If you have already read our “DIY Travel vs Travel Agent” post, you are in the right place to make all your DIY Travel Reservations. This post will provide links to the best travel apps and the most essential travel apps, including the best apps for overseas travel and the best travel apps in Europe.
Make your reservations right here by accessing the affiliate links below to our favorite travel apps organized by travel category. We hope this post is a great resource for you. We have access to the following travel resources:
- Airline Flights
- Accommodations:
- Rental Cars
- Train Reservations
- Cruises
- Activities & Tours
- National Parks
- Theaters and Shows
- Sports Events and Concerts
- Restaurant Reservations
- Google Travel Apps
Contents
- 1 Airline Flights
- 2 Hotel Bookings
- 3 Vacation Rentals
- 4 Timeshares
- 5 Train Reservations
- 6 Best Travel Apps – Rental Cars
- 7 Cruise Travel Resources
- 8 Activities & Tour Travel Resources
- 9 National Parks
- 10 Theaters and Shows
- 11 Best Travel Apps – Sports Events & Concerts
- 12 Restaurant Reservations
- 13 Google Travel Apps
- 14 Other Travel Planning Aids
Airline Flights
However, one of the best apps out there for finding the best flights for your next trip is Google Flights. Click on the Google Flights link to learn more and to compare flight prices. you can get the price information displayed in different currencies.
Hotel Bookings
Looking for a hotel tonight, or maybe a few months from now?
We use a number of different websites to book hotel reservations. Like airlines, if we are booking with points, we will book directly on the hotel website. Our favorite hotel chain and favorite hotel booking app is Hilton Hotels as we have tons of loyalty points with them. Click on the Hilton Logo to learn more. For more information about the hotels from IHG or Marriott, please visit our Lodging Post.
When we are looking for a hotel outside of the United States, we tend to use booking.com. They are very helpful for B&B rentals.
We will also use Trivago which is an aggregator and can sometimes get better prices and find a cheap hotel booking.
Vacation Rentals
When renting someone else’s home, apartment or condominium we recommend using VRBO. With over 2 million bookable vacation rentals we find their offerings to be a good alternative to hotels and other lodging options.
Two timeshare companies that we have used are the Villa Group (quality resorts in Mexico), and the Anantara Group, (luxurious resorts in Asia, the Indian Ocean, Middle East, Africa, Europe and South America).
Train Reservations
When traveling in Europe, we have often found train travel to be a much better way of getting around. European trains are normally on time, clean and usually affordable. Best way to book train travel in Europe is with Rail Europe.
Best Travel Apps – Rental Cars
Since the Covid Pandemic, renting an automobile has become expensive. We have found Rentalcars.com to be one of the best ways to save a little money. They do a great search and show you all the alternatives at your desired rental location.
We also like to use Discount Hawaiian Car Rental when we are in Hawaii.
Cruise Travel Resources
Our preferred cruise line is Celebrity Cruises.
Robin and Cos love Celebrity Cruises. We took a 36-day back to back cruise from Mumbai, India to Tokyo, Japan in 2025 and loved every moment.
We also have found that in some cases you can book directly with a cruise line. One cruise line that we have a direct relationship with is Princess Cruises. They have a very good program for travelling to Alaska, especially if you are interested in visiting Denali National Park.
Princess Cruises are a great way for couples to have a wonderful vacation. The Sun Princess is their largest ship.
Activities & Tour Travel Resources
We have found that the best source for information about a destination is Trip Advisor. They have very good customer feedback reports.
If you are planning on going to multiple venues (museums, shows, etc.) when you visit a city, then you might be interested in a GoCity pass. These passes offer you up to a 50% discount when you visit a number of venues in the same city.
Tour Guides
We find that having a tour guide on a small-sized or private tour is the best way to really learn about a destination. Most of our tours are found through two tour companies: Get Your Guide and Viator which is owned by Trip Advisor.
Viator
Hop-On Hop-Off Buses
A good way to gain an understanding and overview of a new city is to jump on a hop-on hop-off bus tour. We like to use the Big Bus service in any of the cities were they operate, including in the US New York, Chicago, Washington, DC and Las Vegas. And they also operate in many international cities including London, Paris and Rome.
National Parks
Staring back in the Covid days, the United States National Parks started to require reservations. Some State Parks in the US also require reservations, not jus for overnight stays, but just for entrances. Here is a link to make your USA national parks reservations.
Theaters and Shows
When traveling, Robin and Cos really enjoy going to shows whether its’s Las Vegas, New York or London. In London we will use TicketmasterUK to get tickets. In New York we use Broadway Direct and in Las Vegas it is Vegas.Com.
Best Travel Apps Europe: London – Ticketmaster UK
New York – Broadway Direct
Las Vegas – Vegas.com
Best Travel Apps – Sports Events & Concerts
If you are looking for tickets for either a sport event or to attend a concert, we highly recommend that you take a look at Viagogo. We are using them to purchase tickets for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, but they are also a great source of concert tickets and all sports events..
Restaurant Reservations
Robin makes most of our restaurant reservations. She usually uses Open Table or Resy.
For some ideas how to get reservations at the hottest restaurants please check our post The Ultimate Guide to Getting Restaurant Reservations.
However, for more information about our favorite restaurants please visit the following links.
Google Travel Apps
We would be forgetful, if we don’t highlight for you the best apps for travel from Google. Here are our favorites:
- Google Maps This is a great travel app for not only helping you plan you trips, but also for creating your own travel maps.
- Google Flights This is one of the best apps for finding the best flights for your next destination. It won’t book the flights, but it will point you in the best unbiased direction.
- Google Translate App Conversing with someone who doesn’t speak your language can be greatly aided with this great mobile app.
Other Travel Planning Aids
Looking for help booking your next trip or purchasing necessary travel aids? Here are a few of our favorite travel planning posts. Just click on the links to take you to these helpful posts:
- Travel Agent vs DIY Travel Planning
- Planning a Trip
- Best AI Travel Apps Want to find information about a specific AI feature or the best use of AI for travel, then click this link.
- Travel Rewards Points This is the best link to find information about your favorite loyalty program.
- Travel Accessories:
Use These Packing Lists with our complements!
We’ve developed a packing list for most of your different travel needs. These lists are easily downloaded for your free use as you balance “just what I need” versus “oops, I packed too much”! Click here.
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i absolutely love your blog! every time i visit i find something new and exciting to learn about. this post in particular was very well written and i liked how u used bullet points to make the key takeaways stand out more. it makes it much easier to skim through when i am in a rush but still want to get the main points. thanks for being so thoughtful!