In my recent travels, I found a few mobile apps that are very useful when I look for special deals and promos (to lessen my expenses).  Using these apps doesn’t guarantee that you can immediately get cheaper deals, but if you know how to use them (and if you are a wise user), you can definitely get a great bargain.  The following are my top 5 apps ideal for budget traveling.

1. Kayak

Kayak is a travel search engine that lets you search for flights (across all available airlines), hotels, cars, and a lot more.  In my case, I use it to look for the cheapest airline promos and deals.  Unlike other travel search engines, Kayak lets the users filter search results from the cheapest to the most expensive deals.  To get cheaper deals, make sure to book on weekdays and book a month or a few months before your travel date.

2. Agoda

Definitely the most useful app I’ve been using for quite some time now.  Agoda allows its users to search for hotels all over the globe.  Just like Kayak, it has a filter functionality that allows users to view the results of their searches from the cheapest to the most expensive hotel deals.  If you are a registered user, you can get some special deals and they also offer reward points in every hotel that you’ve checked in.  Those points are convertible to cash which you can use to pay for your next check-in.

3. Tripit

This app automatically grabs every booking details in your email and organizes them in chronological order.  Tripit is very useful for people who have no time to plot their travel schedules.  It helps you save time and puts your mind at ease knowing that you can check all your travel details in one place, well-organized and updated.

4. Google Earth

Instead of a map, I prefer to use this app in checking for places and locations I wanted to go to.  Aside from the very detailed satellite and aerial views, it also helps me in getting street details that are very important when I’m commuting (especially when I’m riding in a taxi).  Most taxi drivers would intentionally change your route so that they can charge higher fare.   This is very useful if you are traveling to a specific place for the very first time.

5. AirBnB

This is the only app in this list that I haven’t used yet.  Though I’ve already did some mock bookings, I haven’t decided yet if I’m gonna use this in the future.  I feature this here because it has been reviewed in a few famous budget travel sites (and the feedback is mostly positive).  AirBnB absolutely has the cheapest accommodation listings ever.  Unlike Agoda, its listings are not focused on hotels but accommodations from AirBnB hosts.  These hosts are ordinary people or fellow travelers who are accepting guests in their empty houses, apartments, rooms, or even bed spaces.  The accommodation set-up is done between the guest and the host.  Though it is very tempting, my cautious self is a bit hesitant due to the fact that a stay in a place with a complete stranger is very risky.  But, I’m not closing my door on this.

Have you used any of the apps featured in this post?  Do you use mobile apps to lessen the hassles and expenses while you travel?  Share your experiences and tips below. (: