apps will help inspire your journeys in 2024

 

Many travel milestones were reached in the past year, which inspired us here at LuggageHero to take a look at some of the finest and newest innovations in the market regarding travel. A record number of 225,000 planes took to the sky on July 24th, the largest amount ever recorded on a single day, according to flight-tracking service FlightRadar24. Imagine how many travelers that adds up in a single day; now imagine how many that is for a whole year!

A global world leads to higher travel demands, which means that new innovations that help the industry are more important than ever before. This is also supported by a global study made by Travelport Digital; where they found that out of 955 travelers, 58% preferred to use apps to search for flights, and 53% preferred apps to find accommodation. The following apps are here to make your adventures in 2021 easier and more pleasant and allow for you to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

 

 

Take a look at our list right here, all top apps have made it “best 10” which means that the order is completely random. 

 

1. Omio: Book Train, Bus & Flight Tickets

Om

Omio’s platform allows you to find the fastest, cheapest, and best travel options by train, bus, and plane to thousands of cities, towns, and villages across Europe, the United States, and Canada. This kind of approach to travel allows travelers to travel with ease and be able to see all of their options. A single search provides all the trains, buses, and flights available to accommodate your personal travel needs. The app allows you to search in over 35 countries!

 

2. Pilot

 

Pilot is a travel planning app that makes it easy to plan your trip all in one place. All your bookings, ideas, group chats, expenses, map pins and routes, and more are centralized for you in an easy and fun interface.

As you and your friends use the app, you’ll be able to see where your friends have been so you can go there too, as well as ask them for recommendations for your next trip.

Pilot makes it easy for planning group or solo travel by replacing the need to use multiple apps such as Google Docs, Sheets, Maps, and messy group chats to plan out your trip. It’s the best way to make sure you’re making the most out of your trip.

You can also track your flights, expenses, and more, and vote on what to do on your next trip a group.

Best of all, it’s absolutely free!

Protip: Be sure to remind yourself to use LuggageHero by putting a reminder on your itinerary for when you land!

 

2. Donkey Republic bike rental

donkey republic travel app
While biking might not be for everyone, it surely is one of the best and cheapest ways to get around nowadays. It is also sustainable and allows you to leave less of a footprint on your travel destination. Donkey Republic is a self-service rental system, available in more than 50 cities, 24/7.
By using their app you can find and unlock a Donkey near you. Simply connect to the electronic lock on the vehicle via Bluetooth on your smartphone. You can take short trips or even use the two-wheeler for multiple days.

You may be wondering what’s up with the Donkey…

“Once, a donkey would be the most accessible, dependable, and commonplace means of transportation. Nowadays, when our cities are suffocated by boxes of metal, the humble bicycle is taking the role of its hoofed ancestor as a convenient and pragmatic device of urban mobility.”

The bike is the donkey of 2024 – the simplest, most plain, and unpretentious vehicle ever invented.

 

3. HotelTonight: Book amazing deals at great hotels

hoteltonight app
We seek to excite customers with great value, flexibility, and the spontaneous joy of last-minute booking.
— Sam Shank, Co-founder of HotelTonight.
HotelTonight allows travelers to book a hotel room last minute, giving travelers the best discounts on all kinds of hotels. They’ve got you covered with amazing deals at thousands upon thousands of top hotels in cities & countries worldwide. By using HotelTonight you get discounts on the hotels’ empty rooms. You get the best rates and deals, whether last minute or in advance. HotelTonight makes it incredibly easy to find and reserve a sweet deal at a great hotel.

4. LuggageHero

 

bag storage app

LuggageHero is a network that enables you to store your luggage for a short term in cafes, hotels, restaurants, and more. This lets the traveler have a luggage-free experience in the city which they are visiting.

LuggageHero has 38 luggage sites across Europe and North America including cities such as New York, London, and Paris. By using the mobile app you will quickly find the most convenient location for you, you will also be able to book and receive directions through the app, go drop off your luggage, and head out to enjoy the city!

5. AirHelp – Flight Tracker & Delay Compensation

air

AirHelp assists passengers to get up to €600 in flight delay compensation. Delays, cancellations, overbookings – it happens all the time! What do we do in these situations?

The AirHelp app puts the power back in YOUR hands as an air passenger. Any disrupted flight you have had in the last three years could mean hundreds in cash for you. They follow up your claim with the airline and get you your money back. No hassle, no stress, you just sit back and relax.

Since 2013 AirHelp has helped over two million travelers get money back from airlines. By using cutting-edge technology, real-time flight data, and unparalleled knowledge of the industry they are able to win cases on your behalf and get you the money you are entitled to as a passenger.

 

6. OneFineStay

 

onefinestay travel app

For those of you who want a little luxury – try OneFineStay. With the app, you can plan your next vacation or time away by staying in distinctive private homes and villas in the world’s most sought-after travel destinations around the world.

With just a few clicks you can discover and book the world’s finest homes and villas, manage your booking, and access detailed home instructions, like how to turn on the TV, adjust the heating and connect to the WiFi. The hospitality brand unlocks a whole new level of customized experiences for the discerning traveler.

 

7. HomeExchange

home exchange

HomeExchange is the world’s leading home exchange community, with nearly 400,000 homes in 187 countries, allowing users to find a cost-effective and comfortable accommodation solution for their traveling.

How it works is you first create your listing (it’s free!), and fill out your profile, then you look for homes in destinations that interest you and send exchange requests. After that, you need to become a member and finalize your exchange.

For $150/year, you can take advantage of the following: unlimited worry-free exchanges, unlimited number of exchanges, member support at your fingertips, assistance in case of cancellation or non-compliance, property damage coverage. There is further an exchange guarantee which means that if you don’t find an exchange in your first year, the second year of Membership is free.

 

8. Withlocals – Personal Tours & Travel Experiences

Withlocals allows you to get the most out of your city trip chat with your local host and personalize your tour just the way you like. All of the carefully selected local hosts are passionate about their city. They are also enthusiastic about sharing the best tips and tricks to make the rest of your trip an unforgettable experience!

Example Tours:

Discover Rome bite by bite on a delicious 10 tastings tour. Stroll through the city like a local and enjoy the fabulous architecture and must-see sights.

Visit a non-touristy floating market in the heart of Bangkok, taste delicious food, and learn how to bargain as the locals do – your host can show you how!

See the main attractions of Lisbon in a non-touristy way. This is your chance to see the city’s highlights plus some beautiful hidden gems that can’t be found in any guide books!

 

9. WanderSafe Beacon

WanderSafe is the app that empowers you to navigate your surroundings better and safer. With interactive and dynamic location-based maps, your personal safety concierge wich provides relevant safety advice and alerts you if you are entering an area that could be unsafe.

While the app itself may not have such a good rating we believe it is worth mentioning as many of the bugs mentioned in the bad reviews have already been fixed and our personal experience using the app has been great. The app needs more people to start using it so it reaches its full potential but we believe it is on its way.

With WanderSafe you can explore new neighborhoods, cities, and countries. The app will show you where there are reports of incidents you should avoid and tips from WanderSafe verified local “Heroes”.

 

10. TripIt

 

 

TripIt is an app that gives you an overview of all your trips, to help you keep it all straight–regardless of how many trips you are planning at the same time. TripIt will arrange all your information in seconds. You only have to forward the bookings’ confirmation emails to TripIt and they will take care of the rest.

Once you have forwarded your confirmation emails, you will get a master itinerary, and you can immediately send your plans to your calendar or share them with anyone you choose.

To sum up

All the above-mentioned apps have amazing potential to improve your traveling. Therefore, if you want to enjoy your trip to the absolute maximum then we highly suggest you check out the listed apps so you can put your entire focus on having the time of your life.