The Best Travel Apps Every Points Traveler Over 55 Should Download
Twelve apps that make earning, tracking, and using your points simpler — plus a few that make the trip itself go smoother.
Let's be honest about something. The phrase "you should download this app" can feel like a young person's solution to every problem. Another login. Another password. Another icon cluttering your phone's home screen.
But here's the thing: in the world of travel points, a handful of well-chosen apps can genuinely save you money, reduce stress, and help you keep track of the rewards you've earned. The key word is handful. You don't need thirty apps. You need the right twelve.
This guide walks through the specific apps that matter most for travelers who use credit card points and hotel loyalty programs. Each one is here because it solves a real problem — not because it's trendy. I'll tell you what it does, why it's useful, what it costs, and how to get started.
For tracking your points and miles
1. AwardWallet
What it does: Tracks all of your loyalty program balances in one place — airlines, hotels, credit cards, and more.
Why it matters: If you have points across Chase Ultimate Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, American Airlines AAdvantage, and two or three other programs, checking each one individually is tedious. AwardWallet pulls all of your balances into a single dashboard. You open one app and see everything.
It also sends you alerts when points are about to expire — which, if you've been accumulating points across several programs for years, is genuinely valuable.
Cost: The basic version is free and covers up to a handful of accounts. The premium version ($30 per year) supports unlimited accounts and adds expiration alerts, historical tracking, and family account linking.
Who should use it: Anyone with points in more than two loyalty programs. If you and your spouse each have several accounts, the family linking feature is particularly useful — you can see your combined household balance at a glance.
Getting started: Download from the App Store or Google Play, create an account, and connect your loyalty programs one by one. The setup takes about 10 minutes.
2. The Points Guy app (TPG)
What it does: Provides point and mile valuations, credit card comparisons, and travel deals.
Why it matters: When someone tells you they have "80,000 Hilton points," you might wonder: is that a lot? Is that worth one night or five nights? The Points Guy app assigns a cents-per-point value to every major loyalty currency, so you can quickly understand what your points are worth in real dollars.
A caveat: The Points Guy's content is written for a younger, more experienced audience. The valuations and deal alerts, however, are useful regardless of your familiarity with the points world. Use it as a reference tool, not a tutorial.
Cost: Free.
Who should use it: Anyone who wants a quick reference for what their points are worth. When you're deciding whether to spend 25,000 Marriott points on a hotel or pay cash, being able to quickly check the approximate dollar value helps.
For booking flights on points
3. Google Flights
What it does: Searches for flights across virtually every airline, shows prices on a calendar view, and tracks price changes.
Why it matters: Before you spend points on a flight, you should know what the cash price is. Google Flights makes that comparison effortless. Type in your origin, destination, and approximate dates, and it shows you the cheapest options on a calendar grid. You can see at a glance whether flying on a Tuesday instead of a Thursday saves $200.
Why this matters for points travelers: If the cash price for a flight is only $180, your points are probably better saved for a more expensive booking. If the cash price is $800, that's when points deliver real value. Google Flights gives you the cash baseline to make that decision. For more on when to use points versus cash, see our guide on booking international flights with points.
Additional feature worth knowing: The "track prices" button lets you set an alert for a specific route. Google will email you when the price drops. It's quiet and unobtrusive — exactly one email when something changes.
Cost: Free. No app download required — it works in your phone's web browser at flights.google.com, though there is also an app.
4. Seats.aero
What it does: Searches for award flight availability across multiple airline loyalty programs simultaneously.
Why it matters: This is the single most useful tool for finding flights you can book with points. Here's the problem it solves: normally, to find an award flight (a flight booked with points), you'd need to search each airline's website individually. Want to fly to London? You'd check American Airlines, then United, then Delta, then British Airways — each one separately, each with a different interface.
Seats.aero searches all of them at once. You enter your origin and destination, and it shows you every available award seat across multiple programs — including the number of points required.
Cost: The basic search is free. A premium subscription ($8 per month) adds availability alerts, which notify you when award seats open up on routes you're watching. Those alerts are genuinely useful for popular routes like New York to London or San Francisco to Tokyo.
Who should use it: Anyone who wants to book flights using credit card points transferred to airlines. This is the tool that turns the abstract idea of "transfer partners" — airlines you can move your credit card points to — into something you can actually act on.
5. Your airline's own app (Delta, United, American, Southwest)
What it does: Lets you search for flights, manage bookings, check in, access your boarding pass, and track your loyalty account.
