My 5 favorite travel resources

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In this article, I want to share with you my top 5 favorite travel resources for booking vacations.

Those are the websites I use every single time I plan a trip. Hope they can help you as well.

Stays

Airbnb

I’m not going to lie, when one of my friends introduced me to Airbnb a few years ago, I was very skeptical about it. I thought it was not trustworthy or safe.

Fast forward to today, I don’t remember the last time I’ve been in a hotel.

The number one reason is that it’s way cheaper than most hotels. We saved a lot of money on our last trip to Europe by sticking to Airbnb throughout the whole adventure.

It is easy to make an account and the interface of the website is very user-friendly. There are many filters so you can find your perfect place.

They have good customer service. When I was first setting up my account, there was an issue with my phone provider where I couldn’t receive the code to confirm my phone number [not Airbnb error].

I called them and they were very hopeful even send me a follow-up email asking if I needed anything else.

Also, it makes it possible to visit expensive cities. A few years ago we went to Boston and the hotels there are really expensive.

It wouldn’t have been possible to visit Boston if it wasn’t for staying at an Airbnb. They also offer experiences and restaurant suggestions.

You also meet some very nice locals who are very hospitable and have some pretty cool suggestions for things to see and restaurants to eat at.

It also makes me feel less of a tourist and makes my stay a bit more authentic.

Airbnb, Favorite Resources — Check out Airbnb for a cheap stay

Flight bookings

Skyscanner

Skyscanner is a travel search engine that acts as a referrer. This means it pulls up the flights from the Internet but you have to book them on the respective website.

Skyscanner is one of my favorite places to book flights. It searches a whole bunch of different websites, instead of you looking them up individually.

I tend to find the cheapest flights here. I’ve spent a lot of time searching other platforms but I always end up coming back to Skyscanner.

The website is also easy-to-use; you can clearly see the flight details and it has filters to narrow down your search.

Some of those filters are Stops, Departure Time [I find this filter really helpful], Trip Duration, Airlines, Airports. This makes it very easy to find the perfect flight.

It also lets you book hotels and car rentals so you can have your whole vacation booked in one place. Once you book a flight with them, you will unlock discounts for hotel bookings.

search engine, booking flights, cheap flights — Book your next flight on Skyscanner

Google Flights

I usually have Skyscanner and Google Flights opened at the same time and book on one or the other. I’ve spent countless hours on other platforms but like I said I always come back to those two.

Google Flights is also very helpful and sometimes offers flights that are not available anywhere else [I have no idea how they do that].

I think they literally scan the entire Internet. You usually have the option to book directly on Google Flights or on the website that is offering the flight.

Here it is very easy to see the prices on other dates as Google Flights shows you the flight prices on all dates on the drop-down calendar.

This is helpful if you are flexible with the dates you can fly on [if you are, you can save money by looking at the calendar and selecting cheaper dates].

Travel Addicted Unicorn Tip: While you are comparing the prices on the two websites above, it is also a good idea to look at the airline’s website as sometimes they might have some extra perks available.

For example more seat options available or some daily sale. Before I finalize my purchase I always take quick peek at the airline’s websites just in case.

cheap flights, search engine, booking flights — Google Flights also has cheap flights

Trip Planning

Viator (A Tripadvisor Company)

I discovered Viator a few years ago when I was traveling through Italy and I wanted to pre-book a bunch of day trips/entry tickets.

Since then, I have used their services all over Europe and I am very happy with them.

Viator works with local companies to ensure authentic experience and their tour guides are very knowledgeable. I have done probably over 15 tours with them and they were all excellent.

The moment I know my next destination, and I have my flight booked, I jump on Viator to see what trips they have.

There is also an app that is very useful – it gives you a List of tours, List of attractions, and Recommendations.

I really like the app and usually use it more often but both the app and the website are very easy to navigate.

Viator also has very good customer service [I had to give them a call a few times as dates had to be changed etc.] and they were very helpful.

Definitely check them out for your next trip.

Click on the picture below to check out their site (aff link).