I love finding a good travel deal. Whether it’s a cheap flight, a last-minute discount on accommodations, or a budget-friendly tour, knowing that I’m not breaking the bank makes my experience even more fun! Over the past five years, I’ve found a number of fantastic travel tools that I use regularly to save money while traveling. And since I’m not big on gatekeeping, I’m going to share them all with you today so you can get in on the savings!
These apps and websites not only make traveling more affordable but also make planning a lot easier. It’s pretty simple to use these together to craft the perfect itinerary for my trips, which makes me love them even more! I save a lot of time on research, leaving more time to enjoy life and my final destination!
If these sound like the kind of travel tools you need in your life, be sure to save this post for future reference, and let’s dive in!
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In this post…
Travel Tools for Flight Deals
Hopper
Hopper is an app I’ve been using for several years now, and I’ve scored some crazy deals with it. The app has some great travel tools built into it, including
- A calendar that shows you what days have low, normal, and high pricing,
- A trip tracker that alerts you when tickets drop for a specific flight,
- A forecast feature that tells you when to wait and when to buy.
These are my favorite features because I can get a good idea of when to buy to save the most money. But Hopper also runs promotions and sales from time to time, dropping the prices on flights to specific destinations. And each purchase you make through the platform earns you Carrot Cash, which you can apply toward future bookings.
But one of my favorite features is the carbon offset program. For every booking you make at Hopper, they’ll plant 2 trees for free! So far, they’ve planted over 35 million trees through the program!
I’ve also used Hopper for hotels in the past and gotten really good prices on hotels that would’ve been out of my reach otherwise. If you’re interested in using them for a hotel booking, you can use code carriec4pp to save 10% on your first booking!
Going.com
Going.com has become my new addiction this year. I log in at least once a day to check the latest flight deals and read the daily alerts. This used to be called Scott’s Cheap Flights, which you might be familiar with.
Going.com is a subscription service that sends flight deals right to your inbox based on the departure airports you’ve chosen. You can also choose a number of specific destinations to track on a watchlist, so you never miss a deal to someplace on your bucket list!
Many of the fares are last-minute deals or mistake fares, so the only downside is that you may not have long to take advantage of the offer. However, there are definitely lots of low-priced flights months in advance, so you’ll have a great selection.
Just as an example, I can see dozens of roundtrip flight deals to Europe for under $500 right now and plenty of US destinations for $100 or less from my hometown. I just need more time to take all these trips!
WayAway
If you’re interested in getting the lowest possible deal on a ticket within a specific time frame, WayAway is the website for you. This flight aggregator website has several great travel tools, all designed to get you to your destination at the cheapest price.
Here are some of my favorite features:
- Search a specific destination and dates to find the absolute cheapest flights and compare across booking sites.
- Use the Price Map to see low-priced destinations all over the world, and WayAway will tell you the cheapest travel dates. (Very similar to Google’s Travel Explore feature.)
- Create a multi-city route to plan a trip to multiple destinations in one booking.
- Earn cashback to Paypal with a WayAway Plus membership.
I love how many great and versatile options WayAway has for finding cheap flights, and the opportunity to earn a few dollars in cashback every time is a big bonus, too! You can also use WayAway for booking hotels through Booking.com and save up to 20% with a WayAway Plus membership.
The downsides are 1) sometimes the cheap flights have long/multiple layovers and/or no baggage, and 2) I haven’t heard of some of the 3rd-party sites, which makes me a little hesitant to book through them. However, WayAway typically provides multiple sites to choose from, so you can find one you’re familiar with. But that comes with the territory of ultra-cheap flights.
Also, keep in mind that unless you search for a round-trip flight, it will automatically pull up one-way deals. But you may find a better all-around deal by choosing 2 separate tickets.
In this example, I looked at “more offers” and chose Expedia.com. There, I found round-trip options for this flight that totaled $168 round trip per person. Not too bad!
You can use WayAway completely free, but if you want 5% cashback on flights and 10% cashback on hotels sent to your Paypal, you’ll need the Plus membership. And if you use my link, you’ll save 10% on your first year of membership!
Google Travel Explore
Last but not least is Google’s Travel Explore feature. I love scrolling through this world map and finding awesome deals on locations I may not have considered visiting before.
It’s very easy to customize your trip by a specific or flexible time frame (e.g., in May or anytime in the next six months), and you can tell it to find flights based on a weekend, week, or two-week trip. You can also filter it down even further by price, interests, number of stops, airlines, and even carry-on bag options!
