My Favorite Travel Websites

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By alew


SECTIONS

  1. GENERAL TRAVEL TIPS & TOOLS - Info & Tips - Wifi Access - Restaurants - Travel Directories & News
  2. AIR TRAVEL: Air Tips & Tools - Air Fares & Bookings - Major Air-Hotel-Car Reservations - Budget Airlines - Mixed Budget & Major Airline Searches - Regional Air Specialists
  3. ACCOMMODATIONS: Hotels - Condo/Vacation Rentals - Package Tours & Last Minute Travel
  4. SURFACE TRAVEL: Car Rentals - Gas Prices - Train & Ship/Cruise Travel
  5. INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL: Travel Agencies Outside the US - Visa - Currency Exchange, ATMS & Phones - Travel Insurance
  6. TRAVEL BLOGS that you may enjoy
  7. AVOID THESE: Travel sites that I have had problems with

1. General Travel Tips & Tools

Resources and Discounts

Money and Points

Responsible Travel

2. AIR TRAVEL

TIPS & TOOLS

  • FareReport.com - Fare Report is a free tool that provides travelers with historical airfare averages on over 6,000 routes. This tool is useful in benchmarking fares, and in finding cheaper alternate routes.
  • Yapta.com - Tracks prices on tickets you currently hold so you can claim a "rollover" refund if the price drops. - Also see this article on Yahoo Finance about making such claims
  • FareCompare.com - current fares are give a star rating based on historic lows -- 4 stars meant the current price is almost the same as the historic low between two cities. Lots of tips on getting the bes price, and on rollover refunds - nice interface.
  • Farecast.com - shows chart of changing airfares and statistically attempts to predict future prices for any given date; one study found their predictions to be accurate 74.5% of the time.
  • Kayak.com has a nice Price History where you can see historical price patterns for any month.
  • GREEN KAYAK - GoGreenTravel.com - This website searches Kayak.com and donates 50% of its profits from your purchases to green causes.

  • AirFareWatchdog.com - click on city or subscribe to get a list of current airfares that are at their historic lows.

MAJOR AIR-HOTEL-CAR RESERVATIONS

  • THE BIG AGENCIES
    • Orbitz.com - includes web-only fares for several airlines
    • Travelocity.com - seldom cheapest, but worth checking
    • Expedia.com - seldom cheapest, but worth checking
    • Dohop.com - new site that gives amazingly fast results, along with some useful tools

    • MULTIPLE SITE SEARCHES - These are the ons that I use the most
    • OneTime.com - search 10 of the major hotel and air booking sites at once - each will open in a separate browser window (NEW 9/9/07)

    • Booking Buddy - allows inmmediate search of many airline, hotel, car, cruise and package vaction sites (but only one at a time) - includes discount airlines not on major CRSs, also has a last minute Deals section for all these categories of travel - Also try BookingWiz.com - basically the same approach.
    • SideStep.com - Kayak.com - Unfortunately, the three links above allow only One-Way and Round-Trip searches. These two are better for multiple city and open jaw flights.

  • OTHERS

    • CFares.com - interesting interface and useful tools - special paid "platinum membership" prices
    • Travelworm.com - also air, cars, etc. in the US only - seems to specialize in Las Vegas
    • Octopus Travel - specializes in hotel/air packages to major cities
    • Last Minute Travel Deals - try: TravelZoo.com and AirFareHawk.com

    • ALSO SEE the ACCOMMODATIONS and TRANSPORTATION Sections Below

BUDGET AIRLINES

- these arilines are often not part of the international CRSs (computer reservatio systems) used by the big travel agencies

3. ACCOMMODATIONS:

HOTELS (see also the "Major Air-Hotel-Car Reservations" above)

Hotel Tips

  • TravelGoop.com - Go to this website before you place a bid on a Priceline hotel. Try their Bid Wizard to see a suggested bids strategy for a destination. --- For some additional Priceline tips, see the BiddingForTravel.com and Betterbidding.com discussion forums. Most of the discussions focus on successful hotel bids, though airfares and car rentals are also included.

