How often have you wondered if it is possible to leave for a destination without spending a fortune?
How to find flight and hotel deals to plan a low-cost trip?
Nowadays, you can find so many low-cost travel websites online that offer cheap flights, hotels, or tour packages that it has become hard to disentangle among the numerous available proposals. So if you want to arrange your trip, the most important thing is to identify the best and most useful travel websites and concentrate your research on only a few of them, to avoid wasting time and immediately find what is more suitable for you.
Below are listed the travel e-commerce companies or global travel search engines we use when we start to arrange our trips around the world. We believe in them because they continually offer the best deals or periodically discounts.
ACCOMMODATION
One of the best ways to take a cheap holiday is to cut down on accommodation costs. The travellers’ tastes are always different, some prefer hostels, other low-medium budget hotels, others high-level hotels, but without a doubt, the thing we have in common is that we want to save money.
BOOKING.COM: What could we say? It is the most known website in the world. With Booking.com, you can reserve your accommodation through many facilities and decide when to pay (it is a beneficial thing if you change your mind).
AGODA: We also use Agoda everywhere, this site has more accommodations in Asia than any other travel site, and it offers excellent rates. Moreover, using Agoda and its PointMAX program, you can earn miles with your favourite airline company when you book accommodation!
AIRBNB: Long or short period is not essential because it is always a great option. It is an alternative accommodation engine research that connects you with homeowners who rent out their homes, apartments or just a room. You’ll get all the comforts of home and the chance to stay in a local non-touristy place in the city.
HOTELS.COM: Good company where you can find deals, and it has an interesting free bonus: booking 10 nights in a row, you’ll get a free night. You can choose more than 297.000 accommodations worldwide and save money if you travel for an extended period.
HOSTELWORLD: The best choice if you want to save money and meet people worldwide is to sleep in a hostel. Hostelworld is the best hostel accommodation site with the largest inventory, best search interface, and highest availability.
TRIP.COM: It is an excellent network if you have to travel to Asia. Part of the Ctrip Group has more than 1.2 million hotels in 200 countries, while the flight network has over 2 million individual flight routes connecting more than 5,000 cities around the globe.
FLIGHT
The price of airline tickets depends on different factors and is another significant thing that can cut down the cost of your trip. Thorough research through the web can help to get excellent opportunities.
SKYSCANNER: Our top choice is handy for finding the cheapest flight tickets and very good even if you are still undecided about your destination: are you sick of the same places? Do you need some help or a new idea about planning a vacation or weekend and don’t know where/when to go? Skyscanner can help you, just put your departure destination and let Skyscanner’s ideas inspire you!
12GO.ASIA: The best choice if you are going to travel to Asia. It is a great booking system for flights, buses, trains, ferries, and transfers with the broadest coverage in Southeast Asia. Currently, 12go.Asia.com covers 15 countries, and more than 1.000.000 travellers are using this excellent service monthly.
TRIP.COM: It is an excellent network if you have to travel to Asia. Part of the Ctrip Group has more than 1.2 million hotels in 200 countries, while the flight network has over 2 million individual flight routes connecting more than 5,000 cities around the globe.
VOLAGRATIS: As Skyscanner, their calendar will help you compare and find the cheapest way to get to your destination, including low-cost companies. It is a good choice if you decide to travel around Europe.
MOMONDO: It is another of our favourite search engines where you can find excellent deals since they search the small booking sites no one else does. Their calendar is handy because it lets you see which days are the cheapest to fly. It’s always our starting point for flights research.
TOURS
You might have only a few times or days for your visit, or you want to try a specific trip or activity, so sometimes it’s worth booking a tour package to save time and get the most out of your stay.
KLOOK: It helps you get the best from destinations by providing a great choice of local tours and attractions: Klook helps travellers get the best from destinations by providing a great selection of local tours and attractions bookable on multiple devices. When we visit a place, we like to experience new things, and it is more than just “things to do”: their range includes temporary, exclusive, hidden-gem and even free activities. Use the site for planning and the app for ”on-the-go” decisions as you hack the city with hints and tips from local experts.
GETYOURGUIDE: Online platform for third-party companies to list their products for users to quickly find activities like sightseeing tours, adventure activities, multiple day tours, alternative tours, attractions passes and much more. Wherever you are, you can book your activities and tour through this incredible global inventory that currently offers more than 40,000 products worldwide. You can use the website or their app.
VIATOR: It is a TripAdvisor company and one of the wide-ranging online tours and activities booking agencies. Viator is a leading seller of tours online with more than 2,000 destinations worldwide and thousands of options from walking tours to whale-watching trips or cooking classes. Travellers can book activities via the website and mobile apps.
INSURANCE
Travel insurance is the most important thing you need during a tour abroad, and it will protect you and cover your expenses for illness, injury, thefts and any accidents that might happen. Do not leave home without insurance!
TRUETRAVELLER: It is one of the best value travel insurance but is only available for the UK and European citizens. It’s advantageous because they allow you to purchase insurance when you are already travelling and don’t require a return ticket as many companies do.
WORLD NOMADS: This is another excellent company that allows you to buy insurance when you are already abroad. They have great customer service, competitive prices, and in-depth coverage, which is excellent for long-term travellers. Lonely Planet and National Geographic also recommend them, and we mostly use them for our trips.
TRANSPORTATION
The best way to save money when you are moving around a country or a city is to use the local transport.
12GO.ASIA: The best choice if you are going to travel to Asia. It is a great booking system for buses, trains, ferries, transfers and flights with the broadest coverage in Southeast Asia. Currently, 12go.Asia covers 15 countries, and more than 1.000.000 travellers are using this excellent service monthly.
ROME2RIO: This website shows you how to get to your destination in the cheapest way possible. Just enter your departure and arrival destination, and it will give you all the transportation available: bus, train, plane or boat routes. It is effortless to use and is one of the best transportation websites.
OMIO: Search and booking platform for travel by train, bus and plane. Compare and book train, bus or flight tickets for your destination in many countries worldwide using the web version or mobile app. Choose the cheapest and fastest routes from over 800 official partners.
INTERRAIL: This is a unique and exciting way to travel in many countries. One train pass to help you open doors to new destinations, cultures and friendships all over Europe. You can choose from over 40,000 destinations in 31 countries, designing a European adventure that’s personal to you.
EURAIL: Eurail Pass, the official Brand for Non-European train travellers, is an all-in-one train ticket giving you flexible access to most trains across Europe. Unlike traditional train tickets, with Eurail, you can go wherever you want, whenever you want. It offers a range of discounted passes to travel by train, and travellers can choose from 2nd class + 1st class and various rail passes.
GUIDE & ADVICE
Before visiting a country, the most useful thing is to know about its history, local culture and customs, and its ”top attractions” and the ”best things to do”. On our trips, the Lonely Planet guidebook is a must.
LONELY PLANET: Well, it doesn’t need any presentation because it is well known worldwide. Lonely Planet is a leading global travel information company. For over 40 years, Lonely Planet has been the leader in travel guide book publishing, renowned for its first-hand approach and commitment to providing the best information for travellers.
TRIPADVISOR: This is another useful tool that doesn’t need any presentation. The world’s largest travel community, TripAdvisor has over 630 million reviews and opinions of hotels, restaurants, attractions and more by travellers like you. So if you are planning a trip or are already abroad, but you need some information, search on the website and find out the reviews left by the customers.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links, and we will earn a percentage of the sale if you purchase through them at absolutely no extra cost to you!
