Flying can be kind of stressful. From the traffic on the way to the airport, to the TSA line, to the feeling that you’re going to miss your flight if you don’t get there right now, it’s easy to let your anxiety build up before you even board your plane.
But what if instead of letting all that stress get to you, you could use your phone or tablet as a tool for relaxation? To help you with that, we’ve put together a list of some of our favorite apps for flying.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Flying
Google Flights
Although you can’t book flights through Google Flights, it is one of the most comprehensive sources of flight pricing information. “I love Google Flights for getting an idea of what airfares are,” Ruiz says.
While not currently available as an app, Google Flights offers a simple online interface that allows you to search for flights to specific airports and then see a calendar view that shows when flights will be cheapest. The site also has a price graph that allows you to see pricing trends over time. Users can search for a more general destination, such as a country, and see how airfare compares at various airports as well. Once you find the right airfare, you’ll need to find and book it directly with the carrier or through a third-party booking service.
App in the Air
App in the Air is more than a cheap flights app. It serves as a personal assistant to travelers and provides real-time notifications, details on COVID-related restrictions and an auto check-in feature.
“(We) offer our users an exclusive airline and hotel booking tool that is one of the first to enable direct bookings with select airlines including United, American Airlines, Southwest, Lufthansa, among others,” says Bayram Annakov, CEO and founder of App in the Air. This tool allows travelers to preview loyalty points and access some deals that may not be found on other booking apps. Annakov notes that App in the Air was designed with frequent flyers in mind and uses machine learning to understand a person’s preferences and then suggest appropriate flights.
The app is free to download and use on Android and Apple devices. Some features, such as real-time flight status, are only available to those with a premium membership. That costs $29.99 for 12 months or $49.99 for lifetime access.
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Kiwi
Compatible with Android and Apple devices, Kiwi searches prices for more than 700 airlines to piece together the lowest-priced itinerary. The free app also offers the opportunity to search for all deals from a specific airport, which can be handy for those who are ready to take a vacation but don’t have a particular destination in mind. What’s more, Kiwi offers mobile-only deals, price alerts and trip notifications. The Kiwi app can also be used for mobile boarding passes and other travel services such as finding Wi-Fi hotspots.
Momondo
With Momondo, users can search for specific flights or explore travel options to trending cities and countries. Ruiz uses Momondo to confirm the availability of cheap flights she may find elsewhere. The app, which is free and compatible with Android and Apple devices, has an “Anywhere Search” feature for those who don’t have a specific destination in mind. It allows users to select “anywhere” as an arrival destination and explore flight prices to various regions. Plus, Momondo’s price calendar makes it simple to see if there are cheaper flights available on different days.
Priceline
While Priceline started as a third-party booking website, it also has a popular app. The app is free and compatible with Android and Apple devices.
One advantage of the Priceline app is its exclusive travel deals. With the Express Deals function, Priceline claims people can save as much as 50%. The catch is that users won’t receive their exact departure and arrival times until after they purchase tickets. Until then, they will only be given an approximate arrival or departure time, such as in the early morning. Priceline has a best price guarantee that promises to refund the difference if you find a better deal within 24 hours of booking. If you find a better deal on an Express Deal at any time up to midnight before you travel, Priceline will refund up to 200% of the difference.
Hopper
Sometimes, getting the cheapest price on a flight comes down to when you book your travel. Hopper analyzes flight data to predict when prices will be at their lowest. You can sign up for price alerts and then book tickets through the app. Hopper is free and compatible with Apple and Android devices and claims to have 95% accuracy up to a year in advance of a travel date. There’s also an option to freeze a price if you need more time to plan. According to Hopper, travelers typically save an average of $50 on domestic flights, and savings can be as much as $120 on international flights.
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Travala
If you are looking for the best airlines app and have cryptocurrency to spend, Travala lets users book flights with more than 40 cryptocurrencies. The site also accepts debit and credit card payments.
“While using cryptocurrency to pay for travel may seem daunting or confusing for those unfamiliar with crypto, the process is not much different to using (traditional currency),” says Juan Otero, CEO and founder of Travala.com. The only difference is that those paying with cryptocurrency need a crypto wallet to transfer funds, and some currencies may have a minimum spending requirement or various processing times.
