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Which travel booking apps are loaded onto your smartphone?
Most savvy travelers will have many answers to that question – smart ones like to shop around. However, we all have our favorites…
And those favorites do change over time, as proven in one of the latest league tables of travel app popularity.
Global data company PYMNTS collates a ranking of the most popular apps in the travel industry each month, scoring them cumulatively on factors such as average users and numbers of downloads.
As we turn the calendar over to 2024, these were the top 10 apps, according to PYMNTS’ latest data.
Each app is given a score based on the factors used in the ranking, so to give an idea of the range, Expedia scored 93, Hotels.com scored 88, and Airbnb scored 84, while AllTrails in tenth spot scored 66.
Okay, so what? Well, this ranking is actually a really good way of tracking what travelers are using to book their trips, which can help gauge which ones have the best choice, the best offers, and the easiest use.
Consistent Performer
Expedia is top of the pile, but it only recently assumed that role a few months back, stealing the top spot away from Airbnb.
The travel website, which allows you book all aspects of a trip from flights to hotels and even taxis was founded way back in 1996, so it has a longstanding reputation that travelers trust.
It’s also a company that’s constantly working to expand the list of partners it works with – for 2024 airlines such as Ryanair and Icelandair will join as partners, as well as car rental brands such as Alma, Green Motion, and Record Go.
This wide-ranging offering, plus an app that is well-designed and functional (it has a 4.7 rating on the iOS store based on a whopping 183,000 reviews), probably explains why Expedia is one of the most popular at present.
Airbnb Remains Popular Despite Challenges
Even though it has dropped down to third during the last quarter of 2023, Airbnb remains a popular choice for travelers despite increasing costs and other challenges and controversies.
The peer-to-peer system it uses has come under increasing pressure and scrutiny in many cities, with locals claiming it harms housing markets and communities.
Because of that, cities such as New York, Berlin in Germany, and Vienna in Austria have been the latest to implement major restrictions on Airbnb hosts, which has forced many to leave the platform.
Despite all this, Airbnb still offers a huge range of places to stay and lets you enjoy more of a home-from-home feel when traveling – something that is appreciated by digital nomads.
The app is seamless in its functionality, has a 4.8-star rating on iOS (112,000 ratings), and has in recent years added fun search functions like the ability to search by categories such as beachfront, amazing views, and even treehouses.
Movers And Shakers
TripAdvisor, Vrbo, and Booking.com all rose up the rankings by one position to achieve fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively.
TripAdvisor benefits from also being a place where people seek out reviews of destinations, hotels, restaurants, and more – and it is also a great place to discover new places that are trending.
Vrbo runs a similar model to Airbnb, and it is also part of the Expedia Group.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s my favorite, as it’s certainly not perfect, but the first place I always look when seeking to book travel is Booking.com.
It’s most likely because, as a long-time user, my Genius level is fairly high, so I always seem to find great deals even at busy times – most recently, a hotel in Berlin for the notoriously busy Berlin Marathon weekend for around 25% less than the average.
Hopper Is A Dropper
The only app to suffer a fall in this latest PYMNTS ranking is Hopper, which is down from fourth to sixth position.
There’s no obvious reason for this as Hopper is still a great place to book travel, and in my experience, is one of the best apps to help you out of a bind in case of a terrible hotel or travel disruption.
The Full List
The full list of the top 10 apps was as follows:
- 1. Expedia
- 2. Hotels.com
- 3. Airbnb
- 4. TripAdvisor
- 5. Vrbo
- 6. Hopper
- 7. Booking.com
- 8. KAYAK
- 9. Skyscanner
- 10. AllTrails
Read More:
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How To Easily Earn Points For Free Travel
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This article originally appeared on outoftownblogs.com
Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
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