Essential Travel Tools

You’ve decided you need a vacation. Now what? Good things come to those who plan, in this instance. Check out my favorite travel tools below to help make your travel planning a breeze.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, including links through the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. At no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I won’t recommend something I have not used/would not use myself, and any income earned supports the upkeep of this site.

Travel Tools for Booking Flights

This is often the most stressful part of planning. What’s the best time to book? Is there some curse upon both your houses if you wait ’til the weekend to book? What if my flight drops in price AFTER I book??

To all of these questions I say, it kinda is what it is.

I’ve found that there’s really not a “good” time to book. Certainly, if you see a good deal, that deal’s probably temporary, and in those cases, the best time to book would be NOW.

The more tools you sign up for to watch flights for you the better. Although at times, that can make you a little bit crazier, too.

Sometimes deals drop on weekends. Sometimes it really is the mystical Tuesday you keep hearing about. If you see a deal that is crazy good, go for it. You’ve got 24 hours to cancel it if you change your mind, and that rule applies to any airline.

FlightAware

FlightAware is by far the easiest flight status tool out there. Search by flight number or by route to get up-to-minute info on the flight you’re tracking, whether that’s a connection of your route or your great aunt’s travel from New York.

You need to know when to head to the airport, after all.

If you’re a big nerd, you can also track flight news on the site, and learn all kinds of information about the industry that you didn’t think you needed. It’s just one of those travel planning tools that you’ll certainly end up bookmarking once you’ve seen its usefulness.

Going

Going, formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights, is a subscription service where you enter your home airport(s) and watch the magical flight deals come to your inbox, sometimes on a daily basis. If you’re lucky enough to live within driving distance of a popular airport like LAX, those air travel deals can even come twice a day.

It’s a real problem when you’re trying to decide between an exotic beach vacay in the Carib or a European getaway. Then somehow you’ve booked both and you have some explaining to do.

Be forewarned, though, that you may just spend more on travel because the deals are that good. I can manage those kinds of problems.

Google Flights

Google Flights remains a popular free tool when comparison shopping for flights. While I typically start my searches using Skyscanner, I’ll compare what I find using Google Flights and the Google Flight Matrix to make sure that I’m getting the best deal.

If you’re open about your destination and really only care about finding a good deal, a fun feature of this free trip planner is that you can input your dates of potential travel and see what pops up on the map as good deals for those dates. It’s pretty handy around peak travel times in the summer and around holidays.

Sometimes, that’s how you get to Omaha. It’s really a nice town, by the way, and came to be thanks to Google’s online booking tool.

Skyscanner

I use a variety of tools to find cheap airfare, but when I’m looking to book during a particular period of time, I’ll use Skyscanner. It’s one of my favorite, most intuitive trip-planning tools.

This free tool is great when you’re more flexible, too, as it allows you to compare travel based on length of travel, departure date, etc. Skyscanner is typically Ground Zero for any travel planning I’m doing in regard to the flights portion, especially when I’m in the mood for a multi-destination trip planner.

SeatGuru

Seat Guru is useful for its seat maps. According to the site, you can enter any one of 1,261 aircraft into their search engine and come up with seat maps for your flight.

It’s a good way to avoid sitting in a seat that doesn’t recline or is too close to the lav. If you’ve ever sat next to the bathrooms, you know how critical it is to have this information. They have some other features on there now, but I use other sites for those things.

Travel Tools for Booking Accommodations

I don’t only stay in hotels. I love a good bed and breakfast and find that my social anxiety is lessened when presented with hotcakes and homemade jams. Sometimes my travels, especially when they involve friends, require something a bit more condo-style with access to kitchens.

Maybe I need a cabin in the woods, complete with a hot tub situation.

In any case, check out my favorite accommodation booking tools below.

Agoda

Agoda is an international booking tool for accommodations that I’ve found is most useful when booking travel to Asia.

We’ve found resort-level accommodations on the site for what I’d consider hostel-level prices by American standards when using Agoda when planning trips to Asia.

Bangkok, in particular, has some fancy places for not many baht on the site. That’s the currency in Thailand, if you thought for a second I was having a stroke.

You’re able to book flights on the site, as well, but I’ve never used that feature, so I can’t vouch for its effectiveness here.

