Travel App Review: Fareness, Low Cost Airlines, SkipLagged

So, in my haste about accidentally finding my way back to Ireland and sharing most of my process with you I neglected to discuss as many thoughts about travel apps as I had planned. But I am thorough if nothing else (besides thrifty).

As per my last post, I’m still looking for a good deal on a flight to Providence (PVD) so that I can catch my flight to Dublin. So I will be using that as my example for all of my app research and findings in this post. Fingers crossed I find some hidden potential! I’m going to focus on the lowest, most budget-friendly costs here, but for example’s sake I added the highest in my first story.

Here are a few apps that I recently found, downloaded and attempted. All opinions are my own, and none of these are sponsored anything for anything.

Maybe I'll skip the plane and take Norberta.

Low Cost Airlines- I was promised an app that curates the best deals to save you money. You can choose from different options based on time and availability and book low cost plane tickets easy peasy. I have not booked from this app, however, I do not think I would in the first place unless it was the ONLY app available. Their procedure is kinda wacky, too. You can choose from simple or complex trips, what appears to be a way to book more than one city at a time, but I’m scared to try. There’s nothing to help you understand, either. I’m probably not going to keep this one. It seems like other apps have better or the same prices so it’s redundant and taking up my storage. Not recommended, so far.

Their 1-way flight to PVD: $93 lowest/ $640 highest (but literally 100 options to choose from)

The good: Prices are low. Low-ish. They seem pretty ok if you’re short on time or patience and don’t want to actually do any money-saving research.

The Bad: It’s definitely not the lowest or best fares I have seen. When it comes to deal apps it’s actually one of the more middle-expensive.

SkipLagged:  I love the idea of this one- as mentioned in my previous post, it lets you key in your airport of choice and then shows you ALL of the deals leaving on your chosen day for jet setting on a whim. However, the prices for a planned trip without the fanfare of being whimsical seem not too terribly deal-tastic.  I will keep this app, though.

Their 1-way flight to PVD: $93 lowest

The Good: The app idea itself is real cool. If you’re wanting a quick weekend away with no strings or worries about a destination, check this out and let the trip plan itself.  Example: RT trip to Raleigh to see my girl Ariel at Different Frame of Mind is only $271 for the March 2^nd weekend but looking like it only gets lower from there.

The Bad: Not necessarily a deal app. It does have lower airfare prices, it seems, but it’s not a go-to if you’re a planner/hunter like me. I’m still going to keep it around though for the off chance that I can plan a quick getaway from this Detroit snow/rain/low 60* weather confusion. 

Fareness: This app boasts deal on deal on deals. The thing is, though, that it’s mostly built for vacation deals, not just flight deals- though you can search prices for just flights. It does have a sliding calendar that shows you the prices of each day for 6 months, which is nice, but the deal is not there. It’s more of a convenience app for families or people who don’t know that you can get other deals. You can pick dates and continents, which is nice, and it showcases all of the packages for each spot available to it, but most are for specific days, so it’s definitely not a plan your own vacay kind of app and probably most of the same destination and tour deals can be found on Travel Zoo or something. I very likely will not keep this app. But maybe.

Their one-way to PVD cost: $194. Hard Pass.  

The Good: It works if you’re interested in the destination with guided tours and/or specific hotel stays.  There are some trips that only have deal days rather than a great deal on a trip, meaning you have to book that specific day otherwise you’re paying thousands more for the same thing. But it is all right there in front of you, and seemingly no hidden agendas.

The Bad: Hard to explain, but this app is kind of confusing (you can’t even hit back on your phone, what?). If you’re trying to plan for a specific vacation with your own ideas of what a cool trip around town would be or even what dates serve you best then this app is not for you. However, if you’re a fly by the seat if your pants kind of traveler, you may like it.

All in all most are turning out to be kind of the same. I have a few more to look at and, probably, more and more after that because travel deal apps are the new Hydra. I'm willing to do my research here so that you dob;t have to- so if you have any apps you favor or are just curious about, let me know in the comments and I will give them a whirl!

As always, have fun and be kind to one another!