--- description: These free apps can shave time and money off of your journey, and sniff out a few hidden gems at your destination. title: The 10 Best Free Apps for Travel Junkies image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt972f7a7a10a48429/698785a406f2c170db334a3c/454232369.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The 10 Best Free Apps for Travel Junkies ## Video: Disney's New Travel App, Airbnb Business Travelers & Four Seasons' Picasso [Watch (HLS stream): Disney's New Travel App, Airbnb Business Travelers & Four Seasons' Picasso](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cxGDDTOn.m3u8) (2:43)  _Published 2014-04-03. It's about that time. The weather's getting warmer and you're probably starting to think about where you might want to spend those vacation days. Well, don’t worry. Here’s this week’s Travel + Leisure round-up._  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 31, 2015 10:00 AM CUT  young businessmen/women rushing through airport young businessmen/women rushing through airportStephen Simpson—Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 31, 2015 10:00 AM CUT Odds are you use no more than two travel apps to get from point A to point B, and that’s fine — surveys [show](http://www.cwtinsights.com/market/how-popular-are-travel-apps-today.shtml "undefined") you’re not alone. But consider for a moment these 10 travel apps, which can shave time and money off your next journey and help you sniff out a few hidden gems to boot. They’re all free and just one download away from making your next trip smooth sailing. **Hopper** [Hopper](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hopper-airfare-predictions/id904052407?mt=8 "undefined") predicts the optimal time to snag a flight deal by analyzing billions of airfares daily and picking out those brief moments when a price drops below its historic average. Travelers with flexible dates can use Hopper’s color-coded calendar to spot the cheapest dates in a month. Hopper’s handiest feature, “Watch a Flight,” sends a push notification when the price of a given route tends to bottom out. **Options Away** Of course, no forecast is perfect. [Options Away](https://www.optionsaway.com/ "undefined") essentially gives flyers insurance for missed deals. For a small fee, users can lock in an airfare two days to three weeks ahead of the purchase. If the airfare drops, they automatically get the cheaper ticket. If not, they pay the original price and swallow the fee ($5 to more than $50, depending on the hold time). Perfect for flyers who suffer from frequent bouts of buyer’s remorse. **TripAdvisor** Millions of travelers use [TripAdvisor](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tripadvisor-hotels-flights/id284876795?mt=8 "undefined") to rank restaurants, bars, hotels and sights on a five star system. Collectively, they’ve enabled TripAdvisor to create a handy, crowdsourced list of the city’s must see attractions. Think of it as a Cliffs Notes version of the travel guide, perfect for anyone who doesn’t have the time or patience to plod through 300 pages of advice. For more curated travel tips, TripAdvisor also offers a standalone [Offline City Guides app](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tripadvisor-offline-city-guides/id480066121?mt=8 "undefined") to more than 80 destinations you can download and access later without a mobile data connection. **Localeur** Maybe you’d rather steer clear of the well-trodden sights and slip into the local scene. [Localeur](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/localeur/id777769897?mt=8 "undefined") solicits advice from, you guessed it, locals, whose travel tips range from the eclectic — “Miami’s awesomely authentic taqueria’s” — to the bizzarre — “Portland’s 4 best photo booth bars.” For now, the quirky advice is limited to 14 major U.S. cities. But what Localeur lacks in coverage, it makes up for in personality. **Airbnb** No hotel booking site can match the sheer diversity of [Airbnb](https://www.airbnb.com/mobile "undefined")‘s 1,000,000 listings and counting. Rental options range from [castles](https://www.airbnb.com/wishlists/stay-in-a-castle "undefined") to [vans](https://www.airbnb.com/wishlists/sleep-in-a-van "undefined"), [yurts](https://www.airbnb.com/wishlists/traditional-yurts "undefined") to [watchtowers](https://www.airbnb.com/wishlists/watchtower-listings "undefined"), and an ever-growing supply of apartments, rooms and sofas to accommodate just about anyone’s budget. Using the app requires a little more administrative work than the typical hotel booking — you’ll need to authenticate your identity and work out the logistics of the key hand-off with the host. On the other hand, yurts! **Postagram** For a more personal postcard, upload a vacation picture to [Postagram](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/postagram-print-send-photo/id429264904?mt=8 "undefined"), type in a greeting, and Postagram will print out the card and send it through snail mail for 99 cents in the U.S. and $1.99 worldwide. **Google Translate** The [Google Translate](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.translate&hl=en "undefined") team recently launched a killer feature for international travelers: “Conversation mode.” Simply open the app, hold the mobile device between two people speaking a different language, and listen as it translates a conversation live. The speakers may struggle to adjust to the lag time and a fair amount of mistranslations, but it certainly beats trying to get messages across through frantic hand waving. **TripIt** Confirmation emails for flights, hotels and rental cars can pile up fast and easily get lost in the shuffle of inbox. [TripIt](https://www.tripit.com/uhp/mobile "undefined") automatically converts those emails into a single, easy-to-read travel itinerary. The app scans the body of emails for reservation times, automatically adds events to your calendar, sorts them in chronological order and pulls in maps to help with navigation. **Skype** Cell phone carriers tend to make off like bandits when it comes to international charges. Bypass the fees with [Skype](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skype.raider&hl=en "undefined"), which routes calls over a Wi-Fi network for $.02 a minute. Calls placed to other Skype accounts, a user base of more than 250 million people, are free of charge. **Gas Buddy** [Gas Buddy](http://www.gasbuddy.com/GasBuddyMobileApps.aspx "undefined") keeps a running tab of the cheapest gas stations in your area. Tap on a gas station to pull up driving directions on Google Maps. The prices are reported by users, who are incentivized to keep prices up to date by racking up points, which they can later redeem for free prizes. _Read next:_ [_These Are the First 24 Apple Watch Apps_](http://time.com/3761361/apple-watch-apps-first/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3759952/travel-apps/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3759952/travel-apps/"},"headline":"The 10 Best Free Apps for Travel Junkies","datePublished":"2015-03-31T10:00:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:04:44.829Z","description":"These apps could make your next journey a little faster, cheaper and smarter","url":"https://time.com/3759952/travel-apps/","keywords":["Tech","apps","Travel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt972f7a7a10a48429/698785a406f2c170db334a3c/454232369.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt972f7a7a10a48429/698785a406f2c170db334a3c/454232369.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"454232369","caption":"454232369","creditText":"Stephen Simpson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3759952/travel-apps/","name":"The 10 Best Free Apps for Travel Junkies"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"10 Free Must-Have Android Apps","description":"Great everyday apps that span multiple genres","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/3QsoJP67/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-07-15T18:28:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3QsoJP67.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3759952/travel-apps/","duration":"PT1M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3759952/travel-apps/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Disney's New Travel App, Airbnb Business Travelers & Four Seasons' Picasso","description":"It's about that time. 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