Airbnb

My relationship with Airbnb is a complicated one. When it’s amazing, it’s really amazing. We’ve met some fantastic hosts on the site who are in the game for the right reasons, and often go above and beyond to show off their cities and towns and villages.

When it’s bad, it can be REALLY bad, too.

We’re pickier now with our Airbnb bookings, poring through those reviews to make sure we’re not booking with someone who has loads of properties on the site.

We also like doing our research as to whether the site’s even welcome in our chosen destination because there are some cities out there that have placed restrictions on vacation rentals due to the effects on local housing markets.

Do your research when you use the site or use my tips for booking on Airbnb.

Booking.com

Booking.com is a great site for hotel-type accommodations with a growing number of apartment-style places, as well. We’ve been primarily using it for travel throughout the United States and Europe, now that Airbnb pricing has become a bit outrageous in the major cities.

The more stays you book with them, the more you’ll get back, too. I’ve achieved a “genius” level with them which means 15% off of my future stays, and the ability to call myself a genius, which is really powerful at my house.

Expedia

Expedia covers the entirety of your travel planning, from flights to cars to vacation packages if you’re looking for something more full-service. I’ve only used the site for hotels, though, as I prefer some of the other tools I’ve mentioned for the rest.

You’ll notice I do quite a bit of hunting when it’s time to book hotels. I’m not over here collecting points with one chain over another, which may be a mistake on some levels. I’m all about the most budget-friendly option with the highest ratings in our travels, and Expedia is a good aggregator to add to your list for that.

Hotels.com

Hotels.com is a common comparison tool for us when we’re looking for accommodations. As with Booking.com, the more you stay with them, the more you’ll get back.

Lately, they’ve had an influx of condo-style properties on the site, too, which isn’t a bad thing. Just make sure you’re looking at a property’s review history, as you would with any booking.

Hostelworld

All hostels aren’t created equal, but the listings on Hostelworld are all vetted and heavily reviewed for all of your budget-friendly accommodation needs.

Hostels are particularly immersive when you’re traveling abroad. They often come with enough private space to be comparable to boutique hotels on the comfort factor. Most recently, we stayed in a hostel that was a converted convent, something I’m sure the nuns in the Catholic schools I attended in my youth would be proud of.

Or maybe they wouldn’t be, considering the time I had there.

Vrbo

Vrbo is our preferred Airbnb alternative for booking properties listed by their users. We’ve used it a number of times, and it’s particularly useful when looking for pads that will accommodate large groups, say, on a ski weekend.

I’ve also used the site when I’m seeking out a particular property based on something I’ve read about it elsewhere. They’ll often have them listed on Vrbo over anywhere else, and you can usually find Airbnb listings also listed here.

When you’re trying to avoid booking with Airbnb, that’s a pretty sweet thing.

Whimstay

We were introduced to Whimstay while on the hunt for last-minute accommodations on a trip to Washington, D.C. I wrote up a guide on the booking process and our experience, but I love having more options in the short-term rental space.

Whimstay is great when you need a booking within 30 days or less of your trip, making it a great option on long road trips or spontaneous holiday breaks.

Travel Tools for Booking Rental Cars

Figuring out how you’re going to get around your final destination once you’re there is an important part of travel planning. You don’t want to wait until you’re there, as you often miss out on the best deals if you wait until the last minute.

If we know we’re going to rent a car, we’ll usually do so from the airport of our destination unless there’s a high surcharge for pickup/drop-off at the airport. Make sure you know the driving regulations of the country you’re visiting before you go.

Typically, you’ll only need a driver’s license and your insurance, but do that research ahead of time.

Need a few ideas on what to bring with you on the road? Check out my guide to road trip essentials.

Kayak

Kayak is generally our go-to aggregator when we’re looking for a price-comparison tool for rental cars.

If you’re not loyal to any particular rental car company and don’t really care what kind of car you get, the site offers deep discounts on smaller vehicles. All of the major car rental companies are represented on the site, too.

Travel Tools for Booking Tours

I used to scoff at the idea of group tours, even the smaller ones that offered a more personalized experience. I thought I knew best. Then I started taking food tours, even in cities we knew pretty well, and I realized how silly that was. I only know what I know and what I experience.

