best websites for booking travel

17 Best Travel Sites for Hotels, Flights, Tours and Car Rentals

Booking.com tops our list for the best travel booking websites, but there are a few others we recommend for specific purposes.

With so many travel booking websites on the market today, finding the best deals for your travels can be tedious. Thankfully, there are several top travel websites you can use when booking flights, hotels and tours.

From flight aggregators to hostel and hotel booking sites, the websites in this list will make planning and booking your travels a little easier. Whether you’re trying to score cheap flights or find the best tour on the other side of the world, these are the best travel sites for making it happen.

I realize all of this information can be a little overwhelming. Every online travel site out there seems to do something different, and sifting through hundreds of search results to find something you like is time consuming. The offers are endless, but the ideal booking site doesn’t overwhelm its users with options or questionable services.

I have personally used every single company on this list for booking travel , and most play a crucial role in allowing me to adventure around the world. These are the best travel booking sites for helping you plan the ultimate trip.

• Best to Find Cheap Hotels: Booking.com
• Best Hotel Rewards Program: Hotels.com
• Best Site for Vacation Rentals: Vrbo
• Best Booking Site for Hostels: Hostelworld
• Best Booking Site for Hotels in Asia: Agoda

Best Hotel Search Engines & Booking Sites

Finding the right accommodation is one of the most important decisions to make while traveling. Location, amenities, and cost are all factors to consider when looking for the right hotel or hostel for your adventure.

And while there are dozens of hotel booking websites to choose from, finding the right place doesn’t have to be complicated.

Here are the best sites I’ve used for fining hotel deals:

Booking.com : Best to Find Cheap Hotels

Booking.com has, by far, the largest number of hotel search results. With over 5.7 million listings in 227 countries, they’re the first place you should look to find hotels online. In addition to hotels, Booking.com also has hostels, guesthouses, apartments, vacation rentals, and all-inclusive resorts available.

With Booking.com, the advertised price is the final price you pay. Other travel websites may have hidden taxes and fees that aren’t explicitly stated, so you’ll end up paying more than you thought at the reservation desk. But with Booking.com, there are no unexpected fees or hidden resort charges. This makes budgeting and trip planning much easier.

All reservations come with a price match guarantee. That means Booking.com will refund the difference if you find a lower price for your hotel on another website after you book. This best price guarantee is an unbelievable perk that could save you a lot of money in the long run.

And once you make your second booking, you’ll automatically become a Booking.com Genius, which rewards you with member-only discounts and offers (even freebies). It’s like accessing a whole world of insider information without actually having to sign up for anything. Genius members receive 10% to 15% off rates, free breakfast, and free room upgrades.

Plus, Booking.com also lets you search for and book your flight, rental car, and attractions, so you can just put in your travel dates and create full vacation packages from one site!

Hotels.com : Best Hotel Rewards Program

Although they aren’t as big as Booking.com, Hotels.com is still a great option when looking for the best deals on hotels. They have over 300,000 hotels in over 19,000 locations around the world. Besides traditional hotel rooms, they also have apartments, cottages, hostels, motels and all-inclusive resorts.

Like other travel sites, Hotels.com lets you filter the search results by date, price, and amenities. You can also sort by distance to find hotels close to certain attractions or neighborhoods. Plus, look at hotel reviews by real, verified users.

Despite the name, Hotels.com lets you search and reserve more than just hotels. They also have a wide range of vacation rentals available including chalets, condos, and full houses.

One of the main reasons for booking with Hotels.com is to take advantage of their unique rewards program. Once you sign up and book 10 nights, you’ll get to stay one night for free. Your free night can be redeemed at one of their 200,000+ properties in popular destinations around the globe without restrictions or blackout dates. Hotels.com also shares a rewards program with Expedia and Vrbo, so you’ll be able to take advantage of savings with any of these sites.

Hotels.com reward members or app users can also unlock secret deals on accommodation. These are specially negotiated discounts that will save you even more money for certain hotel or accommodation listings.

App users can also find last-minute deals using the “Deal for Tonight” feature. You’ll find huge discounts (up to 40%) when looking for a room with same-day check-in.

Vrbo : Best Site for Vacation Rentals

If you want the comforts of home while you’re halfway around the globe, then Vrbo is an excellent alternative to traditional hotel booking websites. Vrbo is a search engine that lists thousands of homes, vacation rentals, apartments, and condos for anyone who wants to experience a country while living like a local, whether staying in the city center or out in the woods.

Ideal for couples, families, or those needing a bit more privacy, Vrbo lets you relax without the hassle of dealing with a host or other travelers. They also tend to list more luxury vacation rentals that have a much higher standard compared to other rental sites.

For this reason, the vacation rentals on Vrbo might cost more than your average hotel from other travel sites. However, you’ll get much nicer accommodations.

Vrbo also has great customer service. All guests are protected by their Book with Confidence Guarantee, which comes with a 24/7 hotline, payment protection, and even last-minute cancellation coverage. So if your host cancels your booking before you arrive, the Vrbo team will try and find another place for you to stay. You can also buy travel insurance so you get a full refund in case you have to cancel.

In addition, Vrbo has a rewards program called One Key that lets you earn rewards on every dollar you spend on travel. This loyalty program is shared across Vrbo, Expedia, and Hotels.com, so you’ll be able to get package deals no matter how you travel.

Hostelworld : Best Booking Site for Hostels

Hostelworld is the top travel site for researching and booking hostels all over the world. They operate in over 178 countries and have a database of seemingly every hostel in existence.

When looking for a hostel, you’ll find accurate ratings and hotel reviews from real users on this booking site. The review score considers information about security, facilities, services, atmosphere and overall value for your money. And they only accept reviews from people who have booked through Hostelworld, so you know the reviews are genuine.

If you want to save money, Hostelworld is an excellent option for those on a tight budget. That’s because most hostels allow you to book a bed in a dorm room, which is far cheaper than booking a private room. But if you want some extra privacy, some hostels have private rooms with (or without) en-suite bathrooms.

You’ll be able to filter hostels by certain amenities, like free breakfast or on-site laundry. You’ll also see a list of different events happening at the hostel during your stay, from pool parties to pub crawls.

However, Hostelworld really shines when it comes to its great customer service. They will refund the price difference if you find your hostel on another site for cheaper. And if you can no longer go on your trip, you have up 24 hours before check-in to cancel without losing your deposit.

Agoda : Best Booking Site for Hotels in Asia

Agoda started out as the top hotel booking site for hotels in Asia, but since has expanded its offerings worldwide. They also have non-traditional accommodation types like homes and hostels. From capsule hotels in Tokyo to private bungalows in Bali, Agoda has over 2 million properties to choose from.

Generally speaking, prices for Agoda hotels are comparable to other travel websites. However, you can save money by booking a hotel through their secret deals program.

With the secret deals program, the identity of the hotel will remain anonymous until you complete your booking. But you’ll be able to see the hotel’s star rating, neighborhood, and amenities before reserving. Some luxury hotels don’t like to advertise their cheap rooms openly, so this is a way to sell rooms at discount prices without making it too public. If you aren’t set on staying at a specific hotel or chain, this program is an excellent option for saving money on accommodation.

By booking on Agoda, you have the opportunity to maximize your earnings with the Agoda PointsMAX program. Once you sign up and link your Agoda account to one of your other mileage programs, you can earn up to 6,000 points per stay. Some of their current partners include American Airlines AAdvantage, United Mileage Plus and KLM/AirFrance Flying Blue.

Couchsurfing : Best for a Free Place to Crash

If all you need is a couch to sleep on, Couchsurfing will help you to find it. Instead of spending the night in a hotel, you’ll be using this booking site to find a couch to sleep on in the home of a friendly host. Trust me — it’s not as awkward as it might seem!

For those needing a bit more privacy, some people also list their private rooms through Couchsurfing. But generally speaking, you’ll usually be staying in the same living quarters as the host.

You’ll also be able to connect with like-minded people from all over the world who want to share their culture and show you the best parts of their city. They’ll tell you about the best local hangouts and restaurants so you can avoid the tourist traps. They might even be interested in joining you for sightseeing in the city or drinks at the local pub. In my experience, hosts are eager to interact with their guests.

When you’re browsing for places to stay, you can search for hosts by gender, age, language, and house preferences. Whether you’re allergic to cats or looking for wheelchair-friendly accommodation, you can easily find the ideal housemate. Remember, you should be looking at the host just as carefully as you look at the apartment itself. Make sure you read the reviews left by other guests. The more reviews, the more confident you’ll feel about staying with that host.

The goal, ultimately, is for you to return the favor whenever you’re at home, thus keeping the Couchsurfing spirit alive around the world. (Trust me, it can be just as fun to host as it is to surf.)

But best of all, unlike pretty much all other travel websites, Couchsurfing is completely free! It’s customary to bring a gift or cook for your host as a token of appreciation for letting you stay in their place, but besides that, you’ll be able to see the world without spending a single penny on accommodation.

• Best Hotel Booking Websites
• Airbnb Alternatives
• Airbnb vs. Vrbo
• Airbnb vs. Hotels

Google Flights

Dollar flight club, going (formerly scott's cheap flights), cheap flight booking websites & search engines.

In the world of online travel, booking a flight is one of the most important initial steps to having a great trip. And unless you’re planning on spending thousands to sip champagne in business class, the cost of your ticket will probably be a significant deciding factor in what you book.

Although you could book directly with the airlines, using online travel agencies (OTAs) allows you to compare pricing to find the best rates for your trip. To help you figure out where to book your next flight, consider one of the flight search engine travel sites in this section.

Keep in mind that these search sites are not booking sites . They simply compare rates for flights and redirect you to other sites to complete your purchase. You’ll get tons of results, but it’s up to you to sort through them. You should also take the time to use more than one website to compare pricing. Results may vary!

If they send you to a small website you’ve never heard of, do your research to make sure the company is dependable (although these OTAs don’t tend to deal with shady booking websites—a big reason these are the ones I recommend). It’s important to look at the fine print, as some companies might have their own cancellation fees or change fees in addition to the fees set by the airlines.

It seems that you can find anything you want from Google. There’s Google Maps, Google Scholar, Google News, Google Earth, and now Google Flights.

Google Flights is always the first search engine I turn to when I’m looking for the best flight deals. They scan through all available flight options for both major airlines and online travel agencies and then sort through the results to show you the best possible option for your trip. Like Google Maps, or anything else from Google, they’ve really mastered the art of searching, and this is one of the best sites to find deals.

The calendar view makes it easy to pick dates with the best price. And if you haven’t locked down your travel dates, you can check for flights with their flexible date tool. For example, you can search for the cheapest flights in January or even a one-week trip in the next six months.

You can also use the Date Grid in Google Flights to see the cheapest flight combinations for different departure and return dates. Or, check the Price Graph to compare how the prices are likely to change over the next few months. This is a great tool for identifying significant price drops for your desired route.

Many times you’ll want to search for a specific airport, but if you’re also flexible with your destination, you can search for flights by continent or country. This flexible search is an excellent option if you’re looking for a last-minute weekend getaway without a set destination in mind.

And unlike other travel websites, Google Flights will make sure you’re getting the best rates by offering money-saving recommendations. They’ll let you know that by flying in two days later — or to a different airport nearby — you could save even more money.

Whether you’re booking an RTW adventure, a weekend getaway to New York or simply browsing for inspiration for your next trip, start with Google Flights. And if you’ve got the time to really learn how to use Google Flights , I highly suggest it. Knowing how to squeeze the most out of this incredible tool is a skill well worth having.

Skyscanner is a great travel site for cheap airline tickets, and it’s always my second stop after Google Flights. They search through over 1,200 different airline companies and smaller OTA sites to compare the best offers for your travels.

You can also use their “Everywhere” search engine to look up the cheapest flight going anywhere in the world. The results show the average price for a country, so you’ll need to narrow down the search by destination city to see the exact price for a specific airport. However, you’ll get a better idea of which countries tend to have cheaper flights.

It’s also easy to filter for nonstop flights, included luggage, nearby airports, departure/arrival time, and more so you can find deals on the exact flights you’re looking for.

I recommend downloading the Skyscanner app. Not only can you search and book flights through the app, but you can also use the “Explore” feature to find destinations for solo travel, quick getaways or last minute trips (which is especially handy if you’re traveling open-ended).

One last bonus: Skyscanner also lets you search for deals on hotels, vacation rentals, rental cars, and even complete vacation packages. This travel site has it all.

Momondo is another flight search engine that should be on your radar. This company scans through thousands of airline companies and OTAs to display rates for both domestic and international flights. And unlike other sites, Momondo shows prices for many of the smaller OTAs overlooked by Google Flights and Skyscanner.

I also use Momondo to find out when the best time to fly is. I particularly love their matrix that highlights an entire month, meaning you can compare prices to find the lowest price possible.

On the search results page, Momondo offers bar charts that show prices for different departure and return dates. You can use this feature to spot any significant price drops for flights if your dates are flexible. Play around with these features — it takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, you can score some fantastic travel deals.

You can also look at the “Flight Insights” page to see price trends and analytics for your exact route. This page uses historical search data to show you the cheapest month, day, and even time of day to book. It will tell you the cheapest airlines that serve your route, along with how far in advance you should be booking to save the most money.

In addition, you can consult the “Price Forecast” feature to see if prices are expected to increase or decrease in the near future. If so, you can set a price alert to notify you if the cost of your flight drops.

Finding inexpensive flights can be time-consuming, but Dollar Flight Club simplifies the process by sending exclusive deals straight to your inbox. Most of their offers are 60-90% off the list price, with savings averaging around $500 .

Dollar Flight Club uses technology and historical data to find cost-saving deals. Although you can’t search for specific dates or destinations, you will still find great domestic and international deals if you’re flexible with your plans.

When you sign up for the free version of Dollar Flight Club, you’ll get one email a day for your selected departure region. Or, you can upgrade to premium to get four times as many deals for multiple departure airports. Premium members also receive instant SMS alerts as well as deals for cheap domestic flights over the weekend. Signing up for Premium Plus will give you access to their rewards program with more deals and offers for tickets for business and first-class flights.

Going was formerly known as Scott’s Cheap Flights, and it is another one of my favorite travel sites for finding affordable flights. Like Dollar Flight Club, they send emails for flight deals on domestic and international airline tickets. Most deals are 40-90% off the original price!

But instead of using an algorithm to find great deals, members of the Going team search all of the fares by hand to find deals. This goes a step above others to make this one of the best travel sites out there.