  • ParkSleepFly.com - Reserved a parking space at a secure hotel for the duration of your trip, overnight accommodations and transfers to and from the airport. They also offer cruise port packages that accommodate your travel by car or air.
  • How to Upgrade your Hotel Room for a $20 Tip - works about 75% of the time in Las Vegas, and should work about as well elsewhere (worked for me in SFO)
  • Unusual Hotels of the World -- museum hotels, treehouse hotels, bullring hotels, and more

Major Hotel Search Sites

Regional Specialists

  • Travelworm.com - also air, cars, etc. in the US only - seems to specialize in Las Vegas
  • Asia Hotels.com - useful user reviews of most hotels
  • Asia Travel.com - among the cheapest hotel and tour package sites for Asia; Good destination information; Also covers the rest of the world, though in less detail

Condo / Vacation Home Rentals

  • VRBO.com - Vacation Rentals By Owner - ads posted by individual owners around the world
  • Search on "vacation rentals" and the place you are going in any search engine
  • ResortQuest.com - condo management company - selected US states only
  • ResortTime.com - US timeshare rentals - discounts for last minute and off-season
  • Condo Rentals Hawaii
  • Vacapedia.com - vaction rentals, mostly in N. American and Europe, a few elsewhere

Air-Hotel & Package Tours - Discount & Last Minute

4. SURFACE TRAVEL:

Car & Camping

Rail and Water Travel

5. INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

Overseas Travel Agencies (outside the US) - these sell tickets that are sometimes not available in the US, such as tickets that originate outside the US.

  • AirTreks.com - Round the World and Multiple City Travel - good online tool for guestimating the cost of these kinds of trips - though from my experience you always need to request a quote from an agent.
  • BootsnAll Travel - uses the AirTreks travel planner, but lso provides links to other RTW travel information.
  • Budget Travel Magazine - Top Bucket Shops (discount air) - the best part is the section on travel agencies that specialize in air tickets from the US to Europe, Latin America, and Asia
  • Using Overseas Travel Agencies - tips for people in the US on using foreign travel agencies
  • Chan Brothers - Singapore - one of the largest travel agenciesin Singapore
  • FlyChina.com - Search engine includes many Chinese cities; also provides China Visas; also China Service Center of America - Visa Mail Service - has cheaper China Visas
  • Exotissmo.com - Only travel agency for Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar
  • Opodo.com - offices throughout Europe, though see my note below if you live outside of the UK
  • Destina.com - based in Canada
  • ALSO SEE: Budget Airlines / Low Cost Carriers in the Air Travel section above

Money, Phones & Insurance

6. TRAVEL BLOGS that you may enjoy...

7. AVOID THESES: Travel sites that I have had trouble with

1 - Airfare.com - This online travel agency told me straight up lies about a flight that I had booked through them. You hear my story here.

2 - Opodo.com - UK based online travel agency with some great prices on car rentals. However, if you want to cancel or make changes to a reservation you must call them and wait forever to talk to someone. They will not accept cancellations or changes by email! If you live outside of the UK, avoid this website.

3 - UltimateFares.com - I have sometimes found the cheapest flights on this website, but readers of this Hubpage have commented on major problems that they have had using the site, and encountering large service fees. So be wary.

COMMENTS

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Aryan S  says:
2 years ago

You might want to include http://www.grab2travel.com in your list. cool stuff...

alew profile image

alew  says:
2 years ago

Grab2Travel.com is a lot like BookingBuddy - after you enter the destination cities it gives you page with links to Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak, Cheap Tickets and others. You then click on each of these to search on their site. This can a be a timesaver if you want to search several sites to find the best deals.

discojunkia profile image

discojunkia  says:
2 years ago

awesome site

alew profile image

alew  says:
2 years ago

My original Travel Links Hub Page was corrupted. I am in the process of rebuilding it and hope to have it finished soon. -- Alan

kv  says:
2 years ago

HAS ANYONE EVER USED ULTIMATE fARES.COM? aRE THEY RELIABLE?

