booking online travel agency

Best Online Travel Agencies

Booking.com is our top choice for making your trip arrangements

Ligaya Malones is an editor, blogger, and freelance writer specializing in food and travel. Ligaya's work has appeared in publications including Lonely Planet and BRIDES.

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Planning a trip can be easier through an online travel agency than if you handle each aspect of the planning separately. You can book hotels, air travel, rental cars, and more through a single site, and booking everything together sometimes results in discounts. By inputting a destination, a range of dates, and other preferences, you will see a list of options for each aspect of travel.

The best online travel agencies offer options from the largest number of airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, and more. Look for sites that offer discounts for combining reservations for different aspects of your trip. For example, the best sites will have lower rates if you book both plane tickets and a hotel through their services. The best sites also provide reviews from customers who actually have booked through the service. These are our top picks.

• Best Overall: Booking.com
• Best Budget: Skyscanner
• Best Price Predictor: Hopper
• Most Innovative: Kiwi.com
• Best for Eco-Conscious: Kind Traveler
• Best for Social Impact: I Like Local
• Best for Design-Forward Homestays: Plum Guide
• Our Top Picks
• Booking.com

Kind Traveler

I Like Local

• See More (4)

Final Verdict

Frequently asked questions, methodology, best overall : booking.com.

 Booking.com

This industry leader offers one of the most comprehensive trip planning platforms on the Internet.

Lots of options to choose from

Interface is easy to use

Numerous filters to customize your search

Tricky to tell whether changes/cancellations can be made with Booking.com or the vendor directly

Booking.com was founded in 1996 and has grown into an industry leader that stands out for being one of the most comprehensive trip planning platforms out there. From one website, you can compare and book accommodations, flights (including one-way and multi-city flights), sightseeing activities, and even airport taxis. The website lists more than 28 million accommodation options, from hotels, hostels, and B&Bs to vacation homes and luxury resorts—you can browse more choices per destination on Booking.com than other online travel agencies. The website also performs well on cost and typically returns lower-than-average prices for flights and hotels. 

Booking.com's interface is also easy to use. On the home page, search for a hotel by entering your chosen destination and dates. Then, use the extensive list of filters—such as price range and distance from the city center—to narrow the results down and find the best fit. You can also search for a specific hotel, or seek inspiration by clicking through options grouped by destination or property type or by topic such as the country’s best Michelin-starred hotel restaurants or the top cities for vegan travelers. The flights, car rental, and other tabs are just as intuitive. 

Best Budget : Skyscanner

 Skyscanner

You can compare prices across airlines, hotels, and car rentals.

Simple interface

Option to toggle searches between specific dates or by monthly calendars

Search Everywhere button is great for spontaneous planners

Extra clicks are required to make a final purchase

Must read fine print for changes/cancellations—may need to deal directly with the vendor

Ads on the sidebar can be distracting

Find deals on airfare, hotels, and car rentals with an aggregator site like Skyscanner , which uses a metasearch engine to compare prices from all online travel agencies and the airline, hotel, or car rental company in question. Run searches with fixed dates, opt to compare airfare prices month to month, or click “Cheapest Month.” Searches also include options for nearby airports or non-stop flights only. With hotel searches, you can choose to select only from properties with free cancellation, a cleanliness rating of 4.5/5 or higher, or 3- or 4-starred hotels only. Car rental searches include an option to select “return car to different location.”

Once you’ve found the best rate, click on the link to be redirected to the third-party site to make your booking. Feeling spontaneous? The Search Everywhere button on the homepage offers a list of the cheapest flight deals for destinations both locally and across the world—just plug in your departure airport first.

Best Price Predictor : Hopper

The company claims a 95 percent accuracy rate at predicting when flights and hotel rates will be cheapest.

Color-coded system makes it easy to determine cheapest days to buy

App is easy to use

Option to track flights and receive alerts when the best time to buy arises

Some have mentioned the app functions better as a research tool than a booking tool

Unclear whether Hopper will price match if you find a cheaper flight elsewhere

Hopper is a travel app available on iOS and Android that aims to help travelers save on airfare by usng historical data and their own algorithm to predict when flights will be cheapest. Just type in where and when you’d like to fly and Hopper will present you with a color-coded pricing calendar indicating how much tickets are likely to cost. (Green is the least expensive, then yellow, orange, and red for most expensive.) Hopper will also recommend you either buy now or wait, or you can choose to watch a trip and receive notifications on the best time to buy. In addition, the app has expanded to offer hotel and car rental price predictions, too.

Some newer features since the app’s inception in 2009 include an option to freeze a price for a limited time—for an extra fee—as well as exclusive app-only discounts. Hopper is free to download, and you can choose to book directly through the app, though some users mentioned they use Hopper as more of a research tool before booking directly with the airline or hotel. The company claims a 95 percent accuracy rate at predicting flight rates up to a year ahead.

Most Innovative : Kiwi.com

This metasearch engine scours the web to piece together the ideal itinerary using planes, trains, buses, and more.

Creative itineraries get you where you need to go, especially if you’ve got a multi-stop trip

Kiwi Guarantee offers rebooking or cancellation protections

Nomad option appeals to travelers with a lot of flexibility

Creative itineraries mean you may not fly out of the same airport you flew into

Kiwi Guarantee has an additional fee

Charges all-in-one fee for booking flights, trains, buses (though you can always purchase a la carte)

Travelers planning multi-city destinations and seeking a bargain, as well as those looking to take planes, trains, and automobiles to get there, might consider Kiwi . Kiwi is a metasearch engine that scours and pieces together itineraries from various airlines (even if they don’t have a codeshare agreement), considers multiple airports (even if your arrival airport is different from departure), and offers booking options, whether you’re looking at very specific dates or more general ones (up to 60 nights).

Some will find the ability to make multiple bookings for a particular trip more convenient than going at it manually several different times, though note that you must opt into the Kiwi Guarantee program to access rebooking and refund protections should your reservation change or be canceled. Kiwi’s Nomad option allows you to plug in a bunch of destinations you’d like to visit and the length of your intended stay, and the website will churn out the most affordable itineraries for review.

Best for Eco-Conscious : Kind Traveler

A give-and-get business model means booking accommodations with exclusive perks, a donation to environmental organizations, and more.

All participating hotels include a local give-back component

Exclusive savings and perks

Participating hotels are located in some of the most beautiful places in the world

Inventory is much smaller compared to other booking platforms

Some of the amenities mentioned are based on availability only

In 2022, Kind Traveler (an online trave agency focused on hotel bookings) announced an increase in environmentally and socially conscious hotels, charity donations, voluntourism opportunities, and additional perks like waived resort fees or a welcome amenity.

Unlock exclusive hotel rates and perks from participating Kind Traveler hotels with a minimum $10/night minimum donation to a local charity. For example, stay at the Six Senses Laamu in the Maldives and receive up to $33 off the nightly rate and perks such as a food and beverage credit and an Earth Lab or Alchemy Bar workshop when you make a donation to Manta Trust. The organization funds coastal research to protect the island nation’s large yet fragile population of reef mantas.

Select from more than 140 participating hotels from the Hawaiian Islands to Bozeman, Montana, and the Maldives. Charities include wildlife, human rights, arts, education, and environmental preservation organizations.

Best for Social Impact : I Like Local

Choose from a host of travel experiences with the peace of mind that 100 percent of the cost goes directly to local partners.

Social impact mission woven into organization’s business model

Immersive experiences led by local guides

Range of experiences offered

May not be best fit for those seeking upscale, luxury experiences and stays

Can’t sort experiences by a list of countries (though an interactive map is available)

No experiences outside of Africa and Asia

For an online travel agency with a booking platform designed to route dollars spent directly to the communities travelers intend to visit, consider I Like Local . Visit the website to browse a host of travel experiences in countries including Indonesia, Kenya, and Cambodia. Experiences include homestays and farmstays as well as wellness and culturally oriented experiences—from cooking and cycling tours to weaving classes.

To search for an experience, select from drop-down items like travel dates and experience categories, or view a global map and click on a country to view experiences that way.

The platform got its start in 2014 and has grown to 4,000 local hosts across nearly 20 countries. As a social impact organization, 100 percent of each booking fee goes to local hosts. To date, 16,000 travelers have booked with I Like Local.

Best for Design-Forward Homestays : Plum Guide

Browse and book seriously vetted, design-forward vacation homes.

Highly curated inventory of vacation rentals across the world

Design-forward

Thorough vetting process

Does not publish guest reviews

Other platforms have homes available across more destinations

When it comes to booking a vacation home, serviced apartment, or condo, travelers are spoiled for choice. Plum Guide is an online travel agency that specializes in accommodations—though not just any home makes its directory. The company claims that each potential home listed on its site must jump through 150 hoops to be included, from internet speed and mattress and pillow quality to the showers’ water pressure and the home’s proximity to dining, shopping, and attractions.

Search by a featured collection on the website such as “ pet-friendly homes ” or “one-of-a-kind homes in Palm Springs.” Scroll to the bottom of its homepage to view its top destinations, as well as a list of all destinations where Plum Guide homes are available, including Barbados, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland, the U.S., and Turkey. Note: From the top right-hand corner of the site, use the dropdown menu to select currency of choice.

As long as you know what you value most out of your travel experience—such as affordability, social impact, or luxe accommodations—there’s an online travel agency to help plan your next trip. Be sure to read the fine print, as some agencies are third-party websites and not direct vendors. If you're not sure where to start, Booking.com is your best bet for a smooth user experience and hard-to-beat offers on flights, hotels, and other travel arrangements.

What Is the Biggest Travel Agency?

Our choice for best overall, Booking.com, is known as an industry leader with listings for all major hotels, airlines, car rental companies, and more. It boasts more choices for accommodations per destination than any other site, and we found its interface to be user-friendly.

Are Online Travel Agencies Worth It?

This depends on your needs and priorities. The best online travel agencies certainly can save time by booking everything all at once. However, if you're someone who is good at haggling and enjoys the details of planning a trip, you might be able to find better deals by reaching out to hotels or other destinations and speaking to someone personally.

Is It Cheaper to Book Online Than With a Travel Agent?

Not always. A travel agent you know and trust should have the experience and connections to find deals that can match or surpass what you'll find online. Additionally, if something goes wrong, travel agents provide you with an actual person you can use as an advocate to correct the problem . But if you don't have access to a good travel agent, online sites still provide plenty of ways to streamline planning and save money .

We considered dozens of online travel agencies and narrowed down the options based on user experience, volume and quality of inventory, unique offerings and specials, and customer reviews. We also assessed travel companies’ environmentally and socially conscious policies.

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The Complete Guide to Booking Travel Online

What is an online travel agency, and what are the best sites and apps to use to search for hotels and flights we break it all down for you..

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There’s a lot to navigate when researching and booking travel online.

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My first travel adventure was to Venezuela. I booked the ticket with a travel agent over a pay phone. The agent searched a dozen flight itineraries over a few days, all so I could save $15.

Times have changed. Today, flight searches start online , often on your mobile device. Passengers book either directly with the airline or hotel or with online travel agencies. Rarely do we get on the phone. In fact, American Airlines and United Airlines charge $25 to make a domestic flight booking by phone. And pay phones hardly exist anymore.

So, what is the best way to book online? Here is our complete guide to online travel agencies, search tools, and the variety of booking options available on both mobile devices and desktops.

What is an OTA?

An online travel agency, or OTA, is a website or mobile app that allows users to search for and book travel services such as flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and activities. The booking is made directly with the online travel agency but confirmed by the service provider, such as an airline or a hotel. As a customer, your relationship is with the OTA.

What are the main OTAs?