When you sign up for the free version, you’ll receive 15-20 selected deals per month. Even though you’ll select a specific airport as your preferred point of departure, it includes deals from an array of different cities. If you only want to see deals from your specific city, then you’ll want to upgrade to the premium version. Not only does the premium membership include an extra 30-35 deals per month, but it also includes error fare flights and offers for summer and holiday travel.

While Scott’s Cheap Flights has rebranded and changed the name, it’s still an awesome place to find flights for your vacation package.

• How to Find Cheap Flights
• Cheap Flight Hacks
• How to Use Google Flights
• 11 Genius Hacks to Take the Stress Out of Flying
• How I Booked an $8,967 First Class Airplane Ticket for $5.60

GetYourGuide

G adventures, intrepid travel, recommended tour companies.

Sometimes, we all need a little bit of adventure to keep us on our toes while we’re on the road.

Maybe you’re a solo traveler interested in joining a group backpacking experience through Asia. Perhaps you want an action-packed itinerary full of hiking, diving, and bungee-jumping (just make sure you have travel insurance that covers those adventure activities). Or maybe you simply want an agency to take the stress out of planning by giving you a list of all the top places you must visit. Whatever your reason, here are the best travel sites for tours and fully guided vacation packages.

GetYourGuide is a search engine with a massive database of tours and attractions in over 7,000 destinations around the globe. I’m talking more than 40,000 activities like street food tours, skiing and snowboarding trips, skip-the-line museum passes, and boat excursions. You name it, GetYourGuide has it, and their one of the best sites for finding and reserving travel activities.

If you’re visiting a new city for the first time, GetYourGuide also takes the hassle out of planning the perfect itinerary. You can reserve your spot on a tour or purchase your tickets for an event directly through their website or mobile app.

Best of all, all tours come with detailed reviews full of handy insider information, so you can hear first-hand from past clients if the activity is worth it. Not to mention, most of the offers are more affordable than if you were to book directly at the attraction itself.

It’s not the best place for all-inclusive vacation packages, but when it comes to travel sites for tours, GetYourGuide tours are a great way to soak in the culture of a city. From wine tasting to helicopter rides to snorkeling, you’ll be able to get the lowest price (guaranteed) by booking on GetYourGuide.

If group tours are more up your alley, then G Adventures is one of the best sites for you. Whether you’re traveling Europe by train, cruising through the Galapagos, or cycling through the countryside in China, there’s a tour for almost every traveler.

These aren’t your run-of-the-mill group tours. G Adventures are small groups (averaging 10 travelers) that all share a common desire to explore the world. When you look online, you’ll see tours organized by travel style. You’ll be able to book vacation packages specifically catered to 18 to 30-year-olds, tours focusing on health and wellness, and even active tours for adventure lovers.

Solo travelers are also welcome to join a tour with G Adventures. Whether you’re looking for full vacation packages or short day trips, you can expect to meet some awesome people along the way.

They’ve also partnered with National Geographic to create immersive tour experiences. Whether you’re learning how to tango in Argentina or cooking authentic meals with a local Thai family, these tours will give you a deeper appreciation for your destination’s history and culture.

Intrepid Travel is like G Adventures in many ways — they offer small-group tours for adventurous travelers in more than 100 countries. Tours are divided into themes, like adventure cruising, cycling, and culinary. And if you’re interested in meeting other like-minded travelers, they have also organized trips specifically for people between the ages of 18-30.

But Intrepid sometimes goes to places where G Adventures does not, and vice versa. Intrepid also has tons of amazing deals available year-round. Many trips are discounted up to 50% and some tours can be reserved with just a $1 deposit. And if you’re eager to leave ASAP, then you can browse a variety of last-minute deals.

They’ve also partnered with Lonely Planet to create unique, niche experiences. With hundreds of single or multi-day vacation packages, you’ll be able to get off the beaten path to see the world through the eyes of a local.

But the biggest perk of traveling with Intrepid Travel comes down to the group leaders and small group sizes. You won’t feel like you’re just getting carted around because every tour is led by a local guide, meaning you get a more authentic experience.

One important note, for many trips, Intrepid requires you to have travel insurance . That’s a good idea anyway though.

Rentalcars.com

Best rental car sites.

For many trips, you’ll need to rent a car to get around once your flight arrives. Finding rental cars can be frustrating and expensive.

Fortunately, by using one of these car rental sites , you can find the best prices and reserve your vehicle ahead of time, so there’s no stress at pickup. These travel websites let you search through many car rental providers, compare pricing, and make a reservation. Here are the best travel sites for finding rental cars:

It’s all in the name here. Rentalcars.com is owned by the same company as the hotel site, Booking.com . It is a search site that lets you find car rentals and easily book them online.

Rentalcars.com has a great streamlined process for searching, filtering, and paying for your rental car. With just a few clicks you can find the best deal and have your car reserved. Plus, listings on Rentalcars.com typically have free cancellation when you book through their site. That’s a big win in my book because I hate stressing about what will happen if my flight is delayed or if I have to cancel my trip.

Rentalcars.com typically has great discounts available. In my experience, I’ve often been able to find the best prices compared to other rental car websites.

They also offer insurance directly though their site, though you may not need it if your travel insurance already covers rental cars.

Ultimately, one of the main things I look for in rental cars is the lowest price possible. Would I like to drive a BMW around on vacation? Sure. But typically I’m saving pennies for a trip and don’t want to spend them all on car rentals.

Priceline is one of the best travel websites to find low-price car rentals. They will often offer “Express Deals” which give you a much lower price than you’d get going directly through a car rental agency.

How do they do it? Priceline was the first travel site to offer “opaque rentals.” While that sounds complicated, it just means that you don’t know what car you’ll get until you pick it up. As long as you aren’t picky, this is a fantastic way to save cash on car rentals.

As a bonus, you can get package deals if you use Priceline to reserve flights, hotels, or even trips with a cruise line. They also have a loyalty program that can help you save on travel over time. For many travelers, this could be a one-stop shop for the ideal vacation package.

Unlike the other travel websites on this list, Kayak doesn’t let you reserve rental cars directly through their website. Instead, Kayak is just a big search site that filters through dozens (or maybe hundreds?) of other rental companies, travel websites, online travel agencies, and other related resources. You put in your travel dates, and Kayak gives you a list of options offering competitive prices. They then give you a link to book your car through the site or company that’s offering the deal.

The benefit of Kayak is that, because it is searching so many different travel websites, you can find great deals that other websites may not show.

If you want help with your entire trip planning process, Kayak also lets you search for flight deals, hotel deals, and even complete vacation packages.

Travel Booking Websites FAQs

What is the best travel site to book through.

Booking.com is the best (and largest) travel booking site.

Is it cheaper to book through a travel agent or online?

Booking online will almost always be cheaper than using a travel agent.

How do I get the best travel deals?

You can get great travel deals by comparing across multiple travel booking sites.

What is the best rental car site?

Rentalcars.com is our top pick for the best rental car website.

What is the best site for cheap flights?

Google Flights is always a good starting point when searching for cheap flights.

Jeremy Scott Foster

I’m curious why Airbnb is not listed, are they not a good option?

Given their high (and increasing) fees, lack of consistency and poor customer service, the TravelFreak editorial team can’t, in good faith, recommend booking with Airbnb. We do consider them to be a viable option, but can’t stand behind them as a company nor recommend them to readers.

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6 Best Websites for Booking Cheap Flights

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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.

60,000 Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1.5%-6.5% Enjoy 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel; 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 3% on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year). After your first year or $20,000 spent, 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.

$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.

We compared 7 travel-booking sites to show you what each is best at

When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships so we may get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

Planning a vacation or trip is undoubtedly stressful. You're bombarded with seemingly endless options for flights, lodging, and things to do, and it can be difficult to figure out where to start. Many travel aggregators strive to present you with the best deals, but they all end up looking very similar to each other.

These similarities make it easy to know what to do and expect when you first visit a site. Typically, you enter your destinations, dates, and number of travelers. After you click search, you can further filter based on price range, airlines, and departure times for flights; amenities, hotel stars, and location for hotels; and type of car and rental car company for cars. 

So what makes one site better than another?

It all depends on your priorities and preferences. Everyone travels and plans for that travel differently. Here are seven travel sites and the factors you should consider when choosing a site. 

Booking.com

Booking.com is a huge bank of information, offering more than 1 million properties in 117,000 destinations in 225 countries and territories. Wherever you'd like to go, you'll find it through this site. It offers booking for flights,  hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars.  Clicking  restaurants will take you to OpenTable. 

Highlights:

I found their desktop homepage to be cluttered and a lot to look at compared to the homepages of other sites, but their app experience was noticeably simpler, which makes sense as travelers increasingly turn mobile. 

One feature on the homepage that stood out to me (shown above) was the "Are you traveling for work?" option. Clicking "Yes" will present popular business travel options like WiFi and breakfast.

Another feature was its flexible date suggestions if your chosen destination is a popular choice and accommodations are more than 50% reserved during your selected dates.

Best for: 

• Wide variety of options, including hostels, homestays, and bed and breakfasts
• Easy access to your plans and searches by syncing your account across your devices 
• Getting the best deals with their Price Match offer 
• Destination travel guides and articles 

Lacking or not the best for:

• Bundling hotel, flight, and car packages

Book a trip with Booking.com

Expedia offers booking for  flights, hotels, vacation rentals, rental cars, cruises, and things to do. 

You can bundle flight, hotel, and car deals so you don't have to go through the headache of looking separately and trying to coordinate all the deals. 

The "My Trips" section is helpful for managing your entire itinerary in one place, so you don't have to search through endless emails and accounts to figure out your vacation plan. 

If you sign up as a member, you can earn Expedia+ points to use toward future trips. Use the mobile app to earn 2x Expedia+ points. 

Like Booking.com, Expedia also offers suggestions for date shifts, date extensions, and route changes to get you to the cheapest deal. 

• Hotel, flight, and car bundles 
• Coordinating your whole vacation itinerary 
• Reward points system
• Single bookings. The site is best utilized for its bundle packaging.

Book a trip with Expedia

Tripadvisor.

TripAdvisor offers booking for flights,  hotels, vacation rentals, restaurants, and things to do.

It's well-known for its user-generated reviews, so as you're booking, you get the added benefit of reading reviews all in the same place. While I'm partial to Yelp for food recommendations and believe it to be better for US destinations, TripAdvisor is much more widely used in the international community. 

TripAdvisor is the most experience-driven travel site. You are not just booking somewhere to live — you're signing up to experience and explore a destination. 

• Detailed filtering (e.g. style for hotels and distinctive features for vacation rentals) 
• Comparing deals across aggregators 
• Strong user-generated review community 
• Bundling hotel, flight, and car packages 

Book a trip with TripAdvisor  

CheapOair offers booking for  flights, hotels, and rental cars.  Clicking on its cruises  tab takes you to another site, Cheap Cruises.  

The "Travel by Interest" section offers special deals for senior , military , student , and last minute travel . The military and student discounts emphasize keeping costs low, while the senior discount focuses on senior friendly destinations at an affordable price. 

Whether you're coordinating a reunion, wedding, or corporate event, a Group Travel Request is a good option. You can work with an agent on your travel needs. 

• Specific travelers like senior citizens, military, students, and large groups
• Higher than usual service fees (e.g. $32 per night per room for hotel bookings)

Book a trip with CheapOair

Hotwire offers booking for  flights, hotels, and rental cars.

Hotwire gives you all the filters and options you need but maintains the balance of not giving you too much. It keeps its sections simple, so you don't need to worry about something you may be missing out on. 

Thanks to partnerships with other travel sites like Hotels.com and Expedia, Hotwire can offer extremely low prices. There is also a free 24-hour cancellation policy on most flights. 

• Focused searchers who do not want to be distracted or overwhelmed by too many options, things to do, and city guides. Destination guides and inspiration can be found on a separate blog page. 
• Travelers on a budget
• Travelers with very specific preferences like hotel brand or car brand

Book a trip with Hotwire

Travelocity.

Travelocity offers booking for  flights, hotels, vacation rentals, rental cars, cruises and things to do.  And no, you're not seeing double. Expedia owns Travelocity, which may explain why the two homepages look almost exactly the same. 

From what we can tell, the most noticeable difference is Travelocity's Roaming Gnome, which represents the inspiration and wanderlust of traveling. The "Inspiration" section contains interesting articles like "Best Foodie Finds in Airports Around the World" and themes like "Luxury" or "Romantic." Expedia's travel blog, on the other hand, is relegated to an easy-to-miss link near the bottom of the page. 

• All the benefits of Expedia but with a more exploratory inspiration angle 
•  Single bookings. The site is best utilized for its bundle packaging.

Book a trip with Travelocity

Priceline offers booking for  flights, hotels, rental cars, and cruises.  

The " Express Deals " option rewards flexible travelers with up to 60% savings on hotels. The site will give you the location and star rating, but not the name of the hotel. You can still choose the bed type for many of the options. 

Another way to save is the Name Your Own Price feature where you input the location, star rating, and price bid for a hotel. 

For car rentals, you can also Name Your Own Price and bid for a car. If you don't have big preferences on the car brand, you'll be able to find a car for a price less than the search listings give you. For example, I was able to get an economy car with unlimited mileage for $30 a day, while the general search yielded cars that were all at least $37 a day. 

The cruise section is clear and easy to navigate. The search option is similar to searching for flights, with more dropdown selections than other sites. This feature is ideal for travelers who know exactly what they want for their cruise experience, and are not merely shopping around. 

• Travelers with low hotel and car brand loyalty who want to find a great deal
• Having a more focused cruise search process 
• Travel inspiration or destination guides
• Low risk takers who like to know exactly what they're getting

Book a trip with Priceline

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Save up to 30% when you add a hotel to your flight as a One Key member

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Tips on booking cheap flights.

Looking for the best time to buy airline tickets to get a cheap flight to everywhere? We’ve got you covered anytime, anywhere. Here’s how to find the best deal for flight booking no matter where you want to go in the world.

Which day of the week is the best day to buy cheap airline tickets?

For both U.S. domestic and international travel, Sundays can be cheaper for airline ticket purchases. Fridays tend to be the most expensive day to book a flight. Booking on the right day of the week could save you up to 6% on your airfare, according to historical data*.

When is the best time to buy airline tickets?

