In the last 11 years that I have been traveling in South America, North America and Europe, I have tested several online travel resources, some of which I continue to choose. This is a simple list of the tools, gear, and resources I keep coming back to. Nothing fancy, just what works.
As a rule of thumb, I always check two or three platforms to compare options of hotels, car rentals, tours, etc., before booking. More often than not, after each trip, I have used most of these platforms at least once.
Flight Tickets
My best advice is to always buy your flight tickets directly in the website of the airline you’ll fly with. However, there are some resources I like to check to spot airlines flying to the destinations I’m interested in exploring, compare prices, check flights availability, etc. These are my favorite resources:
- Kiwi.com: I use this website to check connections, airlines, and possible air travel routes between my city of departure and my destination. If booking with Kiwi, you have to be very careful with connections and self-transfers (especially if you need to change airports).
- Aviasales.com: This is a metasearch engine that redirects you to an airline or agency after finding the cheapest tickets across many sites. What I particularly like about this website is that customer support is directly through the airline or agency.
Accommodation:
When it comes to choosing accommodation for a trip, I always like to check different sources and compare options, prices, availability, etc. My top 3 go-to places for booking accommodation are:
- Klook.com: Limited hotel options, but sometimes I find better prices than in Booking.com. It is also great for booking tours, tickets and experiences for those who preffer to have it all in one place
- Booking.com: This has been for a long time my first stop when checking hotels in any destination. It has a great global selection, it can offer good discounts with Genius (after you booked a bunch of stays) and it usually offers strong free cancelation options.
- Airbnb.com: Although I have been using Airbnb less and less over the years as it has become more expensive and less reliable, I still like to check available options.
E-Sims – WIFI
When it comes to connectivity, I have tried and used different solutions over the last few years, and these two are my favorite:
- Airalo: More affordable for small plans, easy to use, coverage in over 200 countries, usually one E-Sim per country
- Yesim: Cheaper for long-term use, one global e-Sim option, VPN in some plans, coverage in over 200 countries. Best option if you’re visiting multiple countries and need unlimited data.
Bonus:
- Klook.com: Also offers E-Sim cards and it is next on my list of products to test. I think this is a great option for those who like to book activities, hotels, cars, etc., in one platform.
Experiences, Tours, Attractions
Similarly to booking accommodation, before booking activities, I like to check multiple platforms to have a good overview of options available, reviews, and pricing. These are my top three choices for booking tours:
- GetYourGuide.com: I absolutely love this platform, it allows easy and quick bookings, it is very strong in Europe (where I have been doing most of my travels recently), the reviews of each tour are verified and from bookers only. In my opinion, it offers the easiest booking experience for users.
- Klook.com: Offers a wide variety of tours, tickets and attractions. It is great for deals and transport/tickets. It often has lower prices and promo codes. And, as I mentioned earlier, it is the perfect choice for travelers who like to keep all bookings in one platform.
- Viator.com: I have used Viator in the past, while travelling in the United States and South America. It is quite similar to the other platforms, but it offers a biggest selection of tours in most destinations, as well as including more reviews (though these are coming from Tripadvisor, and not only from bookers).
Car Rentals
Who doesn’t love a road trip? In this blog, I intend to share some of my favorite road trips (Scotland, Cyprus, The US West Coast, the North of Argentina and so much more!). Behind every great road trip, there is a great rental car. These are some of my favorite options for renting cars:
- DiscoverCars.com: Lately this fast-growing website has been my go-to platform to rent cars based on its transparency (you see the full price up front, including taxes, fees, and extras), less expensive pricing and global coverage.
- Rentalcars.com: This platform is a safe and simple choice to rent cars. It offers global coverage and has a high trust level, which is why it tends to be a bit more expensive than other car rental platforms.
- GetRentACar.com: This is a third option I like to explore when it comes to road trips in Europe due to pricing and the possibility to find good deals, as it tends to have local offers other platforms lack.
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