Many online travel agencies nowadays are owned by two main companies: Expedia and Priceline. The Expedia Group is the largest online travel agency in the United States with 70 percent market share, according to travel data firm Phocuswright. Expedia Group operates Expedia.com , Orbitz, Hotels.com , Trivago, CheapTickets , Hotwire , Vrbo , and Travelocity .

Priceline is a major competitor to Expedia, with global revenues larger than the Expedia Group. The company owns Priceline.com, Booking.com, Cheapflights, Momondo, and Kayak—the latter two being metasearch engines (more on that below).

There are also independent newcomers such as Hopper (a mobile-only booking tool) and Kiwi.com (which allows you to book flights on air carriers that don’t normally have a commercial relationship).

Are OTA fares lower than booking directly?

Generally, no. The fares that are displayed by an OTA will be similar if not slightly more expensive when compared to an airline’s website. They’re usually only a few dollars higher or lower. The OTAs charge a booking fee to the airlines, and often that fee is passed directly to consumers. For example, Lufthansa tacks on an additional $18 to any booking made through an OTA for Lufthansa flights. The same flights are exactly $18 cheaper on the airline’s website.

Where you can score a good travel deal through an OTA is when booking a last-minute hotel and flight package. Many OTAs have cut agreements with airlines allowing last-minute travelers to access lower rates than are typically available when passengers book a flight alone.

Are all airlines available to be booked through OTAs?

No. Many OTAs do not display flights from some of the low-fare leaders. For example, Southwest and Allegiant flights are not available through OTAs; the same goes for Ryanair in Europe. And, earlier this year United Airlines threatened to pull out of Expedia altogether, only recently signing a multi-year agreement to stay in. The airlines would rather not lose any margin to online travel agencies in an already low-margin industry and would rather maintain a direct relationship with the customer.

Are smaller OTAs safe to use?

Expedia and Priceline are the two largest players in the online booking space, but there are dozens of independent OTAs, such as CheapOAir, OneTravel, JustFly, and SmartFares. Confusingly, you might actually stumble on ads for these OTAs while using Expedia or Priceline sites. That’s because the larger OTAs earn revenue through advertising, sending passengers to smaller OTAs and charging those OTAs for the favor.

Buyer beware: some of these lesser-known OTAs are masters at hidden fees. For example, a flight search on JetBlue allows for free seat selection in many instances. If you perform the same search on FlightNetwork, an independent OTA, and select a seat, you will be charged an additional $25—despite the fact that JetBlue doesn’t charge a seat selection fee if you book directly.

What if you need to change your itinerary?

Itinerary changes are often a pain. If your plans change, it won’t matter whether you’ve booked directly with an airline or with an OTA—you’re going to pay fees for the privilege, if you can even change your ticket at all.

For example, CheapTickets.com, which is part of the Expedia Group, charges $25 to change or cancel a ticket if that change is requested after 24 hours of making the booking—it is free if you do so within 24 hours of booking. However, the fees go up from there. JustFly, an independent OTA, charges a $75 fee for changes to domestic flights in addition to airline change fees, plus the difference in fare, for tickets that can be changed. For an international trip, the fee rises to $200. That means to change an international flight with Delta (which charges a $100 change fee) booked through JustFly, you’ll be assessed $300 in fees, plus the difference in fare. At that rate, you may as well book a new flight. FlightNetwork indicates in its terms of service that changes may incur a change fee but doesn’t specify what those fees are. That hardly makes the few dollars you saved by booking with the OTA in the first place worth it.

What is an OTA price match policy?

To assure travelers that they are getting the lowest fare possible, many OTAs have a price match policy. The rules vary and so do the benefits.

For example, if you book with Orbitz and find a less expensive flight, car rental, or activity on any U.S.-based website within 24 hours of your booking, Orbitz will refund you the difference you paid. And it works: I have personally found a flight in the same class, on the same airline, for the same origin and destination cities, and requested Orbitz to refund the difference of around $35. Within a few weeks, I received a check in the mail. A similar program applies for CheapOAir, but there’s a catch—the price difference must be found on a major OTA such as Expedia or Travelocity.

Expedia has a particularly good price match policy, but you have to pay extra for it at the time of booking. Expedia offers the price match option as an add-on that costs between $5 and $30 when you book. With the price match applied, if the airfare on Expedia drops between 120 days of the flight and up to six hours before the flight, Expedia will automatically refund you the difference in fare. Unfortunately, fares generally do not drop substantially as the travel date approaches, so while this might give you peace of mind, it’s probably not worth the expense.

How do Google Flights and other travel metasearch engines work?

Frequent fliers are likely familiar with websites such as Google Flights, Kayak, Momondo, or Skyscanner. On these websites, passengers search on the site but are redirected to the service provider to complete the booking, such as an airline, rental car company, or hotel.

Metasearch started with a product called ITA Matrix, which is a tool for searching airfares online but not for actually booking online. ITA Matrix allows for multi-city searching, such as setting two different departure or arrival airports, and for offering a calendar view of fares for easier comparison. That company was acquired by Google in 2011, and savvy travelers swear by it to help find the least expensive fares online. Most consumers are more familiar with Google Flights, which has gained traction more recently not least because it has the benefit of being displayed first in search results on Google.

Metasearch engines receive distribution fees from the airlines for sending traffic to the supplier websites. There are no additional hidden fees for using a metasearch engine because you’re booking directly with the airline or hotel.

A major benefit of the metasearch engines is their price tracking tool, which lets users know whether the displayed fares are low, average, or high for the flight, allowing travelers to make a more informed decision on whether to book a flight or not . Google Flights and Kayak, for instance, both have price tracking tools.

Why not just book directly?

The airlines would definitely much rather you book directly with them. Over the past five years, they have gotten much better at marketing and selling their product directly to consumers online and through mobile sites and apps. But in the past, they weren’t so good at it. In fact, Delta, Northwest, United, American, and Continental got together to invest $145 million to launch Orbitz in 1999 to counter the threat from Expedia. Now Orbitz is owned by Expedia.

The airlines also try to encourage customers to book directly so that they can maintain a closer relationship with them. It allows carriers to connect bookings with loyalty programs and create special offers and discounts catered to individual passengers.

There is another benefit to booking directly. The U.S. Department of Transportation requires carriers to hold a reservation at the quoted fare for 24 hours without payment or allow a reservation to be cancelled within 24 hours without penalty, so long as the booking is made at least seven days before travel. The law applies, however, only to U.S. and foreign air carriers that have websites marketed to U.S. consumers. This means that, in theory, an online travel agency does not have to offer such a policy, although most OTAs do.

What are the options for booking on your mobile device?

Airlines and the major OTAs all have apps to help you book and manage your trip on your mobile device, but their functionality is lacking compared to these websites’ desktop editions. For example, Expedia’s app doesn’t allow you to view flights on a month-view calendar. Kayak has an app with more bells and whistles and a better user interface, including a month-view calendar with color-coded pricing. It also has a handy “augmented reality” function to help you see if your carry-on bag will fit in the overhead bin (a feature originally developed by KLM). Point your phone’s camera at the luggage, and it’ll give you the dimensions.

While apps are improving and gaining in popularity, you still might find it easier to locate the best deals on flights and hotels by using your desktop, where you can have multiple tabs open and have all the available search tools at your disposal. Apps are fine for booking directly with an airline once you know which flights you want to book.

If you’re determined to use your mobile device, you may want to look into Hopper. Hopper is a mobile-first flight booking tool that has a solid price prediction tool. You can research travel options and book directly on the app. Another benefit of Hopper: Of its team of 300 employees, nearly half are dedicated to customer support and are based in Canada versus some OTAs and airlines that outsource much of their customer service further afield.

The bottom line?

Like many travelers, I enjoy a flight deal as much as the next person, but I also don’t like any added hassle. I typically start my travel searches using the ITA Matrix or Google Flights to get a general sense of the fares. It helps to know what is a good deal and what is expensive for a particular route. I do my research, typically on a desktop computer. When I’m ready to book, I’ll book directly with the airline. I’ve found that customer service is better when booking directly with the service provider. But I’ve also saved money by using OTAs and have booked with them, too. Whichever way you choose to book, you can be safe in the knowledge that finding and purchasing travel online is a lot easier today than searching for a deal with a travel agent on a pay phone.

>> Next: How to Get the Best Last-Minute Travel Deals

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• Hi New York City Hostel $56+
• West Side Ymca $113+
• Central Park West Hostel $161+
• Radio Hotel $171+
• Pod 51 $178+
• Pod Times Square $189+
• OYO Times Square $192+
• The Washington by LuxUrban, Trademark Collection by Wyndham $195+
• Paramount Times Square $195+
• Pod 39 $196+
• The Gallivant Times Square $197+
• The Manhattan At Times Square $207+
• DoubleTree by Hilton New York Downtown $213+
• The New Yorker A Wyndham Hotel $221+
• Hotel Edison Times Square $229+
• Flight Chicago - New York (ORD - LGA) $33+
• Flight Atlanta - Newark (ATL - EWR) $40+
• Flight Fort Lauderdale - Newark (FLL - EWR) $50+
• Flight Miami - Newark (MIA - EWR) $50+
• Flight Orlando - Newark (MCO - EWR) $52+
• Flight Atlanta - New York (ATL - LGA) $53+
• Flight Dallas - New York (DFW - LGA) $57+
• Flight Fort Lauderdale - New York (FLL - LGA) $61+
• Flight Miami - New York (MIA - LGA) $62+
• Flight Orlando - New York (MCO - LGA) $69+
• Flight Chicago - Newark (ORD - EWR) $84+
• Flight Dallas - Newark (DFW - EWR) $86+
• Flight Los Angeles - New York (LAX - LGA) $114+
• Flight Los Angeles - Newark (LAX - EWR) $115+
• Flight Chicago - New York (ORD - JFK) $127+
• Monumental Movieland Hotel $48+
• Grand Hotel Kissimmee At Celebration $53+
• Developer Inn Downtown Orlando, a Baymont by Wyndham $58+
• Flight Philadelphia - Orlando (PHL - MCO) $37+
• Flight Baltimore - Orlando (BWI - MCO) $40+
• Flight Cleveland - Orlando (CLE - MCO) $40+
• Book A Bed Hostels $25+
• Generator London $37+
• Nx London Hostel $37+
• Ramada London North M1 $64+
• Flight New York - London (JFK - LGW) $331+
• Flight New Windsor - London (SWF - STN) $381+
• Flight Boston - London (BOS - LGW) $400+
• Flight Baltimore - London (BWI - LHR) $416+

