What site do you use to plan a vacation?

[3DinAK]

Just seeing if there's any opinions on the best site. I've only really looked at priceline and expedia. Both seem to have the same deals. Looking for hotels and car rental.

[civiclx]

I haven't gone on vacation enough to know of a good site. When I went to Ireland last year, I used Orbitz for my flight from San Jose to Dublin.

You might try the forums at Fodors. I didn't post there myself but I did read the Ireland boards and found some good advice/info. You can always get the free catalogs from tour companies.

I am hoping to get back to Europe next year and if I do, Fodors will probably be the site that I use the most. For travel books, my mom got me a DK Eyewitness Ireland book. They have books for quite a few popular destinations.

Is there some place specific you're planning on going?

[knicks999]

best sites ive found from traveling for years.

for tours
http://www.affordabletours.com

for tickets:
http://www.kayak.com

for day tours
http://www.viator.com

my favorite for hotels:
http://www.agoda.com


i really like the http://www.frommers.com message boards for trip research

and for guidebooks i always do lonely planet.

sorry dont have a car rental place.

[Bodyslide]

I have used www.vrbo.com for years.

[AeroK]

Trip Advisor

[civiclx]

+1 for TripAdvisor. Besides checking out reviews on lodging in places you may be staying, they also have a message boards where you can ask questions.

[welcometonowhere]

I usually use Hotels.com, but starting exploring Trivago. It doesn't hurt to explore what options are out there... Sometimes if you know the hotel you want to stay at and have visited there frequently, calling the hotel directly might get you some perks...

I stayed at Rosen Shingle Creek in Kissimmee, Florida. Found out that sometimes they have deals like a Sleepover For A Cause (breast cancer) where the limited rooms are $99 (Normally around $300) and have free self parking (Normally $18). I've gone to this resort dozens of times that if I contact a manager I've spoke with in the past about staying, not only will he give me the best possible price, he also will give me VIP access that gives me free valet parking and use of the hospitality suite free of charge as well (normally $80 per day).

[civiclx]

Damn that resort looks nice!!

[civiclx]

Originally Posted by Lison

+1 to TripAdvisor and before I've always used booking.com. But now I'm thinking about advantages of Hospitality Service. My Ex- told me a lot how he uses houses of different people without any costs, he is photojournalist and travels all time. It sounds such interesting! But he is men and not very handsome, and I'm a girl and couchsurfing scares me for some reasons.
Does anyone have such experience?

First of all, do you have any pictures of yourself? hehe j/k

I have never couch-surfed or used airbnb. I don't think I even used TA for booking. I'm pretty sure I did everything from the lodging's website or via email. I used TA more for reviews and to check availability.
Do you have any upcoming trips planned? I had been really hoping to get back to Europe next year but I recently lost my job and have a lot of bills that I can't afford to pay so my life is pretty much over

[civiclx]

Haha ok, will check the thread out

I'd love to go to Russia as well. As for life, well hopefully it gets better soon. I need to find some motivation quickly. Hopefully I'll be working again before too long.

[YankydoodleDandy]

Originally Posted by civiclx

Haha ok, will check the thread out

I'd love to go to Russia as well. As for life, well hopefully it gets better soon. I need to find some motivation quickly. Hopefully I'll be working again before too long.

Russia is awesome. Was there in 2014. Loved it.

[civiclx]

Originally Posted by YankydoodleDandy

Russia is awesome. Was there in 2014. Loved it.

Where did you go? Where are you from? Did you take many pics? If you did, you should put them up in the Photography thread I met a guy at Starbucks that has been to Russia quite a few times. I think he's planning one last trip coming up. You should tell us about your trip

[traths]

I usually just book directly with the airline and the hotel. I trust those booking sites about as far as I can throw.

[Eye Candy]

I use YouTube to scout places to visit:

Here's a beautiful HD Video of the Grand Canyon and surroundings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Sky...ature=youtu.be

[InGen]

I usually have a few specific destinations in mind, then I go on Google Earth and look for interesting places near the route I'll be taking, landscape-wise, and researching alternate routes and side-trips. Their user-submitted photos were great, just zoom in anywhere and see what people took photos of in that area. They've totally revamped that function recently though and the pics are much more limited, which I'll admit is a BIG loss. Regarding vehicles and hotels, I usually just use my own car and camp instead of getting motels, sometimes just pulling off and sleeping at a rest stop if the situation demands it! If I need to reserve a spot in advance I'll just call the camp directly, I try not to deal with middle-man hotel sites. Basically I vacation on the cheap and more or less on my own schedule.

I will second TripAdvisor for checking out possible destinations beforehand though. If I know I'll be passing trough an interesting place I'll check out their top "things to do" and see if anything catches my interest.

[THE_FORCE]

Originally Posted by Eye Candy

I use YouTube to scout places to visit:

Here's a beautiful HD Video of the Grand Canyon and surroundings:

That was gorgeous. Great work!

I'll always check out Tripadvisor as my first port of call on the best hotels and restaurants in the area and then I'll usually book direct with the hotel and restaurant.

It's always worth joining hotel loyalty programs (if they're free) and then book your specific hotel through the main hotel portal. In my experience you've got more chance at getting a free upgrade and the room prices are the same as Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com etc.

Flights I normally book direct with BA and car hire I always do direct also.

For things to do I always check out the destination's Tourism website as even the smallest villages in the middle of nowhere seem to have one nowadays which still fascinates me.

[AndyWillson]

I prefer to look for hotels and plan trips from major sites (https://www.trivago.ru/, https://www.booking.com/, https://www.tripadvisor.ru/). And after analyzing and recommending them, I start to choose and sometimes book directly the hotel and air tickets. But not such countries as the Maldives, Turkey, Dminikana and more. It is more profitable to buy the full ticket definitely. I have a great experience.

[harpolini]

Skyscanner App is a great resource for finding direct airline route deals.

[furystorm]

kiwi for flights, booking and airbnb for hostels, google for places

[Erzengel]

I use Tripadvisor for reviews of hotels, restaurants, etc.

I've used Gate One for tours.