Tours give you the opportunity to get to know a place on a local level. Many of the big cities even offer free walking tours if you think the idea is cost-prohibitive. The resources below are all my favorite ways to book tours no matter where you are.

GetYourGuide

I like GetYourGuide for tours outside of the United States. There tends to be more choice, and the options a bit more modern. We’ve used this one on trips to Tuscany, Morocco, and Prague, so the experiences are certainly diverse. (GetYourGuide was our pick for a multi-day trip to the Sahara!)

That said, tours can overlap from site to site. That’s why I always shop around before booking one.

The Tour Guy

I was introduced to The Tour Guy on a few recent trips to Italy. It makes sense. The company used to specialize in guided experiences in Italy. Since then, I’ve taken tours with them in Paris and London, and each one has been a 10/10.

They tend to be smaller, if a little bit more expensive as a result, but the personalization is great. If you take one of their food tours in Paris, let me know. The one in Montmartre that left me full for days!

Viator

Viator is the largest tour provider in the world and has provided us with some pretty incredible experiences closer to home and abroad.

While this is our preferred operator for tours within the United States, they also helped us plan a trip to Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand. Brian was sick at the time, and I was sick of trying to figure out how we were going to get up there without driving ourselves up a winding, fairly treacherous road.

Viator came to the rescue. Sometimes you need to let the experts do their thing. Oftentimes, you’ll feel some personal bonus points, too, as you’re supporting local guides.

Travel Tools for Planning Travel

I like to fancy myself a pretty good travel planner. At least that’s what I hear from those who have been on trips with me.

I can rattle off all kinds of tips to places I’ve been, especially if I’ve been multiple times, like Australia or France. When it’s a new destination, I bring out the big guns. I’m talking about things that help me organize before a big (or small) trip.

Google Docs

I like taking a lot of notes on what I want to see and organizing those notes by things like neighborhood. I include restaurants I want to try around the sightseeing I want to do. Some of them get quite intense, depending on the timeline I’m working with.

It’s especially helpful when you’re traveling with a group, as they’re shareable with others. Those travel buddies can add notes to the document you create, even highlighting must-sees for them.

It’s perfect for the Type A personalities among you.

If you’re really fancy, I’ve seen friends use Google Sheets to go even further, creating trip planner spreadsheet templates that include their budget, flight details, transportation options, and more. That’s some organizational magic right there.

Pinterest

I go crazy with the pinning when I’m planning a trip somewhere, or when attempting to bake a multi-layer cake, or procrastinating with photos of baby animals. I finally created a board on my own Pinterest account where I can now collect all the baby animals, by the way.

There are so many people out there creating itineraries and sharing tips before visiting a particular destination, no matter how far-flung it may be, that it’d be foolish to ignore Pinterest in your own planning process.

It’s one of the more useful social media apps out there, unless you’re headed online for butts and photoshopped islandscapes.

Why start from scratch when there’s a wealth of information out there for you?

Splitwise

If you’re traveling in a group, Splitwise is an essential app to help make the pain of sharing costs among friends on vacation painless.

The app is completely free. Anyone who downloads it is able to add to and access the running tally of who owes what.

That way, when the bill comes around for dinner, someone in your group can handle it on the spot and then split up the tab on the app later, when you’re not all anxious about figuring out who ordered what. You’re able to split costs on the app evenly, by percentage, or even manually enter in who owes what.

Once the trip’s over, the app gives you a complete report of spending that happened and some options on how to pay your tab or how to get paid. Typically we link up our Venmo accounts for the easiest transaction with no fees. There may be associated fees if you go the credit card route.

TripIt

Another option if you’re not as crazy about your itineraries as I am is the TripIt app. What’s nice about this free app is that it organizes all of your itineraries in one place, making this one a pretty handy addition to your travel toolkit and an easy itinerary planner online.

For example, if you’re staying at a number of places on your trip, just forward along those hotel confirmation emails and the app will organize them for you by date.

You’re also able to access the app anywhere, with or without WiFi. There’s an additional premium service if you’re fancy that includes settings and additional features like a rewards tracker and currency converter. I find that its most powerful features, namely trip organization, are on the free version.

For more travel tips, check out my best posts on helping you travel better. Interested in nailing those essential travel items? I’ve got a guide for the best travel gear and travel gadgets that will make your travel breezy.