Based on 2020 And 2021 global flight data for Economy tickets, prices usually start to increase 56 days before departure for domestic flights. When traveling internationally, prices usually start to increase 21 days before departure*. Keep in mind that this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule; keeping an eye on prices is a good idea when trying to find the best airfare deals. Compare fares across different airlines, and set up a price alert for your preferred route.

Which are the cheapest days to fly?

Analysis of domestic and international airfare prices shows that flying out on Fridays can be cheaper. Many travelers start their trips on Sundays, so your chances of a lower price are better when departing early in the week instead. Starting your trip on a Friday could be almost 11% cheaper than air travel on Sundays, so book flights online wisely*!

Which is the cheapest month to fly?

The cheapest month to fly can vary depending on where you’re going, so finding the best rates largely comes down to avoiding peak travel times for your destination. If you’re looking for cheap international flights , the most expensive month tends to be February, while the cheapest is November with cheap flights in November offering potential savings of up to 34.6% relative to February. Cheap domestic flights work a bit differently, with March being the most expensive and August being the least expensive with cheap flights in August offering savings of up to 35%*.

How can I find the cheapest flights on Expedia?

Compare cheap airline ticket prices at a glance from a large inventory of carriers on Expedia. You can get cheap flights by staying flexible with travel dates, carriers, and nonstop/layover flights to get the best price. Insider tip: Become a member (it’s free!) to earn rewards back on every booking. We make your travel stress-free and source incredible airfare deals so you can sit back, relax, and start your vacation or business trip.

How can I save money on flights?

Mixing and matching airline tickets and fare types could help save money on airfare to your destination. Easily compare prices for carriers, arrival and departure dates, airplane cabin class, and more when you book with Expedia. Booking your plane ticket on a Sunday, and departing on Friday, could possibly save you money* based on historical data. You can also filter for flights based on your budget, such as looking for cheap flights under $200 specifically.

How can I get cheap last-minute flight deals?

The historical data analysis of flight pricing patterns shows that you can still find amazing airfare deals 3 weeks prior to departure* when traveling domestically. International last-minute flights offer great deals 2 weeks prior to departure if you’re flying premium, but economy travelers may want to strive for no less than 4 weeks out*. Try to stay flexible with travel dates, airports, and nonstop/layover flights to find the cheapest flights on Expedia. Whether you’re planning a quick business trip or a spontaneous holiday with friends, you’ll have your choice of last-minute flights, roundtrip, or multicity flights on Expedia. You’ll find everything you need for your travels all in one place — and all at the right price.

How do I book with Expedia?

Booking your flight with Expedia is easy, as all you have to do is implement your travel dates, departure destination, like flights from Atlanta or flights from Hartsfield-Jackson , and arrival destination into the search. Then, all the available flights for those dates and destinations will appear. You can use search filters to narrow down the results as well based on a variety of factors like the airline, number of stops, departure time, and policies like seat choice and refundable bookings. Additionally, travelers may alter their search for round-trip flights, one-way flights, and multicity flights.

What should I look out for when booking flights?

Several factors go into any flight booking, and you’ll need to keep an eye out for them all to ensure that you get the travel time, luggage policy, airline, and class you want. Consider which airport is closest to your ultimate destination (travelers to Los Angeles may prefer flights to LAX over flights to PSP , and make sure that the flight will accommodate all the luggage you plan on bringing. Additionally, consider the different flight classes including economy flights for functionality and premium flights if you want to enjoy a more relaxing experience.

Where’s the cheapest place to travel?

The cheapest place to travel can be in the same country, like Chicago. Flights to Chicago are fairly affordable no matter where you’re coming from in the continental United States. Flights to Las Vegas tend to be pretty affordable as well. While the Vegas airport isn’t a hub for any major airline, it does have plenty of competition to keep prices relatively low.

Where can I fly for cheap?

Staying within a strict budget still allows you to find plenty of cheap flights, even to destinations like Puerto Rico. In fact, flights to Puerto Rico don’t even require U.S. citizens to have a passport. Flights to Alberta and other destinations in Canada can be fairly affordable as well.

Is it cheaper to buy flights last minute?

Flight tickets can be cheaper at the last minute depending on how late you’re actually booking, where you’re going, and the kind of flight you opt for. For domestic flights with Economy tickets, prices usually start to increase 3 weeks before departure, and 4 weeks for international flights, according to historical data*.

Are fully refundable flights available?

Yes, several fully refundable flights are available and will be labeled as such right on your search results page in green text. You may also filter for fully refundable flights specifically to eliminate all flights from your results that don’t qualify. Just make sure to check the specific policy for each flight before booking.

Why should I book my flight with Expedia?

Booking with Expedia makes finding a flight easy, but that’s just the beginning of everything you can take advantage of. We also offer hotels, car rentals, and even activities that you can purchase with package deals available for travelers planning more than one aspect of their trip at a time. Plus, Expedia offers stunning cheap flight deals that can help you save with ease. As a One Key member, you will earn OneKeyCashTM for every eligible booking that you can use to save on future bookings. Plus, OneKeyCash can be earned on top of airline miles.

*Data specialists from both ARC and Expedia Group analyzed ARC’s global flight data to distil actionable information to help people save money on travel. While it’s impossible to guarantee when to find the lowest prices, after examining the variables, we were able to observe trends. Best day of the week to book and best day of the week to depart is based on average round-trip ticket prices for January through August for 2021, sourced from ARC’s global airline sales database. Best month to depart recommendation is based on average round-trip ticket prices for January through December for 2020, sourced from ARC's global airline sales database. Best time to book recommendation is based on average round-trip ticket prices for January through August for 2021 & average round-trip ticket prices for January through December for 2020, sourced from ARC's global airline sales database. OneKeyCash is not redeemable for cash and can only be used on Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo.

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Domestic flights

• Flights to Las Vegas
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International flights

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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.

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more .

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.

Catherine Falls Commercial / Getty Images

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Saving Money on Your Summer Vacation

The 50 Best Travel Websites and Travel Resources 2024

March 28, 2024

Here’s my collection of the top 50 travel websites and travel resources for all stages of dreaming, planning, booking and remembering your trip based on decades of professional travel. 

The Best Travel Resources for Booking and Planning Your Trip 2024

As a regular contributor to  The Independent’s 50 Best Travel Websites feature , I know my way around travel websites. As a frequent traveller myself, I practically live on the things.

From dreaming about a trip, planning a trip, writing up a trip and reviewing trips for work, these are the travel resources, online booking sites, search engines and route planners I use to help me get the job done. Booking travel without travel agents has never been easier – even if it doesn’t feel like it at times.

So here’s my list of the best travel websites for 2024. It’s the best time to uncover the best places.

If you book or buy through the links on this page, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. However, we only ever recommend things we believe in and use ourselves. We also don’t earn a commission from all of these travel websites. Alas ;-)

The Best Hotel Booking Sites for Special Occasions

To find the best hotels needs a little bit of legwork. If you’re looking for somewhere beautiful to stay with a real travel experience, then try these sites first. If you’re looking for something more practical, jump on down to the next section.

Here are the top travel websites when it comes to boutique hotels:

Design Hotels

Beautiful, stylish and with up to 40% off for members, the chic and sleek Design Hotels website is a firm favourite of mine. Membership is free, quick and easy on the eye.

Best Loved Hotels

Best Loved Hotels gathers together properties from the UK and Ireland that show a real passion for what they do. From countryside manors to city break boltholes, I’ve stayed in several of their properties and have loved each one.

Mr & Mrs Smith

You may be forgiven for thinking this gorgeous collection was all about romance, but beyond finding great places for anniversaries and honeymoons, Mr & Mrs Smith cover great child friendly places too. Not just a website for inspiration, you can book directly on the site.

Small Luxury Hotels

The name says it all. Small Luxury Hotels   collect together independently minded hotels on their website and promise – and deliver – an authentic travel experience.

Leading Hotels of the World

Another website that wears its heart on its sleeve, Leading Hotels of the World gather together more than 375 luxury properties (including resorts) around the world.

MyBoutiqueHotel.com

With a great eye for design, MyBoutiqueHotel.com , as the name suggests, sources boutique hotels from around the world available for direct booking. Properties are combined into an easy on the eye collection, with curated lists for main cities plus the ability to create your own shortlists as you narrow down your choice. Membership is free and the themed lists save hours of research. You’ll find budget and luxury boutique hotel choices and can drill down to those suitable for work, for the kids, for romantic getaways and more.

The Best Hotel Booking Sites for the Best Deals and Specifics

These are the best travel websites for 2024 for booking flight and hotel packages together or for searching for accommodation when you have very specific needs. These online travel agencies let you trawl through thousands of places to stay in the blink of an eye. Plus, several offer exceptional hotel deals for your next adventure.

cozycozy.com

Describing itself as a search engine for accommodation, CozyCozy.com is an exciting newcomer on the hotel booking block. It rounds up offers from hotels, rentals, hostels, treehouses and boats into one easy to use platform. You’ll find the giants, like Booking.com and AirBnB and VRBO, as well as smaller accommodation solutions too. By searching with Cozycozy.com, you can save yourself a lot of time. They won’t cover everything. But they come pretty close.

A few more things to note. They guarantee that the price you see is the price you pay. They have a range of filters that go further than the rest (think searching for a hairdryer or washing machine.) And, my favourite. They have an “unusual” tab that opens up possibilities you may never have known existed. Yurt for one anyone?

Lastminute.com

I’ve grown old with Lastminute.com , originally because I fell in love with the name. But over the years, I still find them useful for last minute city break or resort based holidays (vacation packages if you’re from the US.) They’re an online travel agency with easy to navigate interface and lots of last-minute deals!

Expedia is SO big and all-encompassing that it’s sometimes easy to get lost within the website. But that’s also its strength for when your travel plans don’t fit into the travel sites I’ve mentioned above.

TripAdvisor

The great green travel website can really give you an inside look at a hotel. Yes, some of the reviews are fake but even the bad reviews can be helpful. One person’s “bad review” because there was no nightlife is another’s blissful discovery if they want a quiet, relaxing stay.

Plus, you get the benefit of booking through a trusted source with backup. AND the TripAdvisor community is really helpful if you have specific niggly questions about tourist destinations or are looking for great ideas.

Booking.com

Booking.com offers more search filters for hotels than anything else I’ve come across in the travel industry. When the specifics really matter (rather than the sense of atmosphere or design) then I turn to Booking.com It’s a powerful hotel search engine, with guest houses and self-catering options as well.

Top tips for finding the best travel deals

• Look for off peak options whenever you can.
• Don’t just stick to the big booking websites. Check out the smaller, unique travel websites as well.
• Consider flying from regional airports.
• Have a system! Our handy Travel Toolbox © will help with this.

Finding Great Flight Deals

There is, quite simply, an art to finding a good flight. Not just in terms of cost but also in terms of comfort and connection. It really is a useful life skill to be able to skip the travel agent and find what you want yourself.

With that in mind, check out our guide to the  best flight booking hacks for savvy travellers here.  

Then, get acquainted with the following flight search engines, for both domestic and international flights.

Skyscanner is the travel agent boyfriend or girlfriend with special deals you never had. Skyscanner listens, remembers your birthday, cleans your windscreen and empties the bin even when it isn’t its turn.

Well, OK, it doesn’t do any of that but  it DOES make it very, very easy to look for flights. Instead of forcing you to enter the same details in, or tie you to a date, Skyscanner uses filters and choices that simplify the flight-finding process. You can also search by price and switch currencies between dollars, euros, sterling and more. For both domestic and international travel.

If you have any flexibility in your planning, Skyscanner can let you search through the whole month for the best fare, slide filters for time of day, number of connections, just about anything. The only weak spot is searching for flights with infants, where the system is a little glitchy. Other than that, it’s one of the best airfare sites.

Don’t be put off by the watery name. Kayak is a meta search engine that crawls the web for flights and lets you sift through the results with ease. If you’re committed to finding the cheapest flights, then make sure you check everywhere you can.

Google Flights

Fellow travel professionals swear by Google Flights, although it’s never quite become one of my favourites. The strength of using Google’s software is that it responds quickly to real time changes. Perfect if your flight has just been cancelled because of weather or some other external event and you need to find your way home quickly.

You can even use Siri. “Hey google, give me search results for flights to New York!”

Travel experiences await.

The Best Travel Websites for Driving Holidays

You’re in road trip heaven here. We love road trips and have everything for them. Check out these great resources for planning a road trip.

Your Road Trip Toolkit

• The road trip essentials you need to know about
• The Ultimate Road Trip Planner  with printables and handbook
• 101 fun road trip questions for your next drive
• I nspiring road trip quotes for your instagram caption ideas.

AA Route Planner

This is another travel website that I love for its simplicity. Want to know how to get from A to B? Enter it in the AA Route Planner. It shows you a map and clear journey times in a split second. You can just leave it at that or add in stop off points and adjust for traffic and so on. The only problem is that it only covers driving in Europe.

MapQuest offers fantastic coverage of the United States and is free and easy to use to help plot our road trips.

Google Maps

Google Maps , on the other hand, cover the world. But it’s slightly more fiddly to use. It’s a lifesaver while actually on the road but it’s also useful in planning.

You can save destinations, plot itineraries and tweak public maps for your own trips. And – did you know that you can download maps and directions offline? Indeed, you can. It’s not only an online travel site.

Car Rental Travel Resources

I’ve driven cars all around the world and used all kinds of car rental companies and rental cars. Sometimes needs must but these days, wherever possible, I book through a reputable, international company. Then I look for car rental deals.

Hertz is one of my favourites. It’s so widespread and well-organised. Plus, as an inside tip, if you sign up to their Gold members programme (for free) you can quickly get lots of benefits.

However, for more of a search comparison site, I use Holiday Autos and then open RentalCars.Com in a new tab.

• Don’t forget to download your free copy of our car rental checklist here.

Healthy Tray of Treats Room Service at One Aldwych, Covent Garden

The Best Travel Resources for Health

Centers for disease control and prevention.

Clearly, you should consult your own doctor before you travel. But, the CDC Travel Website is the one my medical friends recommend. So, don’t rely on it entirely. You do need an appointment with a real person. But it’s helpful to get an idea of what vaccinations and medication you are likely to need for certain countries before you decide to book. This applies all the more if your situation has changed due to a recent illness or pregnancy.

The Best Travel Websites for Saving Money

Money saving expert.

Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert website firmly focuses its attention on a UK audience. It provides regularly updated and researched guides on essentials from currency exchange to travel insurance and finding cheap flights.

They also crunch the numbers with credit cards, publishing spreadsheets and tables to help you navigate the world of credit card rewards and the best way to save money.

