Airfare
There are things you can do to ensure that you get the cheapest airfare. The most important is to check several sources.
To get a ballpark idea of what the airfare will cost, check the main online agents:
Expedia.com
Travelocity.com
Orbitz.com
Hotels.com
Hotwire.com
kayak.com offers the ability to check several of these online travel sights at once. However, sometimes these rates are higher than going directly through the travel sight.
If you decide to keep checking over a period of time, there is something else you need to know. Travel sites store your initial results and will not post a cheaper price, unless you delete cokies in your browser. Can you imagine checking the website over and over again for weeks, hoping prices to go down. If you don't delete your cookies, they never will.
Once you have found the best rate for airfare, try the individual airline to see how they compare. Sometimes it is cheaper directly throught the airline.
For international travel, check the airport you are flying into for other carriers. Online travel agents cater to mainly American companies and your cheapest airfare can come from a foreign carrier. A great example of this is the discount airfares you can get to Canada from Westjet, a Canadian carrier.
At this point you probably have a pretty good fare that you would be happy with. However, ther is yet one other option. Priceline.com has the bidding option. This is only a god idea if you don't care what time of day you will be travelling. Don't forget to account for the priceline fee of up to $14.95 for processing. I generally would start out at about 30% below best published fare. There really is only a financial benefit if they accept a bid $50 below the best price you have found.
OTHER TIPS
Check Travelzoo.com, which list various specials throughout the industry.
When reserving seats on an airplane, make sure to check seatguru.com for best seat location
Hotels
When you know what city you would like to stay, check tripadvisor.com to read which hotels are the best rated. This site has reviews and ratings of hotels offered by a network of travellers. It helps you determine which hotel is really a bargain and which one is less than desirable.
Similar to getting the best airfare, to find the best hotels, you should check the main online agents:
Expedia.com
Travelocity.com
Orbitz.com
Hotels.com
ReserveTravel.com
Once again, kayak.com offers the ability to check several of these online travel sights at once. However, sometimes these rates are higher than going directly through the travel sight.
If the travel agencies do not offer a particular hotel, don't hesitate to find a website for that particular hotel and see about making reservations. Many overlook this alternative and can pass up great deals.
If you decide to keep checking over a period of time, there is something else you need to know. Travel sites store your initial results and will not post a cheaper price, unless you delete cokies in your browser. Can you imagine checking the website over and over again for weeks, hoping prices to go down. If you don't delete your cookies, they never will.
Once you have found the best rate for hotel, try the individual hotel to see how they compare. Occasionally, it is cheaper directly throught the hotel company.
At this point you probably have a pretty good fare that you would be happy with. However, ther is yet one other option. Unfortunately, Priceline.com would have you bidding on a pretty random hotel and not worth the gamble. You could end up in a three star hotel that has bed bugs and is under construction. Hotwire.com has the option to pay for a hotel without knowing the hotel name. However, there is a specific description of the hotel that you can use to figure out what hotel it is referring to. This method has been tested and does work. Simply get the description from Hotwire.com, and compare with the descriptions in Expedia. Since the same company owns both sites, they have similar descriptions and star ratings. If you find a UNIQUE match, it is likely that that is the hotel Hotwire.com is referring to.
Car Rentals
This one is the easiest to book. Unless you have a specific car in mind, just use Hotwire.com. I have not run into an occasion where they weren't the cheapest.
Priceline.com has the bidding option. Don't forget to account for the priceline fee of up to $14.95 for processing. I generally would start out at about 30% below Hotwire.com and not go above 10% below Hotwire.com.
