My Favorite Travel Websites

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 2.0 WEBSITES to Explore
7. AVOID THESE: Travel sites that I have had problems with

Resources and Discounts

• ePassportPhoto.com -- Make your own passport photo
• Transitions Abroad - resources for long term (like 1-year) living overseas
• Where Not to Go: US Government list; Canadian Government list; Australian Government list
• Disney Discounts: MouseSavers.com - The Mouse For Less
• My Top Tourist Attractions Hubpage - Tourist Attractions, Official Tourism Offices, and Travel Information for world countries and US states
• Free Foreign Language Phrasebooks (pdf downloads) from Lonely Planet via Australia's ninemsn.com:
• Restaurants.com: 50% off (more with eBay link) for restaurants in major cities
• Wireless (Wifi) Access- TravelPost.com has an Airport Wifi Directory that includes:
  • -- US Airports - very comprehensive list of free and paid services - Also see Airline Clubs (US only)
  • -- International Airports - has many, but definitely not all, major international airports
  • -- HotelChains - mostly US-based

• The Budget Traveller's Guide to Sleeping in Airports

Responsible Travel

• Step Up Travel - Classified advertisements from local travel providers around the world
• LeapLocal - Connecting travelers to local tour guides around the world
  

TIPS & TOOLS

• AVOIDDELAYS.COM - Best Site for planning multi-leg flights in the US. Related sites include: Fly.FAA.gov - live map showing delays in major airports in the US - and - Security Gate Wait Times for US airports
• SeatGuru.com - easy to use, detailed information on seat characteristics for all major airlines -- you also need to know the type of airplane that you will be riding on, which is usually shown when you book your flight online.
• SkyTrax at airlineequality.com also has seating tips by airline and plane (though no seat plans), plus reviews of airports, airportlounges, airlines, plus links to airport and airline websites, voting for the best airlines and airports, and more.
• JET LAG TIPS - British Airways' Jet Lag Calculator; NYT article on Jet Lag (30 April 08); Alertness Solutions Jet Lag Calculator (pdf) to see when you will be sleepy and alert at your destinations; they also publish the small book: Alert Traveler: Your Passport to Managing JetLag; Here is another Jet Lag Calculator from BodyClock.com; and yet another Jet Lag Calculator from FleetStreetClinic.
• My Jet Lag Tips for long flights: (1) drink plenty of water during the flight - no alcohol; (2) skip at least the last meal before the flight; (3) adjust to the eating times of the destination before departure; (4) Sleep as much as possible on the flight.

• ITASoftware.com - the most comprehensive worldwide airline search engine that I have found, but you must call the airline directly to book. Related:Article on CNN Money with tips on how to get the best air deals -- they suggest starting with ITASoftware.com on Saturday morning.
• Tips for Finding Discounted First Class tickets - domestic US only - from FareCompare.com
  
  
• Frequent Flyer Support Sites - WebFlyer.com - GlobalFlight.net - MaxMiles.com - these only work for the US, I think
  
  
• 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

MOSTLY AIR BOOKING SITES

• FareCompare.com - Provides lots of tips on getting the best price from its main search page - nice interface - also can search other major sites.
  
  HISTORICAL AIR FARES
  
• Farecast.com - shows historical trend for airfares and statistically predict future prices for any given date; one study found their predictions to be accurate 74.5% of the time, though this tool is limited for flights outside the US. (Now part of MS Live.com.)
  
• Kayak.com is one of the more popular search sites, and also has a Price History Chart link 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 - Consumer advocacy orientation toward finding the best flight deals. Includes Southwest and JetBlue, which are not listed on standard air search sites.

MAJOR AIR-HOTEL-CAR BOOKINGS

• 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
  • ----------------------------------
  • 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
  • Last Minute Travel Deals - try: TravelZoo.com
  • ------------------------------
  • ALSO SEE the ACCOMMODATIONS, TRANSPORTATION and INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL Sections Below

BUDGET AIRLINES

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

• SkyScanner.com - Worldwide - I think this is the only one that actually lists prices for different budget flights on their website -- the others just point you to the airline's website to find the price
• WhichBudget.com - easy overal search worldwide
• AirNinja.com - This one seems to be the best for the US
• Discount European Airlines is a list of airline links at RudyMaxa.com - also: FlyCheapo.com and FlyBudget.com for European flights
• Impulsifly.com - discount and regional flights in Australia
• Discount Airlines Tips - from IndependentTraveler.com
  
  DIRECT LINKS TO SOME BUDGET AIRLINES
• FlySong.com, Southwest.com, Jetblue.com, Airtran.com,(US)
• Airasia.com (Malaysia-based - SE Asia flights - also flies to China); AirAsiaX.com - will connect Asia to Europe and Australia - to start sometime in 2007
• Freedomair.com (NZ/OZ) - Jetstar Airways (OZ - also flies to SE Asia, Hong Kong + Honolulu)
• JTBusa.com (Japan - also flies to US)
• Wikipedia's List of Low Cost Airlines by region and country

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). If bribery is not you style try these tips.
  
