10 Invaluable Booking Sites

Skyscanner

Don't know your exact travel dates or even where you want to fly? That's not a problem at Skyscanner. This handy flight search engine lets you look at tickets from a specific airport or city to "everywhere," and it will find the cheapest available flights to destinations all over the world. And if you know where you want to go but not when, Skyscanner also lets you search by exact date, month, or year.

Airbnb

Who wants a tiny hotel room when you could have a whole apartment for yourself or your group? Airbnb lets you reserve everything from a couch in someone's Manhattan apartment to an entire villa in Italy. Prices are often cheaper than hotels, too. We like Airbnb for its gorgeous layout, especially the "wish list" galleries that showcase atypical accommodations like snow domes and trains. (And if you love Airbnb, you should check out FlipKey, our sister site, which offers more than 170,000 vacation rentals.)

Hipmunk

Don't you hate searching for travel deals only to find out that the super-cheap flight you found leaves at 4:00 a.m. and involves three layovers? Or that the bargain hotel is actually miles away from anything worth seeing? Hipmunk aims to take the hassle out of travel planning by displaying flight search results on a visual graph, which you can sort by "agony" (factoring in layovers, departure time, etc.), price, duration, and more. It even automatically shows you Amtrak alternatives, if available. Hotel options are shown on a map so you'll get a sense of exactly where you're staying before you book, and we like that it displays reviews from our sister site, TripAdvisor.

Momondo

Momondo is a one-stop shop if you're searching for flights, hotels, rental cars, vacation homes, travel guides, or other inspiration. We like Momondo because it uses automated Internet crawlers to search for the best airfares on more than 700 websites, which means it shows you small and local airlines that don't always appear in other search results.

Tingo

Tingo is a game-changer in the hotel-booking industry, and we're not just saying that because it's one of our sister sites. The concept is simple: Just book a hotel on Tingo that has a "Money Back" icon, and if the price drops before you travel, Tingo will automatically rebook you at the lower rate and refund you the difference. Best of all, you don't even have to watch prices in order to get a refund—Tingo does it for you.

Bing Travel

It's always tough to decide when to pull the trigger on booking airfare. Should you book now, or will prices go down in the future? Bing Travel is the closest thing flyers have to a crystal ball. Use the site's Price Predictor and it will advise you whether or not you should buy now or wait. You can also view the fare history for a specific itinerary so you can see for yourself if prices on a certain route have been rising or falling lately.

Airfarewatchdog

What makes Airfarewatchdog different from other flight-search tools? It tracks bargain flights on thousands of routes, and it verifies availability before it posts them. Plus, all of the fares featured on the site have recently dropped in price, are lower than average, or are unadvertised specials. We recommend signing up for the fare-alert emails, which track fares on specific routes for you. Or, sign up for alerts on any low fares from your local airport. (Note: Airfarewatchdog is owned by Smarter Travel Media and also powers SmarterTravel's Departure City Fare Alert and City to City Route Alert emails.)

Yapta

Did you know that many major airlines will refund the difference in price for tickets that are cheaper after you book? It's true, and Yapta will help you get your refund. Simply save your flight details on the site and Yapta will track the price, send you alerts, and help you claim your refund if the price goes down. Alaska, JetBlue, and AirTran all offer refunds for any price drop, and others (including Virgin America, United, and Delta) will refund you if the price decreases beyond a certain amount.

Kayak and TripAdvisor Flights

Kayak is invaluable for booking airfare if you have flexible dates. Its handy fare calendar lets you see at a glance how the price would change on various dates throughout the month. You can also search for specific dates, and the site will display cheap fares and special "Hacker Fares" (in which, to save money, you book two one-way tickets on different airlines rather than one round-trip flight). You can also use Kayak to search for hotels and car rentals, plus general deals with keywords like "ski," "romantic," or "beach," if you're not sure where you want to go. We also recommend TripAdvisor's flight-search tool for its vast and organized results display.

BedandBreakfast.com

You typically won't find homey bed and breakfasts by searching on Hotels.com or Expedia. If you're looking for somewhere cozy to stay, check out BedandBreakfast.com. Whether you're in the mood for a mountain getaway or a New York City escape (yes, even the Big Apple has B&Bs), BedandBreakfast.com is the best and easiest search engine we've found for this specific type of lodging. Plus, it often has discounts on properties, and you can sign up for deal alerts and promo codes.

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