If you're booking your next trip, certain websites and apps will help you find the right options to book and save money. But with endless sites out there, it's hard to know which to trust.
That's why we spent time tracking down the best websites and apps for booking ttravel. These sites and apps help you get bargains on airfare, lodging, car rentals and all your other travel needs. Get a good deal on travel insurance, score discounts on international train tickets or rent a car on the cheap — whatever you need, there's likely a deal or discount for it.
Best of all, almost all of the travel websites are free to use. Bon voyage!
Keeping up with airfare prices has gotten easier thanks to sites like Google Flights and Kayak. To use them, type in your home and destination airport, pick the flights that work best for you, and then set an alert to track the price. After that, you'll receive emails showing if your tracked flight went up or down in price. Both sites also let you see which days are cheaper to fly in that month.
AirfareWatchdog is another site that lets you search flight deals, so take a look and compare your options between sites to find the best price available.
If you haven't decided on where exactly you want to go, sign up for Going (formerly known as Scott’s Cheap Flights). Going's newsletter comes straight to your inbox with deals on domestic and international locations. However, to access all domestic and international economy deals on the site, you'll need to pay for a membership. A Premium membership is $49 annually, and Elite, which gives access to premium economy, business and first class deals, is $199 annually.
Once your flight is booked, you'll want to keep tabs on gate changes, layover information and more to ensure your travel goes as smoothly as possible. Flight delays and cancellations can really put a wrench in your plans, but staying up to date on current flight and airport information can make managing these situations easier.
FlightStats can help you plan a smooth trip by advising you on the best time of day to fly from a specific airport and which terminals to avoid when connecting flights. You can also view live updates of flight delays and sign up for free e-mail and phone alerts. For $2.99 per month, a premium membership provides flight alerts and access to historical flight data. FlightAware also tracks and predicts flight delays.
If you're delayed by weather or some unforeseen event, it pays to act quickly. The TripIt Pro smartphone app ($49/year) will send you alerts about cancellations, delays or gate changes, sometimes even ahead of an airline announcement. Use it to locate alternate flights, find out when better seats are available, get fare refund notifications, track your rewards program points and more.
Hotels.com lets you search just one site for accommodations at hundreds of thousands of properties. Plus, its rewards program is simple: Earn OneKeyCash for every dollar spent on eligible hotels, vacation rentals, flights, car rentals and more when you book on Hotels.com (or partner brands).
Similarly, HotelTonight is an app that lets users book hotels at low last-minute rates.
And try TripAdvisor for a detailed list of rated hotels (and excursions) close to your destination. The site links you to partner sites, such as Expedia and Travelocity, for fulfillment. Click on the "check rates" button and select the site or sites you’d like to try — a new window with results will open for each partner.
And to save even more, make sure you avoid annoying hotel fees. Also, check your credit card rewards. Some of the best travel credit cards offer deals and discounts on hotel stays.
Vacation rentals are an especially good value for groups because they generally offer more space and amenities for prices similar to or less than hotel rates, particularly if you look at it on a per-bed basis. Check out VRBO and Airbnb to find the perfect experience.
For Marriott loyalists, Marriott Bonvoy lets you browse its 30-brand portfolio, which includes more than 2,000 private homes.
At the other end of the scale, if you don’t mind college-dorm-level amenities, check out HostelWorld as a way to save. The site lists more than 17,000 hostels in over 180 countries around the globe and includes reviews.
At CruiseCompete, more than 500 travel agencies vie to give you the lowest prices for dates, ports and ships you specify, whether you're booking a cruise well in advance or at the eleventh hour. You set up a CruiseCompete account, and they send you their best offers without ever seeing your personal information.
Kayak.com and Tripadvisor.com will also knit together vacation packages for you. Just type in your destination and travel dates to get the best prices.
Hotwire often offers the best published deals on cars by collecting rates from its eight rental car company partners, including Alamo, Enterprise and Hertz. The site also offers "hot rates" from rental companies that aren't identified until after you’ve paid.
And while Hotwire does offer some good prepaid rental car deals, in certain international cities, for the best overseas auto deals, you should check out AutoEurope. It offers rentals at more than 20,000 locations worldwide, and customer service is available 24/7.
AutoSlash is also a good site to find rental deals, as it will apply the best coupons and discount codes to your rental and re-book your reservation if the system finds a better deal.
If you rent a car on your next vacation, consider booking it with a credit card that covers rental car insurance.
Trains are often the fastest and cheapest way to travel within and between European countries. Our favorite for checking timetables and booking tickets on European train lines is RailEurope.
But you might be able to catch better deals directly from European railways' sites if you don't get lost in translation — and make sure you have what you need to travel to Europe as an American!
You never know when an emergency will spoil your travel plans. That's what travel insurance is for. But don't just go for the default options from travel agencies and travel providers.
At Squaremouth, you can compare plans and prices from multiple insurance providers with just one search and narrow your search results by specifying the kind of coverage you need. Another option is InsureMyTrip.com.
These sites and apps can help you find itinerary options and deals and can help track prices. We do have one word of caution, though: When it comes time for booking, you'll likely want to go directly through the hotel or airline, rather than booking through a third-party site or app.
Some itinerary sites charge extra fees and can make it difficult to change or cancel your booking. If there are any snafus during travel, you'll generally be more protected if you booked directly with the airline, hotel, car rental company or tour operator.
Seth Kugel, a travel columnist, wrote in The New York Times that his advice was to use "the big middlemen" sites and apps to find deals. "But unless you have an excellent reason to do otherwise — significant savings on package deals, one-click booking of complex itineraries, your wife is C.E.O. — take a few extra minutes to open a new tab and book direct with the actual service provider."
So while these sites and apps can be useful to guide your trip, consider how you actually make your bookings.