Fort Lauderdale

• Red Carpet Inn Airport Fort Lauderdale $65+
• Days Inn by Wyndham Fort Lauderdale Airport Cruise Port $67+
• HomeTowne Studios by Red Roof Fort Lauderdale $69+
• Flight Atlanta - Fort Lauderdale (ATL - FLL) $37+
• Flight Dallas - Fort Lauderdale (DFW - FLL) $37+
• Flight Philadelphia - Fort Lauderdale (PHL - FLL) $39+
• Green Tortoise Hostel Seattle $60+
• Travelodge by Wyndham Seattle By The Space Needle $143+
• Coast Gateway Hotel $146+
• Flight Ontario - Seattle (ONT - SEA) $67+
• Flight Phoenix - Seattle (PHX - SEA) $75+
• Flight Los Angeles - Seattle (LAX - SEA) $78+
• Fabhotel Royal Residency Lakdikapul $18+
• The Altruist Business Hotel Hitech $33+
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• Flight New York - New Delhi (JFK - DEL) $506+
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• Flight New York - Mumbai (JFK - BOM) $536+
• Best Western Sapporo Odori Koen $32+
• Smile Hotel Premium Sapporo Susukino $32+
• Nest Hotel Sapporo Ekimae $35+
• Flight Los Angeles - Tokyo (LAX - NRT) $628+
• Flight San Francisco - Tokyo (SFO - NRT) $631+
• Flight San Francisco - Tokyo (SFO - HND) $728+
• Royal Grove Waikiki $120+
• Kuhio Banyan Club $121+
• Pacific Marina Inn $137+
• Flight San Francisco - Honolulu (SFO - HNL) $252+
• Flight San Diego - Honolulu (SAN - HNL) $255+
• Flight Los Angeles - Honolulu (LAX - HNL) $274+
• Super 8 by Wyndham Dallas Love Field Airport $53+
• Dallas Love Field Inn $58+
• Wyndham Garden Dallas North $63+
• Flight Phoenix - Dallas (PHX - DFW) $39+
• Flight Fort Lauderdale - Dallas (FLL - DFW) $40+
• Flight Houston - Dallas (HOU - DFW) $43+
• The STRAT Hotel, Casino & Tower $26+
• OYO Hotel And Casino Las Vegas $29+
• Silver Sevens Hotel & Casino $43+
• Excalibur Hotel & Casino $45+
• Flight Los Angeles - Las Vegas (LAX - LAS) $27+
• Flight Burbank - Las Vegas (BUR - LAS) $31+
• Flight San Francisco - Las Vegas (SFO - LAS) $38+
• Flight Dallas - Las Vegas (DFW - LAS) $40+
• Freehand Chicago $42+
• Chicago Getaway Hostel $54+
• Travelodge by Wyndham Downtown Chicago $109+
• Flight Atlanta - Chicago (ATL - ORD) $36+
• Flight Dallas - Chicago (DFW - ORD) $46+
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San Francisco

• Hi San Francisco Downtown Hostel $48+
• The Mosser $75+
• BEI San Francisco, Trademark Collection By Wyndham $125+
• Flight Ontario - San Francisco (ONT - SFO) $38+
• Flight San Diego - San Francisco (SAN - SFO) $48+
• Flight Los Angeles - San Francisco (LAX - SFO) $51+

Washington, D.C.

• Generator Hotel Washington DC $61+
• Days Inn by Wyndham Washington DC/Connecticut Avenue $117+
• Georgetown Residences by LuxUrban, Trademark Coll by Wyndham $152+
• Citizenm Washington DC Noma $157+
• Hyatt Place Washington DC/US Capitol $162+
• Hotel Harrington $164+
• Motto by Hilton Washington DC City Center $169+
• Beacon Hotel & Corporate Quarters $171+
• Arc Hotel Washington DC, Georgetown $173+
• Citizenm Washington Dc Capitol $177+
• Morrison Clark Historic Inn $179+
• The Churchill Hotel Near Embassy Row $180+
• Flight Atlanta - Baltimore (ATL - BWI) $32+
• Flight Boston - Baltimore (BOS - BWI) $40+
• Flight Dallas - Baltimore (DFW - BWI) $62+
• Flight Houston - Baltimore (HOU - BWI) $62+
• Flight Chicago - Baltimore (ORD - BWI) $69+
• Flight Los Angeles - Baltimore (LAX - BWI) $105+
• Flight Boston - Washington, D.C. (BOS - DCA) $129+
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• Flight Minneapolis - Washington, D.C. (MSP - DCA) $154+
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• Hotel Boutique Casa Mallorca $68+
• Suites Malecon Cancun $72+
• Avani Cancún Airport Hotel $80+
• Flight Fort Lauderdale - Cancún (FLL - CUN) $165+
• Flight Houston - Cancún (HOU - CUN) $165+
• Flight Dallas - Cancún (DFW - CUN) $173+

United States

• Flight Newark - Miami (EWR - MIA) $41+
• Flight New York - Chicago (LGA - ORD) $50+
• Kauai Palms $189+
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• Kauai Inn $249+
• Flight Los Angeles - Hawaii (LAX - USHI) $249+
• Flight San Francisco - Hawaii (SFO - USHI) $252+
• Flight San Diego - Hawaii (SAN - USHI) $255+
• Super 8 by Wyndham San Diego Hotel Circle $92+
• California Suites Hotel $98+
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• Flight Houston - San Diego (HOU - SAN) $40+
• Flight Houston - San Diego (IAH - SAN) $40+
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• Shared Living Not A Hotel $38+
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• Flight Dallas - Phoenix (DFW - PHX) $39+
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• Flight Los Angeles - Phoenix (LAX - PHX) $54+

Los Angeles

• Boutique Hostel $34+
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• Flight Oakland - Los Angeles (OAK - LAX) $40+
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• Days Inn by Wyndham Miami International Airport $93+
• Holiday Inn Miami West - Airport Area $104+
• The Palms Inn & Suites Miami, Kendall, Fl $108+
• Holiday Inn Express & Suites Miami-Kendall $109+
• Radisson Red Miami Airport $113+
• Courtyard by Marriott Miami West/FL Turnpike $115+
• Flight Dallas - Miami (DFW - MIA) $33+
• Flight Atlanta - Miami (ATL - MIA) $39+
• Flight Philadelphia - Miami (PHL - MIA) $39+
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• Flight Charlotte - Miami (CLT - MIA) $48+
• Flight Houston - Miami (HOU - MIA) $50+
• Flight Houston - Miami (IAH - MIA) $50+
• Flight New York - Miami (LGA - MIA) $55+
• Flight Boston - Miami (BOS - MIA) $60+
• Hometowne Studios by Red Roof Denver - Glendale/Cherry Creek $59+
• Super 8 by Wyndham Denver Stapleton $88+
• Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham Denver Airport $100+
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• Flight Minneapolis - Denver (MSP - DEN) $38+
• Flight Los Angeles - Denver (LAX - DEN) $57+
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• Flight Dallas - Denver (DFW - DEN) $84+
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• Hi Boston Hostel $67+
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• Temple Place Suites $167+
• Flight Baltimore - Boston (BWI - BOS) $40+
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• Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Atlanta Airport $60+
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• Sonesta Atlanta Airport North $102+
• Flight Detroit - Atlanta (DTW - ATL) $25+
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• Generator Madrid $32+
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• Flight Newark - Barcelona (EWR - BCN) $349+
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• Flight Philadelphia - Florida (PHL - USFL) $37+
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• Flight Chicago - Florida (ORD - USFL) $40+
• Flight Atlanta - Tampa (ATL - TPA) $38+
• Flight Baltimore - Tampa (BWI - TPA) $38+
• Flight Atlantic City - Tampa (ACY - TPA) $49+

New Orleans

• Ramada by Wyndham New Orleans $67+
• Maison Saint Charles by Hotel RL $98+
• Hampton Inn & Suites New Orleans Canal St. French Quarter $99+
• Flight Dallas - New Orleans (DFW - MSY) $38+
• Flight Atlanta - New Orleans (ATL - MSY) $40+
• Flight Fort Lauderdale - New Orleans (FLL - MSY) $40+

Frequently asked questions about KAYAK

How do i find travel deals on kayak.

Simply use one of our travel search engines to scan for prices gathered from hundreds of travel sites. KAYAK’s search results pages have loads of filter options to help you find deals, discover exactly what you’re looking for and make booking seamless. Plus, there’s no extra fee from KAYAK.

What makes KAYAK a great travel app?

On the KAYAK app for iOS and Android you’ll find all the great travel offers found on the website and much more. There are special mobile rates and app only deals that allow you to save even more money. Plus, you can get notifications straight to your phone letting you know when prices for your next trip have dropped. But the KAYAK app is much more than just a travel app. Use the Trips function to manage your travel itinerary and get up to date status alerts on flights, check-in changes and to store your boarding pass. Even if you’re in the middle of nowhere on your travels, you can still access your travel notes via Trips, as no internet connection is required.

How can I use KAYAK to manage my travel bookings?

KAYAK Trips creates a travel itinerary for you that will give you flight status alerts, can be shared with friends and more. Simply forward your booking confirmations to [email protected] or use the KAYAK app and sync your email account to keep all your travel plans organized in one app, even if you didn’t book with KAYAK. You can share your holiday plans with friends and family and also check out your travel stats for past vacations, like how far you’ve traveled, your most popular cities and how many times you’ve traveled around the world. Even if you don’t have signal, don’t worry, as you can access Trips to check out your itineraries whilst on the road. Your data is safe and secure with us and you won’t have to re-enter credit card info when booking future trips. If you want to make changes or cancel bookings, then you should contact the travel provider, which is provided on the booking confirmation.

What are KAYAK Price Alerts?

Instead of manually checking back in on the price of your next flight or stay, let KAYAK do the hard work for you with KAYAK Price Alerts. Once you’ve saved your search, our data will determine how the price will rise or fluctuate over the coming days. You’ll then get a push notification letting you know when’s the perfect time to book.

Search flights , hotels , rental cars , travel guides and more with KAYAK. KAYAK searches hundreds of other travel sites at once to get you the information you need to make the right decisions.

Are Online Travel Agencies Safe To Use? 👨🏻‍💻 17 Best Online Travel Agencies For Seamless Journeys: Travel Like A Pro ✈️

Are Online Travel Agencies Safe To Use? Online travel agencies are generally safe to use, but it’s essential to choose reputable and well-established platforms with positive customer reviews.

The rise of online travel agencies (OTAs) has made travel planning and booking extremely easy in today’s world.

By providing passengers from all over the world with a variety of services, offers, and packages, these platforms have changed the travel business.

Online travel agents can help you with your search for flights, hotels, holiday packages, or tours.

🤔 What are online travel agencies?

4. travelocity, 5. skyscanner, 6. lastminute.com, 8. trip.com, 10. booking.com, 11. expedia, 12. tripadvisor, 14. priceline, 15. cheapoair.

• 🧐 Things To Consider While Making Reservation Through OTA's

⭐ Advantages & Disadvantages of Online Travel Agencies

Q. is it cheaper to book online or through a travel agent, q. do online travel agencies offer better deals than airlines and hotels directly, q. can i trust user-generated reviews on online travel agency platforms, q. do online travel agencies provide customer support, q. are there any hidden fees when booking through online travel agencies.

• Q. Are the Online Travel Agencies Reliable?

Q. Do Online Travel Agencies offer personalized itineraries?

Q. are online travel agencies more expensive than booking directly, q. can i book international trips through online travel agencies, 😇 conclusion, 🗨️ tell us in the comments as per you which one is the best online travel agencies.

Online Travel Agency (OTA) is the name for a website that sells travel services. It lets customers book flights, hotels, and other trips all from one place. They are like a travel agent in the digital world.

📃 List of 17 Best Online Travel Agencies at Your Fingertips

After a lot of research and considering travelers’ reviews we have shortlisted some of the best online travel companies that are operational nowadays.

• Travelocity
• Lastminute.com
• Booking.com
• TripAdvisor

A US-based internet travel company called VRBO focuses on vacation rentals. Landlords and managers can directly register their houses on VRBO, similar to Airbnb.

When booking through Vrbo, visitors may also get travel insurance. In addition to being a part of one of the largest travel companies in the world, VRBO has a reputation for being a trustworthy lodging option.

A website called Parkos.com makes airport parking stress-free. Thanks to the company’s new online platform, potential consumers can now compare various airport parking and facilities, make a reservation, and pay for it in advance of their trip day.

Both locals and visitors have provided overwhelmingly good feedback since Parkos entered the parking sector in 2014.

All technologically aided services revolve around giving automobile owners confidence that their vehicles are safe when they are away from them.

The majority of people may gain more from this comparison, but those who drive pricey high-end cars may find it interesting.

