Our Favorite Vacation Deals and Booking Sites

We are often asked how to save money with vacation deals, so we are sharing our favorite sites for discount travel booking. We really do use them all.

You can click on any of these site ads, search for your needs and pay for your bookings through them, knowing they are trustworthy.  Through our affiliate relationship with them, we will get a small commission payment. Our commission doesn’t cost you anything; it comes from the vendor and helps support our community. Rest assured, you will pay the exact same price if you visited the site directly.

Favorite Site for Searching for Flights

Our favorite place to begin a flight search and check out a variety of options is Google Flights. We use their Calendar Tool to look for alternate dates. We use their Flight Alert option to keep track of rising or falling ticket prices on our preferred routes. If you click on any of Google Flight’s options, you are sent to that airline’s website for booking. Take a look at their airfare trends study over the past five years to see how far out you should book to find the best deal on your next flight.

Favorite Site for Booking Airfare & Vacation Deals

In general, we like Priceline and find they have good prices on most travel needs. However, we are often asked if packaging a trip makes more economic sense. The answer usually depends on how many people will be traveling on the same itinerary. While it might make sense to buy a flight-hotel-car rental bundle for two people on the same trip (and these are widely available at all the online travel agencies), this type of all-in-one package would not make sense for three or four people, because the other travelers would pay a premium for a room or rental car that the first two travelers had already paid for.

Another option is Expedia, which often creates packages based on exclusive inventory you won’t find elsewhere.

The best advice we have — do your homework. Price your trip a few different ways and make the best choice for your needs.

Favorite Site for Hotel Search  & Booking

Our favorite vacation deals site for hotel bookings is Booking.com

Good Alternative Vacation Deals Site for Vacation Rental

While Airbnb does a great job and gets all the attention for vacation rental bookings, we still like Vrbo for vacation rentals.

Favorite Site for Vacation Deals on Rental Cars

Most travelers have deals on rental cars through their loyalty programs. These days, those deals can be tough to find. Look for good rates on the top Rental Car brands at Priceline. We find them pretty transparent about prices compared to sites that obscure all the extra fees. Priceline hotel savings can be up to 60% off which is very good too.

Favorite Site for Booking Attractions

We think the Viator site is great for booking attractions in advance of arrival, and it sure saves time waiting in line.

Favorite Site for Camera Gear and Travel Electronics

Like the rest of you probably, we begin our travel gear searches on Amazon because it’s a huge and well priced marketplace. Plus we always find new gadgets and good ideas!

Good luck with your vacation planning, and please share your favorite booking sites in the Comments section below.