The Best Online Travel Websites

Travelocity.com offers features such as the Experience Finder, which provides maps, videos, and advice about prospective destinations.  A unique service Travelocity offers is their Before You Go program.  According to their website, they will “contact you to let you know if we become aware of anything that might hinder your enjoyment of your trip, such as hotel construction or a closed pool, and we'll help you make other arrangements.” This could be particularly useful for travelers who are on-the-go, as many people don’t have time to check conditions ahead of time.  Their proactive FareWatcher Plus feature simply asks users to list their top 10 desired destinations; as soon as a price changes or a special offer becomes available for that destination, Travelocity will automatically email you.

The Expedia Fare Alert feature is a downloadable tool that travelers can utilize for free.  When the best fares for a particular destination become available, Expedia is able to send them right to your desktop.  Covering 1,800 destinations, Expedia’s Currency Converter can certainly come in handy when budgeting for a trip out of the country.  Furthermore, Expedia has a clear desire to stay competitive; if you book via their website and find a cheaper rate for the same trip somewhere else, they will pay you the difference and issue you a $50 voucher towards future travel.

Priceline.com differentiates itself from competitors by permanently eliminating all booking fees on published airlines.  The site’s Name Your Own Price feature offers a guarantee in writing that you will get the best possible purchase price on flights you book.  If, within 24 hours of purchasing your Name Your Own Price tickets, you find a better rate for the same flight and fare class, Priceline.com will refund 100% of the difference.  Furthermore, Priceline.com offers no change or cancellation fees, a feature that many users see as an important benefit that aligns with last-minute changes that travel often requires.  Aside from no booking, change, or cancellation fees, Priceline.com offers detailed city guides to users, in association with the Zagat Survey. 

Hotwire.com is considered to be one of the most popular and well-known travel sites on the Internet.  On their homepage, a box labeled Price Hunters Rejoice enables users to compare Hotwire.com’s featured prices with other travel websites.  Available for hotel, air, and car searches, the user simply checks the boxes labeled Expedia, Orbitz, Hotels.com, and Travelocity, depending on how many sites they would like to see comparisons against.  Users can check one, two, three or all of the boxes.  This feature will then provide you with prices for the same travel dates and destinations as your Hotwire.com search. 

Their website outlines 4 Unique Golden Guarantees.  The first is their Lowest Airfare/Hotel Guarantee.  If you show a cheaper price found elsewhere, CheapOair.com will credit you up to $15 on your next flight. The second guarantee is a Flight/Hotel Inconvenience Coupon up to $25.  If you experience any flight delays that exceed 1 hour—or if you have baggage delays or lost baggage—CheapOair.com will issue up to $25 in coupons to use for future travel through their website.  The third guarantee promises 100 Million Flight Options and 85,000 Hotel Options listed on their site, while the fourth guarantees 24/7 Courteous Toll Free Customer Care.