Also Read: 10 Best Places For New Year Celebration

Hotel reservations are the focus of Agoda , a multinational online travel firm located in Singapore.

Along with many other comparable OTAs on this list, it is owned by Booking Holdings, the parent company of Booking.com.

The Agoda network, which offers more than a million hotels and vacation rentals, is primarily focused on the Asian economy but has now grown into Europe and the United States.

The company’s marketing strategy is centered on giving customers affordable or reduced housing.

In 1996, Travelocity was established as an online travel agency with several services for customers. It is owned and operated by the international travel service provider The Expedia Group.

You can check for airfare and hotel bundles, choices for a rental vehicle, cruises, and more using Travelocity’s website.

Additionally, you can read travel-related articles, order tickets for well-liked attractions, and communicate your journey arrangements with loved ones.

A well-known company with a big customer base is Travelocity. They provide a huge selection of vacation packages, many of which are aimed at families.

Skyscanner is a metasearch aggregator that gathers prices for flights, hotels, and rental cars from all online travel agents (OTAs) in one location. Booking flights and hotels with Skyscanner typically results in the most affordable options.

After making your choice, you will be sent to a third-party booking form on the Skyscanner website where you can complete the transaction and reserve your flight.

Skyscanner is used by millions of people to compare rates and options for their travel arrangements. Simply said, it compiles and presents to customers all of the offers from all online travel agencies (OTAs).

Also Read: 15 Best Countries For Solo Travel 

City hopping is a popular pastime in Europe because of how close together the cities are. Among the top three booking sites is lastminute.com .

In this OTA, flight bookings are made through an aggregator website, and hotel reservations are made through an OTA, both of which we have seen before.

Finding last-minute discounts on hotels, flights, and all-inclusive holiday packages is the specialty of the website lastminute.com.

If you’re brave enough to play the chicken, Last Minute has the best travel deals. For tourists looking for a dealer who isn’t scared to wait until the last minute, there are a couple of better OTAs. We’re certain to have the flight or hotel bargain you’re looking for.

Members of Airbnb are allowed to advertise their available lodging and accept overnight reservations. However, the business has added hotels and homestays to its list of offerings.

However, Air b nb is extremely particular about the standards it must uphold when it comes to hotels that can be offered on its platform.

The majority of hotels must demonstrate their distinctive design, how the neighborhood affects their rooms, and how guests can access communal areas.

The most economical choice may be an Airbnb vacation rental. Additionally, compared to hotels, you are more likely to locate more beds in the same property on Airbnb.

Many Airbnbs provide sofas or futons to accommodate larger groups. For longer visits, many of these hotels provide kitchens and washing machines, enabling visitors to save money by preparing their meals.

The largest OTA in China, Trip.com , a Chinese firm, created Trip.com, an international OTA. Trip.com’s marketing initiatives are primarily aimed at domestic and international travelers to China.

Contrarily, Trip.com has a partnership with Booking.com that enables it to broaden its global reach.

Today, Trip.com has hundreds of millions of users worldwide. The organization wants to give both domestic and foreign travelers the best travel experiences possible.

Wotif also owns LastMinute, a website that offers last-minute discounts on lodging, transportation, and other travel essentials to Australians and New Zealanders.

This local internet travel business mostly caters to travelers from the UK and Europe. On this website, tourists can search for and buy flights, lodging, auto rentals, excursions, and package deals.

Also Read: 11 Best Ways To Become A Travel Enthusiast

The biggest hotel booking website in the world, Booking.com , also lets you book travel and a rental car. It can be used by travelers to learn about different types of lodging, locations, and offers.

However, making reservations for different types of lodging is where its true power lies. For the typical person, it serves as an all-inclusive travel agency.

Hotels and other accommodation facilities are only billed by Booking.com after a reservation is made.

There isn’t a monthly cost that must be paid. An all-inclusive internet travel firm called Bookin.com provides lodging and travel options all around the world.

Online travel agencies (OTAs) are a business model used by many E x pedia Group businesses, notably Expedia, the largest OTA.

The company was founded in 2001 and was based in Bellevue, Washington, in the US.

It is one of the most prosperous travel companies in the world, having localized websites in more than 40 nations.

Expedia has provided access to flights, hotels, and rental cars for more than ten years. They are the largest travel company in the world.

Its marketing plan places a strong emphasis on the value of providing affordable lodging options.

Expedia is an excellent option if you want to pay for your airfare, hotel, and car hire all at once.

One of the most well-known travel platforms, TripAdvisor provides a variety of user-generated information in addition to booking services.

Travelers get access to reviews, images, and ratings posted by other travelers, allowing them to plan their trips with greater knowledge.

The website also offers the ability to compare flights and book excursions and other activities, making it a complete online travel agency (OTA).

A meta-search engine called Kayak searches the internet for the finest travel offers on several platforms.

It provides full results on a single page by comparing costs for airfare, accommodation, rental cars, and other services.

Users of its “Explore” feature can find new places to go and the most cost-effective times to travel.

Budget-conscious travelers choose Kayak because of its simple UI and time-saving features.

The “Name Your Own Price” option on Priceline is known for allowing customers to place bids on hotel rooms and rental vehicles at the prices they like.

Priceline provides regular booking choices like flights, hotels, and rental cars in addition to the bidding system, which may not appeal to everyone.

Travelers who are flexible with their travel plans can take advantage of their Express Deals feature, which offers big reductions on unpublished rates.

Travelers seeking low-cost airline options without sacrificing quality are catered to by CheapOair .

The network appeals to people who are concerned about their spending because it offers exclusive deals and discounts on hotels, flights, and car rentals.

CheapOair makes arranging travel reservations simple with its user-friendly interface and round-the-clock customer service.

Flights, hotels, holiday packages, and activities are just a few of the travel options that Orbitz provides.

Orbitz Rewards, the platform’s loyalty program, enables customers to earn rewards and take advantage of special member advantages.

If customers discover lower rates elsewhere, Orbitz guarantees they will be refunded the difference with its price guarantee promise.

Hotwire is known for providing significantly lower rates for accommodation, travel, and transportation.

Partner hotels can offer lower rates without publicly undercutting their usual pricing because the platform hides the identity of specific hotels until after booking.

For tourists eager to take advantage of this method of surprise booking, Hotwire’s “Hot Rates” provide huge savings.

🧐 Things To Consider While Making Reservation Through OTA’s

When making reservations through an Online Travel Agency (OTA), consider the following:

• Price and Deals: Compare prices and look for exclusive deals and discounts offered by the OTA.
• Cancellation Policies: Understand the OTA’s cancellation and refund policies to avoid any inconvenience in case of changes in your plans.
• User Reviews: Check user reviews and ratings to gauge the reliability and quality of the service.
• Customer Support: Ensure the OTA provides accessible and responsive customer support for assistance during and after booking.
• Hidden Fees: Be wary of hidden fees or additional charges that may not be clearly stated upfront.
• Booking Security: Verify the OTA’s security measures to protect your personal and financial information.
• Travel Insurance: Consider purchasing travel insurance for added protection against unexpected events.
• Flexibility: Choose an OTA that offers flexible booking options to accommodate any last-minute changes.
• Available Services: Confirm that the OTA offers the services you need, such as flights, hotels, car rentals, and activities.
• User-Friendly Interface: Opt for an OTA with an intuitive and easy-to-navigate website or app for a seamless booking experience.

Advantages of Online Travel Agencies

• Convenience: Users can book flights, hotels, and other travel arrangements from the comfort of their homes, saving time and effort.
• Wide Selection: Online travel agencies offer a vast inventory of travel options, providing a variety of choices for different budgets and preferences.
• Price Comparison: Users can compare prices across multiple airlines, hotels, and car rental companies to find the best deals.
• User Reviews: Travelers can read reviews and ratings from other users to make informed decisions about their bookings.
• Exclusive Deals: Many online travel agencies offer exclusive discounts and promotions for their customers.
• 24/7 Access: Online travel agencies are available round the clock, allowing users to make bookings at any time.

Disadvantages of Online Travel Agencies

• Hidden Fees : Some online travel agencies may have hidden fees or additional charges that are not disclosed upfront.
• Lack of Personalized Service: Unlike traditional travel agents, online platforms may lack personalized recommendations and support.
• Technical Issues: Technical glitches or website outages can cause inconvenience and delay in making bookings.
• Limited Flexibility: Some online travel agencies have strict cancellation and refund policies, limiting flexibility for travelers.
• Scams and Fraud: There is a risk of encountering fraudulent websites or services when booking through unknown or unverified platforms.
• Overwhelming Options: The abundance of choices on online travel agency websites can sometimes lead to decision paralysis for users.

🙋🏻‍♀️ FAQs For Online Travel Agencies

There are a lot of questions that come to our mind while making reservations through online travel agencies some of the commonly asked questions are answered below.

A. Booking online often offers better deals and discounts compared to traditional travel agents.

A. Yes, online travel agencies often negotiate special deals and discounts with airlines and hotels, which can result in more cost-effective options for travelers.

A. While most user-generated reviews are genuine and helpful, it’s essential to consider multiple sources and exercise discernment when making decisions based on reviews.

A. Yes, reputable online travel agencies offer customer support via phone, email, or live chat to assist with booking inquiries and travel-related issues.

A. While some online travel agencies may charge service fees or have specific booking terms, reputable platforms are transparent about any additional costs during the booking process.

Q. Are the Online Travel Agencies Reliable ?

A. Absolutely! Online Travel Agencies are reputable and reliable. They work with established partners and have a track record of excellent customer service.

A. Yes, they do! Online Travel Agencies take your preferences and interests into account to craft personalized itineraries tailored to your needs.

A. Not necessarily. Online Travel Agencies often secure exclusive deals and discounts, making them competitive with direct bookings.

A. Yes, you can! Best Online Travel Agencies offer a wide range of international travel options and guide visa requirements.

In conclusion, online travel companies have completely changed how we organize and book our journeys.

These OTAs have evolved into crucial tools for modern travelers thanks to their user-friendly interfaces, vast inventory, and affordable prices.

The top online travel agencies included in this article can assist you in organizing an enjoyable trip, regardless of whether you are an experienced traveler or preparing for your first excursion.

Also, don’t forget to book your personalized holiday package with  Fiery Trippers . Let us make your vacation a romantic as well as a dreamy getaway.

How far in advance should I book my flight? ✈️ 19 Best Website To Book Flights For Cheap Airfare

Unlock Your Adventure: 💡 Mastering the 23+ Best International Travel Tips for Seamless Journeys! 🌍✈️ Exclusive Offer Inside!

13 Things Not to Forget When Traveling Internationally: Essential Tips for International Travel

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He is a dedicated travel writer with a wealth of 10 Years + experience that enriches his narratives. He holds a degree in Hospitality and Hotel Administration from IHM Dehradun, which he couples with hands-on expertise in the field. Drawing from his diverse experiences, Rahul's writings offer readers a captivating glimpse into the world of travel. Embark on a journey of exploration and inspiration with Rahul as your guide. Read More

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Top online travel agencies

Based on Cloudbeds’ data gathered from thousands of customer properties between 2021 (the benchmark used in our last report) and 2023, we’ve seen a remarkable pace of recovery for OTAs. While top OTAs like Booking.com, Expedia, and Airbnb have held onto their spots as the highest-revenue generating OTAs, we saw China’s Trip.com rise two spots, indicating the return of Asian travelers to the market. Here are the highest revenue-generating OTAs of 2023.

Highest revenue-generating OTAs

1. booking.com.

