Easy Travel Guide
Try Kayak For Air Travel
When it comes to getting the best deal on travel expenses including flights, hotels, and car rentals everyone knows about sites like Travelocity, Orbitz, and Expedia. What some people don’t know is that simplest way to find the best price on a flight is by using a multi-site search engine like Kayak. Kayak is the brain-child derived from founders of the above mentioned online travel agencies and will search hundreds of travel sites for flights, hotels, and car rentals. It does all this in a matter of seconds with one simple search!
Then Check Southwest
If you had to choose just one place to go for booking travel online, then Kayak is the place. There is one thing that one should be aware of: Kayak does not search Southwest Airlines. Not really a big deal, but it is wise to know that Southwest often times has a better deal than some of its competitors.
Get A Hotel Deal
One of the newer features of Kayak allows you to search sites such as Priceline, Hotels.com, Travelocity, and Expedia separately by checking the appropriate box when you perform a search. This is especially important to do when you are trying to find a hotel. You can often times find extra perks and a different selection of hotels.
One search that we did for a trip to Las Vegas discovered that Travelocity was giving away $100 in free meal coupons and game play at a 4 star hotel not listed on either Expedia or Orbitz. Checking the separate search box was necessary to discover this.
Priceline It If You Have Time
Placing a bid on Priceline is also a great option if you aren’t too picky about where you stay. Note that the star ratings for hotels are based on the quality of the restaurants inside. Some places have 4 star restaurants and 2 star services. You might not get free internet access, etc.
Book Your Car Rental
Although the hotel booking can get a little sketchy with Priceline, bidding on a car rental can land you a killer deal! Just pick your class and start bidding low. I’ve personally booked car rentals for 30% off the prices that came up on Kayak or anywhere else for that matter.
Consider a Travel Credit Card
If you travel even moderately a credit card used just for travel expenses can be a great asset. 3 of the best travel cards we’ve come across are the Alaska Airlines Card from Bank of America, the Discover Miles Card, and the Starwood Business Preferred Card.
The Discover Miles Card has no fees, 12K bonus points, and pays 2 points per dollar spent on dining and travel expenses. The Alaska Airlines card has a great rebate, bonus points, a free annual companion ticket, but it charges an small annual fee and is limited to several airlines. The Starwood Business Preferred Card is probably the best card for free stays at higher end hotels and resorts.
Note: Please note that credit card rebates are only great assets if you are responsible enough to pay your balance off every month!
Summary
- Search flights on Kayak
- Search flights on Southwest
- Search hotels on Kayak (click the additional search boxes too)
- Consider booking a hotel at Priceline
- Rent a car at Priceline
- Cut your travel expenses!
- Consider a travel rebate card
10 Ways to Save in 2010
This is how I search for travel, and you are right, I have found that Southwest is often cheaper, although most of their flights require a connecting flight, it’s worth it if you save a bit of money!