Travel Insurance

I’d always recommend checking out the guide above before you book. But one of my favourite places to go for travel insurance is Heymondo.

Roaming Costs: Airalo

Unless you have roaming fees included in your usual phone package, remember to switch off mobile data when you travel.

Instead, embrace the brilliance of an eSIM. That means, you switch SIM cards without having to physically pop the plastic cover out of your phone using the back of an earring, hoping you don’t lose it before you head home again.

I’ve tested Airalo all across the world, including North America, Europe and the Middle East. It’s fantastic. So quick. So much money saved.

Train Travel Resources

Db rail planner for train travel in europe.

I love the DB site. It covers almost all of Europe and has an English version online travel website that is so easy to use.

National Rail Journey Planner

National Rail itself may be long gone but as a travel website, the National Rail Journey Planner is the best I’ve found to negotiate the different rail networks of the UK.

Eurail (Formerly InterRail)

Forget the sweaty backpacker image. The Eurail network includes First Class rail travel through glossy transport hubs. You can buy a range of rail passes or simply use their maps, itineraries and suggestions to help you plan your rail trip through Europe.

Heathrow Express

This remains the fastest way to reach the city centre of London from London’s Heathrow Airport, as well as Paddington Station, the gateway to the west, southwest and Wales. Using the Heathrow Express website in advance, you can book tickets for as little as  £5.50. Plus, children 15 and under travel for free.

The Elizabeth Line in London

A sneaky little bit of inside info. To save money on the Heathrow Express, take the slightly slower “normal” train from Paddington to Heathrow instead. Costs a fraction of the price and is generally more comfortable.

If you’re looking to travel through Japan, then you can’t miss their high speed shinkansen trains. They’re part of what Japan is famous for. Buy your Japan Rail pass before you go to get the best deals as a tourist.

The Best Travel Websites for Honeymoons and Anniversaries

While you can build your own honeymoon through the travel resources above, niche travel website 101 Honeymoons takes the hard work out of the equation for you. It filters honeymoons by month, interest and family situation, with trusted input from some of the top travel writers in the trade.

My Favourite Cruise Travel Resources

Everyone has different tastes. I prefer smaller cruises with plenty of cultural and adventurous options and excursions. Look for cruise lines which aim to introduce people to the destination and respect local customs rather than just keep people on the ship.

I would highly recommend Avalon Waterways for cruises in Europe and beyond and Uncruise Adventures for small ship cruising in Alaska.

In 2022, I took my first giant cruise with Princess Cruises – and you can read what that was like here.

The Best Tour Companies

It took me years to believe it but sometimes joining a tour, just for half a day, is a great way of connecting with locals and learning new skills.

These days, it’s easier than ever to find just the tour you need as one of the latest trends has become a permanent fixture. In popular destinations, it’s also useful to use these sites to skip the queues and buy your tickets in advance.

You can search for recommendations on travel blogs (ahem) or head straight to the big search sites.

I’ve tested both of these across the world and would highly recommend them:

• Get Your Guide has great cancellation policies and an easy booking process.
• Viator has a huge collection of local guides, transfers from the airport, cooking classes and more.

The Best UK Travel Websites

Self catered cottages.

For ease of use, the app that comes with Sykes Cottages makes it easy to plan a trip away in snippets of down time in a busy life. Quality Cottages sweeps some gorgeous luxury cottages into view in Wales.

Glampingly remains my favourite site for finding quirky yet comfortable glamping spots in Europe. Want to know why? Check out this collection of the best treehouse holidays in the UK.

With a mix of glamping and alternative places to sleep, C anopy and Stars fills in the gaps.

A special, self-catered foodie twist

To add a sense of luxe to your self-catered holiday, order in a gourmet meal from One Fine Dine. This private jet catering company now packages up incredible meals with full instructions on how to finish them off and plate them up. Adds a lovely sense of occasion to a self-catered trip away.

In Conclusion

And one last note. Are you American and wondering why I’m not talking about dream vacation packages? I am, we just call them holidays in the UK. And car rentals are hire cars. And travel guides are, well, travel guides. I guess some things stay the same after all ;-)

Did you enjoy this collection of the best travel websites and travel resources for 2024? Bookmark this list of travel websites on Pinterest for later.

For more travel tips, check out our travel resources on how to plan your next trip here.

Our Favourite Travel Resources for 2024

• Download your FREE pre-trip checklist
• Download your copy of the Ultimate Travel Packing Checklist

Some of the best travel resources can be those you create yourself. Here are some creative travel journal ideas to get you started. Future you will be grateful!

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The 14 Best Hotel Booking Sites

Megan Johnson

Megan is a Senior Editor, SEO for SmarterTravel Media.

Megan started with SmarterTravel Media’s Airfarewatchdog way back in 2008, moved over to FamilyVacationCritic, and finally SmarterTravel in 2021. Originally from Massachusetts, she has lived in Nova Scotia, London, and New York City. She has spent nearly every summer (or at least part of it) on Prince Edward Island. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, two young children, and their dog, Indiana Bones (Indy).

The Handy Item I Always Pack: Kindle

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: Some sort of wellness retreat somewhere exotic.

Travel Motto: Be flexible

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: Window, if you prefer a middle seat, please message me so I can write an article about you.

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As with the best flight booking sites , there’s no shortage of resources available when you need to book a cheap hotel room. From metasearch engines (aggregator) that send you to company sites, to bookable OTAs (online travel agencies), to corporate hotel sites, the options for the best hotel booking sites can be overwhelming. But when doing your search, deciding which hotel booking sites to compare should depend on how often they offer the best hotel deals, and how you prefer to view and filter search results.

Some of the links featured in this story are affiliate links, and SmarterTravel may collect a commission (at no cost to you) if you shop through them.

The Best Hotel Booking Sites for Comparing Prices

For most travel planning, the best overall strategy is to compare prices from multiple sources including the hotel’s own website, as it will sometimes offer deals not shared with third-party sites, or offer the same rates as third-party sites minus pesky booking fees. Hotels sites will also offer package deals—bundled amenity inclusions and the like—that aren’t shared with third-party sites.

Bottom line: Whether you search with a hotel site on this list or a preferred hotel search engine of your own, always check the hotel’s actual website as well, or call its reservations line, to make sure you really are getting the best hotel deal. Don’t forget to check the cancellation policy as the best hotel booking site is one that has a flexible policy in case your plans change.

If you’re trying to figure out how best to search for cheap hotels: First, scan this quick list of the best hotel search sites, in no particular order. Then, scroll down to read in-depth summaries of each or click to jump to a particular site.

Booking.com

Bookingbuddy, hotelscombined.

• Expedia (which owns Travelocity and Orbitz )

Tripadvisor

Mr. & mrs. smith.

No list of the best hotel booking sites is exhaustive, but these 15 represent a combination of great crowd favorites mixed with some newer, similarly performing hotel search options that you might not know about.

All of them fared well in tests: Prices for the same dates and destinations were fairly consistent from site to site, but the volatility of results may vary based on your destination, how far in advance you’re looking for the best hotel deals, and the time of year you visit (i.e., high season vs. low).

With that in mind, here are the best hotel booking sites to compare prices with for your next trip, plus the best feature of each one.

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• Insofar as keeping your options open goes, Booking.com returns the most eclectic search results by far, with a healthy mix of hotels, motels, b&bs, apartments, and hostels. But whether this is a good or bad thing depends entirely on your preferences. If you’re not a fan of hostels, for example, hotel search results like this mean that you have to filter them out, creating an extra step that other hotel booking sites don’t require. That said, Booking.com offers something for everyone. 
• Its handy hotel search engine displays the total cost up front (except taxes) which is helpful when comparing cheap hotel rates; being able to see the total hotel cost up front helps you quickly determine which hotels actually fit into your budget.
• Its filtering options are extensive, from price, cancellation policy, sustainability, specific neighborhood for that city, fun things to do nearby, amenities, room accessibility and much, much more. With this filter feature, you will be able to find exactly the kind of accommodations you want. 

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• Like its flight search, Kayak ‘s hotel search offers a clean, easy-to-use interface with many available filters.
• Shows other hotel booking sites’ rates so you can compare them all in one place. But the first hotel price result is often higher than better rates farther down the list, unless you specifically filter by price. Kayak’s hotel search results are automatically sorted by the vague factor of what’s “Recommended,” which is true of many hotel booking sites. Often, higher rates populate first while scrolling results, and sometimes that lead price is much higher than other comparable hotel options. Be sure to change sorting to price, so you can find the best deal. 
• It’s search calendar is color coded to show you cheap, average, and high prices, which comes in handy if price is your number one priority when booking a hotel. 
• If you are someone who likes to book by ratings, each hotel page on Kayak has the rating in a large box just underneath the hotel pictures. It’s easy to find, and may help you to make your decision quickly. 

• Priceline has one of the more visually appealing design layouts of the major hotel search engines, and is definitely among the easiest hotel sites to navigate. None of these hotel search sites is dramatically different from the others in terms of rates or price comparison, so usability can go a long way toward improving the experience of searching for the best hotel prices.
• Unsurprisingly, Priceline’s prices are on par with the other online travel agencies (OTAs), and its results are largely focused on downtowns and tourist-friendly areas. A big draw of Priceline is their “Express Deal” option: a flash deal that hides the name of the hotel until after you book. While somewhat gimmicky, this hotel search option can offer significant savings.
• The handy map that is featured on each hotel page, which will show you other hotels in the area and the prices. This is particularly useful if you want to stay in the city center, by a specific landmark, or are visiting friends or family and want to be nearby where they live. 

Editor’s note: BookingBuddy is owned by SmarterTravel Media, SmarterTravel.com’s parent company.

• Compare multiple hotel booking sites with one click to find the cheapest hotel stays on BookingBuddy . This site lets you quickly compare prices of as many other search sites (like VRBO or Trivago) as you want, without having to do a bunch of different searches. Simply select which hotel/vacation rental search sites you want to compare, and BookingBuddy opens up a new tab with your selected hotel stay dates and destination already filled in.
• You can sign up for an alert for when prices drop. If you are in no rush to book, you just may find a super deal if you sign up for an alert! 
• Like other sites on this list, BookingBuddy pulls in and displays the best deals from various booking sites and OTAs on their own search results page. However, BookingBuddy also lets travelers directly compare entire search result pages across multiple sites, allowing them to toggle between the pages from a lefthand navigation menu.

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• Hotels.com helps you find the best hotel deals via tons of filters that let you narrow down your search. Its initial results tend to show a healthy balance of lower- and upper-end hotels, mostly in or around city centers. That’s what most travelers want in a hotel search engine: a robust, easily refined list of well-located options. Prices were on par with other OTAs.
• Like many cheap hotel websites these days, Hotels.com includes lots of non-hotel properties too, including condo hotels, guesthouses, and bed and breakfasts.
• Hotels.com allows you to sort by the usual things: price, star rating, featured, and also has a way to sort by what is closest to certain locations in the city: landmarks, train stations and airports. 

• HotelsCombined is a meta search tool that searches a wide range of sources to find the best hotel deals, including OTAs, as well as the hotels’ own sites. 
• You can also toggle between nightly base price, nightly price plus taxes/fees, or total stay plus taxes/fees. There is no option to display the total price of the stay without taxes/fees.
• Easily see if your travel dates are during peak travel times with their color coded calendar showing you if your dates have “Cheaper, Average,” or “Higher” prices. 

Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz

• Short of the color scheme and fonts, you’d be hard pressed to find much difference between these three legacy hotel booking sites. Expedia , Travelocity , and Orbitz are all owned by Expedia Inc., and all three use the same layout, with a few minor tweaks. Interestingly, the hotel search results do vary slightly. 
• The top hotel result for each test search was the same across all three of these hotel booking sites, but the order of the list of hotels below it varied. Prices, of course, were the same, since they’re all powered by Expedia. These perfectly fine hotel search engines are not all that different from Hotels.com .
• They’ve got plenty of options, prices that are usually good but not always great (as with any hotel booking site), and useful hotel search filters. That might be faint praise for discount hotel sites, but there’s something to be said for consistency, right? 
• Keep an eye on these hotel sites’ deals and limited-time offers, which is when any of these three hotel search engines are more likely to substantially beat their competition.
• With these sites, you can easily add a flight or car rentals to your accommodation booking, making for easy one-stop-shopping. 

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• Agoda began as a hotel booking site with a focus on Asia, and that focus remains apparent on the home page, where properties in Malaysia, Thailand, and other Eastern destinations get prominent real estate. But now that Agoda has come to the U.S., it delivers a hotel search experience that matches some of the best hotel sites on this list. 
• There are even instances when Agoda had better hotel deals than its competition, including one hotel search result in which the total booking cost was more than $200 less than the same hotel on Priceline (with a coupon code). Don’t expect that sort of result every time, but it shows that Agoda, like all the rest of these hotel booking sites, is well worth checking for the best hotel deals.

• Like HotelsCombined, Tripadvisor ‘s hotel search displays some of the very best hotel deals from a range of sites. The tool is built right into Tripadvisor’s general search function, letting you browse the site’s vast library of reviews, then begin your hotel booking seamlessly. The initial list of hotel search results is sorted by “best value” and shows the source of the given price, so that you know where (off Tripadvisor) your hotel booking is going to happen. 
• Tripadvisor searches most of the major hotel booking sites, as well as some lesser-known ones; when applicable, it also includes the hotel’s own website. You can also book directly with Tripadvisor.
• Sort your search by traveler ranking, so you can see the hotels travelers just like you prefer. Guest reviews often include pictures of hotel rooms taken by the guests themselves, not clouded over by staging, so you can see what the rooms actually look like before you book. 

• Another aggregate hotel booking site, Trivago did surface that low price coupon found on Agoda. However, it did not lead with that price, choosing instead to prominently display a higher price from Booking.com in large, green text. Odd. The lower-priced Agoda deal was listed second in the hotel search results, displayed in small gray text along with several others. In fact, Trivago found multiple hotel deals lower than that Booking.com price, but none received top billing for some reason. This happened in several other cases too, where the lead price ended up higher than best hotel prices that Trivago could find.
•  The good thing about conducting a hotel search on Trivago is that Trivago searches several lesser-known hotel booking sites, including Agoda, in addition to the usual suspects like Expedia, Priceline, and Booking.com . But travelers should take a close look at Trivago’s hotel search results to make sure that Trivago isn’t hiding a better deal farther down the list.

