In the current digital age, our smartphones have almost completely taken the place of a travel agent allowing us to customize vacations to best fit our budgets and desires. This DIY travel planning can direct us into strange new places off the well-worn roads most traveled. Improved cell phone coverage (and spectacular cameras built into our phones) means our phones have become an absolutely necessary traveling companion. To help you make the most of your time off, we suggest downloading these top travel apps.

Booking Flights

Hopper
This little app can save you a lot in finding the cheapest flight. The best part is it studies the cost of past flights and suggests cheaper dates to fly. I love the price lock feature where you pay $10 to lock a flight or hotel price which is great if you’re not absolutely ready to make reservations. The deposit is refunded if you complete reservations within 7 days.

Lola
If you want more than an aggregator to find the cheapest flights and hotels and may need human assistance, check out this app. This app serves more as a personal concierge helping you find flights and hotels, like Hopper, but will also help with last minute change of plans, such as finding a new flight if you missed a connection.

Other Cool Apps

• Momondo
• Google Flights
• Skyscanner
• Kayak
• Justfly
• TravelZoo
• Rome2rio
• Priceline
• Hipmunk

Packing

PackPoint
I have this problem of over packing clothes and under packing socks. With PackPoint, I don’t think I’ll ever pack incorrectly again. This app creates a packing list based on the weather of the location you’re visiting, the length of your stay, the reason for your visit (business versus leisure), your gender, and other factors like if you’re staying at a hotel with an onsite laundry facility—like all of our hotels have. There’s a free version of this app and a premium version ($2.99) that integrates with other apps such as TripIt and Evernote.

Other Noteworthy Apps

• Packr Travel Packing Checklist
• Packing Pro
• Travel List App
• The Vane

Transportation/Navigation

Uber/Lyft
There’s no debating that ridesharing is replacing taxi service. Ridesharing is relatively cheaper and faster than the yellow cab, unless you’re in a big city with a roving army of cabbies driving past you at any given moment. In Orlando, Uber and Lyft have been integrated into theme park and attraction destinations with their own pick up and drop off lanes with seating. You’ll want to have either of these ridesharing apps on your phone before you land.

Google Maps
This is the most widely available map that covers many places across the globe. Did you know some museums, stadiums, and airports also have indoor maps that show up on Google Maps? Neither did I! Now we know.

Komoot – The Trekkie/Roadtripper
Here’s one I’ll try next on my backpacking expedition. If you like to get away from the hustle of the city to reset deep in nature, consider bringing Komoot as your hiking pal. Komoot has a lot of hiking and biking paths mapped out for North America, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and more. Best yet, Komoot offers voice guided step by step directions so you can keep your eye on the trail and be hands free.

Roadtripper
This app brings a hefty amount of DIY touring right into your hands. Customize your road trip by selecting the side trips you want to take. For example, a drive from Orlando to the East or West Coast could include visits to historic sites, theme parks, hotels, things to do and see, food and drink, and amusement and night life to name a few. You can add or delete as many side trips as you see fit.

More Cool Apps

• Copilot GPS
• MapQuest
• Here WeGo – The City Slicker
• Sygic – The Professional
• Waze
• Scout GPS Link

Trip Organizers

Any great vacation is filled with fun things to do. It’s nice that there are apps to help you keep track of your daily plans. As with apps, there are many, each with a feature that makes them stand out on their own. We’ve done our best to organize our favorites below.

Visit a City
This cool app does a lot for you. What I like most about it is that it helps you plan a semi realistic itinerary based on how much time you’ll be spending in any given city. With more than 3,000 destinations – Orlando included – this app should serve you well for years to come. It allows you to customize your itinerary based on how much or how little you want to do while in Orlando (or elsewhere). Its suggested plans already maximize your time, and you’ll have to delete a plan or two to make room for eating.

TripIt
Once you forward your confirmation trip to TripIt, the app takes care of the rest. The master itinerary app organizes hotel and restaurant reservations, car rentals, and flights. Insider’s notes: TripIt’s paying members receive credit in certain airport lounges.

Trip Republic
This app is similar to TripIt but has wonderful filters that allow you to set your budget before daydreaming of what to do in Orlando. The list of activities include day trips, sports, museums and attractions, theatre, outdoor fun, transportation, and shopping.

Other Cool Travel Organization Apps

• TripCase
• Sygic Travel
• Plan Chat
• TravelBank (great for business travelers)

Booking a Hotel

This website alone is as good as an app for selecting the right Rosen hotel for you based on the activities that bring you to Orlando. All of our best pricing at each hotel is available here. In this blog section, you’ll find details of all the fun things you can find in and around Orlando, written by Orlando natives. For many people, a vacation to Orlando is an opportunity of a life time. Be sure to plan well and be prepared to have a lot of fun, eat great food, and take home some amazing souvenirs. If you ever need more help planning your trip, please give us a call at 1-866-337-6736.