Being a happy traveler is easier with the right resources. There are millions of travel websites; many are useful while many are not. While every traveler and trip can justify using different websites, the following are perhaps most likely to make you a happy traveler.
Websites That Will Make You a Happy Traveler
1. Yelp
One common theme for any trip—whether a road trip with an Airbnb stay or a flight with hotel—is eating. My favorite website for dining suggestions is Yelp, which houses reviews provided by people who have actually eaten there. Everyone wants to give their opinions. Right? It is not all about high ratings, either. I find that 3 star places are often more enjoyable than 4.5 star places.
>>> For more Travel Happiness, read this article >>> Decisions to Help You Travel Happy.
2. Secret Flying
My latest guilty pleasure is Secret Flying. They uncover and report drastically reduced and mistake airfares. It is a window shopping dream. In the past 24 hours they listed $418 roundtrip fares between Los Angeles and Australia and $434 roundtrip between Chicago to Japan. Subscribe to their daily newsletter to automatically receive a recap or follow their Twitter account for convenience.
>>> For more Travel Happiness, read this article >>> 3 Habits of Happy Travelers.
3. Travelzoo
I look forward to receiving my Travelzoo newsletter every Wednesday morning. Each newsletter is chock full of deals—all good and some unbelievable—on flights, lodging, activities, and tours. Travelzoo also sends out a Travelzoo Newsflash when there is an expiring deal. A current Travelzoo deal is $999 for an 8 night upscale vacation in China.
>>> For more Travel Happiness, read this article >>> Travel Hacks for Happy Travelers
4. Airbnb
The sharing economy has transformed the travel industry and using Airbnb should definitely make you a happy traveler. While there are many advantages of Airbnb properties, my favorite is enjoying more space and amenities at a lower price compared to hotels.
>>> For more Travel Happiness, read this article >>> Travel Experiences That Will Make You Happy
5. Skyscanner
While there are many travel websites for booking flights and hotels, the features of Skyscanner might be the most fun. Find lowest airfares on a specific date (boring) or ask Skyscanner to find the Cheapest Month. Search from your home airport to another airport (yawn) or have Skyscanner find the lowest airfare from an airport in US to Everywhere in the world in the next year. Fun stuff.
>>> For more Travel Happiness, read this article >>> Road Trip Habits of Happy Travelers
6. Autoslash
For the lowest possible car rental rates, I use Autoslash. Autoslash can track existing reservations made elsewhere (like at Hertz and National) or allows you to make new reservations. Autoslash can automatically rebook when rates drop, which should make you a very happy traveler since you do not have to keep rechecking your reservation.
Which travel websites make you a happy traveler?
Thanks … the list of website for booking the cheap flights is great. This is useful who looking the cheap flights.
Thank you, Alex. Hope y’all travel happy whenever and wherever you go.
I am totally trying those sites! Appreciate the post like that!
Thank you for the note, Kyli. Travel Happy!
Great tips I had not heard of some of those sites so am off to check them out
Well, I am happy to introduce you to some new travel websites. Hope they help you travel cheaper, longer, or better in some way.
I’ve not used any of these websites but Know a couple of friends who have travelled with Skyscanner. Thanks for these tips.
You are certainly welcome. Thank you for the note.
One of my favorites is TripIt!
Thank you, Mike. Great to know. I know many pro travelers like TripIt.
Great travel hacks, especially the one about a special meal on a plane. I always try to book a hotel room that at least has a kettle/coffee maker as I don’t eat big breakfasts. Wish I didn’t have to enter my email address, etc for AutoSlash, but I might try it out to see if it beats AutoEurope’s prices.
It is free so worth a try, I say. Personally, I have saved 100s of dollars on some rentals so that is why I love AutoSlash.
I like this article this is so informative.
Than you, Aditi. Travel Happy!
Great post, did not know about secrete flying, will definitely have to check this out 🙂 thank you!!
Excellent. Let me know what you think.
I did not know about Secret Flying~ thanks for the introduction!
My pleasure!
Can’t wait to check out Secret Flying. I hope I can control myself!
Secret Flying is a dangerous website for window (or aisle) shopping. Travel Happy!
I’ve gone on some good deals with TravelZoo and can’t wait to check out SecretFlying. I like the app Skiplagged. They show itineraries you won’t find on a lot of other apps or sites and present it easily so you can see time and cost at a glance.
Thank you for suggesting SkipLagged.
I need to check out Secret Flyer!!
Let me know what you think about Secret Flying.
Never heard of SecretFlying we’ll definitely check it out! Nice list Charles!
Thank you, Sue. It is fun crowd sourcing happy travel resources.
Secret Flying and Autoslash sound cool, McCool. I will give them a try.
If you do, let me know your thoughts.
Secret Flying is new to me too, and thanks for the reminder about some of the others. Love these inspirational and useful posts 🙂
Aw, thank you for the kind words, Johanna. Helping people Travel Happy is my mission.
Secret Flying is amazing–thanks for the tip!!!
Thanks a bunch, Cindy!
Thanks, this is a really fun list. AutoSlash and Secret Flying are new to me. So now we’re following them!
