This is not a drill! Today is the first annual National Shop for Travel Day. So basically, you could say this is my new favourite day of the year. The national day was founded by the Travel Technology Association, and officially proclaimed by the Registrar at National Day Calendar to be observed each year on the second Tuesday of January.
In honour of such a day, I think we should all get the day off work to shop for our dream vacations! And, since I know that’s not going to happen, instead I’ve compiled a list of my five favourite travel sites to book travel. I’ve ordered them from five to one to end with my absolute favourite travel resource.
5. Cruise Critic
I have used this for all four of my cruises to help do price comparisons with other websites, and search for reviews from past cruisers. I found the reviews to be very helpful as they provide insight on the ship, entertainment, food, cabins and general onboard experiences.
4. Seat Guru
When I’m traveling, I like to book my plane seat in advance. This site helps me easily find a seat map of the specific aircraft and has additional information about the in-flight amenities (audio, video, AC power, washrooms). Flyers can also submit reviews of their seats to advise fellow travelers if the seat is good, bad or if you should be aware of anything.
3. Redtag
If I’m searching for cruises I will use RedTag. I find that they have one of the better online experiences for searching for cruises from multiple lines at once. I’ve booked three cruises directly with RedTag and only one with the cruise line directly and had no issues. Each time I booked with RedTag they had a better offer than what was on the cruise line’s website.
2. Expedia
My favourite site for “all-purpose” travel is Expedia. This is where I book the majority of my all-inclusive vacations, flights, hotels, activities and rental cars. I really like how easy it is to book your entire trip from start to finish with this site, and have had only good experiences to date. A favourite feature of mine is their “Manage Trips” section where it saves most of your trip information and itineraries (except for bookings that are confirmed directly by the tour operator – those you only get emails!) which is very helpful to be able to refer to one place.
1. TripAdvisor
This is my number one resource for booking travel, activities and restaurants. Before I book anything, I go here to read the reviews, look at the traveler photos and get a better feel for the place. I also like to contribute my own reviews of places I’ve been to, and have over 100 reviews on my profile TheAverageTourist. Definitely my favourite and the most helpful travel site I use when travel planning.
So there you have it, my five personal favourite sites to shop for travel. I know there are many different sites to book travel these days. What are your personal faves? Share them in the comment section below!