alew profile image

alew  says:
2 years ago

I used them (UltimateFares.com) once and got a good deal. However, I have been less successful in subsequent searches on their site. In general, though, my best deals come from using sites like Ultimate Fares.com first, then buying directly from the airlines.

elizabeth  says:
2 years ago

I would NOT use Ultimate Fares for any other reservations in my many travels. They have a sneaky charge of $40 for their service, DUH you don't save any money by using them and I have tried for 3 days to GET TO THEM to talk about it and no getting through the phone lines. I searched High and Low for a notation somewhere that they charge a fee and there isn't one that I can find. I wasn't told that on the phone either. I called to get help with their site and ended up making the reservation with a person and there was no mention of a $40 service fee. Who in their "right" mind these days with so many options will pay that high of a fee for a $217 fare that Alaska had for the same price. DUMB me. I have learned, there aren't really any good deals out there because after using Travelocity and having no room at 1 AM in Florida because they claimed they emailed me 3 days before to say there weren't any rooms after all when I just left 10 hrs. before that and had no messages so I will never even trust their stupid tv advertising. I have gotten burned now I will go directly to the airlines and hotels for A DEAL.

alew profile image

alew  says:
2 years ago

I moved UltimateFares to my AVOID list. Personally, I almost always buy direct from the airline or hotel, after using different travel sites to see who might have the best deal.

Anuj Agarwal  says:
2 years ago

great informative website,keep it up.

Raman  says:
18 months ago

Please see www.amicoz.com and let me know i I am on right track.

thanks

Shana  says:
18 months ago

I would like to recommend a site for domestic US-nased travel. TripWiser http://www.tripwiser.com specializes in trip planning and itinerary building for baby boomers traveling in the United States with families. Ready-to-go itineraries can be customized, lots of cool features.

adite profile image

adite  says:
17 months ago

wow...great resource...thanks for sharing...you may add www.virtualtourist.com to your list...cheers!

Raman Basu  says:
17 months ago

Hello Adite,

www.virtualtourist.com is functionally good but it lacks in proper design and navigational behaviours. www.amicoz.com is one man army site developed by myself, which would surely supercedes all. :)

Zillur Rahman John  says:
16 months ago

Very good site and would be helpful for the interested travellers. It can be a good source for me also for future when i wish to travel other continents. Thanks for the informations. Good job...

Chojers  says:
16 months ago

Wow, lots of good travel links, I will have to bookmark and check them out.

Nick Ball  says:
16 months ago

Hi

Great resource. I was hoping that you would give consideration to my website...<a href="http://www.lanzaroteguidebook.com</a>.

The site carries original content, in depth information and is updated daily.

Darshan Singla  says:
16 months ago

www.haryanatravels.com is have a lot of information about tourism, travel places and about haryana

Verbi profile image

Verbi  says:
15 months ago

This is fantastic! Thank you for putting this resource together.

One thing we used for our Disney World vacation was TourGuideMike.com. It's a paid-for service but we found that using the advice saved us hundreds off our vacation.

Jean  says:
15 months ago

Ultimatefares.com is terrible. yes they add on a 40 dollar service fee, the other fees vary widely and are not spelled out definitively in advance and you don't know what you will be charged until after you get your quote and pay. They appear to be the cheapest prices, then once all the fees are tacked on you are not saving money, and may spend more than what you could have gotten on other sites. I was fooled once, but won't ever use them again.

Seattleicity profile image

Seattleicity  says:
15 months ago

What a great resource! I'll bookmark this page.

Tracy Higgins  says:
14 months ago

I have been looking at some cheap travel insurance deals for my upcoming trip to europe when I came across your hub. Excellent advice, your hub has given me some good insights, many thanks Alew keep up the good work.

vacationsinfo  says:
13 months ago

These are an awesome set of resouces, thanks for sharing

kango profile image

kango  says:
13 months ago

Can you suggest some specity travel sites, such as planning a trip with disability kids, or planning a family vacation with a toddlers ? Thanks.

alew profile image

alew  says:
13 months ago

Hi Kango - I have heard about sites like that, but it has been awahile and not having small kids (mine are getting older much to fast) or disabled kids, I have not really focused on them. If you have any suggestions, please post suggestions here. - Alan

Aayla profile image

Aayla  says:
12 months ago

Comprehensive list!

