Top 10 travel apps for stress-free holidays

Planning your next holiday? Need some help booking accommodation, finding food recommendations and finalising your itinerary? Luckily, we’ve found a few travel apps to help keep your holidays relaxing and stress-free. Check them out below.

Booking your flight tickets and managing your schedule is made easy if you have the right flight management apps on hand. Below are some of our recommendations.

When it comes to checking, booking, and finding value deals for flights, Flight Centre is one of the best travel apps out there. An Australian-born international travel company, Flight Centre has helped make the lives of travellers around the world easier for over 40 years.

The app allows you to compare and book flights and access great travel deals in a few taps. The app’s exclusive Flight Club also recommends top picks for destinations and packages every Friday, so world trotters can keep up to date with the latest travel trends.

In the unfortunate case that your flights are cancelled or delayed, you’ll also be notified through the app. A Flight Centre consultant can redirect you to an appropriate alternative and take the hassle out of your hands. The Flight Centre app is available on both iOS and Android.

Keep a record of all your travel receipts with TripCase’s virtual wallet. TripCase is a digital platform used to store your personal or business itineraries virtually, while also helping you keep track of your flight tickets, reservations, and other travel documentation.

With an intuitive user interface and live service updates (e.g. terminal gate changes and ticket reissues), TripCase is an essential app to install on your device during your travels. Bear in mind that the app requires a stable WiFi connection or data to run, meaning it may be handy to activate international roaming on your device. TripCase is available on the App Store and on Google Play.

Whether it’s a last-minute decision or something you’d like planned well in advance before your trip, the accommodation apps below can help you book your perfect holiday home.

If you’re after affordable accommodation which also double up as a social hub, look no further than the hostels recommended on HostelWorld. An award-winning mobile app available on both iOS and Android, the app features over 36,000 travel-friendly properties in 178 countries. You can simply book a room on the app and contact the 24/7 customer team if you run into any problems.

The app also includes a people connection feature so hostel visitors can meet with other travellers staying in the same area. You can even use the app’s messaging features (group chats and direct messages) to chat with new friends.

Another useful app to have downloaded on your phone before your trip is booking.com. Although it  includes booking options for other travel essentials (such as flights and car rentals), we’ve seen it best used for accommodation.

From 5-star hotels to local apartments, to luxurious resorts, you can browse a wide range of accommodation options on the booking.com app. You can also view any exclusive offers an accommodation may have with booking.com and make payments directly through the app. Booking.com is available on the App Store and Google Play.

A bit more organisation can make your travelling experience can be much more enjoyable and stress-free. Below are a few apps we recommend for organising and itinerary planning, especially if you’re travelling with others.

Splitwise is a great way to help you manage shared expenses while on a trip. It’s a free tool available on the App Store and Google Play and lets you accurately track and divvy up any expenses to ensure everyone gets paid back. You can create a log for your trip and share it with your travel buddies so that everyone has a record of the collective travel expenses.

Wanderlog is a great travel itinerary and road trip planner app. If you’re the type of traveller to plan things down to the minute, Wanderlog is the perfect app for you. It has an updated route map to show you the distances between different attractions you might want to visit and can help you visually plan for your trip.

For easy-going travellers, Wanderlog can also be a good app as it recommends expertly crafted travel guides based on your location, so you can save time on planning and freely enjoy everything your holiday destination has to offer instead.

What’s a holiday without experiencing some of the best foods the local area has to offer? Whether you’re after snacks from neighbourhood street stores or a special fine dining meal, the apps below can help you find your perfect travel feed.

If you’re travelling to Asia and looking to enjoy the local cuisine, OpenRice is a great app to have handy on your mobile device. A dining guide app filled with food recommendations and reviews from real local people, you can trust the app to direct you to the best establishments in your area. Depending on the cuisine you’re looking for and the location you’re in, you can also enjoy the app’s featured coupons.

Bear in mind that OpenRice operates in Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Macau, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand. It is downloadable on Google Play and the App Store.

The Table 8 app is designed for travelling foodies who have an affinity for celebrity-owned or award-winning restaurants. Simply make an account on the app and browse through all the available restaurants in the area to find one that piques your interest.

After choosing a restaurant, you can make a reservation for a time online to ensure you have a spot at these high-demand establishments. If you’re planning on visiting a popular restaurant during your trip, you may want to download Table 8 and make a reservation a couple of weeks in advance. The Table 8 app is compatible with both iOS and Android devices.

To make travelling overseas a little simpler and stress-free, below are two more apps we’d recommend downloading onto your device for the duration of your trip.

Available all over the world, Google Maps allows you to find local businesses, view city maps and get directions on any mobile device. Powered by satellite imagery and aerial photography technology, Google Maps can help you visualise the space you’re travelling to and keep you on track during your trip.

You can also make a Google account and bookmark local attractions, restaurants, or cafes you’d like to visit while on your holiday. Google Maps is available on Google Play and the App Store.

If you’re travelling overseas or to a place where you’re not familiar with the local currency, having a currency converter tool on hand can be a big help. The currency converter app will use live exchange rates to calculate the value of your home currency, versus a foreign one.

This way, you can ensure you’re spending within budget, while also learning the value of various items and foods in a foreign area. You can download the Currency Converter app on your iOS and Android device.

Catch more travel tips or check out amazing overseas destinations you might like to visit.

Many travel apps require internet connection or data. If you’re travelling overseas and would like to use these apps to stay connected with your loved ones back home in Australia, check out our International Roaming offers. Our options include a $5 Roaming Add-on, $10 Roaming Pass, or Standard Roaming (a pay-as-you-go service).

Access our International Roaming options with My Optus app and keep your friends and family up to date with your adventures.