But the main reason I feel this is worth listing as a separate feature is the extra information Google includes with each destination.
For example, let’s say I’m interested in this deal to Kauai, Hawaii, for $530 from Norfolk, Virginia. When I click on it, Google tells me that it’s $363 cheaper than normal, so I know it’s a good deal. Plus, it automatically pulls up a list of things to do, places to stay, expected weather, and FAQs about that location. This means I can learn just about everything I need to make an informed decision without leaving this page!
In this case, I can see from the weather information and FAQs that August isn’t the best time to visit because of rain. So, I’ll skip this one for now, but I can keep an eye on it for later.
Travel Tools for Accommodation Deals
Agoda
I don’t remember how I stumbled across Agoda, but it’s become my go-to site for finding inexpensive hotels. I always compare with sites like Booking.com, Expedia, and Hopper, but there are times that I’ve found an incredible deal on Agoda that the other sites couldn’t touch.
Agoda automatically pulls up great deals on hotels in whatever area you’re searching, but they also offer a lot of different coupons and deals that you can add to your booking to save even more. For example, today’s deals feature 5% off any booking (no minimum) or 8% off a booking of $120 or more. They also have a section with up to 30% off select international hotels, which is fantastic!
Because they have such good deals, I almost always start my hotel searches here just to see what they have to offer. I also like that bookings earn Agoda Cash, and certain ones are eligible for actual cashback, too! You just have to read the terms of each booking. But the savings can add up pretty quickly!
They recently added some new features for savings on transportation, activities, and eSim cards, but I haven’t tried these out yet, so I can’t give an opinion. But if you try them out before I do, be sure to come back and let me know how they work in the comments!
Whimstay
I found out about Whimstay at the end of 2023, and I immediately loved the concept. This platform connects property managers with travelers looking for last-minute accommodations. The property managers get to fill in their empty dates, and the travelers get big discounts on nice vacation rentals. It’s such a nice win-win.
It’s similar to Airbnb and VRBO, but all the properties listed here are run by professionals–not someone with a spare room in their house. In our experience, the level of service and cleanliness was up a notch, and the prices were really great, too. The closer you are to your travel dates, the cheaper your stay will be.
So far, Whimstay is primarily based in North America, but I’ve noticed a few European listings popping up over the last few months as well. Personally, this is the perfect tool to pair with a site like Going.com, where you’ll find some last-minute flight deals.
I have a full blog post about Whimstay and our experience with them if you’d like a more in-depth look at how they work!
Travel Tools for Vacation Packages
Travelzoo
I’ve been using TravelZoo since 2020, and I have yet to be disappointed with them! This is basically the ultimate deal zone for all things travel, whether it’s flights, hotels, experiences, or, my personal favorite, vacation packages.
Every week, they round up the top 20 deals from around the world, but you can always look at their extensive list of deals and filter through your interests. Travelzoo is how we found a deal to spend 8 days in Costa Rica with flights and a car for $800 per person (before tours) and also how we found a deal for 12 days in Ecuador with flights, some meals, transportation, tours, and a guide for $1600 per person.
They always have incredible deals, and I love looking through their vacation packages because I know they vet each tour provider and have put in lots of work to find the best deals.
They recently switched from a free to a subscription model, but I think it’s still worth it. The money you’ll save any time you use them more than makes up for the $40 annual fee.
Exoticca
Exoticca is a company we discovered through Travelzoo, and it immediately became one of my favorite travel tools. It’s actually the company that took us on our 12-day Ecuador vacation in May 2023 and our trip to Iceland last week (April 2024)! They have incredible vacation packages for top destinations around the world, and they frequently run sales with mind-blowing prices!
The style of vacation can vary a bit depending on where you go, but you can typically count on each package, including flights, transportation, accommodation, and some tours. Both of our tours also included a dedicated guide that stayed with us for either the whole trip or through a specific area (e.g. we had different guides in the Galapagos Islands and Quito, Ecuador).
I also like that your bookings and referrals can earn vouchers to put toward future trips. For example, at the time of writing this post, they’re running a deal where you’ll receive 10% of your total booking value in trip credit to put toward a future trip. They also have a great referral program where new bookings get $100-$200 in credit, and so does the person who referred them.
If you’d like to take advantage of that right now, you can use my link to save some extra cash–on top of any deals they’re currently running!
