<p>As I contemplate the empty nest, I know that DH & I plan on doing more travel. Obviously, we can be more flexible when we take trips, and it’s a lot cheaper for 2 vs. 4. I’ve signed up for a few travel emails, and I’m taking note but I’m hoping CC peeps can help me out. Are there sites that help you figure out the best times to go various places based on typical costs for a given time of year, weather patterns, crowds, etc ?</p>
<p>I’m so used to planning vacations around school breaks. We’d love to go to Italy, Scotland and lots of other places but I’d love to know how to get the best planning info.</p>
<p>I hope someone out there has some suggestions, RobD, because I’d love to have that same information. You can ask specific questions on individual site discussion boards like fodors or tripadvisor. But it would be terrific to have one site that calculates those variables. </p>
<p>If there isn’t a site like that, maybe some brilliant CCer could create it. :)</p>
<p>I love travel planning. Frommers, Fodors, Lonely Planet, and Conde Nast are good for general planning (best time of year, weather, crowds).</p>
<p>For airfare, I use [KAYAK</a> - Cheap Flights, Hotels, Airline Tickets, Cheap Tickets, Cheap Travel Deals - Compare Hundreds of Travel Sites At Once](<a href=“http://www.kayak.com%5DKAYAK”>http://www.kayak.com). It gives you the options of searching flights within 3 days of either side of flight dates. Plus, it will search surrounding airports. I was able to save a couple hundred on my flight to Florida for spring break thanks to kayak. We’re flying into West Palm and out of Miami. As far as I know, SWA is the only airline that not in their database.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.tripadvisor%5B/url%5D”>www.tripadvisor</a> is great for hotels. Plus they have very active forums, where you can ask questions about any destination.</p>
<p>Hmmm. I use TripAdvisor quite a bit, especially in conjunction with Hotwire & BetterBidding when I’m looking at domestic hotel rooms. And I’ve been using Google Flights to find out flight options & prices (which I think is powered by ITA Matrix; SW flights aren’t in there either.) </p>
<p>I’ll bookmark those travel sites. I’ve used Fodors & Frommers in the past. </p>
<p>Maybe I’ll just post my specific questions here in the Parents Cafe. I know I’ll get good info & it’s easier than going to multiple sites :)</p>
<p>Check out Travelzoo. I often find great hotel deals there as well as good vacation packages. Lately, I’ve found local deals for restaurants and entertainment! As for fare trackers, I believe my husband uses kayak.</p>
<p>I love betterbidding. If you’re already using it, you’re off to a great start. Another similar site, that offers the same information, but fewer posts, is biddingfortravel.</p>
<p>I’m in a similar situation, but my main focus now is on getting travel deals. I just started looking at besttraveldeals dot net, and it looks promising. Also signed up for Groupon Getaways, which has listed some interesting offers.</p>
<p>I typically use Trip Advisor for travel planning, and I have found it helpful.</p>
<p>I subscribe to Budget Travel - their website is a good source of travel information around the globe: [Budget</a> Travel | Travel Deals, Travel Tips, Travel Advice, Vacation Ideas](<a href=“http://www.budgettravel.com/]Budget”>http://www.budgettravel.com/). They also post monthly deals. The travel agencies offering the deals usually have websites with full itineraries if you want to plan a trip yourself; if not, you can also sign up for package deals from those agencies.</p>
<p>Another good website for travel in Europe is Rick Steves [Rick</a> Steves Europe: Tours, Trip Planning, Travel Guides & Information](<a href=“http://www.ricksteves.com/]Rick”>http://www.ricksteves.com/). I usually check out his travel books from the library when I’m planning a trip.</p>
<p>Itasoftware.com is a great place to get ideas about airfares and schedules offered by many airlines at one time. Once I figure out routing I start looking at the airline’s site to book.</p>
<p>Planning a trip to Spain now for this June. It is exhausting but only because we hate smoke anything and have spent time finding smoke free hotels. TripAdvisor is my go to place. Folks are super about answering questions on the forums so do not be shy. No question is dumb. Or at least most are not. I also then do a few queries on the Web. I cross reference often. If you are planning a big trip just know it takes some concentrated time and then you have things in place (ie travel and hotel) the rest comes next (tickets for palaces and museums) and last comes restaurants and shopping.
A few trips and you will get your training wheels :)</p>
<p>Just wanted to say that in general you will most often get the best prices and service if you go directly to the airline or hotel. Cross reference for information but always try to book directly. Other sites want you to believe they are giving you a deal but it has been many years since that is true. By booking directly with air or hotel you both save them money in fees and they will, generally, stand behind you if you have problems.
ALWAYS make sure that the website you are tempted to book with is actually better than the actual hotel or airline.
If there is no link from the deal site you are looking at for the hotel or air just cut and paste and do an internet search for the hotel or air and look at their own site. Sometimes you need to dig some.</p>
<p>Fodors.com is another site with many helpful travelers. They want you to be as specific as possible so they can help you. Forum participants often live in the area or are frequent guests.</p>
<p>Sometimes if you call the vendor directly and mention a competitor’s advertised price you have screenshot of they may match.</p>
<p>I use TripAdvisor a lot when I want to check out a destination and get tips. This is the site that gave me a lot of insight about how low I could actually bid for 4-star hotels in London and Scotland on Priceline and I got them at ridiculously low prices. I also love the real photos people post of their travel destinations and or hotel rooms as well as their honest feedback about their experiences. They also have experts for each destination who are quite responsive.</p>
<p>Trip advisor gave me great advise for our trip to Jordan. I think I used Fodor’s or a link I got from them for Scotland bed and breakfasts a few years ago and that worked out very well.</p>