The Best Android Flight and Trip Tracking Travel Apps

My Top Favourite Free Android Flight and Trip Tracking Travel Apps

 

First Published: Mar 18, 2012 EntrepreneurJourney.com

Travelling will never be the like the old days due to what technology brought us on our smart phones or tablets via hi-tech apps. Just 3 years ago, I could not have possibly imagined that just forwarding my trip confirmation email to these app email addresses can perform magic instantaneously on my android devices and all the travel itinerary and detailed hotel information will be organized day by day. Today, I will discuss my top 5 favourite travel apps you should try to make your next travel smooth and hassle free. 

WorldMate by WorldMate - A very popular mobile travel app. Free version has lots of features which can not be found on some other paid version apps. Among all other app websites, only on WorldMate’s website did I find the Check-In button that lets you check in from home and receive a boarding pass before leaving home. WorldMate does have a paid version for other platforms, but not for Android. However, I would not buy a paid version for a $10 annual fee when I can buy other paid apps for a one time $5 or $10 only. 

TripIt by TripIt Inc. - Tripit is another travel organizer app that shows all your trip details in one place, including flights, hotels, cruises, restaurants, concerts, etc. Many other travel apps uses TripIt or have the ability to sync with TripIt. So having a TripIt account gives you the advantage of sending your travel details to other apps without sending a confirmation email to each of them again. 

Kayak Flight Hotel Car Search by Kayak - Kayak is an all-in-one app that lets you search hotels, flights, setup price alerts, etc. and at the same time you can track your flights. The only thing I can complain about with Kayak is that it takes up more space on your device as it is more than just a flight tracker. 

FlightTrack by Mobiata - When it comes to flight tracking, FlightTrack does the job very well. However, there is no free version. The basic version costs $4.99 and it does not offer to sync with Tripit or anything else - you need to enter your flight information manually. The pro version costs $9.99 and has the ability to sync with TripIt. Its major disadvantage is that it can only track flights - nothing else. 

SPG American Express Offers Free Marriott Night

Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express Will Give Anniversary Free Hotel Night

When the Chase Marriott Premier Visa Credit Card closed its doors in Canada, I was devastated because I lost my free anniversary night at Marriott properties across the globe. This was one of my reasons to keep paying $120 on this card each year.

However, due to the Marriott and SPG merger, I was hoping the SPG Amex credit card will offer the free night once the merger completes. And it looks like that’s what is going to happen starting August, 2018.

I received a letter from American Express Canada mentioning that once the SPG and Marriott rewards program combine in August, there are some changes coming to the SPG Amex Card. Here are some of them:

- Earn rate will be 5 points per dollar spent at eligible Marriott + SPG properties

- 2 points per dollar on everything else

- Free annual night every year (Cannot exceed 35,000 points redemption value)

-  Silver Elite Status

And some more benefits. To earn Silver Elite Status, you would generally be required to stay 10 nights per year. But you will be given this elite status just for having the SPG Amex card.

I made up my mind before that I would cancel the Starwood Amex card if it does not provide free nights after the merger. But I don’t need to cancel it anymore, as I got what I wanted.

It makes sense for me to keep this card, paying $120 per year, just for the free night. Depending on where I redeem the free night, I can easily extract $150 to $400 per night or possibly more based on the Marriott/Sheraton property location and time.

The SPG Amex card does not provide any other mentionable benefits, such as travel insurances, no foreign currency fee, or concierge services. But only the free night and Silver Elite Status are enough for me to hold on to this card.

SPG Amex Free Marriott Night

Marriott & SPG New Hotel Loyalty Program

3 Things You Need to Know

What Will Happen to My SPG & Marriott Rewards Points?

The new rewards program (which does not have a name yet) will combine Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and SPG into a single program. SPG members will have to merge accounts with Marriott in August and will receive 1:3 new points. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton members don’t need to do anything.

What is the New Program Earn Rate?

Ten points per dollar spent at all brands except certain brands (Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites and Element) where you will earn 5 points. Elite members will earn bonus points that could go as high as 75%.

The Canadian Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express will earn 3 new points per dollar spent for everyday purchases. There will possibly be some changes coming to this card to reflect the new program.

How Many Points Do I Need for a Free Night?

Currently 3,000 SPG points or 7,500 Marriott points are required to get a Category 1 free night. The new points requirement to get a free night will be 7,500 (Cat 1) and 85,000 (Cat 8).

Starting in 2019, there will be a free night award chart and points required for a free night will be based on various factors such as peak time, standard and off-peak time, etc. Off-Peak is expected to cost about 20% less in points while the peak season is expected to cost 20% more for a free night.

Aeroplan Points for Amazon Shopping

Amazon and Aeroplan Team Up

If you shop on Amazon and feel frustrated for not getting any rewards, there is good news on the horizon. Amazon customers will soon be able to collect Aeroplan miles for spending money on Amazon. However, there are a few conditions that apply and I will go through those in this post.

Here is what you need to know to collect Aeroplan shopping on Amazon:

-          Starting April 24, 2018, Aeroplan members will be able to earn miles for shopping with Amazon Canada. This is only applicable to those shopping from Canada on Amazon Canada.

-          Aeroplan members will be able to earn at least one mile per dollar. Elite members will earn more; Black and Silver members earn at least 2 miles per dollar and Diamond members earn at least 3 miles per dollar spent on Amazon.

-          You must visit the Aeroplan website first to earn miles. Shopping directly from Amazon or their app will not earn you any Aeroplan miles.

Once you go to the Aeroplan eStore at aeroplan.com/estore, look or search for Amazon.ca. Then click and enter your Aeroplan number and last name, and hit shop now. This will take you to Amazon’s website and then continue shopping on Amazon as you would normally do to receive Aeroplan miles.

This is a good opportunity to earn lots of miles for those who shop on Amazon a lot. It’s even possible to earn miles 3 separate times on the same transaction. I am not talking about earning 3 miles but earning on 3 separate instances. I will do another post on how to do that after April 24.

Keep an eye on my YouTube Channel and on this website for more to come. I will see you shortly.

IHG Rewards 2018 Award Changes

Intercontinental Bora Bora Goes Up

IHG, or Intercontinental Hotel Group, has around 5000 properties around the globe and almost 10% of IHG properties will face a price increase this year. In Canada, 34 hotels will go through price adjustments.

Almost 500 hotels will increase in price by points and 192 are going down. These changes are effective as of Jan 16, 2018. Top tier hotels like the InterContinental Bora Bora, Hong Kong, and many others, will go up 60,000 to 70,000 points a night. Worse yet, these top tier hotels were just 50,000 points a night 2 years ago. So these are massive devaluations in the course of 2 years.

Although 192 hotels will go down in price by 5000 points, not a single property is going down to IHG’s lowest category of 10,000 points a night. In Canada, 34 hotels are changing value in points. 21 properties are going up and 13 are going down. To see the full list, go to the IHG Rewards Night page https://www.ihg.com/rewardsclub/content/us/en/reward-nights

This is one of the IHG’s worst devaluations ever and they haven’t notified their members in advance. I have some IHG points and I was hoping to visit upscale Intercontinental locations in Bora Bora and Asia in the future. But with this devaluation looks like it may not make sense and I better use my points for IHG PointBreaks.

PointBreaks is IHG’s highly sought-after feature that allows its members to stay in nearly 100 hotels around the world every quarter and each quarter brings fresh lists of new hotels. I will do a separate article and video on this in the future.