And if you want to know a bit more about Exoticca, check out my full blog review of our Ecuador trip, where I break down all the pros and cons.
Travel Tools for Experiences
Viator
Viator is my go-to site for booking tours and experiences with a local guide. We’ve used it multiple times over the years, and I haven’t been disappointed yet! They have everything from historic tours to outdoor adventures, and they’re usually very reasonably priced.
But the reason it’s one of my favorite travel tools is the extra bonuses and protections they provide. For example, you can cancel at any time up to 24 hours before your booking for free. We’ve had to use that before, and it saved us a ton of money. They also have a very nice book now, pay later policy, so you can reserve a spot without paying right away. That makes the cancellations easier and gives you more flexibility as you continue to plan your trip.
I also like the app, which stores all of your bookings and tickets in an offline mode for easy access at any time.
On top of that, they have a nice rewards program, where you earn points on every booking that you can apply as a discount toward future bookings! For example, we booked a Northern Lights Tour in Iceland last week, and I now have $5.99 I can deduct from my next excursion. It’s not a ton, but I’ll happily take $6 off!
Get Your Guide
A close second to Viator is Get Your Guide. I heard about this from a couple of different travel friends, so of course, I had to check it out!
Get Your Guide offers a great variety of cultural, nature, food, and sports experiences. You can book guided tours, get entry tickets for attractions, or even do experiences on your own with an audio guide and skip-the-line access. It’s got some great perks, and I’ll find tours here that aren’t on Viator.
They also have a selection of Originals by GetYourGuide, a carefully curated list of their “most immersive and unforgettable experiences.” For example, you can be the first person to enter the Sistine Chapel, explore La Sagrada Familia after it closes to the public, or get a guided tour of Wembley Stadium.
Additionally, they offer some nice perks like Price Matching and flexible cancellation up to 24 hours before your tour. Overall, they seem to be a bit more sustainable-focused, with a bigger emphasis on tours that are environment- and culture-friendly.
Big Bus Tours
Big Bus Tours is a newer addition to my list, but it will definitely be in my permanent rotation from now on! I discovered Big Bus Tours last October when my friend and I visited Dublin and needed an easy way to get around the city. Prior to that, I was pretty against hop-on-hop-off tours, but I’ve changed my tune.
Big Bus Tours provides seamless transportation to all the highlights of cities around the world, including Europe, America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. You can choose from different levels of tickets to fit your time frame, and some tickets even include bonus tours. For example, our 48-hour Dublin tickets included a night tour and a free walking tour.
The company also has an app, which is super-helpful for exploring a new city. It keeps you up to date on buses near you and has lots of resources about things to do in the city.
I just released a new blog about our Big Bus Tour Dublin experience, and I encourage you to check that out for more information.
Go City
The last travel tool on my list is Go City. We’ve used a few similar versions of this over the years, but I think Go City is the most popular and reliable. If you like to visit a lot of attractions whenever you visit a new city, this will save you a ton of money. It’s currently available in 30 cities around the world, but hopefully, they’ll add more soon!
Basically, Go City gives you access to multiple popular attractions at up to 50% off the individual price. You can choose to use Go City in two ways: either pick a certain number of attractions or go unlimited and pick a certain number of days. Your total price will depend on which kind of pass you choose and how extensive you want it to be.
For example, a 3-day All-Inclusive Pass in Paris will cost you 214 euros (currently on sale for 194), but you can do as many things as you like from a list of 99 activities! It also includes a Paris Museum Pass, which is worth is weight in gold. I love that they also give you a sample itinerary for your time period in case you’re overwhelmed by all the options. In the case of Paris, the pass even includes some food tastings, which means you can cut down your dining bill at the same time!
If you’d rather do an Explorer pass, you’ll pick the number of attractions you want to visit (3-7), and you’re free to use the pass as you go. You have 60 days to use them whenever you like.
Closing Thoughts on These Travel Tools
And there you have it–all my greatest secrets for booking awesome vacations at a fraction of what you think they should cost!
I have literally saved thousands of dollars on traveling over the past 5 years by using these tools alone or together. Whenever I’m planning a trip, this is where I start, and I hope you will, too! Because traveling doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive! You don’t need to spend $1000 on roundtrip flights to Europe or $500 every night on accommodations. There are so many great tools at your disposal to cut costs and streamline the entire process.
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