Booking.com is one of the largest and most popular travel websites in the world, with over 1.5 million nights booked every day. Its website and mobile apps are accessible in 43 languages and feature over 50 million verified guest reviews of properties in 200+ countries. Its parent company, Booking Holdings, includes OTA brands and metasearch engines such as Priceline.com, KAYAK, Agoda, Rentalcars.com, OpenTable and more.

Expedia.com is the flagship brand of Expedia Group, which includes 200 travel booking websites, including Hotwire, Orbitz, Trivago, and Travelocity, serving 75 countries in 35 languages with over 600 million monthly visits. The website includes searches for all types of accommodations, as well as booking flights, car rentals, cruises, and vacation packages. By activating the Expedia connection, properties will broadcast their inventory on Hotels.com, Wotif, and many other channels.

Airbnb is known for providing access to unique accommodations around the world, with the vast majority of properties located outside of main hotel districts. While the company continues to expand into hotel room inventory following its acquisition of HotelTonight (known for booking last-minute lodging), its community expects a certain type of experience. Namely, something that is less cookie-cutter and more oriented to the local vibe.

4. Hostelworld

HostelWorld is a leading OTA for hostel-focused accommodations worldwide, with 12+ million guest reviews. Their inventory also includes hotels, B&Bs, and other budget accommodation types. Hostelworld aims to be a leader in social travel via its online booking options and mobile app, addressing the needs of guests who want to make connections with others as they experience the world around them. Their app and website operate in 20 different languages.

Agoda was founded in 1998 and later acquired by the Priceline Group (now called Booking Holdings) in 2007. Agoda’s website is available in 38 languages and focuses on listing all types of properties. It’s currently one of the leading online travel booking sites for the Asian market but is pushing into the US, India, and European markets.

6. Trip.com

Trip.com is China’s leading provider of travel services including reservations for accommodation, transportation, tours, and corporate travel. Founded in 1999, the company owns and operates several other OTAs and aggregators, including Trip.com, Skyscanner, Qunar, and Ctrip. 

7. Hotelbeds

By connecting to Hotelbeds, will gain unrivaled exposure to the travel industry’s largest network of B2B buyers, including more than 71,000 tour operators, travel agents, airlines, and loyalty & points schemes which can be great for business travel. 

With over 2 million bookable vacation rentals, Vrbo caters to a diverse range of needs and preferences, offering everything from cozy, intimate cabins for romantic getaways to spacious, well-appointed villas suitable for large family reunions or group vacations.

9. Traveloka

Based in Indonesia, Traveloka is one of Asia’s largest online travel agents. Traveloka lists hundreds of thousands of properties across Southeast Asia, Australia, and around the globe. The company also provides lifestyle products and services, such as tickets to attractions, activities, car rentals, and restaurant vouchers.

10. Despegar/Decolar

Despegar/Decolar is a leading online travel company in Latin America, with Despegar functioning as the global brand and Decolar representing the brand in the Brazilian market. Their marketplace operates across 20 markets and offers a broad suite of travel products in the region, including airfare, hotel bookings, travel packages, and other travel products to a large customer base.

Highest revenue-generating OTAs by country

Based on Cloudbeds data, we’ve highlighted the OTAs that are generating the most revenue for our customers in leading travel destinations. 

Hostelworld has moved up on the list across multiple countries, demonstrating that demand for hostels (jumping 5 spots in Thailand and the Philippines), shared accommodations, and experiences is back. In addition, we can see the return of Asian travelers as Agoda and Trip.com rise in North America and make their first appearance on Latin American lists. 

Top 10 OTAs in the U.S

• Booking.com
• Hostelworld 
• Agoda 
• HotelTonight 
• Hotelbeds 

Top 10 OTAs in Canada 

• Booking.com 
• Expedia 
• Dorms.com 
• Mrs & Mrs Smith
• Tripadvisor

Top 10 OTAs in Mexico

• Hostelworld
• Despegar/Decolar 
• PriceTravel
• Mr & Mrs. Smith

Top 10 OTAs in Spain

• Keytel 
• Mr & Mrs Smith

Top 10 OTAs in other countries 

Learn more about the top revenue-generating OTAs around the world in our Big Book of OTAs, including:

• Philippines

Highest niche revenue-generating OTAs

What are niche otas.

Niche OTAs are online travel agencies catering to specific audiences and travel needs. Many niches exist today, including OTAs for skiers, campers or glampers, adventure travelers, luxury travelers, and more.

Niche platforms can be the best online travel agencies as they are built to target more specific guest segments. Once you identify what guest segments make sense for your property, you can look into local partnerships to expand your offerings to provide a more tailored experience that complements your guests’ travel plans. For example, if you have a property close to the beach, you can find local surf instructors to partner with and offer lessons through your booking engine to attract surfers. When the guests check in, you can show them where the best surf is in town to improve the guest experience.

After a guest’s first trip is booked through a niche OTA, the guest will likely forego OTAs for their next trip in favor of booking directly on the hotel website. Niche OTAs are an essential part of any property’s online distribution strategy as they build loyalty and encourage direct bookings.

In the niche OTA market, many new channels have emerged over the past few years, especially surf & sport OTAs and luxury OTAs.

Highlighted niche OTAs surf & sports 

The global surfing tourism market is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6%, from 9.5 billion USD in 2022 to 17.1 billion USD by 2032. Travelers are increasingly looking for unique experiences, many tailored to specific activities like surfing, and seek out properties that cater to their needs. Today, the top revenue-generating Surf & Sport OTAs include:

Thermal offers a handpicked collection of the best surf trips in the world, with a focus on amazing guides who create one-of-a-kind, authentic experiences.

Good Story has an inventory of surf hotels and internationally recognized surf schools and camps for both novice and experienced surfers. 

Surf Holidays provides unique places to stay with quality local surf instruction to deliver the surf holiday of a lifetime on some of the best breaks in the world. 

Luex Surf & Snow Travel connects travelers with operators/ suppliers of once-in-a-lifetime sports travel experiences and products.

KiteSurfHolidays.com specializes in kitesurfing holidays, including accommodations and kitesurfing schools.

Highlighted niche OTAs luxury

In May 2023, Deloitte reported that the luxury travel industry had rebounded to pre-pandemic levels and is currently thriving, with a global market value of 1.2 trillion USD. Bookings at five-star hotels rose 19% over the first three quarters of 2021, and luxury travelers are more keen than ever to experience “Instagram-worthy” experiences in unique and remote locations. 

The following OTAs cater to travelers looking for luxury accommodations:

Mr & Mrs Smith includes a collection of carefully curated hotels that are first anonymously evaluated and visited by staff. This exclusive OTA works on an invitation-only basis. 

Prestigia is made up of hand-selected quality and unique hotels from all over the world. This OTA offers the best price guarantees, promotions, and exclusive offers. 

icastelli.net luxurious, historical, and unique high-level hotels are the property types found on this OTA. Collections include exclusive boutique hotels, golf hotels, spa hotels, and more.

i-escape provides unforgettable travel experiences, including eco-retreats, safari lodges, and boutique hotels. Also included is an award-winning booking system with a direct dialogue between guests and property and free advice from travel consultants. 

Tablet Hotels the official hotel selection of the MICHELIN Guide. This OTA showcases hotels that provide meaningful experiences to guests, regardless of budget. 

Spotlight – LGBTQIA+ OTAS

The global LGBTQIA+ travel market is valued at over $568.5 billion USD annually . While many countries have become increasingly welcoming to the queer community, discrimination is still prevalent today. A Booking.com study revealed that 58% of LGBTQ+ travelers face discrimination while traveling, and 41% canceled a trip within the past year after seeing their destination wasn’t LGBTQ+ friendly. 

 OTAs like ebab have emerged to offer safe and friendly accommodations to the LGBTQIA+ community.

Top OTAs by property type

Our data shows that while the top global OTAs dominate across almost all property types, some OTAs offer more opportunities for specific property types.

Channels such as Hostelworld have traditionally been popular for searching for hostels, while channels such as Vrbo and Airbnb have catered to vacation rentals. However, we’ve seen that our hotel customers are increasingly adopting Airbnb as part of their channel mix. Airbnb welcomes hotels that have a unique, independent environment and style.

Download our Big Book of OTAs to see the list of the five most popular channel connections by property type, including:

• Most popular channel connections for Hotels & Boutiques
• Most popular channel connections for Hostels
• Most popular channel connections for Vacation Rentals
• Most popular channel connections for Bed & Breakfasts

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Best online travel sites 2022

Use the best online travel sites to plan your trip ahead of time so you can enjoy your time away.

• Buying advice
• Testing process

The best online travel sites are wonderful not only plan your next trip for peace of mind, they're also a fun way to get excited ahead of your next adventure. You can simply go to one site and plan most of your trip's main parts from flights and hotels to rental cars and excursions. If what you're after is just hotel bookings, check out our list of the best hotel booking sites .

While what many of these sites offer is similar, it's the way in which they do it which is important. The last thing you need is a stress-inducing website when planning to go away to relax and unwind. So we've reviewed the best sites based on their price, of course, but also on the way they work, with the ease of use and clarity as important features. We also checked to make sure you won't suffer any extra charges added on top at the last minute. Plus, we took rewards schemes into account, which could help you save money upfront or in the longer term if you use some sites more than once.

With all that in mind, these are the very best online travel sites out there right now.

The best online travel sites

1. expedia.com: best online travel site overall .

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Expedia is a big name in online travel sites and hotel booking services and owns many popular sites like Hotels.com and Hotwire.com. We're fans of the original, though, thanks to its clean and straightforward to use interface. Hit the packages section of the site, and you can add up to five connecting flights, choose to add accommodation for all of or only part of your trip, and tag on car rentals too. 

It's all suitably well laid out, and it only takes a few seconds to start putting together your itinerary. However, we do wish there were a few more options for filtering out accessibility issues. Still, for most people, Expedia.com has everything they'll need, and there's even the option of a cruise too if you fancy it. It's as aspirational to look at as it is useful to, well, use and there are extra discounts for booking multiple parts of your vacation with the site. A Things To Do section rounds off the site's bid to help you plan your entire trip in one place.

2. Booking.com: Best for ease of use

Booking.com

Booking.com is a giant in the world of holiday bookings and not only offers over half a million properties in more than 207 countries but also offers flights and car rental services too. As such you can do it all from this one spot which makes it a very easy-to-use option. That said, there is a lot going on, and the user interface can be a little overwhelming at times. 

But with a superb rewards program, it is a great option that encourages you to keep coming back, making it easier to use as you become accustomed. You can even sort your taxi hire from this site meaning there is very little to think about when you get traveling as it's all been planned ahead of time. You also don't have to pay a booking fee on lots of hotels, allowing you to remain flexible – ideal if you're traveling about a lot on your journey.

3. CheapTickets.com: Best for finding things to do 

CheapTickets.com

CheapTickets is another site acquired by Expedia, but it does things a little differently. You can easily add on flight, hotel, and car or any combination of the three for package deals, although multiple flights are under a different option. So far, so Expedia (if less intuitive), but you can also clearly purchase event tickets from the site, which is far more useful if you want a one-stop-shop place to buy your trip. It's something other sites provide, but CheapTickets is that bit keener to entice you into the process, even if the site itself is a little cheesier looking than others. 

There's also the site's Vacation Value Finder, which lets you tweak how much you're willing to spend and what you're looking for from a vacation before making some fun suggestions. It's perfect for finding a last-minute deal if you don't have your heart set on one place. Students will also appreciate a section dedicated to them with extra discounts once you verify you're a student. All in all, it's a great varied site for numerous different needs. 

4. Priceline.com: Best for user reviews 

Priceline.com

Priceline is a big deal in the online travel site world for a good reason. It's effortless to use with options available for flights, cars, hotels, or any combination of the three. It's mildly annoying that Priceline's super cheap Pricebreaker deals don't extend to bundles, so you won't get an incredible bargain like you would if you booked separately. However, combining the set is still a worthwhile deal with discounts offered for the more you bundle together. 

