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The Web should make things easier for travelers, but the sheer volume of services out there is often more overwhelming than useful. Unfortunately, you don't always know which outfits pay off until you've already invested your time. The Budget Travel team puts websites—new and established—to the test every day. So when it came time to line up our favorites, the task was easy—we just turned to the sites we keep revisiting because they're so darn helpful. Our top picks can help you avoid overpaying for airfare (Bing Travel), bag the primo room at a hotel (Hipmunk), and never miss a deal on a rental-car reservation again (AutoSlash). Some of our favorites are as useful as a mind-reading tour guide (Plnnr); others are as handy as having a personal secretary track your frequent-flier balances (Award Wallet). Put them all together, and they become Budget Travel's picks for the best the Web has to offer.
1. Bing Travel
Buy plane tickets at the best possible time.
Like other booking sites, Bing lets you comparison-shop for
tickets across more than a hundred sources. Yet unlike most other
sites, it also analyzes historical data to predict whether the
price you see on the screen today is likely to rise (or drop) in
the coming week, clearly marking the bargains with a big, green
Buy Now icon. What's more, Bing is the only airfare search site
to have its predictions independently audited. With an accuracy
rate of 75 percent, it's not perfect—but those are better odds
than blind guessing gets you. bing.com/travel.
2. AutoSlash
Lock in the lowest rate on rental cars.
Here's how it works: Reserve a vehicle from a favorite agency
through the AutoSlash site, and the site will instantly begin
tracking rate changes for your reservation. If a sale pops up
later—snap!—it automatically locks in the lower price on your
behalf. You can even use AutoSlash if you've
booked independently. Just enter your confirmation number, and
the site will notify you when it's found a lower rate (which
you'll have to rebook on your own). Neither AutoSlash nor the
company you first booked with charges a fee for the service.
autoslash.com.
3. Fly or Drive Calculator
Determine the cheapest way to reach your destination.
Coupon site befrugal.com crunches data from sources such as AAA
and Google Maps to power its Fly or Drive estimator (found in the
site's Tools & Calculators tab). The more details you
supply—the make and model of your car, the number of travelers in
your group, whether you'd be springing for a taxi to the
airport—the more accurate the estimates. For the eco-minded, it
even includes a carbon-footprint estimate for each mode of
travel. (Note: The calculator only works for trips within the
continental U.S.) befrugal.com/tools/fly-or-drive-calculator/.
4. Plnnr
Get instant itineraries tailored to your tastes.
Whether you have a full week or a few hours, Plnnr can craft a
(free!) customized point-to-point trip guide for 20 popular urban
destinations across North America and Europe. You supply the
length of your stay, desired activity level, and interests (such
as outdoors, kids' activities, and culture), and the site spits
out a fully formed itinerary, factoring in each attraction's
opening and closing hours and travel times between spots by taxi
or on foot. You can further fine-tune the results by adjusting
the priority level for even more specific
subcategories—architecture, breweries, and even cemeteries—or
reject individual suggestions outright. (Plnnr won't get its
feelings hurt.) plnnr.com.
5. Hipmunk
Find a hotel you'll fall in love with.
The folks behind Hipmunk's airfare and hotel searches know that
good trips are about more than mere numbers. That's why they've
incorporated an "agony" scale for flights with multiple legs and
long layovers, and an "ecstasy" rating for hotels based on a
combination of a property's amenities, rates, and user reviews on
TripAdvisor. Even better, Hipmunk's hotel search tool has
built-in color-coded heat maps to display a given destination's
best spots for dining, shopping, nightlife, landmarks,
and—ahem—"vice." So you'll always end up in a neighborhood that
fits your specific needs (or noise tolerance). The site displays
real-time prices available on Orbitz, Getaroom, Hotels.com,
HotelsCombined, or Airbnb and links out to the appropriate site
to close the deal. hipmunk.com.
6. TripIt
Keep every last confirmation number, arrival time, and prepaid
reservation fee straight.
Don't have an über-organized type among your travel crew? Don't
worry. TripIt consolidates every important detail of your
vacation into a single handy document, which you can access on
the go via laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Just forward each email
receipt from booking a flight, hotel, rental car, or cruise to
your TripIt account, and the site will cull and compile the
flight numbers, gate information, and other relevant items so you
never show up in the wrong place at the wrong time—or with the
wrong confirmation code in hand. Not satisfied? The site also
supplies seat-selection advice for flights, links to check in
online, flight status updates, weather forecasts, and driving
directions. tripit.com.
7. Tripping
Connect with the locals—through a trustworthy
community.
While any old travel site can add some social-networking features
and call itself "the Facebook of travel," Tripping paves the way
for true face-to-face interactions in about 130 countries across
the globe. Primarily a homestay network—but just as effective for
setting up a casual coffee meeting or a video chat with a
looped-in local—Tripping manages the risk factor with its
stringent membership policies and strong user-reference system.
(To join, users must display a passport via Skype and prove a
home address.) When you're not traveling yourself, you can earn
some good travel karma by playing tour guide for visitors to your
own hometown. tripping.com.
8. Google Maps
Expertly navigate unfamiliar territory.
Thanks to constant refining by its mapmakers and graphic
designers, Google's gold-standard mapping tool just keeps getting
better. Live traffic information was recently added for 13
European countries; the site's maps for New York City, London,
and other major cities now have public transit options; markings
for tunnels and highway signs become easier to read every year;
and you can plot your route by car, bicycle, or foot—although the
latter two options are still in beta. There's simply no more
comprehensive and user-friendly way to explore. maps.google.com.
9. Award Wallet
Never let another frequent-flier mile expire.
Consider it the loyalty-program counterpart to TripIt's
travel-info collector. Award Wallet streamlines your family's
assortment of frequent-flier and loyalty programs, compiling them
in a single, simple, point-tracking package. The setup takes
minutes. For each account, just enter your log-in information;
Award Wallet automatically pulls your points balances and
expiration dates—so you know to take action if you're on the
verge of losing them. And because the site saves your log-in
information, you only need one password to access all your
accounts. awardwallet.com.
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10. Blurb
Preserve your photographs in a format that people can't keep
their hands off of.
Custom book publisher Blurb lets you design and print a
soft-cover or hardcover travel photo album using impressive
design tools and high-quality inks, paper, and binding. Most
important, it also leaves you broad creative control. (No floral
borders or faux photo-corners necessary.) Price is based on size,
paper stock, cover material, and shipping fees, but single copies
start at $11 for a 20-page book. Think your book has potential
beyond your own coffee table? Blurb can also share your images as
a free online slide show or sell copies of the book through its
online shop. blurb.com.
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Copyright © 2012 Newsweek Budget Travel, Inc.
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