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• Google’s hotel search engine works by simply entering “hotels in (insert city here)” right on Google.com . (You can also go straight to the Google Hotels page .) This feature is integrated into Google Maps, which makes it very different from any of the other hotel booking sites listed above. On Google, hotel locations are marked by prices on a map, rather than by name or any other identifying characteristic. 
• From there, Google’s hotel search tool is fairly price-forward, which is what metasearch should be. Clicking on a price displays the hotel’s name, features, and booking options. Overall, it’s no surprise that Google offers a powerful, no-frills hotel search engine for travelers who don’t want all the hard-sell aspects of cheap hotel sites and more commercial hotel search engines. (And yes, Google did surface that low-with-coupon hotel deal from Agoda.)

• One of the best hotel booking sites for last minute deals and “Hot Rates,” which hide the hotel name in order to give you a better rate (similar to Priceline’s Express Deals), Hotwire is a great option if you don’t mind a limited-details final booking; and you probably don’t if it’s short notice. 
• Hotwire’s Hot Rates descriptions feature so many details about the property, as well as a pretty narrow location radius, that you can sometimes figure out the hotel you’ll be booked in, although it’s still somewhat of a gamble. Hotwire is also partnered with reliable global hotel brands like Kimpton and Hyatt, so you can be more confident that you won’t end up with a ramshackle property.
• The savings vary depending on the destination, but Hot Rates are consistently much more competitive than the standard Hotwire rates, which aren’t always the best price compared to other hotel booking sites. The main qualm that most customers have with Hotwire is their “24/7 support,” which apparently can be pretty unhelpful despite always being available to you.

• Formerly a social media-only deals site, TravelPony has since expanded to help anyone in need of a deal on a hotel. 
• Great for domestic and international hotels, there are loads of filtering options to ensure you are getting exactly the type of place you are looking for. You can filter by type of establishment, (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, resorts, and even farms), facilities, districts, room options (free cancellation, free WiFi etc..), so even if there is only one option out there that meets all of your wants and desires, they’ll find it! There are some lesser-known booking sites that TravelPony links to, so make sure you do your research before finalizing!

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• Their price match feature goes above and beyond the usual. If you find a lower price elsewhere, they will not only match it, but you will also receive a $50 voucher. 
• You must become a member to book through Mr. & Mrs. Smith, however, entry-level membership is free. Members receive “Smith Extras” upon arrival to their hotel—anything from a bottle of champagne to a spa service! 
• Hotels must be invited to join this website, as they are carefully vetted by “undercover tastemakers” before being added to the site. 

Which Hotel Booking Site Is Best for Me?  

Consider what type of trip you are taking. If you are open to the type of place you want to stay at, then consider a site with more diverse options. If you are torn between a hotel or vacation rental, BookingBuddy is the site for you, as it will search for both to help you make your decision. If you rely heavily on peer reviews, then go with TripAdvisor . Check our best features of each site above to decide which site is best for you to make your hotel reservation. For 

What is the Difference Between an Online Travel Agency (OTA) and Metasearch Engine? 

An OTA allows you to book directly through them, and does not send you outside of their site to make your booking. a Metasearch Engine (also known as an aggregator) searches multiple sites including OTA’s, and will send you to a site outside of the aggregator to finalize your booking. 

Is It Cheaper to Book Directly with a Hotel or With a Hotel Booking Site?

It might be cheaper to book directly with a hotel, but this option really only makes sense if you already have a hotel you love and you want to book. Otherwise, the fastest, cheapest way to book a hotel is going to be by using one of the hotel booking websites. You will waste a lot of time calling hotels to see if you can get a better deal, and who has time for that these days?! 

When Should I Book My Hotel?

This really depends on your flexibility. If all you want is the best deal, and you aren’t picky about where the hotel is, waiting until the last minute (one to two days before you travel) could probably get you the best deal on your hotel. But, you might not want to risk that—I know I wouldn’t when planning a vacation! If you are booking for travel during peak times, book early so you don’t end up far away from where all of the action is, as hotels can book up quickly, especially during school vacation times. 

12 Hotel Hacks That Will Save You Money

Bottom Line

What is the best hotel booking website.

These days, we are inundated with choices, including the number of accommodation booking websites there are out there. These sites should all make your booking easier, but some will make it even easier. Our clear winner is HotelsCombined.com . It’s easy to read, you can choose from hotels and rentals, and its ability to search hotel sites gives it the edge over other sites. We’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention SmarterTravel Hotels as a runner-up—their prices were some of the cheapest we found. Booking.com is another solid runner-up, as they appear to have the other sites beat as far as the volume of hotels goes. 

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2016. It has been updated to reflect the most current information.

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The 17 Best Websites for Booking Hotels at the Cheapest Prices [2024]

Katie Seemann

Senior Content Contributor and News Editor

343 Published Articles 50 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 28 U.S. States Visited: 29

Senior Editor & Content Contributor

90 Published Articles 663 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 41 U.S. States Visited: 28

The Hotel’s Own Website

3. priceline, 5. booking.com, 6. hotels.com, 9. amextravel.com, 11. travelocity, 12. tripadvisor, 13. google hotel search, 14. skyscanner hotels, 15. hoteltonight, 17. trivago, price comparisons, final thoughts.

We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

Travel is fun, right? But it can get expensive if you don’t know where and how to find the best deals. That’s where we can help.

Getting a great deal on a hotel room can save you hundreds of dollars. Sure, you can always reserve a hotel room on the hotel’s website, but is that the best way to do it? How about all of the popular online travel agencies (OTAs)? Which one offers the best pricing?

We’ve shown you the best websites for cheap flights , the best websites for cheap car rentals , and the best websites to book cruises . Now we’ll show you how to do the same with hotel rooms.

We’ve gone through all of the best and most popular websites (plus a few that aren’t so popular) to find out once and for all: where is the best place to book a hotel at the cheapest price?

There are lots of times when it makes sense just to keep things simple and book on the hotel’s website, whether it’s Marriott , Hilton , IHG , or any other. If you’re a member of a hotel’s loyalty program and are trying to earn or maintain elite status, you will most likely want to book direct.

By booking directly, you can take advantage of discounted member rates and will be sure to earn loyalty points and elite night credits. Many hotel chains offer promotions that allow you to earn lots of bonus points.

If you don’t book direct, the hotel may not recognize your elite status.

For example, if you have Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status and you book your room through Orbitz, you could easily miss out on your lounge access (and free breakfast) perk.

Hot Tip: If you hold elite status with a hotel, it’s generally best to book direct. In addition to not earning points and elite night credits when booking through an OTA, your elite status might not be honored by the hotel.

Kayak is not an OTA; it’s a metasearch engine for travel deals. This site will look at all the other sites and show you where the best deals are.

One of the things to love about Kayak, in addition to the great filtering options at the left of the screen, is the map feature.

On the search results page, you will see a map on the upper left-hand side of the screen. When you click on it, you will get a detailed map of your destination city, including hotel locations as well as popular areas for eating, sightseeing, shopping, and nightlife. Each dot on the map represents a hotel. You can click on any of them for more details about the hotel and price comparisons.

You can also use the price slider to narrow your search to only inexpensive options.

Also, keep an eye out for Pricebreakers . These are opaque fare deals, which means you won’t know all of your reservation details until after you book. When searching for a cheap hotel on Kayak, you can select Pricebreakers in the filtering options for your search.

You’ll then see deals that give you the price and 3 hotel possibilities, but you won’t know exactly which hotel you’ll get until after it’s booked.

If you need some travel planning inspiration or help personalize your trip search, try out Kayak’s new feature, an AI-integrated tool called Ask Kayak that can answer your travel questions.

Pros and Cons of Kayak

• Pricebreaker deals
• Kayak doesn’t always show the price on the hotel’s website, which can often be cheaper

Hot Tip: For more information and how to find great deals on hotels, flights, car rentals, vacation packages, cruises, and more, check out our in-depth guide to Kayak .

We’ve shown you how to save money on flights by booking through Expedia , but how does this OTA compare when booking a hotel room?

One thing that makes Expedia unique is its rewards program, One Key Rewards . It’s free to join and allows you to earn and redeem OneKeyCash on travel.

Pros and Cons of Expedia

• One Key Rewards program (which is also used by Hotels.com and Vrbo)
• Members-only deals
• You will not earn loyalty points or elite night credits on the hotel’s own rewards program
• While most bookings are refundable, some are not; pay attention to the terms of your booking before completing your purchase

Hot Tip: While you won’t earn points through the hotel’s loyalty program when you book through Expedia, you can earn credit card points. Look for cards that earn points in the general “travel category,” like the Ink Business Preferred ® Credit Card , the Chase Sapphire Reserve ® , or the Citi Premier ® Card , all of which earn 3x points on hotels. 

Searching for a hotel on Priceline is straightforward, and prices are similar to other OTAs.

One of the areas where Priceline can offer a deep discount is through its Express Deals. These opaque bookings keep details of the hotel secret until the booking is complete. These are prepaid, nonrefundable, and nontransferable bookings, so if your plans aren’t concrete, it’s best to avoid this type of booking.

These Express Deals also have a much more generous best-price guarantee than standard bookings (for VIP members). When booking a traditional hotel room through Priceline, you will receive a refund of the price difference if you find a better price within 24 hours of booking.

However, if you book an Express Deal and find a better price anytime up to midnight before you travel, you will get a 200% refund of the price difference!

The reservations must be identical in all aspects, and the rate must be available to the general public (no member rates) to qualify.

If you like the idea of Express Deals but want a little more certainty, check out Pricebreakers . These opaque bookings will show you 3 hotel options before you book. You still won’t know which one you’ll get until after you book, but you’re guaranteed to get 1 of the 3 options.

The last thing you’ll want to know about Priceline is that it has a loyalty program called Priceline VIP . This free program comes with 4 levels of membership offering perks like best price guarantees, hotel discounts, and Express Deal coupons.

Hot Tip: If your plans are flexible and you are comfortable booking an unknown hotel, Priceline Express Deals and Pricebreakers can certainly save you some big bucks!

Pros and Cons of Priceline

• Priceline VIP
• Express Deals and Pricebreakers
• You won’t earn hotel loyalty points or elite night credits when booking through Priceline

Hot Tip: For more information about finding the best deals and saving money, check out our complete guide to booking travel with Priceline .

Momondo is an easy-to-use travel metasearch engine that sorts through deals on other websites to help you find the best price. Once you find a deal on Momondo, you’ll be transferred to a booking website (an online travel agency or a hotel’s website) to book. You won’t ever actually book anything on Momondo’s website.

Pros and Cons of Momondo

• The easy-to-use interface shows you prices from lots of websites at one time
• There’s no loyalty program

Hot Tip: For more information, check out our detailed guide to using Momondo .

Booking.com is an easy-to-use site where you can search for and book hotels, hostels, B&Bs, apartments, and vacation homes.

One thing that stands out about this site is its generous low-price guarantee. If you find a lower advertised price for the same reservation available to the public (not a member or special rate), Booking.com will refund the difference up to 24 hours before your check-in date . The offer needs to be online and available at the time Booking.com checks.

Another thing to keep an eye out for is the Genius discount. When a room type is marked as Genius discount available , you’ll save 10% off the base price by logging in to your account. We’ve tested this, and sure enough, the price was adjusted just by logging in.

In addition to discounts, the Genius Loyalty Program offers perks like free breakfast and room upgrades. There are 3 levels to the Genius program based on the number of stays you complete in a 2 year period.

Pros and Cons of Booking.com

• Genius Loyalty Program
• Generous price-match guarantee
• Option to book non-traditional accommodations like hostels or B&Bs
• You won’t earn loyalty points or elite night credits from the hotel’s rewards program

Hot Tip:  For lots more information, check out our definitive guide to Booking.com .

One of the best things about Hotels.com is its rewards program, One Key Rewards. It allows you to earn and use points (called OneKeyCash) through Hotels.com and its partner sites, Expedia and Vrbo.

If you have a Hotels.com account, be sure to log in to access member pricing, which saves an average of 15%.

Unfortunately, as with most OTAs, you won’t be able to earn loyalty points or elite nights with the hotel’s program when booking through Hotels.com. If you generally aren’t loyal to a single brand or don’t have hotel elite status, this probably doesn’t need to be a factor in your decision of where to book.

Hot Tip: You will not earn hotel points or elite night credits for nights booked through an OTA.

Pros and Cons of Hotels.com

• One Key Rewards program
• Members-only pricing
• You have to pay taxes and fees on reward nights

Hot Tip: For more information, check out our guide to booking travel and saving money with Hotels.com .

Orbitz is another easy-to-use OTA with a strong in-house loyalty program. You can earn Orbucks on hotels, flights, travel packages, and activities.

The Orbucks earning rate is much better for hotels than flights, and Orbucks can only be redeemed for hotels . The only catch is generally, you can only earn Orbucks on prepaid hotel stays.

• Earn 3% Orbucks for hotel stays booked on a desktop
• Earn 4% Orbucks for hotel stays booked on the Orbitz app

Orbitz has its own version of elite status that can earn benefits like Wi-Fi and breakfast at select hotels after only 4 stays per year. After 12 stays per year, you’ll earn Platinum status, which comes with benefits like a TSA PreCheck application credit (a $78 value).

While Orbitz’s prices are in line with other OTAs, some of the ongoing benefits it offers might make it a great choice for the casual traveler .

However, if you can stay consistent with a single hotel brand, booking directly with the hotel to receive elite benefits might be a better deal.

Another way Orbitz can save you money on a hotel is if you book a hotel and flight together. When searching for a 7-night hotel stay in San Francisco plus a flight separately or as a bundle, the bundle saved over $100!

Pros and Cons of Orbitz

• Orbitz Rewards program
• Vacation packages
• You can only earn Orbucks on prepaid hotel stays
• You won’t earn hotel loyalty points or elite night credits when booking through Orbitz

Hot Tip: Learn more in our detailed guide to booking travel with Orbitz .

Hotwire has been around a long time and is probably the go-to OTA for many travelers, but is it the best place to book your next hotel stay if you’re looking for the cheapest price?

If you have some flexibility or aren’t particular about the exact hotel you stay in, Hotwire’s Hot Rate hotels could be a way to save you some money. These are opaque bookings, which means you won’t know the exact hotel until after the booking is complete. However, you’ll be able to see the hotel’s rating, neighborhood, amenities, Tripadvisor ratings, and the exact hotel the person previous to you got.