Why it matters: Once you've found the flight you want to book (using Google Flights or Seats.aero), you'll typically complete the booking through the airline's own website or app. Having the airline's app on your phone also means your boarding pass is always accessible, you'll get real-time flight status updates and gate changes, and you can manage changes if your plans shift.
Practical tip: You don't need apps for every airline — just the ones you fly. If you primarily fly Delta and Southwest, those are the two to download. Add others only as needed.
Cost: Free, for all major airline apps.
For booking hotels on points
6. Your hotel loyalty program apps (Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG)
What each does: Search for hotels, book rooms with points or cash, manage reservations, check in digitally, and view your loyalty account details.
Why they matter: Booking directly through the hotel's own app ensures you earn points on your stay, receive your elite benefits, and maintain your upgrade eligibility. Booking through third-party sites like Expedia or Booking.com often means forfeiting some or all of those benefits.
The hotel apps also offer features that make the stay itself easier:
- Hilton Honors app: Lets you choose your specific room on a floor plan before arrival. You can pick a corner room, a room near the elevator, or a room on a high floor — all from your phone.
- Marriott Bonvoy app: Digital key access at many properties (you can skip the front desk entirely and go straight to your room), plus the ability to submit Suite Night Award requests.
- World of Hyatt app: Clean, straightforward interface for searching and booking. Shows points pricing prominently alongside cash pricing.
- IHG One Rewards app: Digital check-in and room selection. Useful "points and cash" booking option is easy to find.
Which ones to download: Only the programs you actually use. If you're loyal to Hilton and occasionally stay at Hyatt, download those two. You don't need all four.
Cost: Free, for all hotel loyalty apps.
For managing your credit card points
7. Chase app (for Ultimate Rewards)
What it does: Manages your Chase credit card account, shows your Ultimate Rewards points balance, and lets you transfer points to airline and hotel partners directly from your phone.
Why it matters: If you hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Chase Freedom card, your points live in the Chase ecosystem. The Chase app lets you see your current balance, review how you're earning points by category, and — most importantly — transfer points to airline and hotel partners when you're ready to book.
Feature worth knowing: The app's "Pay Yourself Back" and "Travel Portal" options let you use points for statement credits and direct bookings. While transferring to partners usually delivers better value, the travel portal is a simple, no-fuss way to use points when you just want to book something quickly.
Cost: Free.
8. Amex app (for Membership Rewards)
What it does: Manages your American Express account, shows your Membership Rewards balance, and provides access to Amex Offers — targeted discounts on brands you already shop at.
Why it matters: Beyond managing your points, the Amex app includes a section called "Amex Offers" that provides statement credits when you shop at participating merchants. These offers change regularly and often include travel-related brands: hotels, airlines, restaurants, and rental car companies.
Example of Amex Offers in action: You might see an offer for "$50 back when you spend $250 or more at Hilton." If you were already planning a Hilton stay, that's $50 back for doing nothing differently. The offers are free to add to your card — you just tap "Add Offer" and the discount applies automatically when you make the purchase.
Cost: Free.
For the trip itself
9. Flighty (flight tracking)
What it does: Tracks your flights in real time with extraordinary detail — gate changes, delays, aircraft type, and your plane's current location.
Why it matters: Flighty often knows about delays and gate changes before the airline's own app does. It pulls data from multiple sources and pushes notifications the moment something changes. If your flight is delayed by 20 minutes, Flighty tells you immediately — often while the departure board at the airport still shows the original time.
It also shows you your plane's inbound flight. If the aircraft that's supposed to take you to Rome is currently sitting on the ground in Chicago with a mechanical delay, Flighty tells you that too. It's the kind of information that lets you make calm, informed decisions instead of sitting at a gate wondering what's happening.
Cost: Free basic version. The premium version ($5.99 per month or $49.99 per year) adds lifetime flight maps, richer notifications, and advanced aircraft tracking. The free version is excellent for most travelers.
Available on: iPhone and iPad. (Android users can use a similar app called Flightradar24.)
10. Google Maps (offline maps)
What it does: You already know what Google Maps does. But you may not know about the offline feature — and when you're traveling internationally, it changes everything.
Why it matters: When you're walking through a neighborhood in Lisbon or trying to find a restaurant in Florence, your phone may not have reliable cellular data. Offline maps solve this. Before your trip, you download the map of the area you're visiting. The map saves to your phone and works without any internet connection — including turn-by-turn navigation.
