Top 6 iPhone Apps to Make Your Holiday Travels Less Painful

If the thought of traveling for the holidays fills you with dread, you should be happy to know that your iPhone can be a trusty companion — helping you navigate planning, airports, hotels, and rides with ease. Here’s a list of our favorite travel apps — just in time for the holidays.

1. Hipmunk

Hipmunk, available as a free download for Android or iOS, is a powerful travel planning and booking app. And instead of just searching through flights via price, Chipmunk offers search through an “agony index” for duration, number of stops and other criteria. You can also book last minute hotel deals, see heat maps for dining and entertainment options, and view reviews from a variety of sources.

2. Packpoint

Okay, so one of the worst parts about traveling, arguably, is making sure you’ve packed everything. Many of us probably make checklists, but what if we didn’t have to? Pack point is an awesome little app that creates a checklist of things to pack by looking at weather forecast, location and activities. You can add or remove items easily, and share lists with friends or family.

3. Yelp

Yelp is not a new app, but its ubiquity has probably caused many of us to take it for granted. Where else can you get such a thorough list of restaurants, entertainment venues, shopping outlets, and more with such a wide-range of reviews? Combine that with easy access to contact number, hours of operation, and menus, and it’s really a no-brainer for travel.

4. TripIt

TripIt promises to make your travels easier. It’s a smart itinerary app that consolidates all of your travel plans into one, easily viewable list. If you linked your email, TripIt will also dig through and find reservations and other data, and incorporate that information into your smart itinerary, too. You can easily share the information with friends or family — so no one will have an excuse when they forget to pick you up from the airport.

5. Uber

Speaking of getting picked up from the airport, there’s also Uber. You probably already know what Uber is, but that doesn’t make it any less of an amazing option when you’re traveling. For those not in-the-know, Uber is a ride-sharing application that lets you easily hail a ride from your smartphone — and lets you easily pay through the app, too. If your family only begrudgingly offers to give you a ride, you can save them the headache with this easy app.

6. Headspace

When all said and done, holidays are stressful. Between the traveling, the hustle and bustle, and the inevitable political arguments, the holidays can be an instant headache. Enter Headspace. It’s a guided meditation app — backed by scientific study — that can help you reduce stress, anxiety, and just generally feel better. While many of the courses cost money, Headspace has a free starter series that should be enough to get you through — at least until Christmas.