I’ve had a lot of people ask me recently what my favorite travel websites are and what I use to find cheap travel deals. The thing about finding good flight deals is to be FLEXIBLE with your travel. I always choose locations where we travel based on my flight deal. We are always open to going to new places so we tend to look for cheap travel deals vs. choosing a location to travel to first.
I’ve found some cheap travel deals recently, one being a ticket from Washington D.C. to Asia for $517 dollars and more recently, to Oahu, Hawaii for $363 dollars!
Best Cheap Travel Deal Websites
- The Flight Deal – I love this site because it tells you what months the cheap travel deals are available, which airline, and you can actually find these deals! I turn my notifications ON for their Facebook Page to get the deals quicker. They have a mailing list, but sometimes the deals have sold out by the time I receive an email.
- Scott’s Cheap Flights – I use the non-paid version of this email listing. I find between using The Flight Deal and Scott’s Cheap Flights, I don’t really need the paid version of it. Scott’s Cheap Flights emails a list of round trip prices from various cities in the U.S. and Canada. I scan the email quickly if its a location I’m interested in flying to and see if they have any cheap flights deals from Washington D.C. (WAS)!
- Google Flights – Once I’ve found the travel deal that I’m interested in, I use Google Flights to find the cheapest days to travel. I like to open up the calendar and scan for months/days I’m interested in. I like to do an initial scan without any filters and then I will add “1 stop or fewer” because no one wants to take two layovers if they can help it. It’s always about time vs. money!
- Skyscanner – Skyscanner is another website I really like for international travel. They list smaller airlines especially when you are traveling between countries in Asia. I also like the option of selecting “Everywhere” from whatever destination you are and it will list prices to give you an idea of where to go if your itinerary is more open ended. Check out Skiplagged.com or Hopper for cheap flights too!
Be Flexible to Score the Best Travel Deals
- Be flexible with your schedule. If you are flying peak travel times such as Spring Break, you might have a harder time finding a super cheap deal, but keeping an eye out ahead of time can definitely be worth the reward. The last deal I found to Hawaii was available throughout summer and even over Thanksgiving!
- Flying on Fridays in general tends to be more expensive than flying midweek so if you can be flexible in what days you travel, you can save more money!
- Be flexible about stops – non-stop tends to be more expensive on a long haul flight, so if you are willing to take one stop, you will likely find more discounts, but I’ve definitely found non-stop cheap travel deals so it really just depends on the location you are heading to.
- If you have several airports around you like we do in D.C. (WAS), then you can definitely save money if you are flexible in which airport you choose. In the D.C. area, we can choose from IAD (Dulles), DCA or BWI (Baltimore), which definitely gives us more options and flexibility in price.
- Be aware of “basic economy” travel deals & low-cost air carriers. You will have to pay extra for luggage, typically not eligible for any changes or upgrades, and you will not be able to choose your seat. If giving up some conveniences for a cheaper travel deal is worth it, then definitely go for it, but just know what’s included in your ticket beforehand so you aren’t surprised about any hidden costs!
- Don’t forget to compare websites for hotel and rental cars, etc. I like to compare using Kayak, Costco Travel, and usually I’ll choose another one such as Expedia, Priceline, Hotels.com etc.
Best Hotel and Car Rental Websites
- Airbnb or Home Away – I’ve found the same listings on Airbnb, but cheaper on Home Away before, so I would definitely check out both websites. I assume the fees each website charges is a little different, which makes their pricing slightly different for each website.
We do a mix of apartment and hotel stays when we travel. We like to have the extra space when traveling with a toddler, but depending on the location, we may prefer a resort or want the amenities of a hotel stay.
- Costco Travel – I love using Costco Travel for car rentals. I’ve found great deals on reputable car rental places. They also cover a second driver. Once, I found a cheaper deal on Hotwire for a no name car rental place and I totally regretted it! I might have saved $50, but I had to wait over an hour to get a car with a ton of other people who told me horror stories about how they ran out of cars the day before! I haven’t utilized Costco Travel for vacation and hotel deals yet, but I have heard a lot of good things about the packages that they offer.
Sometimes, the cheapest deal isn’t always the BEST deal.
- As mentioned before, I usually do a quick check for hotels through either Expedia (which owns Hotwire, Travelocity, Orbitz, Hotels.com) or Priceline/Kayak/Booking.com. I’ve even noticed some hotels abroad being listed on Airbnb so its definitely worth it to compare. Many of these websites usually have discount codes between 10-20% so you can always do an online search to see if you can find additional savings.
Travel Tips
- If the airline changes your flight time or itinerary, you can call them and change your flight to a better time/non-stop/etc without any fees (typically must be same day and same destinations). I’ve done this before on Southwest, American Airlines and United. You probably won’t have the same luck with a low-cost air carrier. I typically will look on their website to see which other flights I would prefer to fly on, either shorter layover or non-stop to the same destinations. I will call the airline and ask them due to the flight change they made, if they can change my flight to the preferred flight that I looked up. I’ve done this several times with great success. Each airline will have their own delay time specifics, but it definitely does not hurt to ask!
- Southwest sent me a text message delaying my flight home (which was a connecting flight) as I was on my way to the airport and I was able to change to a non-stop flight the same day without any additional fees.
- United changed my flight to Asia, where I would have missed a connection and would have to stay an extra day in my connecting city. In this instance, I asked for a refund mainly due to an unexpected medical issue, but depending on the length of delay, not only can you ask for a new flight itinerary, you can also ask for a refund!
- Airlines typically do NOT compensate for any weather flight delays, but you can always check with your credit card if they do (more discussed below). If your flight gets delayed for mechanical issues, I would definitely contact the airline and discuss your experience as they usually will do some sort of compensation in the form of a travel voucher. Be sure to keep all your documentation!
- If an airline bumps you involuntarily, make sure you know your rights as airlines are required to pay out compensation in cash or they will give a hefty travel voucher like this recent United passenger.
- If traveling with a baby or toddler – make sure to read my post about traveling with an infant!
Best Travel Credit Card to Accumulate Points
My favorite credit card for accumulating points, would definitely be Chase Sapphire Reserve. Its got a steep credit card fee, $450, but totally worth it for all its perks. They reimburse $300 back on travel so if you travel quite often like we do, its essentially $150, only $55 more than the Chase Sapphire Preferred card so I would definitely recommend Chase Sapphire Reserve over the Preferred Card.
Chase Sapphire Reserve – Gain 50,000 bonus points when you open up a new card!
Not a exhaustive list, but some of their travel benefits include:
- $300 annual travel credit
- Complimentary Priority Pass airport lounge access with guests
- Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check reimbursement credit (up to $100 every 4 years)
- Trip Cancellation or Interruption Insurance
- Primary Auto Rental Collision Damage
- Lost Luggage Reimbursement
- 1:1 Point Transfer to Airline and Hotel loyalty programs
In addition to travel perks, Chase Sapphire Reserve also has purchase benefits such as extended warranty, price and return protection. Always know all your benefits to take full advantage. I would love it if you use my referral if you do decide to try get the Chase Sapphire Reserve! This is honestly NOT sponsored, I really think its a great travel card!
Favorite websites for learning more about accumulating points & how to spend it on travel are:
The best way to maximize points is to do a point transfer to airline and hotel loyalty programs. I’m saving my points for business or first class to Asia!
I would love to know what secrets you have in finding the cheap travel deals for flights, hotels, and car rentals! Please comment below and as always, please PIN this if you enjoyed this article!
