Booking Cheap- My top 3 Travel Apps

For those of you that don’t know, I am a Budget Traveler. I may not be a traditional budget traveler, but when I do travel, I like to be conscious of the amount of money a trip is going to cost.

What Is A Budget Traveler?

Budget travel is travel that is budget-conscious.

A budget traveler may stay in economy accommodations or hostels, eat cheap meals, and fly during off-peak seasons, among other things. Budget travelers differ from backpackers in the sense that they may not necessarily be staying for a long period of time, they lean towards budget hotels/motels rather than hostels, and usually, their trip is not open-ended.
Dauntless Jaunter

This is how I differ from Dauntless Jaunter’s Definition of a Budget Traveler:

When I travel, I don’t have a budget, I fly during any season, and I stay for as long as I want. And, I don’t stay in hostels (not because they’re beneath me, but because I cringe at the idea of a communal bathroom. (I lived at home my entire college career!)) But! I like to book cheap, and save as much money as I can when booking my trips, so I can have more money to spend enjoying my trip!

I know I can’t be the only one that likes to save money. So here are the tools and apps that I use to book cheap!

Wanderu– I use this app to book bus and train tickets. It searches multiple bus and train companies and gives you a list of prices for your destination. Then, you can go a step further and sort your results by the cheapest, fastest, earliest, or latest.

Hipmunk– I use this app when I’m looking to book International trips. My favorite feature on this app is the “subscribe to fare alerts” option! Which, in my opinion, is the holy grail for monitoring flights.
Also, once you subscribe to get fare alerts, you’ll receive weekly emails about price increases or decreases.
There’s also a line graph in these emails, charting the price increase and/or decrease since you first signed up for the fare alert.

Southwest Airlines– (Yes, Southwest airline, they have an app, so they belong here!)
Below are the reasons why Southwest made the lineup:

You can have 2 Free Checked bags, a carry-on, and a personal item. (So No Baggage Fees, EVER!)
You can reschedule and/or cancel your flight up to 10 min before your departure time and pay No Fees
There are no assigned seats. So if you see a seat you want, and no one is sitting in it, it’s yours!
They have great customer service from their call centers to their ticket agents and stewardess.
They also have really cheap flights and after 25 flights in a year, you get free ones!