• Unusual Hotels of the World -- museum hotels, treehouse hotels, bullring hotels, and more
• Hotel Workers Rising - an online guide to unionized hotels in the US - using these hotels helps ensure that you are staying in a place that is more likely to be concerned with its employees than others might be.

Major Hotel Search Sites

• Travelaxe.com - & - HotelPriceFinder.com - & - HotelsCombined.com - & - BookingBuddy.com - & - OneTime.com - all of these search multiple hotel sites from around the world at the same time - Booking Buddy and OneTIme also do airlines, BookingBuddy also does cruises, cars & vacations
• Hotels.com - Quikbook.com - Roomsavers.com - Hotel!Discounts.com- these are some of the major hotel search sites
• Travelworm.com - also air, cars, etc. in the US only - seems to specialize in Las Vegas
• ALSO SEE: International Travel (below)

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

• Octopus Travel - specializes in hotel/air packages to major cities
• Wotif.com - NZ based with global coverage for last minute hotel bookings
• LastMinuteTravel.com
• Go-Today.com - great deals on Air-Hotel packages to top destinations in world
• Travelzoo.com - Weekly Top 20 travel discounts
• Site59.com - AppleVacations - Discount All-Inclusive Resorts - three package deal sites
• Travelcuts.com - specializing in budget student travel
• Generous Adventures.com - online auction of tours donated for non-profit funding
• Groople.com - specializing in discounted group travel arrangments

Car & Camping

• BreezeNet.com - search multiple car rentals agencies - they specialize n cars only
• BookingBuddy.com - search multiple major sites for cars, air,hotels, cruises, package trips and a list of last minute deals

• EasyRentACar.com - better for Europe
• RV Rentals in New Zealand: Tahitivacation.net - also packages to Tahiti
• Free Campgrounds in the US

Rail and Water Travel

• RailfaEurope.net - European Rail Line info and booking
• The Man in Seat 61 - How to travel by Train and Ship - focussed on London with Train info for much of the world; Ship info is very limited
• Crown Blue Line - Discounted canal boat rentals in Europe
• Cruise411 - Discount cruises "guaranteed" - so they say - others to check: icruise.com, cruise.com, CruiseStar.com, CruisesOnly.com, and BookingBuddy.com
• Cruise auctions: Cruise Compete, Cruise Mates
• Swimming Holes in the US

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
• 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
• Using Overseas Travel Agencies - tips for people in the US on using foreign travel agencies
• Chan Brothers - Singapore - one of the largest travel agencies in Singapore
• 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

China Travel

• FlyChina.com - Search engine includes many Chinese cities; also provides China Visas; also China Service Center of America - Visa Mail Service for visas to China
  
• ZenTravel.com - Shanghai based travel agency for good prices on travel in China - can book from anywhere in the world - credit cards are charged in Hong Kong dollars
• Ctrips.com - China's largest online travel agency, with international toll free numbers
  
• ChinaHighlights.com - Great site for finding and booking domestic travel in China, both air and train, also try TravelChinaGuide.com - both have toll free numbers in the US and elsewhere
• China Travel Superlink - travelers post itineraries, price and travel agent for flights they have booked to China and Hong Kong
• ALSO SEE the ACCOMMODATIONS and TRANSPORTATION Sections Below

Money, Phones & Insurance

• Onanda - and - XE.com - Currency Exchange Rates
• Worldwide ATM Locator
• PinCity.com - worldwide discount calling card
• World-First Travel Insurance Information website (UK-based)
• QuoteTravelInsurance.com & QuoteWright.com - both compare travel insurance rates different companies
• Cheap Travel Insurance.com - Australia-based, rates travel insurance for independent travelers

• SimplySpark.com - Directory of online Web 2.0 sites. The Travel section includes: Guides, Auto, Transit, Tickets, Maps, Directions, and Weather
• FeedMyApp.com: Web 2.0 Travel - sorted by rank - probably the longest list of Travel 2.0 sites.
  
• Go2Web20.net - Select the Travel tag - this results are much shorter than the other two sites, above, and are not organized.
• Trusted Travel Blogs Network - a list of non-commericial blogs
• Twisitor Centers - Visitors Centers that have Twitter feeds that you can follow
  
• Web 2.0 Travel Tools
• Travelography World Travel News Podcast

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.