May I suggest the following additional sites:

Budget Airlines:

<a href="http://www.cebupacificair.com">Cebu Pacific</a> - Budget airline from the Philippines with the most domestic flights, and additional international flights to various Asian cities

<a href="http://www.airphils.com/">Air Philippines</a> - sister airline of Philippine Airlines, the Philippines' flag carrier

Under Accommodation/Hotels:

<a href="http://www.hotelclub.net/hotel.reservations"& - Worldwide hotels discount accommodation.

<a href="http://www.ratestogo.com/">RatesToGo</a - Last Minute hotel reservations

Misha profile image

Misha  says:
11 months ago

Nice list Alew, thanks a lot :)

alew profile image

alew  says:
11 months ago

Thanks. I update this list on a regular basis -- whenever I come across a site that I think I might want to use someday.

trakker14 profile image

trakker14  says:
11 months ago

This is truely a woanderful site, where did you get most of your info?? here is my favorite resort in NH

http://hubpages.com/hub/www_Vintage-Vacation-in--N

Goodolddays  says:
11 months ago

Don't know if this will be useful to you, but I'm starting to work on a site for a niche that I call nostalgia travel, places you can go and things you can do that are old fashioned, like biplane rides, or ballroom dancing. The site is at http://goodolddaysandmore.googlepages.com/ Suggestions and critique welcome.

alew profile image

alew  says:
11 months ago

Thanks for the link to your Nostalgia tourism site. Very interesting concept - especially as we all get older.

I am surprised that you do not have the "Amusing America" museum at San Francico's Fisherman's Wharf. I have fond memories of the old Playland-at-the-Beach that is now on display here. See: http://urltea.com/289e

maxgreger profile image

maxgreger  says:
8 months ago

Nice page you have with a lot of useful information.I have built my own search page for travel content, and you can use it for all location in the world.I think you'll find my search results page one of the most useful around.But don't take my word for it, try it yourself.http://traveling-in-norway.com/travel-search.php

alew profile image

alew  says:
8 months ago

Thanks, Max -- That is nice and simple search page that you have created. -- I even blogged in at http://web20travel.com/

Darrylant  says:
7 months ago

Wow!

You have obviously spent a lot of time and effort in putting up this very useful travel resource. Another one that you may useful in listing is http://www.all-destinations.com .

Keep up the good work meanwhile!

Shadrack profile image

Shadrack  says:
7 months ago

Fantastic, I think this information is very useful, throw in some African Countries Traveling websites as well

alew profile image

alew  says:
7 months ago

@Shadrack - I developed this hub mostly for my own use. I don't get to Africa often, so there is not much on that region (nor South America). Hopefully in the future, though.

2patricias profile image

2patricias  says:
6 months ago

What a great hub - absolutely packed with information.

First Eagle profile image

First Eagle  says:
4 months ago

Great resource, great hub

fedhughes profile image

fedhughes  says:
4 months ago

Wow,

Your hub has so much information and you have some a lot of my time searching for the same topic.

Thanks

sarasota-rentals profile image

sarasota-rentals  says:
3 months ago

Very nice resource!

Winnipegsteve profile image

Winnipegsteve  says:
3 months ago

www.Triporia.com is an excellent site to research your travel plans. Triporia.com provides videos and reviews of destinations and tourism related businesses from around the world.

joey_koala  says:
2 months ago

awesome list of sites ya got there! personal fave is the Restaurant coupon saver (will bookmark that for my next trip to the US of A!) - in Australia, we buy $50 restaurant coupons but most people only ever use 1/2 the book.

The $20 upgrade is also v funny but may not work here in Oz - our conceirge would probaly just get confused =P

A good site you may wanna check out or add is www.godo.com.au loads of stuff to do Downunder =D ... just my 2 cents heh he

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