One thing we really appreciated is that every hotel we looked at had dozens of reviews, and they're all from verified customers. It takes seconds to gain a reasonably accurate picture of what to expect from wherever you're considering booking. That's the perfect peace of mind when you're booking online, and you can't be sure of what you're getting without user reviews backing hotel statements up. Clearly laid out, you can focus on enjoying rather than worrying. Finally, Priceline is keen to make its VIP scheme easily accessible with straightforward discounts offered to you over time -- something that not all sites so clearly highlight. 

5. Kayak.com: Best for aggregated results 

If you're short on time, Kayak is pretty useful. That's because you simply enter where you want to go, and it aggregates results from multiple different sources. While it means you never book directly with Kayak, it does mean you get results quickly and without having to search around yourself, even if you will feel a bit overwhelmed with adverts while you search. 

The site itself looks a little basic, but under the hood is a surprising number of different filters (although no accessibility ones to speak of) and all the critical information you could require, although obviously you'll be sent to another site for the full details. The site also has a deals section, which has some great bargains for things you can do once you reach your destination, along with cheap car rental deals. It might not be pretty, but if you simply don't want to do the groundwork yourself, Kayak has you covered. It can be a real time-saver, and we reckon it's particularly useful if you're mostly researching possible trips in the future and want rough price estimates. Just watch out for the fact you can’t bundle in car rental deals. 

6. Hotwire.com: Best for renting properties 

Hotwire keeps things straightforward. All you need to do is enter what you're looking for, and a somewhat dated interface tells you what's available. It's not as pretty as some sites, but we really liked the extensive property type filters available. Want to stay on a houseboat or in a chalet at your destination? Hit the relevant filter, and you can find out if that's an option in the locale. That might not matter if your heart is set on a hotel, but it's a nice bonus even amongst the awkward site layout. 

Elsewhere, it's mostly business as usual, but that's no bad thing. Well laid out discounts are available to compare reasonably quickly, and most locations have plenty of reviews. If you feel like tracking down specific deals, you can do that too, with the site keen to offer up discounts to central locations if you're not quite sure where you'd like to visit next. It feels like the site needs updating when you compare it to its rivals, but it works well and speedily enough.

7. Agoda: Best for private home rental in Asia 

Agoda is a great option if you want to look for accommodation that isn't a hotel as this specializes in offering apartments and private rentals. In fact, there are dedicated market managers that work on finding properties, especially in Asia. As such you can find unique destination rentals at decent rates and should you change your mind there is a helpful 24-hour free cancellation policy in place. 

Everything is very easy to use and if you want to make more than one booking you can make great savings. Customer support is also a plus, as there is a 24-hour multilingual customer support service available when booking. With millions of reviews, Agoda makes finding a property very easy with a feeling of trust that can offer great peace of mind.

What to look for in an online travel site

Booking Travel Packages Travel packages can let you combine flights, hotel reservations and car rentals together for a better deal than booking separately. Some companies, like Priceline, pick hotels and flights for you, to get you to your destination for the lowest price. Other companies let you mix and match flights, hotels and car rentals to fit your schedule.

Booking Airfare One of the biggest reasons for searching on a travel site is to find cheap airfare. While there are dozens of airfare-specific websites, travel sites also give you the option to add hotel stays and car rentals. The best travel sites combine flight information from over nine different airlines and let you sort flights by price, number of stops, duration and flight class.

Booking International Travel Finding airfare for international travel is the easiest part of booking an overseas trip. AirGorilla helps you find accommodations and rent GPS units with your rental car, so you can find your way around. Often, sites will recommend hotels that are far from your actual destination or event. Searching for reservations on a site that gives accommodation recommendations will help you schedule an international trip with less stress.

How we tested the best online travel sites

We looked at how easy each site is to use during our testing, such as how quickly the site loaded and how easy it was to find what we were looking for. We considered whether the site felt cluttered with adverts or seemed like a dated interface. We also looked at how easy it was to find Contact Us pages, price guarantee information, and any kind of special deals section. 

We also considered how easily bundle deals could be arranged and how extensive they were and any potential discounts tied to them. We checked filter options to see how flexible and easy it was to look up different needs along the way.

We looked at trips between Los Angeles and Miami, Paris to Lisbon, and New York City to Los Angeles during testing. We also looked at lesser-known routes to see if they were also catered for appropriately.

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Jennifer has been freelancing for over 10 years. In the past, she's written about all things tech and gaming wise for outlets as varied as The Independent, Playboy, Eurogamer, and TechRadar. In her spare time, she spends far too much time watching films, attempting to train her pet guinea pigs, and mastering making the perfect burrito.  She's a full time freelancer, but a regular tech news contributor to Top Ten Reviews.

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The desire to get a good deal unites practically all travelers. Whether you're looking for a cheap getaway or a luxury vacation, no one wants to spend more than necessary. When it comes to booking flights, travelers may naturally head to an airline's website. However, that's not always the best site to book flights.

Whether it's taking advantage of credit card perks, earning bonus miles or saving money, the best flight booking site can vary depending on your situation and willingness to get creative. Let's take a look at six of the best sites to book flights and when each is the best option.

» Learn more: The best travel credit cards right now

The best flight booking sites

1. google flights.

For ease, speed and features, Google Flights is arguably the best website for flight searches. Search results appear almost instantly. Filters let you narrow down to nonstop options, select a subset of airlines, limit by price or factor in the price of a bag. Similarly, you can use Google Flights filters to avoid certain airlines, multi-stop itineraries, long layovers, early flights or pretty much whatever you might want to avoid.

You can easily check flexible dates, and if you're flexible on where you go you can use the Explore map to see prices for a variety of destinations for certain dates, a certain month or anytime in the next six months.

Google Flights partners with hundreds of airlines and online travel agencies (OTAs) to pull current flight prices. That way you don't have to search each of these sites to be able to see the options. Once you select your preferred trip, Google Flights links you to the top booking options for actually booking your flight — including the airline itself and the best OTA booking options.

The downsides of Google Flights are few. One is the lack of Southwest flight prices. Although Southwest flight schedules will show in flight search results, Southwest flight prices aren't available. That's because Southwest chooses to publish flight prices only on its website.

» Learn more: Why Southwest is not on Google Flights

Another downside is that Google Flights doesn't always show the cheapest prices — particularly for international flights. That means it's worth double-checking prices on another site before booking through Google Flights.

Like Google Flights, Kayak searches hundreds of other websites and flight booking platforms to find the best deal. Kayak generally doesn't let you book flights directly. However, one benefit of Kayak is the streamlined process. Rather than having to click through several pages to confirm your selection, clicking "view deal" on the results page can take you right to the cheapest booking option.

Also, some travelers may find Kayak's flexible date search a bit easier to work with as you can see results from several days in the search results — eliminating the need to check each day's results separately.

But perhaps the most important reason to use Kayak instead of Google Flights is that it can catch better deals. For example, we found a $550 round-trip flight from Los Angeles to Barcelona using Google Flights. Kayak found a way to lower that price to just $472 round-trip — at least once you scroll past an advertisement.

Note that Kayak manages other flight search sites — including Momondo and Cheapflights — so the results may be very similar between these sister sites.

» Learn more: Is Kayak legit?

So far, we've focused on ease in flight searching, and that's going to be enough for many travelers. However, now let's add in some additional elements to consider when choosing the best flight booking site: earning rewards and saving by booking packages. Expedia excels at both of these.

Through the new One Key rewards program , travelers can earn 0.2% in OneKeyCash from flight bookings made through Expedia. That's not much, but it can stack on top of the awards you earn from the airline and those that you earn on your credit card purchase.

Even better, you'll earn credits toward One Key elite status by booking your flight through Expedia. As you climb up the tiers, you'll unlock up to 20% savings on hotels, get hotel upgrades, priority support and even price drop protection.

Plus, Expedia boasts that travelers can "save up to 30%" when bundling a hotel with a flight booking — although actual discounts are likely to vary.

» Learn more: The pros and cons of Expedia

4. Capital One Travel

For many Capital One cardholders, Capital One Travel might just be the best flight booking site. Part of this is to take advantage of cardholder benefits.

For example, Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card holders earn 5x Capital One miles when booking flights through the Capital One Travel portal. Plus, Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card holders get up to $300 off travel booked through the Capital One Travel portal each cardholder year.

» Learn more: How to maximize the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

Also, Capital One Travel can help you truly get the best price for your flight. Capital One partnered with travel data company Hopper to show suggestions about when it's the best time to book.

Capital One backs up these recommendations with money. If you book a flight through Capital One Travel when Hopper recommends doing so, you'll get up to a $50 credit toward future travel if the price drops within the next 10 days.

» Learn more: How the Capital One Travel portal works

Would you be willing to book a trip as two separate tickets in order to save money? That's the idea behind Kiwi. Instead of simply searching flights from your home airport to your destination, Kiwi checks all potential options to get between A and B. That could mean taking a bus or train from your home city to another to catch a flight to your destination. Or, Kiwi might pair a low-cost domestic flight with a cheap international flight from another city to lower your total cost.

Protect your upfront travel expenses by booking with a card that has travel insurance or by purchasing a separate policy .

For example, when we priced out a round-trip flight from Phoenix to Tokyo, the cheapest option when booked as one ticket cost $1,353 round-trip — and that's with an overnight stay in Vancouver.

Pricing out the same itinerary and dates through Kiwi drops the price to just $789 round-trip. The secret? Booking this as two round-trip flights: One from Phoenix to Los Angeles on Frontier and a separate round-trip from Los Angeles to Tokyo on Zipair.

Keep in mind that there are risks with booking separate tickets to get where you want to go. If a delay or cancellation causes you to miss your connection, the second airline/bus/train company isn't obligated to honor your ticket and rebook you on the next option. So make sure to factor in all of the risks of booking travel like this.

» Learn more: When to use Kiwi for your next flight booking

6. BookWithMatrix

ITA Matrix is a very powerful and ultra-customizable search platform for finding exactly the flight itinerary you want — whether that's booking a longer layover, avoiding certain aircraft types or booking nerdy trips such as the Alaska Milk Run .

The catch: Travelers can't actually book flights through ITA Matrix. And, unlike Google Flights, ITA Matrix doesn't even link to the best flight booking site for that itinerary. Instead, travelers are left to attempt to re-create the same itinerary through another flight booking website — which can be hard in the case of certain complex itineraries.

Enter BookWithMatrix. Travelers can copy-paste their perfect itinerary from ITA Matrix into BookWithMatrix to get bookable links through the airline or select OTAs.

Alternatively, travelers have the option to install the PowerTools extension in Google Chrome .

This extension adds booking links right on the ITA Matrix itinerary page, avoiding the need to browse to another page.

Final thoughts on the best flight booking site

There's not a one-size-fits-all best website for booking flights. Instead, the best flight booking site for you is going to depend on how simple you want the process to be, whether you're willing to get creative with your booking, and even which credit cards you have.

For most travelers, the simplicity of Google Flights is going to make it the best one-stop shop for searching and booking flights. However, it's worth considering other options if you're flying internationally, want to book a flight-and-hotel package or have a Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card .

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024 , including those best for:

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

on Chase's website

1x-5x 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

75,000 Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's over $900 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1.5%-5% Enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

Up to $300 Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

on Capital One's website

2x-5x Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options.

75,000 Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

4 reasons to consider booking your next hotel stay through an online travel agency

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here .

Although conventional wisdom is that it is better to book directly through a service provider and avoid an online travel agency , that's not always the best course of action when it comes to hotels.