Hot Tip: Hotwire Hot Rate hotels could save you money. These are bookings in which you won’t know the exact hotel until after the booking is complete, so these properties are best for travelers with some flexibility.

Another way to save some money when booking through Hotwire is by booking a vacation package. Booking a hotel and flight together can save hundreds of dollars. To take advantage of this, go to the Vacations tab in the top search menu.

Pros and Cons of Hotwire

• Hot Rate Hotels
• Hotel chains, including Marriott and Hyatt , offer discounted member rates, and you won’t be able to see these on Hotwire

Hot Tip: For more information about booking travel and saving money with this platform, check out our complete guide to Hotwire .

American Express offers more than just credit cards. AmexTravel.com is a travel portal operated by American Express, and it operates much like an OTA. It’s even available to those who don’t hold an American Express credit card, although you will get more benefits if you have an Amex card.

One of the downsides to using AmexTravel.com is you have to create an account and log in to see the final pricing. The prices shown do not include taxes and fees, so it can be a little misleading if you aren’t logged in.

Pricing through AmexTravel.com tends to be in line with other OTAs. However, if you have The Platinum Card ® from American Express or The Business Platinum Card ® from American Express , you can earn 5x points on prepaid hotel stays booked through AmexTravel.com. Booking fees for flights through AmexTravel.com are also waived if you have one of these cards.

If you have American Express Membership Rewards points , you might be tempted to use them to book travel directly through AmexTravel.com. As a general rule, this isn’t a good use of points because the redemption rate is poor. You’ll often get less than 1 cent per point, which is much less than what Amex points are worth . You can get so much more value by transferring your points to one of the American Express transfer partners .

Pros and Cons of AmexTravel.com

• 5x Amex points on prepaid hotel bookings with the Amex Business Platinum card or Amex Platinum card
• Access to The Hotel Collection and Fine Hotels & Resorts
• If you don’t have an Amex Platinum card, you’ll be charged a booking fee (on flights)
• Poor redemption rate when you use Pay With Points (often less than 1 cent per point)

Hot Tip: For more details, check out our complete guide to using AmexTravel.com .

Agoda doesn’t offer much when searching for flights, but it’s worth checking out if you’re looking for accommodations. In addition to traditional hotels and resorts, Agoda lets you search for hostels, private houses, and even monthly stays.

It has great filtering options and a map feature so that you can view all of your options by location.

Agoda is another OTA that now offers its own rewards program. You’ll earn AgodaCash on every eligible booking. Then, you can redeem your AgodaCash for all or part of any hotel booking.

Additionally, Agoda offers the AgodaVIP program , an elite status program that allows you to earn additional discounts and perks.

Pros and Cons of Agoda

• AgodaCash and AgodaVIP Program
• Good search functionality

Hot Tip: For more information, check out our detailed guide to using Agoda .

Travelocity offers many different products to book, including flights, hotels, cars, cruises, travel packages, and even activities, so it can be a little overwhelming if you aren’t sure exactly what you’re looking for. When searching for a hotel, you can add a flight, a rental car, or both to your search.

Like most other OTAs, you can save money by booking a flight and hotel together.

We did a test booking and found that booking a flight and hotel together was $35 cheaper than booking them separately. While you could save more or less on your specific travel plans, if you need a flight in addition to a hotel, it’s always a good idea to check the prices on a travel package.

Travelocity advertises lower rates of 10% or more on select hotels if you create an account. Member rates will be highlighted, but unfortunately, these discounts are only available at certain hotels, so you will need to have some flexibility to take advantage of these deals. In addition, when we did a test booking, the savings by creating an account was only $1.61.

Pros and Cons of Travelocity

• Lower member rates on select hotels
• Lower rates on flight and hotel packages

Hot Tip: For more information about booking hotels, flights, and more with Travelocity, check out our guide to booking travel with Travelocity .

Tripadvisor is known for its great reviews. It’s the place to go if you want to get a feel for a hotel or activity, complete with amateur photos taken by other travelers that show what things really look like. Did you also know you can search for and book hotels through Tripadvisor?

After searching for your destination, you’ll see a typical list of all the hotels available. In each box, there will be prices from a few websites listed. You can see a full list by clicking on the small drop-down menu in the search results. Doing so will give you a good overall feel for where you might find the best pricing. Clicking on the price will take you to the specific website to complete your booking.

Pros and Cons of Tripadvisor

• Great customer reviews
• The prices shown do not include taxes, which can vary between websites

Hot Tip: For more information, check out our guide to using Tripadvisor .

Did you know that you can search for hotels directly on Google ? Like Kayak and Tripadvisor, this is just a search engine. You won’t actually book anything on Google — it’s just another way to find the best hotel prices.

To search, just type in “Hotels in ____” in the main Google search box or go to google.com/travel/hotels .

You can easily search by location using the map or use the filtering options above your search results to find exactly what you’re looking for. You can click on any of the hotels listed on the left side or click on the prices on the map for more information.

You’ll be able to see all of the price options for your chosen hotel by clicking on Prices.

To get a sense of price trends in the area you’re searching, click on What you’ll pay right above the search results. This will give you a good sense of what prices are like in your chosen destination during your travel dates.

Pros and Cons of Google Hotel Finder

• Price trends
• No loyalty program

Hot Tip: Google Flights allows you to plan your flight, hotel, and travel package options all from a single site.

Skyscanner is generally regarded as a flight search engine, but you can also use it to search for hotels. While it’s easy to see the pricing options for each hotel, there aren’t many filtering options available. The map feature is nice if you prefer to search for a hotel by location.

Once you find a hotel and price you like, you’ll be sent to another website to complete the booking.

Pros and Cons of Skyscanner Hotels

• The lowest price for each hotel is clearly displayed
• Few filtering options

Hot Tip: For more information, check out our guide to booking travel through Skyscanner .

HotelTonight is a booking app and website geared towards offering great deals on last-minute hotel stays , although you can book rooms ahead of time, too.

The website is easy to use, but there aren’t many filtering options, so if you have something specific in mind, this may not be the best place to search for a hotel. If you’d like to set up a price deal alert, you can do so by using the toggle button right above your search results.

If you’re searching on the website, you may notice that some deals are only available on the app, so it might be a good idea to opt for the app when using HotelTonight.

Pros and Cons of HotelTonight

• Price deal alerts
• Last-minute availability
• The website doesn’t offer everything that the app does

Hot Tip: If you’re booking last minute, you may want to check out one of these websites and apps to find a good deal .

Hopper is a mobile app that offers price predictions so you have a better idea of when to book your room. It is so confident in its app that it claims 95% accuracy!

You can easily find the cheapest dates for your destination in the Hopper app. After entering the city you’d like to visit, you’ll get a color-coded map that quickly shows you the cheapest and most expensive times for hotels. You can choose your travel dates and set your filters, and then you’ll see what hotels are available.

Another feature that makes Hopper unique is the price freeze feature. By making a small deposit, which can later be applied towards your stay, you can freeze the price for 12 hours, 7 days, 14 days, or 21 days. You’ll save up to $300 if the price increases, and you’ll pay the lower price if the price drops.

Before booking a hotel on Hopper, check the Trip Extras . These are additional fees, including Hopper Tip and VIP Support , that will be automatically added on. If you want to decline them, you’ll have to unselect them manually.

Pros and Cons of Hopper

• Color-coded map shows the best prices
• Price freeze option
• No desktop booking capabilities
• Extra fees like Hopper Tip and VIP Support are automatically added

Hot Tip: For more information, check out our detailed guide to using the Hopper app .

Trivago , which is owned by Expedia, is another metasearch engine that scours the internet to show you hotel prices on lots of other websites so that you can easily compare them. It’s easy to use but doesn’t offer any features that differentiate it from competitors.

Be careful because a hotel’s “featured price” might not necessarily be the lowest.

Pros and Cons of Trivago

• Shows prices from many websites in one place
• The featured price is not always the lowest
• No rewards program

As you can see, there are a lot of websites that all offer what they claim to be the best prices on your hotel room. But which site is truly the best?

We put these sites head-to-head in price comparison, only looking at the price (including taxes and fees) and not taking into consideration other factors like the cancellation policy.

Hot Tip: Many websites show you pricing without taxes and fees when you’re searching. While it might appear you’re getting a great deal on a particular site at first, once you add in all of the fees, the price may be the same as all of the other OTAs.

We priced out the same hotel on every site — a 1-week stay in the least expensive room at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square, to see how these hotel booking sites compared.

As you can see from the example above, most prices are similar. In this example, the lowest price came from Google Hotels, with Kayak and Trivago close behind. Hopper had the highest price.

When you book directly through the hotel, you’ll be able to earn loyalty points and take advantage of any elite benefits you may have, so it might be worth it even if the price is a tad higher.

Bottom Line: Unfortunately, no clear-cut pattern or website consistently offers the lowest prices, as it always varies. If prices are similar, look for rates that offer flexible cancellation policies and ones that earn points or perks in a loyalty program (either the hotel’s or the website’s program).

Finding the lowest price on a hotel room can be tough, but knowing where to look helps steer you in the right direction.

• If you have elite status or collect reward points from a chain like Marriott or Hyatt, it’s probably best to book direct. You generally won’t earn points or elite night credits if you book elsewhere.
• If you don’t have loyalty to a particular brand , start with a website like Kayak or Skyscanner. They can help determine where the lowest prices might be. Also, keep an eye out for special fares like Priceline Express Deals.
• If you need to book a hotel and flight , look for a vacation package. These are offered by many OTAs and usually offer big savings.
• If you often book smaller, independent hotels , it might be smart to look at an OTA with its own rewards program, like Orbitz, Hotels.com, or Expedia.

No matter where you book your next hotel, be sure to use a travel rewards credit card to max out your benefits, and you’ll be on your next trip in no time.

For rates and fees of The Platinum Card ® from American Express, click here . For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card ® from American Express, click here .

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an online travel agency (ota).

An OTA is a sort of middleman between you and a hotel. They generally offer both searching and booking capabilities. You can book a hotel through an OTA, which acts as your travel agency.

What is the best website to book a hotel for the cheapest price?

Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer to that question. There are many sites offering lots of different prices, even though they all claim to have the best prices. It’s best to check a few different sites before you book or start with a travel search engine like Kayak or Google Hotels. These sites show you prices on many different sites in one place.

Will I earn hotel loyalty points when I book through a third party?

Generally, no, you will not earn any type of hotel loyalty points or elite status credit when you book through a third party. However, many OTAs like Hotels.com and Expedia offer their own rewards programs.

Do OTAs count as travel on my rewards credit card?

Yes, generally OTAs will count towards your travel bonus category on your credit card. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card earns 3x points on travel purchases, which includes online travel agencies.

Is it better to book a hotel through a third-party website or direct?

Whether or not it’s best to book a hotel through a third-party website versus booking direct will depend on a couple of factors. First, if you participate in a hotel’s loyalty program, it’s usually best to book direct so you can earn points and get any elite status perks. However, if you aren’t loyal to a single hotel brand, you may be able to save money by booking through an online travel agency. These sites can sometimes offer lower prices (especially if you book a hotel in combination with a rental car or hotel) and even may have their own loyalty program.

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About Katie Seemann

Katie has been in the points and miles game since 2015 and started her own blog in 2016. She’s been freelance writing since then and her work has been featured in publications like Travel + Leisure, Forbes Advisor, and Fortune Recommends.

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5 Of The Best Websites For Booking Travel Accommodations

I f you have travel plans coming up, you'll want to reserve your stay well before your departure dates are nearing. In fact, you'll want to do it not too long after you've booked your flight . Delaying this could leave you with limited accommodation options to choose from and have you dealing with steep prices.

The good news is that whether you're looking for a cozy bed and breakfast experience or a stay at a high-end all-inclusive hotel, there are a plethora of travel websites that make it easy to reserve accommodation in a place that suits your exact preferences. While you could always make the booking directly through a hotel's website, using a travel booking website helps you compare your options and check out reviews left by previous customers.

To help you get started, we've put together a list of some of the most preferred accommodation booking websites based on personal experience, user reviews, and the general user-friendliness of the platforms. You'll find a more detailed methodology explaining how we evaluated and selected the websites listed below toward the end of this list.

Read more: How To Speed Up The Internet Connection On Your Android Phone

No stranger to the accommodation booking scene, Airbnb has been offering unique boarding experiences since 2007. What makes Airbnb stand out from other similar platforms is that it allows you to live like a local by booking a room or an entire property in a residential neighborhood. This makes Airbnb accommodations appealing to people who want to experience a destination more authentically.

Searching for a property on Airbnb is fairly straightforward. All you need to do is enter your destination of choice, travel dates, and the number of guests checking in. After you do this, you'll be able to view the relevant listings.

The platform does a good job of showcasing its listings, including a detailed description of the property, pictures to help you understand what the space looks like, and reviews from past guests. While Airbnb, which has listings in around 100,000 cities and towns across the world, is a popular choice for many, a notable downside of using the platform is that guests may sometimes find themselves paying more than they initially expected, thanks to additional charges, like the cleaning fee. 

Still, if you're looking for a unique accommodation experience or have specific needs (for instance, if you'd like access to a full kitchen), an Airbnb listing might be just what you're looking for. The best part is that many Airbnb offers free Wi-Fi like traditional hotels, making them great for workstation purposes.

Hostelworld

Many travelers choose to stay in hostels, and it's no surprise why. Hostels present an affordable alternative to traditional hotels, making them ideal for backpackers and budget-conscious travelers. Beyond the cost savings (which is a major benefit for many), hostels also offer people who like to travel a social environment conducive to meeting and sharing experiences with like-minded folk.

Unlike in the past, hostels today offer relatively flexible accommodation solutions. For instance, if you're traveling with a friend or partner, you could look into reserving a private room. That said, if you're looking for a traditional hostel experience where you bunk with strangers, you'll want to reserve a spot at a reputable hostel. This, fortunately, becomes easy to do when you make the booking through Hostelworld .

When you're on Hostelworld's website, all you need to do is enter the details of your trip to view the hostels in the location. Before you complete your booking, check the property details, the house rules, and the reviews — if everything seems in order, you can proceed with making the payment.

Once you make the payment, Hostelworld offers a 100% booking guarantee. In the event that something goes wrong with your booking, the company will credit your account with the entire deposit you paid and an additional $50 that you can use toward future bookings.

Whether you want to book a traditional hotel accommodation, a private stay, or even long-term boarding, Agoda is a good bet. With a whole host of filters that allow you to specify your preferences in terms of the property type, distance from the city center, and more, Agoda helps you zero in on a property/hotel that works for you.

