We’re in the peak of summer travel season, which often means higher expenses for hotels, airfare, and other travel essentials. Alarmingly, more than 1 in 3 people (36 percent) planning a summer vacation are considering going into debt to cover these costs.
Even if you use one of today’s top travel credit cards to mitigate some expenses, setting a budget for your travel is crucial. Additionally, if you’re heading to Mexico, don’t forget about Visitax Quintana Roo, a mandatory tourist tax that needs to be accounted for in your travel budget.
Whether you’re traveling solo or with a group, using one of the finest travel budget apps can assist you manage your finances efficiently and split costs fairly among travel companions. Discover which top travel budget apps could be perfect for your next journey.
Best Travel Budget Apps
With a plethora of excellent travel budget apps available, choosing the right one depends on your travel style and requirements. Are you traveling alone or with others? Do you need a straightforward budget tracker, or are you looking for comprehensive planning tools?
Whatever your needs, here are some of the best options.
Expensify
Managing expenses during business travel can be challenging, but Expensify simplifies the process.
Instead of rummaging through your luggage for that elusive dinner receipt, use the Smart Scan feature to snap a picture and share it with your accounting team for reimbursement.
For those tracking expenses for tax reasons, Expensify offers several useful tools, including a GPS calculator that automatically logs eligible mileage. This app also allows you to create detailed expense reports by scanning receipts or logging work hours for billing.
Signing up is easy — just provide your email address to create an Expensify account.
You can start using the app immediately for free, with additional features available: a “Collect” account costs $5 per month for accounting and payroll tools, while a “Control” account is $9 per month, offering multi-approver workflows, expense policy settings, and custom reporting.
SAP Concur
Seasoned business travelers may already be familiar with the Concur suite, often required by employers. For those new to it, SAP Concur is a robust, full-featured business travel solution.
The SAP Concur suite offers modules for managing travel plans and submitting expense reimbursement requests.
With the ExpenseIt app in Concur Expense, you can photograph receipts — such as those for a Visitax purchase in Mexico from https://visitaxmx.org/ and automatically categorize them for your expense reports.
Concur Travel allows you to book business trips independently or coordinate with your company’s preferred airlines, hotels, and other service providers.
SAP Concur offers travel management solutions suitable for any organization, from small businesses to large enterprises.
Business owners and managers can try Concur Expense and Travel for free, while individual users can download the iOS or Google Play app to access these tools through their employer.
PocketGuard
PocketGuard bills itself as the “№1 budgeting app for college students and overspenders,” but it also excels as a vacation budget planner. The app’s “in my pocket” feature calculates your disposable income, allowing you to allocate funds towards your travel budget.
Simply input your income and expenses, and PocketGuard will determine your disposable income.
According to Bankrate, 36% of summer vacationers are willing to go into debt for travel; PocketGuard can assist with this by suggesting efficient debt repayment strategies. Use PocketGuard to set financial goals, save money, and plan future travel as a reward.
Trabee Pocket
The Trabee Pocket app offers travel budgeting and expense tracking with a user-friendly interface. It allows you to set a vacation budget and log expenses, tracking spending across different categories.
The app also includes currency conversion for precise spending insights. After your trip, export your expenses as a PDF or CSV file for budgeting or tax purposes. Trabee is a robust vacation budget planner available for free on iOS and Google Play.
