Maximize Memories & Minimize Stress With These Holiday Travel Apps

The holidays: They can be a wonderful time spent with family and friends, but they can also be stressful, especially if you are traveling. We partnered with Tesa Nicolanti of 2 Wired 2 Tired to share the best holiday travel apps to help you make the most of your time on the road or in the skies this holiday season.

Having traveled with my family often during the holidays, I know how difficult it can be to navigate road trips and plane travel at this time. While you want to be there to spend as much time as possible with those you love, traveling during the holidays can be a headache that can take some of the excitement out of this special time. Thankfully, a number of fantastic holiday travel apps are available to help you enjoy your holidays to the max!

PackPoint

Do you always forget something when you are packing? PackPoint is an intelligent packing app that will tell you what you need based on your length of travel, the weather at your destination, and any activities planned on your trip. The app will take into account business or leisure travel, and remind you to take your umbrella if it’s supposed to rain or a winter coat if it’s calling for snow. Your packing list also gets its own website, so you can share the link with family and friends traveling with you, so they’ll know what they need to pack as well.

Google Trips

When traveling for the holidays, it can be difficult to keep all your plans straight. The Google Trips app helps keep everything in one place. The app gathers your travel information from Gmail and Inbox and organizes it automatically so you’ll have all of your travel details—flight, hotel, rental car, and restaurant bookings—at a glance. You don’t even have to input the information into the app, which is a real timesaver. The entire app is available offline as well so you can view the information wherever you are. If you find yourself with a little time on your hands, the app can automatically map out a half day or a full day of suggestions for things to see and do, as well as find out whether attractions are open. You can also find restaurants within walking distance and see how they are rated, so you can plan a nice holiday dinner out or other holiday activities.

Travelocity

Planning holiday travel can be hassle-free with the Travelocity app. You can search for and book your hotel, flight, car, and activities all with a few quick taps. The app also helps you save money—something we all want to do during the holidays! You can access exclusive offers and promo codes available only on the app, and Travelocity guarantees the best price. If you find a lower price online, they will match it and refund the difference.

LoungeBuddy

Make your airport layovers more enjoyable by using the LoungeBuddy app to find comfortable, spacious, and relaxing airline lounges that you can purchase access to. Simply open the app and type in your airport, and available lounges will pop up, listing their amenities, photos, and reviews from other LoungeBuddy travelers. From the casual traveler flying economy to the elite frequent flyer, use this app to make your time in the airport more enjoyable—and it’s especially handy for those pesky flight delays that tend to pop up often during the holidays.

PlugShare

Road-tripping this holiday season with an electric car? The PlugShare app, available in the App Store and on Google Play, offers the most accurate and complete charging-station map worldwide with over 90,000 public stations. On top of that, PlugShare users have contributed over 400,000 station reviews and over 80,000 photos to make planning your travels and choosing stations a breeze. It even allows you to set filters for chargers compatible with your electric vehicle.

Stitcher Radio for Podcasts

Traveling is a great time to catch up on podcasts, and the Stitcher Radio App makes it easy. You can listen to your favorite news, comedy, sports, and talk-radio shows and podcasts. The front page shows new episodes of shows you love as well as recommendations for others you may also enjoy. You can even create playlists and “stitch” together your favorite shows and podcasts, and stream or set your playlists to download for offline listening.

Amazon Music App

Love to listen to music while you travel? Amazon offers Prime Music  (included in your Amazon Prime Membership), which gives you access to two million songs, ad-free and on demand. Or you can listen with Amazon Music Unlimited ($7.99 a month for Prime members), which gives you access to tens of millions of songs, including new releases from popular artists. It is also ad-free, and offers unlimited skips as well as the ability to download songs for offline listening. With both options, you can make your own playlists as well as listen to a variety of curated playlists and stations, helping you get into that holiday spirit wherever you are.

Shutterfly

When traveling during the holidays, it can be difficult to juggle everything and remember to print and share some of those memorable photos too. The Shutterfly app will automatically upload all your photos from your phone’s camera roll to Shutterfly, and you can access your photos from Facebook and Instagram too. Then you can easily share photos with family and friends by email or on social media, order prints, and make cards, calendars, mousepads, mugs, pillows, blankets, and more, all through the app with just a few taps. With free unlimited photo storage and their 100% happiness guarantee, it’s the best way to safeguard your cherished holiday memories and easily share them with others too.

The holidays are around the corner, and from planning and booking to relaxing and remembering it all, these apps will help you maximize the memories and minimize the stress.

Travelocity compensates authors for their writings appearing on this site; such compensation may include travel and other costs.