What's more, the website also allows you to specifically view hotels that are pet-friendly (which is great if you want to travel with your pet ), workstation-friendly, and ideal for groups. This way, you won't have to deal with any unpleasant surprises when you visit the property since you'll have a pretty good idea of what you're getting.

To help you make an informed decision, the platform lists the reviews left by past customers. Agoda's entire mission has been to make travel affordable for its customers. In line with this, the website runs a loyalty program called AgodaCash.

If you book a room at a hotel or property that participates in this program, you get awarded AgodaCash, which you can put toward future bookings to make your next stay more affordable. The only thing to note here is that you won't be able to use your AgodaCash in combination with other offers and rewards. Given this, you'll have to review the promotions available and choose one that offers the most savings.

Booking.com

Booking.com, which was founded almost 30 years ago in 1996, is one of the oldest and most popular online travel booking companies. Like in the case of Agoda, Booking.com makes it easy for you to look up hotel and property listings with its user-friendly interface.

One of the standout features of Booking.com is its trip planner, which is ideal for people who are uncertain about their travel plans. Additionally, the platform is pretty flexible in terms of offering you numerous room types and pricing tiers to choose from. This lets you view and take into consideration the upfront charges for different accommodation types, helping you make a well-thought-out decision.

Booking.com, like the other websites on this list, displays reviews left by previous travelers, so you get an unbiased idea of what the property has to offer. If you still have any specific questions that you would like answered before you complete the booking, you can use the "Ask a question" button that you'll find on the listing page for each property and post your questions.

Operational in over 70 countries with over three million listings, Expedia is a great choice for comparing your options before booking. If you decide to use Expedia as your travel booking partner, it's a good idea to sign up for OneKey, which is Expedia's rewards program.

With this program, you get to earn OneKeyCash for every dollar spent, which you can then use to book eligible hotels, car rentals , flights, and even activities in the future. You also get to save 10% or more with the Member Prices you'll have access to once you sign up for this program. So, if you're a budget-savvy traveler, there's no reason for you not to sign up for OneKey. 

Expedia's website itself is fairly user-friendly. The interface works similar to that of Agoda and Booking.com. Once you enter your details, the listings come up — you can further filter these by the accommodation type, price per night, guest rating, star rating, cancellation options, and more. You also get to view the most frequently asked questions and verified reviews and ratings on the listing page, which ensures complete transparency.

Why These Accommodation Booking Websites Made It To This List

While there are numerous accommodation booking platforms, the ones listed above were chosen primarily based on personal positive experiences with them. Each of these booking partners boasts a user-friendly interface with complete transparency in terms of listing negative and positive reviews. This allows the average traveler to make an informed decision before spending hundreds of dollars or more on a stay.

Additionally, these platforms had favorable ratings and reviews from customers on the mobile-based App Store and Play Store, which is also an indication of how popular they are. Remember that while these platforms are reliable and popular, it's important to do your due diligence regarding the amenities and quality of stay at individual hotels to avoid any unwanted surprises during your trip.

Read the original article on SlashGear .

• GENERAL TRAVEL

12 Best Apps & Websites for Booking Travel Online

Liz is a collector of grand adventures. She first discovered her passion for meaningful travel wh...

• Travel Apps
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If there’s anything better than traveling, it’s the build up. Daydreaming of the perfect destination, scrolling through unique places to stay, and browsing travel guides for the best hole-in-the-wall restaurants and local must-sees are all opportunities to start wanderlusting before you’ve even packed your bags.

Be honest—how many Airbnb Stays do you have bookmarked?

True, it can be overwhelming to map out the nitty gritty flights, connections, accommodation, and pit stops when there are endless options available, but having something exciting to look forward to is one of the keys to happiness after all.

Lucky for you, there are countless apps and websites to help you with booking travel online, so you don’t have to feel overwhelmed when planning the travel adventure of your dreams.

Whether you’re an Apple or Android fan, you’ll have the time of your life in the lead up to your trip with the best travel booking apps and trip planners around!

What to look for in the best travel booking apps

You’re scrolling the app store wondering, what is the best trip planner app? There are hundreds of apps out there—how do you choose? The struggle is real. The truth is, many of them will be more useless than helpful. So how do you weed out the junk that’s clogging up your phone?

The best travel booking apps have these essential features.

1. They’re available offline.

If you’re traveling overseas, there’s no guarantee that you’ll have easy access to WiFi. Unless you have an international phone plan, a local SIM card, or don’t mind roaming charges, limited WiFi can be a killer if you want to access your travel apps in-country. The best travel booking apps have an offline version, so you can access them anywhere, anytime.

2. They include a booking service.

If you’re looking for the best travel booking app, it will definitely have a booking service included. Whether you’re looking for accommodation options or are wanting to book tickets and tours, the ability to book from the app makes everything easier. Let’s call it your one-stop-shop.

3. They have reviews.

The best way to find authentic experiences is to look for recommendations from other people, whether they’re locals or tourists who have stumbled upon hidden gems. Reviews can really make or break your travel plans. The best travel booking apps will definitely have you covered with experienced travelers’ tips and recommendations.

4. They have a translation function.

When you’re traveling between countries, it can be helpful to have a translation function on your travel apps, so you don’t have to switch between apps to get what you’re looking for. With a translation option, you can move about without language barriers, making travel easy even if you don’t speak the native tongue.

5. They have social media integration.

As simple as it sounds, the time it takes to sign up and register for a new app can be a deciding factor for many. In a world where we want information at our fingertips, it can be a turn off when it takes too much time to create a profile before you can use an app.

The best travel booking apps allow you to link your social media accounts—not only for easy access, but so you can share the highlights of your trip directly to your social accounts!

6. They have a travel planner feature.

We want more than just a place to book a bed for the night. We want an app to help us organize our itineraries, bookmark our favorite travel destinations, create schedules, and make travel easy. If you’re wondering what the best trip planner app is, you’ll know you’ve found it when you can plan your travel all in one place.

READ MORE: How to Plan a Trip When You’re Short on Time—And Cash

What is the best trip planner app 6 top contenders.

Searching for the best travel booking apps around? Here are the top apps to download before your next big trip.

1. LikeALocal

• Why it’s the best: If you’re into hole-in-the-wall restaurants and hidden spots that only the most seasoned travelers frequent, LikeALocal is the best travel booking app for you. With guides, tips, and tricks, all the content is created by true locals who have lived in the destination for years.
• The app allows you to browse destination guides, book tours, and even connect with residents through their Q&A feature—and it’s all available 100% offline.

• Why it’s the best: There’s no better way to settle into a new destination than staying in a local’s home. Airbnb is rising as one of the best travel booking apps for accommodation, offering an excellent in-between for hostels and hotels.
• Whether you want to book individual rooms or entire houses from local residents, there are options to suit most budgets. Through the app, you can easily communicate with your host, making it easy to check-in, out, and get the best tips on local hot spots.
• Available for iOS and Android.

3. HotelTonight

• Why it’s the best: While some travelers plan out every detail before leaving home, others live for spontaneity. Luckily, there’s an app for that, too. HotelTonight helps you find last-minute deals on nearby hotels, making it perfect for spur of the moment holidays or road trips with unplanned stops along the way.
• It’s easy to use, with filter options to help you find the right place to suit your needs, and booking a room for the night is just one click away.

• Why it’s the best: Are you a travel junkie? Love multi-destination travel? If you answered ‘ yes’ and you’re still wondering what the best trip planner app is, look no further than TripIt. All you have to do is forward your travel confirmation details to [email protected], and the app creates a master document for all of your travels so you can stay organized!
• You can access it any time, WiFi or dead zone. Upgrade to their paid version to receive real-time flight alerts, a currency converter, socket requirements for your destination, tipping advice, alternative routes for canceled flights, and even track your reward points.

5. Skyscanner

• Why it’s the best: If you’re looking for flights, Skyscanner is where it’s at! The app gives you access to flights from over 1,200 different sources so you can find the best options out there, whether you’re looking for the cheapest options, the fastest routes, or the most affordable days to fly.
• If you’re in the daydreaming stages and open to new possibilities, Skyscanner also has an “anywhere” option to help you find affordable flights you never knew were possible. You can even set up alerts for price dips to find the best airfare rates around.
• Available for IOS.

6. PackPoint

• Why it’s the best: For some travelers, packing can be the biggest headache when preparing for a trip. PackPoint will keep you organized and do the hard work for you. The app creates a custom packing list based on your gender, travel destination, dates and duration of travel, and the type of trip you’re planning. It even checks the weather for you!
• You can add or remove items to make it more personal and check them off as you go, making the packing experience quick and easy.

6 best travel booking websites

Prefer to sit down in front of a computer to do some brainstorming for your next trip? Then you’re probably wondering what the best travel booking website is. Here’s a round-up of the best places for booking travel online.

1. Tripadvisor

No trip is complete without a visit to Tripadvisor. Whether you’re looking for tours, hotels, transportation, restaurants, or just a little travel inspo, Tripadvisor is one of the best websites for browsing and booking travel online.

You can read reviews, save your favorites, get organized using the map features, and book travel all in one place. This site is a must when planning your next trip.

2. Intrepid

Adventure junkies love Intrepid. With small group tours to more than 100 countries, Intrepid is one of the top tour companies for solo travelers who want an adrenaline rush and connection to like-minded people. While most tours attract young travelers under 30, there is no age limit for tours through Intrepid.

Search for unique, niche experiences, from cycling the Middle East to trekking the world’s tallest mountains. With great deals all year round, you can score discounts of up to 50% and reserve your next tour for as low as $1.

3. Hostelworld

Who doesn’t love a good hostel? Backpackers on a budget can find some of the most affordable accommodation options through Hostelworld. Search for your destination, filter by price range or ratings, and find accommodation descriptions, reviews, and booking policies for hostels in over 170 countries worldwide.

The full-screen interactive map makes it easy to see if the hostel is near where you want to be—whether that’s down the street from night clubs or nature.

4. Couchsurfing

If you want a truly unique travel experience at the absolute lowest cost, why not try couch surfing? Through Couchsurfing, you can connect to locals and stay in their homes for free, saving you money and giving you access to true local experiences.

If you don’t feel comfortable staying in someone’s home, Couchsurfing also has a Hangouts feature for you to use to meet and socialize with other travelers—perfect for solo travelers!

If you’re booking travel online, Momondo is worth a browse. This flight search engine is unique to other sites, showing prices of smaller airlines and travel companies that are often overlooked by other popular search engines.

With Momondo, you can find the best times to fly using their monthly matrix, featuring the best prices and routes, no matter where you want to go. Check out the flight insights page for trends and analytics, which will give you insight into how far in advance you need to book your flights to save the most money.

6. GoAbroad

Last, but certainly not least on the list of best sites for booking travel online, is the one and only GoAbroad (that’s us!). Find your perfect program for meaningful travel abroad, with over 15,000 programs, destinations worldwide, scholarships, and insider tips.

If you want to travel abroad with purpose, GoAbroad can undoubtedly help you discover the program to help you smash your goals and make your wildest dreams come true! You can browse our Travel Resource Hub right now to get a jump start on your travel planning.

Booking travel online is fast and easy!

If you’ve been bitten by the travel bug, there’s really no excuse not to start planning your next getaway. Check out the best travel booking apps and websites to stay organized, score great deals, and quench your wanderlust. Booking travel online has never been easier! You’re just a click away from your next big adventure abroad.

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What to know for booking summer travel: Expert tips on airfare, destinations and more

Where to score flight deals during the prime summer travel season.

As the surge of summer travel draws near, the race to book a great vacation is on.

"If you're looking to travel domestically within the U.S., I think you should be booking now for summer travel," Clint Henderson, travel expert and managing editor of The Points Guy, told "GMA."

Earlier this month while reporting quarterly earnings, Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian projected "record advance bookings for the summer," telling CNBC that the carrier's credit card data and bookings show customers are highly interested in air travel.

An increase in budget airline routes that has created more competition, paired with an easing of the post-pandemic revenge travel surge, means travelers could see more deals.

"Overall prices are down from where they were when we just had that boom out of the pandemic," Henderson said. "So things are more reasonable."

Hopper, the flight booking app, has shown predicted fares for flights to Europe will be down 10% in price from the same time last year.

Google recently announced its top 20 trending summer destinations , which saw a few newcomers on the list and Paris rose to the No. 2 spot.

With the Olympics taking place there from July 26 through Aug. 11, an uptick in airfare and hotel pricing is expected during the Games.

But those willing to wait out the Olympics could find big savings for flights to the host nation.

The Points Guy has featured deals from Atlanta, Dallas and Charlotte to Paris for as low as $515 from August through the fall.

Amsterdam, Prague, Spain and Iceland are among the most reasonably priced European destinations, as seen on Hopper.

Tips for booking summer travel

Don't forget to stay flexible with travel dates and keep midweek in mind for possibly lower fares.

There's also a time during the post-summer rush known as "shoulder season," between September and October, when fares could drop by as much as 30%.

When it comes to airfare purchase timing, the experts at The Points Guy have found prices dip eight to four weeks before the outbound flight, but after the one-month mark, prices will creep back up.

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Bucket list travel on a budget: Expert tips for airfare, loyalty programs, credit card perks and more

Many travelers have their sights set on summer getaways , but with everything from baggage fees to fuel costs impacting the price of a ticket, "Good Morning America" is asking travel experts to share tips for booking bucket list destinations on a budget and finding savings along the way.

Travel expert Nicky Kelvin, senior director of content for The Points Guy, offered his tips for affordable travel techniques.

Where to find the best flight deals

Kelvin encourages travelers to utilize Google Flights and other free price-tracking tools to compare fare prices and snag the best deal.

He also suggests using both the calendar and map features within Google Flights to see which airports, dates and destinations how the lowest fare.

From the Google Flights homepage on a computer, click "explore destinations" and select a departure city without adding a destination. Then zoom out on the map to see the best prices for destinations all over the world.

Get the most out of free travel loyalty programs

Travelers should be earning points for anything and everything that they are buying or booking from airline and hotels to car rentals, Kelvin said.

In addition to the points that can can help travelers earn free flights and hotel stays, Kelvin said to look for extra perks just for joining.

Hyatt rewards, for example, offers all guests free breakfast.

For Thrifty Car Rental and Dollar Car Rental, he said you can add your spouse or domestic partner as an additional driver for free.

