You just booked the big family trip of a lifetime. The kids can hardly sleep – they’re so excited. But there’s one problem – how will you keep everyone happy and organized during the vacation?
Recently, we spoke with a company that develops travel apps and discussed how mobile apps can improve the family travel planning experience. Keep reading to discover the must-have apps that will take the stress out of family travel and let you focus on making memories.
Booking and Reservation Management
Long gone are the days spent surfing through travel websites for hours and making phone calls to book a family vacation. Mobile apps have revolutionized how people make their plans for travel, and it helps book flights, hotels, and cars right from the palm of your hand.
Reserve a Hotel Room on The Go
Hotel booking apps like Hotels.com and Booking.com let you find the biggest deals, even months in advance. You just have to enter your city and trip dates, and it will show you all available hotels, filtered by star rating, amenities, or price.
These apps even provide additional discounts or freebies if you book through their app. And with interactive map features, you can see exactly where the hotels are in regards to popular and family-friendly attractions.
Compare Flight Deals in Seconds
Apps like Kayak, Expedia, and Skyscanner allow you to enter your departure and arrival cities and dates of travel to instantly see available flights and fares from multiple airlines. You can filter by number of stops, departure/arrival times, and airlines to find the perfect flight for your needs.
The best part is many apps will alert you if there’s a drop in price for your selected flights so you can rebook at the lower rate, which is a great option for families
Get Wheels without The Hassle
Need a set of wheels for your vacation? Car rental apps like Hertz, Avis, and Enterprise allow you to browse vehicle options, compare rates, and book a rental car directly through the app.
You can view vehicle details, choose between different models, and select add-on items like child seats to create your ideal rental car package. The apps save all your personal details, so booking future rentals is a breeze.
On-the-Go Planning and Organization
Planning a family vacation can be an organizational nightmare. Thankfully, there are apps designed specifically to help streamline the itinerary creation and management process.
TripIt
TripIt is a must-have for any family trip. Forward your flight, hotel, and rental car confirmations to their email and the app will automatically organize all the details into a master itinerary. It provides an overview of your entire trip at a glance, including addresses and maps for each location. You can also share the itinerary with family members so everyone has the details on their devices.
Roadtrippers
If you’re planning a family road trip, Roadtrippers is invaluable. Simply enter your starting point and destination and the app will suggest an interesting route, highlighting fun stops like quirky roadside attractions, national parks, kid-friendly museums, and highly-rated diners along the way.
You can adjust the route to your liking, save your trip for later, and download the details to use offline if needed. Kids will love helping pick out places to stop!
PackPoint
With the help of PackPoint, you won’t forget anything preparing for your family getaway. Just tell the app where you’re going and how long you’ll stay, and it will make a custom packing list for every family member, relying on info like weather predictions and planned activities.
It will suggest essentials like underwear and toothbrushes, of course, but also activity-specific gear such as swimsuits, hiking boots, and electronics chargers. You can then check off or remove items from the list as needed. Using PackPoint is a foolproof way to feel prepared for any family adventure.
In-Destination Assistance and Exploration
Booking.com reports that 62% of families say their main reason for traveling this year is to spend quality time together.
Mobile apps can enhance this experience by making it easy to discover new activities. By downloading these apps before your trip, you can explore options in advance or find new adventures on the go.
TripAdvisor
This popular app provides reviews and ratings of local attractions, restaurants, hotels and activities from other travelers. Browse the lists of top things to do and places to eat at your destination to get ideas. You can also filter by keywords like “family friendly,” “budget” or “kids menu” and see the locations on a map.
Yelp
Yelp is another great option for finding locally loved spots. In addition to reviews, you’ll get details like price range, hours of operation, and photos. Yelp offers a few extras for families like the ability to filter results by “good for kids” and see if places have amenities such as high chairs, kids menus or play areas.
Culture Trip
If you want to discover lesser-known cultural attractions and events, the Culture Trip app is a gem. It highlights unique experiences, historical spots, art galleries, festivals and natural areas around the world. You can save places that pique your interest to build your own customized itinerary. This app uncovers the hidden side of destinations that most tourists miss.
Post-Trip Reflection and Sharing
Nowadays, recording and sharing travel memories is just as crucial as the trip itself. Fortunately, there are various mobile apps designed just for making digital travel journals, scrapbooks, and photo albums.
Journo
Trip Journal is a simple but versatile app for logging your family adventures. You can add photos and videos, record your location, thoughts, or feelings, and tag other travelers who were there. The entries are displayed on an interactive map, so you can relive your whole trip. You can also print your journal as a book to share with friends and family.
Chatbooks
If you prefer a printed photo book over a digital journal, Chatbooks is a great option. The app automatically pulls photos from your phone or social media accounts to create monthly photo books. For travel, you can select a custom date range to capture your whole trip in one book. Chatbooks handles the layout and design for you, or you can create your own using their tools. The end result is a high-quality softcover book at an affordable price.
Conclusion
Mobile apps have already changed how families plan their travel. As more families use these apps, the travel industry is adapting to better meet their needs. App creators can take this opportunity to make apps that are more useful and easy for families with diverse needs and preferences. By understanding what traveling families require and using the latest mobile tech, the travel industry can help make family trips more enjoyable, less stressful, and really meaningful for everyone.
