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TRAVEL
25 Best Travel Sites
by Sean O’Neill
Even if you're a last-minute planner, it is possible to satisfy wanderlust without consuming too much dough. Use these top Web sites to find the best travel bargains. Best Fares
The big three online travel agents are equally adept at finding the lowest (or almost the lowest) fares on 21-day advance-purchase airline tickets.
Discount airlines don't submit their fares to Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity. So if you are looking for low-cost tickets, be sure to check
"Fare scrapers" baldly rip off fares (and hotel rates and car rental rates) from multiple Web sites, including the discount airlines you won't find on the big three. Sidestep.com searches about 100 travel sites, and no longer requires you to download its software to your computer. Newcomer service Kayak.com has a friendlier interface but only searches about 60 travel sites.
For international flights visit LowesTravel.com, which offers tickets on over 600 airlines.
For round-the-world airfares, you'll often find the best price at Airtreks, which has an online estimator for calculating multi-stop trips abroad.
Hotels
Online travel agents Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity find comparable deals on hotel rooms for most destinations. But many hotels offer special Internet-only rates on their own Web sites. So be sure to check a hotel's own site after you have searched at your favorite online agency, and be aware that many Internet specials come with strict cancellation policies.
The fastest method for booking rooms at upscale hotels in the 74 top U.S. cities is to use Quikbook, which covers only about 1,000 hotels. You can now search by neighborhood or by level of amenities. Another perk: Deals you must prepay are marked "Prepay" on first sight. Most other sites do not clearly say upfront that you have to prepay to book their rates.
If it's luxury you want, you'll find specific hotels at bargain rates at LuxRes.com.
For booking large groups, visit Groople.com, which helps parties of four or more people book hotel rooms (and other travel products) in bulk. It stands out from booking services that limit the number of rooms you can book at once. Expedia restricts you to three rooms, for example, and Orbitz allows you only two. (Travelocity uses Groople to book reservations of five or more rooms.)
The deepest bargains can be found by using two Web services that sell rooms (and airline tickets and rental cars) without disclosing the name of the hotel until you buy: Hotwire.com and Priceline.com. The rates offered for four-star hotels are usually the best values. Our kvetch is that neither site refunds your money if you cancel. Hotwire.com is the easiest to use because it shows set prices upfront.
At Priceline.com, you submit a bid after you specify star class and at least two neighborhoods in a metro area. Priceline.com uniquely offers you the chance to earn free "anything points" at eBay if you book your travel through its page on that auction site. Priceline.com users can improve the chances that they'll submit a winning bid that's the lowest possible by checking the message boards at Biddingfortravel.com, where recent Priceline.com users note their successful and unsuccessful bids.
The best bargains at resorts are to be had by bidding on resort packages from Luxury Link. This Web services offers discounted stays with the caveat that you must be flexible about your travel dates, which you pick from a limited range after you pay.
For international hotel booking, consider LateRooms.com, a British-based site that has last-minute bargains at 50,000 hotels in countries such as Canada, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. It quotes rates in the local currency, but offers a currency conversion calculator.
Car Rentals
Although the big three online travel agents present car-rental information clearly, we've found some of the best deals by comparing prices at Breezenet. The service, which gathers rates from top rental car companies for the top metro airports, is especially helpful for those looking to pick up and drop off a car only at an airport.
For foreign rentals, visit AutoEurope.com.
This Maine-based company recently returned better rates than other online booking sites (for comparable vehicles) in our recent searches for rental cars in England, Greece, Ireland and Spain. Plus, they offer 24-hour customer service.
To save money at airport parking lots, visit the aptly named AirportDiscountParking site, which will direct you to the bargain lots.
Package Deals
In many cases, you can book the best deals when you book airfare, hotel rooms or cars as part of a package.
The best vacation packages are summarized by a free, online travel newsletter called Smarter Living. Site59 does the best job of putting together last-minute vacation packages in our tests and caters to those planning just a week in advance of departure.
The best custom vacation packages are offered by the top three online travel agencies: Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity. These sites recently began to let you choose which hotel, flight and rental cars you would like to combine, rather than offer packages where the individual parts are already chosen for you. The good news: You may see big price breaks with these vacation packages because airlines, hotel chains and rental-car companies like to bury discounts in packages that don't break out the prices -- and spark a price war.
Cruise Deals
Most cruises are still booked through traditional travel agents. Yet CruiseCompete offers discounts of up to 25% off standard cruise rates. At the site, 99 travel agencies vie to give you the best prices for dates and ports you specify well in advance or at the eleventh hour.
The best cruise review site is Cruisemates.
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