Let's see what factors you might want to consider before booking through an OTA for your next hotel stay.

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There's a notable price difference

The first factor to take into consideration is the price. If an OTA isn't less expensive than the direct hotel option, I wouldn't go any further.

Hotels typically have price parity agreements with OTAs, meaning that the lowest published price on a hotel's website should, in theory, be the lowest price that you see anywhere else online. However, in my experience, this isn't always the case. And OTAs can still offer their own promotions , like Hotels.com reward nights or Priceline's frequent Express Deals coupon offers.

If I'm booking a hotel, I also always search through an OTA to get a rough sense of what nightly pricing looks like at that destination. If you land on a property that you're really interested in, always compare pricing between the OTA and the pricing that's directly on the hotel website or app. This even holds true if you plan to use hotel points so you can see if it's really worth redeeming them.

Nevertheless, if you come across a lower price on an OTA, that doesn't mean you should immediately jump on it. Some hotel chains offer a price-match guarantee and you should be on the lookout for other opportunities like hotel sales, senior discounts and AAA members-only deals.

You're booking (and staying) last minute

The next factor is related to timing — specifically, how far in advance your stay will be. One of the most frustrating aspects of OTAs is that they're a middleman . There is an extra layer of complexity when you have to deal with a third party, particularly when it comes to changes or cancellations. However, the concern about a cancellation can (almost) be thrown out the window if you're booking a hotel at the very last minute.

In non-pandemic times, I might even go so far as saying that if you are confident in your selected hotel and travel dates — and you weigh all of the factors on this list — it could be enough to consider the OTA option since sites like Expedia and Hotels.com often have access to special pricing the closer you get to the date of the stay. COVID-19 has changed this assumption since reopening plans can be rolled back at a moment's notice, hotels or OTAs could close for good , or some other unforeseen circumstance related to the pandemic could foil your reservation.

If you're booking at a moment's notice, the odds of such problems happening decrease.

Hotel loyalty perks don't add value

If you are one of the many travelers who don't hold hotel elite status , a discussion of loyalty perks is an entirely moot point for you.

However, for everyone else, if you want to make use of your hotel loyalty benefits , book directly and not through an OTA. That includes perks when at the property, such as free breakfast or late checkout, as well as loyalty earnings such as elite night credit or points.

Related: Best credit cards for hotel elite status

I have Hilton Diamond status by virtue of holding the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card. Despite this perk, I have come across instances when saving cash by making a last-minute booking through an OTA outweighs what I value my elite benefits to be. This is obviously a personal decision when it comes down to it. Is the chance of receiving a room upgrade or breakfast credit worth forgoing the OTA's cost savings? What about that late checkout benefit or extra points?

If the price is right, I typically won't hesitate to skip out on elite benefits for shorter stays, especially for lower-tier hotels.

Related: Don't book hotel stays direct if you want to earn maximum American Loyalty Points

The information for the Hilton Aspire Amex card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

You want to use credit card points

Besides transferring points to hotel partners , some credit card points can also be used on the company's respective travel portals. This is a particularly useful strategy if you're looking at hotels that aren't part of a major chain.

You can minimize out-of-pocket expenses by using credit card points at a fixed value. Using Chase as an example, Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Ink Business Preferred Credit Cards offer 1.25 cents per point when redeeming hotels through the portal, while the Chase Sapphire Reserve offers 1.5 cents per point.

Even if this is below the TPG valuation of 2 cents per Ultimate Rewards point (thanks to the value of transfer partners), sometimes it's preferable to just not spend the extra cash.

Bottom line 

If the price knocks it out of the park or you're reserving within a couple of weeks of travel and can't get enough value out of loyalty perks, then OTA hotel bookings can still make plenty of sense.

Combined together, these are a lot of qualifiers, but I've managed to take advantage of many OTA reservations using these exact criteria. At the end of the day, be sure to know all of the uncertainties involved to make an informed booking decision.

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These are some of our hand-picked tours and itineraries that will let you get the most out of your trip to Russia. Choose one of ready programs or customize it and create your own trip!

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Visit Moscow Tours

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Moscow-Saint Peterburg tour package 8 days/7 nights BEST DEAL (15th of MAY-22d of MAY only)

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Moscow-Altai tour package 14 days/13 nights

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Moscow tour package 5 days/4 nights including tank riding and Stalin Bunker visit

Moscow-Saint Petersburg tour package 7 days/6 nights including tank riding and Stalin Bunker visit

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Welcome to visit moscow tours.

We provide authentic, informative and memorable tour packages and city tours, at very competitive prices. Visit Moscow Tours are available not only in Moscow, but also in other cities: Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Suzdal and Sergiev Posad.  We also organise customised individual programs tailored just for you.

Our guests come in large groups, small private groups, as couples or as single travellers. We take care of and treat our guests with respect in a friendly and warm family environment. We show people our beautiful cities with passion and deep knowledge of their history, culture and traditions.

Our guides are extremely hospitable, helpful and well-informed. They are simply the best because only by providing the best services can we make the world fall in love with Russia. And we are very happy when our guests say that they will definitely come back to Russia and that they will tell all their friends how great Russia is! That is what inspires us to put even more dedication and hard work into our tours, knowing that what we do is positive and meaningful.

Our classic tours include tours of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, two main Russian cities.

Moscow is a big and busy  megalopolis and Russia’s capital city, where more than 12 million people live and work. Our capital city is happening place; it is mysterious, elegant, luxurious, fashionable, clean and bright, with its unique legends, traditions and events. It is with great pride that we show the Red Square and the Kremlin, our Underground and Tretyakovskaya Gallery, among other stunning attractions.

Saint Petersburg is our second capital,  the second largest city in the Russian Federation. This wonderful city has a strong and lively aristocratic spirit, uniquely Russian royal architecture, magnificent museums and theatres. Saint Petersburg bears the royal heritage of Russia, which can be felt in its air, its streets, parks, monuments, museums and citizens.  In Saint Petersburg tours, we will take you to the Hermitage, Peter and Paul Fortress, Faberge Museum and Orthodox Cathedrals. We’re sure you will love it!

If you have a few more days to spare, venture into the dreamy Russian countryside in Suzdal or Sergiev Posad. Suzdal is a small town with a population of about ten thousand people, situated on less than 15 square kilometres. This tiny area is home to 53 historic cathedrals, five monasteries and a kremlin. Church domes are visible like mushrooms from anywhere and everywhere in the town like in a fairy tale. No wonder Suzdal is called the ‘Town Museum”.  It is definitely worth visiting!

Just try any of Visit Moscow Tours’ tour packages or any individual city tour, and we promise that you will want to come back to Russia again.  Russia is huge with countless amazing places to visit. There are so many unique experiences to be had and energies to be felt that one tour is definitely not enough to explore this vast land. It is also a very safe destination to travel, and we have a tradition of warm hospitality. Our people adore and take care of visitors as our own guests, and even if they do not know your language very well, they still try to be helpful and hospitable.

Our guides will show you the most interesting attractions and historical places, taking you on a journey to the past to enjoy stories of medieval times, the Romanov monarchy, the Soviet Era. And of course, we will show you the contemporary life of our country through authentic local experiences.

We look forward to meeting you soon!

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Top 5 best travel agencies for flights in 2024

The best travel agency for business travel, 1. travelperk.

• Extensive inventory of corporate flights due to integrations like Amadeus, Expedia and more.
• Mobile app allows employees to book flights, access paperless tickets, check-in and more to keep the travel experience seamless.
• 24/7 corporate travel assistance offers best-in-class support before, during and after your travels.
• Flexible booking options with FlexiPerk provides stress-free travel experiences.
• Additional services like priority boarding or seat selection available during booking.
• Add your frequent flier numbers to your profile and continue earning points for your business travel.
• Integrated travel policy & approval flows , centralised invoicing and real-time expense reports make managing expenses and approvals a snap.
• Manage all corporate travel—from air travel to car rentals to lodging and more—all in one place.

Start saving money on business travel for your company today!

The best travel agencies for leisure travel, 2. cheapflights.

• Allows you to easily compare different travel agencies for the flight you want
• Easy online booking options through whatever travel provider you choose
• Searches both large and small flight consolidators to find the best itineraries and prices

3. FlightCentre

• High-touch booking experience that allows you to chat live with an experienced travel agent, in-person or over the phone
• Flights can be combined with holiday packages to make travel planning easier
• Specialise in creating itineraries carefully designed to meet your unique needs
• Their travel agents will do all the work for you—no online bookings are offered, just chat with a travel agent and they’ll find what you need.

4. CheapOAir

• Large number of flight options allows you to find the cheapest deals available
• Flight and hotel packages make it easy to book together and save
• Numerous search filters make it easy to search and sort by date, prices, nearby airports, preferred airlines, schedule and more
• Easy online checkout process makes it simple to book

5. Liberty Travel

• Full-service travel agency—instead of booking flights online, work with a travel agent to book your trip
• Pre-created holiday packages let you browse possible vacations and costs with all flights, transfers, hotels and more included
• Less stress in the travel planning process with a dedicated agent helping plan your trip
• Get flight deals when you book as part of a vacation or cruise package
• Dedicated travel experts provide you with service and peace of mind throughout every phase of your trip

Is it cheaper to fly with a travel agent?

What are the benefits of booking a flight with a travel agent.

• discounted airfare on one-way, roundtrip and multi-city flight options
• travel experts to provide peace of mind and help with travel plans
• on-call customer service in case of rebooking needs or other travel contingencies
• customisable travel itineraries to meet your unique needs

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News & Insights

With The Stock Flat This Year, Will Q1 Results Drive Booking Holdings' Stock Higher?

May 02, 2024 — 10:18 am EDT

Written by Trefis Team for Trefis  ->

Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG) , the world’s largest online travel agency, that offers services from lodging to airline tickets to car rentals, is scheduled to announce its fiscal first-quarter results on Thursday, May 2. We expect the company’s stock to likely see little to no movement with revenues and earnings matching market expectations. Booking Holdings has fully recovered from the difficult period caused by the pandemic. Travel and experiences drove U.S. consumer spending in 2023, resulting in a solid rise of 75% for BKNG stock in 2023. However, the company’s stock is flat so far this year. There is optimism among consumers due to the low unemployment rate and the anticipated fed rate cuts, but there are concerns due to layoffs at major companies. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East dampened room reservations during the holiday season and is expected to impact Q1 negatively, as well. Currently, the company is also involved in some legal battles, including a $530 million fine from the Spanish government.

BKNG stock has seen extremely strong gains of 60% from levels of $2225 in early January 2021 to around $3515 now, vs. an increase of about 35% for the S&P 500 over this roughly 3-year period. However, the increase in BKNG stock has been far from consistent. Returns for the stock were 8% in 2021, -16% in 2022, and 76% in 2023. In comparison, returns for the S&P 500 have been 27% in 2021, -19% in 2022, and 24% in 2023 – indicating that  BKNG underperformed the S&P  in 2021. In fact,  consistently beating the S&P 500 – in good times and bad – has been difficult over recent years for individual stocks; for heavyweights in the Consumer Discretionary sector including AMZN, TSLA, and TM, and even for the megacap stars GOOG, MSFT, and AAPL. In contrast, the Trefis  High Quality (HQ) Portfolio , with a collection of 30 stocks, has  outperformed the S&P 500 each year  over the same period.  Why is that?  As a group, HQ Portfolio stocks provided better returns with less risk versus the benchmark index; less of a roller-coaster ride as evident in HQ Portfolio performance metrics. Given the current uncertain macroeconomic environment with high oil prices and elevated interest rates, could BKNG face a similar situation as it did in 2021 and  underperform the S&P  over the next 12 months – or will it see a strong jump?