Loyalty programs are great for airlines too. JetBlue, for example, allows enrolled customers -- even if they don't have enough points for a flight -- to use points for discounts. Plus, with any airline, as you accumulate points to earn status, you can get free seating upgrades.

Travel credit cards with cash back perks

Along with earning points, travel credit cards give you protection for your trip like insurance to help with lost or damaged baggage and trip cancellation protection

Chase debuts new airport lounge: Gourmet menus, sleek interiors, free facials redefine hospitality for airport travel

As for credit cards, The Points Guy team suggests the Capital One Venture Rewards credit card as an all-around pick -- you get 75,000 miles after meeting your minimum spend in the first three months. Which Kelvin said is a value of over $1,300.

If you're looking to earn the most miles, he said look to the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.

"You'll earn the most points on all your purchases with this one," he said.

Finally, if you want a credit card with no fee, Kelvin suggested the Bilt Mastercard, which he said is particularly great for renters because you can earn points on what's likely someone's biggest expense.

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Save money on international phone plans for summer trips

If someone's trip is taking them out of the country, using a cell phone internationally can cost $10 to 15 per day. For a family of four, that's more than $400 for a week.

If your phones support eSIM, Kelvin suggested purchasing a data plan for your destination through an app such as Airalo, Truphone or GigSky.

For example, one of Airalo's global SIM plans costs $9 for one week, which could save a family close to $350 dollars, depending on their existing international coverage.

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9 Best Photo Book Maker Websites

Print your favorite photos and don't let them go to waste.

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

Best Overall Photo Book Maker

Shutterfly photo books.

Best Value Custom Photo Book Maker

Walmart photo custom photo books.

Most Aesthetic Photo Book Maker

Artifact uprising photo books.

Best Themed Photo Book Maker

Mixbook photo books.

Best Photo Book Maker for Beginners

Printique photo books.

Best Photo Book Maker for Amazon Prime Members

Amazon prints.

Best Photo Book Maker for Young Kids

Pinhole press photo books.

Best Photo Book Maker for Google Photos Users

Google photo books.

Best Photo Book Maker for Families

Chatbooks custom photo books & albums.

The product analysts and experts in the Good Housekeeping Institute Media & Tech Lab continuously test everything from photo book maker websites to the best wedding photo albums , printers and much more. When making our selections, we reviewed each product for factors like ease of use and intuitiveness of the website and app, if applicable, photo quality, speed of delivery and extra features like templates, cover options and style. These are the best photo book maker websites of 2024, according to our pros.

Shutterfly offers basic photo books at an affordable price. You can choose from a wide selection of themes, like birthday, travel or wedding, or neutral styles , such as modern or rustic. You can also create your own book and choose the book size, cover style and page style, then embellish it with Shutterfly's extensive library of stickers and ribbons to make your book extra special. We appreciate how easily users can edit within their chosen template and the brand's high-quality photo book paper, making Shutterfly a top pick.

You can also opt for one of its 6" x 6" Instant Books , which let you add photos from your phone, tablet or computer in minutes. These mini photo books have only 20 pages, but they're a great place to store goofy candids or Instagram posts you never want to forget. The possibilities are essentially limitless, though the vast array of options could be overwhelming for those getting started.

If you don't want the pressure of deciding on a layout, the brand offers a convenient Make My Book option, in which Shutterfly's professional designers curate your photos and design the book for free. Plus, you'll still have the opportunity to put finishing touches on it before it gets printed. Whether you opt for 50 or 800 photos (the maximum), you'll receive an email notification within 24 hours that your book is complete.

Crunched for time? Design your photo book online and pick up select styles at a Walmart store near you in as little as one hour. Photo books picked up in one hour can have 15 single-sided pages and a linen cover, while same-day pickups (ready in a few hours) can have up to 20 double-sided pages and the option of a hardcover.

On top of the speedy turnaround, Walmart has a great selection of styles : You can choose everything from the photo size and layout to the type of cover, including hardcover glossy or matte, linen, leather and lay-flat glossy or matte. If you need help narrowing down the choices, there's also the option to shop by occasion, whether you're looking for a one-year anniversary or 15th-year anniversary gift .

Despite the fast shipping and variety, our expert tester, Rachel Rothman , former chief technologist and executive technical director at the Good Housekeeping Institute, did note that the quality is not as high as the options offered by other photo book makers on this list — but that may be expected considering the bargain price tag. Regardless, these photo books still make a superb present that can cost under $10 without compromising on sentimentality.

No matter the occasion, you can't go wrong with one of Artifact Uprising's high-quality photo books. There are numerous design options, including preset books to celebrate the birth of a new baby or commemorating a marriage. You can choose from lay-flat albums, books with photo strips and even softcover Instagram Friendly Books for the influencer in your life. The company even has an iPhone app that lets you create a photo book right from your smartphone. However, Rothman found the app to be glitchy at times and noted there's room for improvement with the software. Still, the books come out on top for elegance and simplicity .

One online reviewer wrote, "The fabric cover is beautiful. The photos are amazing quality and look amazing even though the photos were taken on film and therefore are a bit grainy." The overall 4.6-star rating (out of 5) backs up that review. Quality and elevated designs come with a higher price tag, but there are options for $20 or less if you're shopping on a budget.

If you have a special project and a little more money to spend, Artifact Uprising offers Design Services , which allow you to work one-on-one with an expert to bring your special moments to life. Just note that the design fee is rather steep at $119 and requires an additional $100 album deposit.

When Mixbook says it has "custom photo books for every occasion," it really means it. There are 374 different themed templates to choose from, including everything f rom travel and sports to weddings and recipes. But that doesn't mean you have to give up creative control. You can still customize the look to your liking, from fun backgrounds to stickers to text using the Editor tool. Plus, there are plenty of paper varieties, from semigloss to ultra-thick matte.

Rothman appreciated the nice balance between good photo editing and price, but she did experience issues with the lay-flat option, in which the photos bled into the crease. You can also use the iPhone app to organize your photos with a tool that the brand calls "Automagic": Simply choose the images you want and select a theme. The goal of Automagic is to help arrange your camera roll so your photos are in order when it comes time to add them to your photo book.

If you're not sure where to start, our pros love Printique because it's super easy to use. You can select one of the many predesigned layouts or create an entire photo book from scratch. Choose among portrait, landscape and square orientations, as well as hardcover and softcover options. You can even store your memories in a genuine leather or vegan leather book or pick from five different fabric colors. Although you can't choose the color for a hard- or softcover photo book, you can still customize the shape, size and paper type.

Looking for something more advanced? There'sa tool for professional photographers to design and create their own photo books. But if you want to keep things simple, consider starting with one of Printique's 4" x 4" Mini Softcover photo books , which have a maximum of 40 pages and come in three sizes.

Is Amazon Photos already your preferred destination for uploading photos? Then creating a photo book through its interface is an easy solution. Similar to other photo book makers, you can create by occasion and size, or choose its 8" x 8" Premium Photo Book for a versatile option that has a laminated cover and lay-flat binding. There's also an option with standard binding at a lower cost, and all Amazon Prime members get free shipping . (Everyone else is eligible for free shipping with a minimum order of $15.)

In addition to photo books, you can shop large prints, calendars, cards and metal tabletops. There are fewer size and style options than most services when it comes to photo books, but the other photo product choices make up for the lack of available styles. After all, sometimes it's easier and quicker to have fewer options to choose from if you need to pull something together by a certain date, like a last-minute gift for your boyfriend .

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With Pinhole Press, you can choose from various photo book styles ranging from board pages to softcovers to accordion-style setups. Upload your photos and let the system do the work, or manually place the photos into the layout yourself. Rothman says her kids love the Custom Board Books , which have themes such as " Count With Me ," " Healthy Habits " and " I Can Be Anything ." These photo books aren't just visually stimulating, but they can also educate and entertain kids for years to come .

"I got my daughter the ' My First Photo Book ' as a toddler and made it all about her — like pictures with family, doing things she likes, her favorite toys, at the playground and beach, etc. — and she still is obsessed with it," says Lexie Sachs , executive director of strategy and operations at the Good Housekeeping Institute.

Rothman also notes the custom Photo Puzzle is a fun option for kids, and the Itty Bitty Books are easy to tote around in a work bag for on-hand entertainment. There's less variety in some categories, including Itty Bitty and hardcover books, but with so many additional photo categories other companies lack, there are still plenty of great options for kids.

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If you store your snaps in Google Photos, then Google's very own photo book maker might be the most convenient option for you. Even though there are no fancy designs, the process is seamless. Choose from two options: a 7" x 7" softcover photo book or a 9" x 9" hardcover photo book. You can include between 20 and 140 pages, and you have the option to add a spine title if you hit more than 48 pages for a softcover or any number of pages for a hardcover.

Another hallmark of Google Photos is that you can make one photo book and order multiple copies to give to family members and friends who are also pictured in the photos. Since they come at an affordable price point, you could give everyone on your gift list a copy, whether you decide to create a collection of candid photos for your closest friends or a tangible memento of a fun family trip. Though there may not be as many designs and styles to choose from, that can make the customization process less daunting.

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Chatbooks Custom Photo Books & Albums

"Set and forget it," Rothman says about the ease of using Chatbooks, which markets itself as "ridiculously easy." You can upload images from Instagram, Flickr, Dropbox, Facebook or your computer and edit them on your desktop or via the app . The service's Custom Photo Books & Albums option is great for families looking to personalize a family vacation , as you can choose colors, layouts, cover styles, collages, captions and more. Peruse its vast collection of more than 300 unique book covers, or shop the premium lay-flat and special occasion photo books.

You can also have fun with the Instagram and Facebook series — a 6" x 6" or 8" x 8" book with 60 pages — that lets you store your favorite social media posts in a tangible place to look back on for years to come.

Unique to Chatbooks is its subscription service, which allows you to receive a softcover, hardcover or mini photo book each month. If you and your family love taking photographs of walks in the park, weekend road trips or vacations, this service is ideal for getting your photos in your hands ASAP. One thing to note about the subscription option is that there are only two sizes available (5" x 7" and the monthly mini).

How we choose the best photo book makers

At the Good Housekeeping Institute , our pros in the Media & Tech Lab have been testing photo book makers for more than a decade . For this article, we referenced a robust test of photo book makers completed in 2009, examined updates to apps and ordered new products to test in 2023.

When choosing the best photo book makers, our Lab experts consider ease of use, performance and appearance . That means our pros take an in-depth look at a wide range of features, such as how easy it is to navigate the interface and add photos and text to the book; upload and delivery time; the number of styles, covers and templates offered; and the photo, paper and binding quality.

What to look for when shopping for the best custom photo book maker

Keep the following features in mind when choosing the right photo book maker website for your needs:

✔️ Size: Whether you're looking for a small photo book for kids or a much larger album to house snapshots from a long family vacation, there are regular, large and miniature photo book sizes available. It's best to think about how many photos you want to include and where you plan to store the album (i.e., will the book be too tall for your bookshelf or just right on top of your coffee table?).

✔️ Shape: Most photo books are rectangular or square in shape, but some companies also offer photo puzzles, calendars and tabletops to choose from too. The shape is really about aesthetic preference and the orientation you prefer for your photos.

✔️ Page count: Are you compiling 20 photos from your daughter's first-birthday party? Or are you putting together an anniversary album of pictures of you and your partner throughout the years? The number of pages determines the number of photos you can include in an album, so you have enough space to include everything.

✔️ Paper quality: This is probably a no-brainer, as the quality of material your photos are printed on is as important as the quality of the photos themselves. Although companies with higher-quality paper, like Artifact Uprising , may have a higher price tag, the extra money goes toward paper that won't lead to photos bleeding into the crease. But there are still services that are affordable and offer good-quality products, like our best value pick, Walmart Photo .

✔️ Binding quality: Some companies, like Google Photos , will add a binding to your photo album. This feature is especially important when considering the durability and longevity of your photo album. Whether it's a softcover, hardcover or lay-flat book, make sure the binding can withstand accidental drops and the wear and tear of passing the family album around at holiday parties.

✔️ Templates: If your photo album will have a certain theme or be centered around a specific occasion — or it's your first time using a photo book maker — choosing a service that has a variety of templates to choose from will let your creativity flow and also help you warm up to the design process.

✔️ Editing capabilities: When looking at beginner-level or more advanced designer tools, consider how robust or simple they are to use. Having lots of control over the interface is fun, but if you're looking for a more straightforward experience, opt for a service that does the majority of the decision-making for you or offers designer help, like Shutterfly .

What is the easiest way to make a custom photo book?

" It really depends upon the service and your preference ," Rothman says. Although some online custom photo book makers also have an app, it can have limited functionality, be buggy or not as easy to use as the desktop equivalent. "Often, an app makes it super simple to upload pictures from your phone (a major plus!) but doesn't allow as much flexibility for product assortment or editing once you've selected." That said, designing a photo book on your smartphone or tablet versus a desktop may come down to how many edits you intend to make .

"If you plan to do a lot of editing, the non-app version on a larger screen would likely be your best choice. If you want to quickly make a book with limited changes, an app on your mobile device may be the way to go," Rothman explains.

Why trust Good Housekeeping?

Elizabeth Berry is the updates editor at the Good Housekeeping Institute , where she ensures product reviews reflect accurate information. Prior to this role, she was an editorial assistant at Woman's Day , where she covered everything from gift guides to recipes.

To update this article, Elizabeth collaborated with former Good Housekeeping Institute Chief Technologist & Executive Technical Director Rachel Rothman to gather testing notes regarding current picks. Rachel, who has tested several of the best photo book makers on this list, has more than 15 years of experience evaluating thousands of products, including toys and cars for Good Housekeeping’s annual Best Toy Awards and Best New Family Cars programs.

Amina Lake Abdelrahman is a product review writer and editor who worked as an editorial assistant at the Good Housekeeping Institute from 2018 to 2020, writing original content based on GH Institute Lab experts' product testing and analysis.

Amina is a product review writer and editor who worked as an editorial assistant in the Good Housekeeping Institute from 2018 to 2020, writing original content based on GH Lab experts' product testing and analysis. Amina graduated from Montclair State University with a B.A. in communication studies and journalism.

Elizabeth Berry (she/her) is the Updates Editor at the Good Housekeeping Institute where she optimizes lifestyle content across verticals. Prior to this role, she was an Editorial Assistant for Woman’s Day where she covered everything from gift guides to recipes. She also has experience fact checking commerce articles and holds a B.A. in English and Italian Studies from Connecticut College.

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