From cheap flights and budget rooms to luxury vacations, for the best 2009 hoilday planning make use of the newest travel technologies online to find your ideal vacation spot, and discover what to do and where to vist when you get there.

Web 2.00 is the social marketing trend of online networking and interaction. The application of Web 2.00 technologies in tourism has been termed Travel 2.00 - travel websites which feature reviews, photographs, video, blogs and other forms of information sharing.

Sites such as TripAdvisor www.tripadvisor.com , Vinivi www.vinivi.com and Virtual Tourist www.virtualtourist.com are all established players in the Travel 2.00 field featuring readers reviews of holiday destinations, hotels, airlines, and forums for feedback.

More recent up-and-coming websites to the Travel 2.00 platform offer additional ideas and interactive features. Check out:

Home and Abroad.com

"Matching People to Places' is their slogan. Here you can choose a trip planner using the search method of your choice - fast and easy search - dream trips - theme trips - just browsing.

The site also incorporates ‘Cool Tools' such as an Activity search - things to do at your destination - a Restaurant Finder, shared travellers' experiences and a blog.

Fare Compare.com

Compares airline prices, dates and times for your journey choices. Find fares from your local airport and first class bargains.

Other great Travel Insider tips and tools on the Fare Compare website include:
-  How to pick the cheapest time to fly (midweek, Wednesday is THE cheapest day)

- How to fly first class for economy prices (Y-Up and Q-up airfares are discounted first class tickets).

- How to avoid hidden costs when you fly

Other information tools on Fare Compare.com include a blog roll, insider tips and email alerts.

Uptake.com

One of the newest and largest players in the U.S.Travel 2.00 technology is Uptake.com (formerly Kango.com) which is still in the beta phase.

A travel search engine and information resource that filters your preferences and helps you make a faster, better decision. The technology incorporates a search application which brings together more than 5,000 websites and 20 million online reviews, and quickly filters through these based on your choices.

Kango aims to help those who are undecided about where to go and where to stay, and works in 4 steps - filtering through ‘highly relevant' results based on your results:

• 1) Discover - enter travel planning questions
• 2) Personalize - beach, children etc
• 3) Review - read reviews of the recommendations made on your preferences
• 4) Decide and Book - make your decision based on travellers choices from across the web then click through to book.

Exiting new trends in the travel industry which should help us all make quicker, more informed decisions when planning our future vacations and trips.