(1) Revenues expected to come in line with the consensus estimates

Trefis estimates Booking Holdings’ Q1 2024 revenues to be around $4.3 B il , matching the consensus estimate. In Q4 2023, the online travel agency’s revenues grew 18% year-over-year (y-o-y) to $4.8 billion, driven by a 16% y-o-y increase in gross bookings to $31.7 billion. Gross travel bookings refer to the total dollar value, generally inclusive of taxes and fees, of all travel services booked by the customers, net of cancellations. Room nights booked increased 9% in Q4 from the prior-year quarter, rental car days were up 11% y-o-y, and airline tickets booked jumped 46% y-o-y in Q4. Room nights booked in the quarter grew 15% y-0-y in Q3 2023, so the company saw a decelerating trend quarter-over-quarter in Q4, largely due to the conflict in Israel. The company notes that room nights would have grown 11% y-o-y when adjusted for this. BKNG still expects this growth rate to decelerate further, as its Q1 outlook calls for a 4%-6% y-o-y growth in room nights booked.

For the full-year 2024, we expect Booking Holdings revenues to grow 18% y-o-y to $25.2 billion.

(2) EPS likely to match the consensus estimates  

Booking Holdings’ Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) is expected to come in at $14.22 as per Trefis analysis, in line with the consensus estimate. BKNG earned a profit of $32.00 in Q4, an increase of 29% from the prior-year quarter. The company notched $1.46 billion in adjusted EBITDA in Q4, up 18% y-o-y – in line with revenue. Adjusted EBITDA margins remained roughly flat y-o-y at 30.6%. The company is ramping up non-hotel products like flights and rental car bookings to capture more of customers’ wallet share.

(3) Stock price estimate in line with the current market price

Going by our Booking Holdings’ Valuation, with an earnings per share estimate of around $174.48 and a P/E multiple of 21.1x in fiscal 2024, this translates into a price of $3675, which is in line with the current market price.

It is helpful to see how its peers stack up. BKNG Peers shows how Booking Holdings stock compares against peers on metrics that matter. You will find other useful comparisons for companies across industries at Peer Comparisons.

[1] Returns as of 4/30/2024 [2] Cumulative total returns since the end of 2016

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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What is Kiwi.com and why is it important?

The kiwi is a unique and curious bird: it cannot fly, and has loose, hairlike feathers, strong legs and no tail.

Kiwi berries are edible fruits the size of a large grape, similar to fuzzy kiwifruit in taste and internal appearance but with a thin, smooth green skin.

Kiwi International Air Lines was an American airline that operated from September 21, 1992, for almost seven years. It was headquartered in Newark, and in its brief history, the airline flew eight million passengers without incident.

What is Kiwi.com?

Kiwi.com, though, is neither a flightless bird, nor a fruit, nor a defunct airline, but an Internet site. In its own words, when asked “Is Kiwi.com a legit website?” they follow it up with:

“We often see questions on various platforms online asking, ‘is Kiwi.com safe for booking flights with?’ The answer is yes, Kiwi is 100% safe and legit. We’re a reputable travel company with one objective, to use our innovative technology to help you find affordable flight options to get you from A to B.”

Kiwi.com, previously known as skypicker.com, is a Czech online travel agency founded in 2012. Kiwi.com provides a fare aggregator, metasearch engine and booking for airline tickets and ground transportation. Its ticket search features Kiwi.com’s “virtual interlining” concept – itineraries combined from over 750 carriers, including many that do not cooperate in online bookings.

Many of us are aware of investment scams that abound on social media – scammers promising guaranteed returns on investment. Consumers lost billions of dollars to them last year. Some start with a WhatsApp message apologizing for bothering you.

Kiwi.com has a great site, and its results prove to be very enticing to millions of clients. In fact, it goes further than any site or travel agency by stating that it will handle everything with the airline, including preparing your boarding passes. This is a tedious yet vital procedure these days. Curiously, though, it doesn’t give the airlines your details – neither your phone number nor your address. All communications are done solely between Kiwi and the airline. And that raises a lot of questions.

Kiwi.com is without any doubt a legit online travel agency. However, booking a flight through it increases the risks of issues as compared to booking directly with the airline, since Kiwi works as a middleman between the traveler and the airline. Although problems can occur even with direct booking with the airline, the chances are much lower compared to booking a flight through Kiwi.com.

Why Kiwi.com causes problems

Here’s why:

Kiwi.com basically acts as an intermediary between you and the airlines. As a middleman, Kiwi collects your payment, and it – not the airline – is responsible for your booking, since your contract is not directly with the airline; it is with Kiwi.

In the event that something goes wrong between you and the airline, you will have to contact Kiwi.com, and then it will reach out to the airline you are booked with, and Kiwi will then get back to you. But how fast Kiwi.com’s customer support will help you resolve your issue depends on the level of customer service you choose at the time of booking.

Kiwi.com basically offers three types of services:

• Basic Service : Under this service, neither immediate response will be given to your phone calls, nor can you contact Kiwi.com through email.
• Plus Service : With this service, you can contact Kiwi.com through email, and your phone calls will be given medium priority.
• Premium Service : Under premium service, your phone calls will be given high priority, and you can contact Kiwi.com through email.

Kiwi.com basically provides three types of tickets, and each one has its own refund and booking changes rules:

• Saver Ticket : You can neither make changes nor can you get a refund if you cancel your trip.
• Standard Ticket : You can make changes but can’t get a refund if you cancel your trip.
• Flexi Ticket : You can make changes and also will get a 90% refund if you cancel your trip.

Kiwi.com definitely saves you money over direct bookings with the airline, and it works out just fine, as long as everything goes smoothly. But when you’re booked through Kiwi and something goes wrong or any unexpected circumstances happen, Kiwi can make things more complicated to resolve. You’ll most likely be stuck in a lot of back-and-forth between the airline and Kiwi.com before your issue is resolved.

It all seems to be what one would expect from an Internet booking site, an aggregator, as it’s called in the industry. But appearances can be deceiving.

It was last week that I received a message from a family of five who were due to fly back on Wizz Air from Rome after a wonderful holiday traipsing through Italy.

Kiwi had informed them that Wizz Air had canceled its flight, and the woman representing the family asked me to confirm whether this was true. Kiwi told her she could get a €10 refund or credit for a future flight, which she rejected outright. We all know that one of the biggest risks of low-cost carriers is they can cancel a flight with little advance notice.

Surprisingly, I told her Wizz Air was indeed flying that day, and there was no reason to believe the flight would be canceled. I told her to bring her family to the airport directly to Wizz Air, and that in the worst-case scenario there would be an El Al flight that evening if she had to buy five new tickets.

When she got to the Wizz site, the attendant was most accommodating and confirmed what I had advised her, that the flight was operating as scheduled and was in fact not canceled.

Nonplussed, she asked him to dig deeper, and upon inspection, he notified her that Kiwi had canceled all five tickets and refunded the money. The Wizz Air ground attendant’s reaction was quite serene, and he was not at all surprised that it had occurred.

Together, they contacted Kiwi, which at first reiterated that she had canceled the flights, but upon further review owned up to its mistake. Even more bizarre, the phone number, email, and physical address that Kiwi provided to Wizz Air were all fake. Not erroneous, but outright nonexistent. Wizz Air tried to accommodate her, even offering them seats on the next day’s flights or a partial refund, but the client realized that throwing good money after bad money was absurd and purchased five new one-way El Al tickets.

My client was quite savvy, and, with some assistance from my office, received all the documentation necessary to get a full refund. She knows that as Kiwi.com has no physical representation in Israel, she cannot sue it for restitution in small claims court, but followed assiduously every obstacle they threw at her to get a full refund of what she had paid to Kiwi. Not, of course, the difference for the new ticket, nor, of course, the compensation due for the delay in flying back to Tel Aviv, nor for any mental anguish, but still she learned a valuable lesson.

SOME AIRLINES have taken Kiwi’s cavalier attitude into consideration and gone to the courts.

On 14 January 2021, Southwest Airlines sued Kiwi.com, alleging that its scraping of fare information from Southwest’s website was a breach of contract and that Kiwi.com’s use of Southwest’s logo in its search results constituted trademark infringement.

In response, Kiwi.com removed Southwest’s logo from its search results, but continued to sell Southwest tickets despite Southwest sending Kiwi.com a series of cease-and-desist demands.

In December 2021, a Texas court ruled in favor of Southwest, permanently banning Kiwi.com from scraping and harvesting information from Southwest’s website, republishing the airline’s schedules, and selling Southwest tickets without permission.

On SiteJabber, Kiwi.com has a rating of 1.08 stars from 1,882 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Kiwi.com most frequently mention customer service, credit card, and full refund problems. Kiwi.com ranks 258th among plane ticket sites. Mirana gives an almost identical report from last June.

From another site reviewing Kiwi.com:

“I don’t generally [leave], in fact have never left, bad reviews, but just as a warning:

“I think Kiwi is safe and legit, so roll the dice if you want, but the only thing they did well was leave a lot of time between flights, cuz you’re going to need it to sort things out on your own and deal with delays.

“Paid for checked bag, second airline didn’t honor. Baggage requirements for two airlines were totally different. We only had info for the first flight; that was problematic. Couldn’t check bags all the way through. Also, wasn’t well informed of changes to flights.”

The Better Business Bureau in the United States has a litany of complaints about Kiwi.com just in the last month.

Tiffany’s review was nearly identical to what my client encountered. She asserted the company is a complete scam. She, too, bought her flights through its website. She, too, got a notification through its app that the flight had been canceled. She, too, was told her only options were to spend hundreds more dollars, over twice what she had paid, or she could seek a refund.

But that was not true. I could see that according to her airline, the flight was not canceled. In fact, I could still purchase tickets to that flight online!

After hours of arguing and talking between Kiwi.com and the airline, it came to be understood that the airline had not canceled the flight but had canceled the booking made through Kiwi.com. Kiwi.com refused to allow me to speak to a manager, and it refused to give me a way to submit a complaint. I ended up having to get a refund through my bank and had to repurchase tickets directly from the airline, and for a higher price.

If it happens once, we’ll call it a mistake. A second occurrence, we call it a coincidence. A third incident, and it is obvious that this is a pattern repeated over and over again. See this site to read claim after claim of fraudulent behavior: Kiwi.com, Inc. | Reviews | Better Business Bureau® Profile (bbb.org)

My client was fortunate; her instinct that something was rotten was immediately raised, and she had the wherewithal to reach out to someone inside the industry. She will prevail in getting compensated for what she paid it. Hopefully, her story and others’ will get the authorities in other countries to act against it. Lawsuits against airlines or Internet sites are not rare and in themselves are not indicative of illegal activities.

Kiwi.com is a different kettle of fish, and something doesn’t smell right. Airline scams are easier to detect. Never give money until you see a confirmation number. Anything else could just be a reservation, and that is not a confirmed ticket. Book directly from the airline’s website or a trusted travel agency. You may not get the lowest fare, but you will be getting a legitimate ticket. Read reviews; service matters; and if you have to pay more for that, then make the decision to do so. If you’re worried about a ticket, talk directly to the airline’s customer service department.

Check official resources: The Better Business Bureau in the United States is a great place to start. The agency lists real companies; if you can’t find the one you’re working with, walk away.

Online reviews and ratings: Read online reviews and ratings on sites like TripAdvisor, Yelp, or Google. Keep in mind that extremely positive and negative reviews could be bogus. Watch for a balance of reviews and consistent themes.

Bottom line, if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.

The writer is the CEO of Ziontours, Jerusalem, and a director at Diesenhaus. For questions and comments email him at [email protected] •