While the Travala app, which can be downloaded for free on Apple and Android devices, is focused on hotel bookings, the website can be used to search for flights from more than 600 airlines. Additional savings of up to 1% on flights are available to those who join the Travala Smart Program, which also offers loyalty and bonus rewards.
best free aviation apps
- ForeFlight Mobile. This is the app that has, probably more than any other, come to define the iPad era in aviation. The all-in-one pre-flight and in-flight product includes moving maps, approach charts, terrain awareness, weather graphics, weight and balance, flight plan filing, a digital logbook, flight playback, and a whole lot more. It has replaced paper charts and portable GPSs for a lot of pilots, especially as products like the Sentry and Stratus ADS-B receivers and the Garmin GDL 52 SiriusXM receiver have come onto the market.
- Garmin Pilot. Garmin practically invented portable navigation products for pilots, and while those aren’t as popular as they once were, the avionics giant hasn’t ceded the category. This impressive app has continued to evolve over the years and now includes many of the same features as ForeFlight, plus Garmin GTN-style menus, powerful split-screen options, and deep integration with Garmin panel-mount avionics. It’s also available on Android.
- MyRadar. This free app is simple, but it’s fast and easy to use. MyRadar shows looping NEXRAD radar for the entire US that is easy to zoom in on – perfect for pre-flight weather briefings. It even includes some nice aviation features, like TFRs, AIR/SIGMET overlay and route overlays based on N-numbers. We’ve seen everyone from airline pilots to glider pilots use this app.
- Sporty’s Pilot Training. Flight training is hot right now, and fortunately modern technology makes it much more convenient to learn at home than in a boring ground school. This all-in-one training app from Sporty’s includes 26 aviation video and test prep courses, including Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Garmin G1000, Flight Review and other aircraft and avionics transition courses. It’s also available on Android.
CloudTopper
CloudTopper makes your iPad a digital sight level.
- CloudTopper. Will you top that cloud ahead of you? It’s not an easy question to answer for many pilots, but this app can help a lot. It uses your phone’s camera and gyroscope to make a sight level: point it out the front of your airplane and look for the big black line. At just 99 cents, it’s a must-have.
- FltPlan Go. The free FltPlan.com website continues to be one of the most widely used flight planning services around today, especially for corporate aviation. This free companion app allows you to retrieve and store your navlogs and weather briefings and includes FAA charts, moving map navigation, checklists, weather imagery and more. It has slowly evolved into a complete Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) app. It’s our top pick for a free EFB app, and is also available on Android.
- Stratus Insight. Formerly called Aerovie, this app started with a focus on soliciting PIREPs. It has since grown up a lot and last year was purchased by Appareo, the maker of Stratus devices. It now features complete charts, moving map navigation, in-flight weather, flight plan filing, and much more. It can also record, transcribe and playback ATC recordings when connected to your intercom. It’s free to download and use for many of the essential features; a full subscription costs $99.99/year.
- Sporty’s E6B. The good old fashioned whiz wheel can rest in peace – the iPhone or iPad makes it much easier to do performance or weight and balance calculations. This $9.99 app does all that plus conversions, timer features and basic arithmetic. It was Sporty’s first app and was just updated with an all-new design. Just don’t try to take it to your FAA written exam. The iOS app works on iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch, and E6B is also available on Android.
- X-Plane. Laminar Research has offered a powerful desktop flight simulator for many years, but they’ve also been a leader in mobile simulation. While the X-Plane app may not allow you to log time, it’s a surprisingly realistic tool for training on procedures, with a variety of airplanes, cockpits and weather options.
ForeFlight passenger
Passenger is a free companion app to ForeFlight Mobile.
- ForeFlight Passenger. This free app is a companion to the main ForeFlight EFB app, and it answers a common question: “when will we get there?” When connected to another device in the cockpit running ForeFlight, this simple app shows the route, airplane position, altitude and time remaining. Definitely worth trying out if you frequently fly with the same passengers.
Conclusion
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