Travel should be fun, Kristin. Thank you for the note.
Wow I’ve only tried Airbnb and Yelp, use them both a lot!
Will have to look into the rest of these websites for my future travel happiness 🙂
Thank you for the tips!
Hi Susan. What else makes you a happy traveler? 😀
Agree wholeheartedly with your choices. Those websites are great. Secretflying and Autoslash are new ones to me. I love finding deals so these will be great to check out.
Let me know how you like the new resources, Janice.
I THINK I figured out how to subscribe to Secret Flying – hope so! I look at Flight Deal several times a day too, and recently grabbed a cheap flight from IAD to Victoria – have always wanted to see the Butchart Gardens and we’ll finally get to do so on a very quick summer trip!
Fantastic. A quick trip to YVR is better than no trip. Enjoy!
I’m so dorky–I get SO happy when I see my TravelZoo newsletter hit my inbox each week! 🙂 That’s usually followed by me trying to convince my husband that we’ve got to go off on another trip! I’m going to have to add a few of these into my regular web browsing rotation!
Nice… Secret flying is new to me:) Thank you so much…
You are welcome. Travel Happy!
I’m heading straight over to Secret Flying to see if there are any cheap fares from Australia to anywhere in the world! The fare from LA to Oz is super cheap! Thanks for the tips Charles.
Good luck. They reported on great fares all over the world and I hope you nail one from Down Under.
I can’t believe I’ve still never used airbnb! I’ve never heard of a couple of these so will definitely be checking them out now! 🙂
Of course I totally encourage you to try Airbnb. Let me know about your experience when you do.
Great list, thanks Charles! We use Yelp all the time but need to check the rest of these.
Excellent. When you do, let me know what you think.
I do use yelp all the time but none of the others. Might give them a try.
Fantastic! Give them a go.
What some great suggestions Charles. I’m going to add Yelp and Secret Flying to my list. I already use and love Skyscanner. Such a useful post, thank you!
Thank you, Jo. 😀
Great websites! Never heard of Secret Flyer so we will definitely check that one out!
Let me know what you think.
Thank you for this! I definitely recommend skyscanner. I use it for its emails where you search for the flight you want and then get an e-mail whenever the price of that flight goes up or down. And I’m a big fan of Airbnb too. I’ve used it when I was traveling on a very tight budget, but also when we needed a whole house for the whole family, and at both ends of the scale it’s never let me down. I never heard of Secret Flying before, but I just subscribed!
Thank you for the confirmations. Let me know what you think of Secret Flying.
Thanks for your great tips and I plan to make Sky Scanner my go-to website when I book my next trip as well as sign up for Secret Flying. And here’s my endorsement for AirBnB – We use it first when booking reservations and recently stayed in a lovely apartment in Seville and an awesome Riad in Fez. And AirBnB reimbursed plus gave us a coupon the one time a place was not as advertised. Anita
Anita, glad you have found great deals (and even a credit) from Airbnb. Great score!
What a great list! I always read yelp reviews for everything both at home and when traveling. I especially love Skyscanner’s everywhere feature and Secret Flying for finding great deals.
Glad you enjoy the same resources. Travel Happy!
I’ve used Yelp and just recently Airbnb and have had good experiences with both. I have also found VRBO to be useful – I’ve found a couple of great, reasonable home rentals there. I did not know about Travelzoo and am going to be adding that to my list. Thanks.
VRBO is great. Thank you for the note.
Awesome. What I like most is Secret flying. I am wondering, how they get this deals. Anyways its a good option for me also now.. Thanks again for sharing it 🙂
Not sure how they find the deals but I like seeing them.
Awesome post! Have added Travelzoo and Secret Flying to my list. Thanks for these awesome resources.
Thank you for the visit and note, Alice. Travel Happy!
I was going to comment on my experience with Yelp but then I saw Secret Flying. Never heard of it but will be a keen observer from now on.
Secret Flying is my new favorite resource. Love the flight deals they find.
I have regually compared skyscanner to momondo for international flights. i have always found that momondo comes out on top, not sure why. I still chech skyscanner regually in hope that they will have a cheaper price
Oh, yeah, Momondo is a nice one. I prefer the Skyscanner interface and fun way of looking for fares. Truth, I always, well almost always, buy from the airline’s website, anyway.
Great List.. I visit NationalParksIamges.org for travel to National Parks
Thank you for the suggestion, Vik.
I love secret flying! I check them everyday. Have you tried theflightdeal.com? Very similar to Secret Flying, but they occasionally have some different deals.
Absolutely. I have followed The Flight Deal, like forever. Love their daily emails. Travel Happy!
Thanks for the tip on Secret Flying, new one for me. Subscribing to newsletter now. 🙂
You got it. Travel Happy, Bob.
I know them already, but you remind me differently. These lists are inspiring.
Nice to know. Thank you.
Its my pleasure!! You will be glad to know that we are also working to make travel more easy with our hotel booking website. Our target is to provide a better experience to traveler with a easy booking system. Looking forward to hear from you about our site.