How to download offline maps:
- Open Google Maps on your phone.
- Search for the city or region you're visiting.
- Tap your profile picture in the top right corner.
- Tap "Offline maps."
- Tap "Select your own map," then drag the blue box to cover the area you need.
- Tap "Download."
The download typically takes a few minutes and uses 100 to 500 megabytes of storage, depending on the area size. Do this on your home Wi-Fi before you leave.
Cost: Free.
11. Google Translate
What it does: Translates text, speech, and — this is the remarkable part — images in real time.
Why it matters for travelers: The camera translation feature alone justifies downloading this app. Point your phone's camera at a restaurant menu in Italian, a street sign in Japanese, or a train schedule in German, and Google Translate overlays the English translation directly on your screen in real time. You don't need to type anything. You just look.
It also works for conversations. Tap the microphone, speak in English, and the app translates your words into the selected language — both as text and audio. The person you're speaking with can respond in their language, and the app translates back. It's not perfect, but for basic interactions — ordering food, asking for directions, reading a museum placard — it's remarkably effective.
Download languages before you travel: Just like offline maps, you can download languages for offline use. Go to the app's settings, tap "Downloaded languages," and add any language you'll encounter on your trip.
Cost: Free.
12. LoungeBuddy
What it does: Shows you which airport lounges you can access based on your current credit cards, airline status, and loyalty memberships.
Why it matters: If you carry a card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the American Express Platinum, or certain airline-branded cards, you likely have access to airport lounges — but figuring out which ones, and where, can be confusing. LoungeBuddy solves this. For a comprehensive guide to which cards offer the best lounge access, check out our complete airport lounges guide.
You enter your credit cards and loyalty memberships, and the app tells you exactly which lounges you can access at any given airport. It includes reviews, photos, and details about each lounge's amenities (food quality, shower availability, noise level, seating comfort).
Before a long layover, check LoungeBuddy to see what's available at your connecting airport. The difference between spending two hours in a crowded gate area and spending two hours in a quiet lounge with complimentary food and comfortable seating is the kind of difference that makes travel genuinely more enjoyable.
Cost: Free to search. Some lounges offer walk-in purchases through the app ($25 to $65 per visit) if you don't have credit card or membership access.
A note about organizing these apps on your phone
Twelve apps is a manageable number, but only if you organize them thoughtfully. Here's a simple approach:
Create a folder on your home screen called "Travel." Put all twelve apps in this folder. They're out of your daily view but immediately accessible when you need them.
Alternatively, create two folders:
- "Points" — AwardWallet, The Points Guy, Chase, Amex, Seats.aero
- "Trip" — Google Flights, Google Maps, Google Translate, Flighty, LoungeBuddy, plus your airline and hotel apps
This keeps your phone tidy and your tools accessible. You shouldn't need to scroll through three screens to find your boarding pass.
Apps you probably don't need
In the spirit of keeping things simple, here are a few categories of apps that people often recommend but that, in our experience, add more clutter than value:
Currency converter apps: Google handles currency conversion natively. Type "100 euros in dollars" into any Google search (or your phone's search bar) and you'll get the answer instantly. No separate app needed.
Packing list apps: A note in your phone's built-in Notes app works just as well. No need for a dedicated packing app with notifications and smart suggestions.
VPN apps: Useful for some travelers, but unless you're accessing sensitive financial accounts on public Wi-Fi abroad (which we'd advise against regardless), most people over 55 don't need the added complexity.
Itinerary aggregator apps (TripIt and similar): These are popular with frequent business travelers who take multiple trips per month. If you travel three to six times per year, your email inbox and your airline/hotel apps already have everything you need.
Getting started: The three apps to download first
If twelve apps feels like a lot, start with three:
- AwardWallet — So you know what you have.
- Google Flights — So you know what things cost.
- Your primary hotel loyalty app — So you can book directly and earn what you're owed.
Those three solve the most common problems: "Where are my points?", "What's a good deal?", and "How do I make sure I'm earning on my stay?"
Add the others as they become relevant to specific trips. The night before you fly, download Flighty. The week before an international trip, download Google Translate and your offline maps. Build your toolkit gradually, and every app on your phone will be there because it earned its place.
The apps recommended in this guide are based on our genuine assessment of what's useful for points travelers over 55. WanderWise does not receive compensation from any of the app developers mentioned. We just think they're good.
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