1Understanding Online Travel Sites

Of the five sites named above, three are very similar and two a little different in the way they offer travel deals.

• Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz are all full service travel sites that offer deals on flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages and more. These websites allow you to search multiple airlines and combine flights from different carriers to get the best deal. They also offer comprehensive searches of hotels in your destination city that allow you to pinpoint the best location for your needs at the best price. Additionally, they also offer reduced rates when you book your flight along with hotel on the same site.


• Priceline offers most of the same basic features as the above three, with a major difference. On this travel site you can name your own price for the hotel, flight, or the rental car that you are interested in. Priceline will then submit the price that you want to pay and if it is accepted, you will be able to book it at that cost. The key point to understand here is that you will not be aware of any of the details until after you have booked.
  If you are booking a flight, you won’t be made aware of the airline or flight times, and with regards to your hotel, you will have to wait until after the reservations are confirmed in order to find out the name and exact location of your hotel. You will get your choice of star ratings and airports, however, to be sure you are satisfied with the quality of your end result.


• In similar fashion, Hotwire offers larger discounts than the other travel booking websites because you aren’t given much in the way of a choice in the details. Unlike Priceline, however, you don’t choose what you want to pay here, but can select from the best available prices.

2Additional Flight Booking Options

• Airfare Watchdog

  If you are on the hunt for a great price on airfare, and your travel dates are flexible, you are sure to find Airfarewatchdog.com to be a great help. This site allows you to search for the best fares; even those not published by departure or arrival city, and it will also allow you to set up an ongoing search. By simply selecting your cities, you will receive emails with the latest new discounts so that you can book your flight quickly and manage to snag a deal before it’s gone. A few other sites including Travelocity allow you to set up email notifications as well, but may not have the same best fee rate offers available.



• Bing Travel

  One of the newer entries into the travel website market is Bing Travel, which has an additional feature that none of the other sites offer. Bing Travel analyses price trends on flights and will inform you of the odds that you might get a better fare if you wait to book your flight. It will advise you as to whether you should buy now, or give it a few days for a chance at a lower fare. This site also offers some flight combinations with various airlines that can result in even lower fares than you will be able to find available elsewhere.

3Best Vacation Deals for Hotel Reservations

One of the worst fears of any traveler booking their trip online is arriving at their destination to find out that the price on the hotel was great for a reason and that the hotel is not at all what you thought it would be.

• Trip Advisor

  Most of the major sites offer consumer ratings and reviews of the hotels that they list, but at TripAdvisor.com you can not only read reviews but see traveler photos of the destinations. From this site you can also search multiple travel sites and locate the best price by comparison.



• Hotels.Com

  Although it offers all kinds of travel, the main focus of Hotels.com is clear by the name of the site. This site is a great choice for finding not only deals on hotel rooms but also finding a great deal of detail on each property that is listed. This website focuses on finding great deals on hotels around the world and is a great place to start if you already have your flight plans confirmed but are in need of somewhere decent to stay at your final destination.

4AAA & Other Services for Finding the Best Vacation Deals

If you are a member of AAA, you will find their website to be an invaluable source for travelling on a budget. Not only can you book travel at discounted rates through AAA, but you can also get maps and guides for your destination that will help you to save money both on the way there and when you arrive. AAA offers help with airline travel, but true to its roots, the automobile club is a great resource if you are planning a road trip. Often the choice of the budget-conscious traveler, driving to your destination is a great way to save money. It can be difficult however to know where to find the best places to stop for food and lodgings on the way. AAA’s free guides for members can help. If you are not yet a member, consider the benefits and decide whether the yearly membership fee would save you enough money to make it worthwhile.

If you have ever taken a road trip, you have likely seen the famous red hotel and motel guides available at rest areas and in many places such as roadside restaurants. These guides have gone online and you can now print hotel and motel coupons ahead of time at travelcoupons.com. You can print coupons for lodging in many destinations across the US. You can also have the guides mailed directly to you so you can carry one with you for your destination state and any stops in between.

Thanks to the internet, even the most budget-conscious traveler can find the best vacation deals with just a little time and effort. All of these sites and more let you comparison shop for every detail of your vacation and provide the best deals along with reviews, photos and ratings that make sure you get the most for your travel dollar. A little extra time spent online finding the best deals can easily mean more spending money in your pocket when you arrive.