Budget Travel Bookmarks

Where do you go on the Web if you want to find a great deal?

The Internet is a beautiful thing. Now that I have it, I can’t imagine life without it. At least a dozen times a week, it answers questions that would have taken ten phone calls or a day in the library before. But there’s a downside. The world’s largest library can be as intimidating as, well, the world’s largest library. If you’re a budget traveler, you need to have a good set of bookmarks/favorites in your web browser.

Everyone has their own set of key sites, as they should. And no list is going to be anything close to comprehensive. But these are the ones that, for me, offer dependable info and solid results I can depend on. If someone took these away and I had to go back to traveling the old way, I’d feel lost.

Some of these are only really applicable to US and Canadian travelers, so I’ll start with the international ones.

Everything you wanted to know about somewhere and weren’t afraid to ask
– If you haven’t been to Lonely Planet , you’re probably feeling like a lonely traveler. Go there, get info, ask questions, get answers.
– At the Rough Guides site, the message board is not as lively, but there’s still a load of good info. An especially great resource if you want to find out about local music before you go.
– IgoUgo has a zillion journals written by people who have been there, done that, and stopped to write about it. Virtual Tourist is a similar site that is a bit more schizo, but has more info on hotels/hostels and a better message board.
– JohnnyJet is basically just a collection of links, but what a mother of all links sites it is! If you’re trying to find something that concerns travel, there’s a good chance it’s here.

Budget Travel Articles
Everyone is going to have a favorite (feel free to post them at the bottom), but here are mine:
Transitions Abroad
GoNomad
BootsnAll
PassPlanet

For the Americans and Canadians (or travel in those places)
These sites will easily save you hundreds of dollars if you’re going on vacation rather than a long-term trip.
– Most people know about Priceline for airfares, which can be a bit of a pain, but for hotels they’re a godsend. First, go to BiddingForTravel and see what other people have paid. Follow their instructions, get in the ballpark range, and SCORE! You can easily pay half what you see on Expedia or Hotels.com. Hotwire is also worth checking out before you book a hotel or rental car.
– No one travel site always gives you the best deal on hotel rooms. Use Travelaxe to search multiple sites at once, then book at the one with the best rate. I just used this to book a hotel in New Orleans during Jazzfest and the best rate came from some obscure site called Hotel Kingdom. Whodathunk?
– A similar site, but for rental cars, is BreezeNet . I’ve also used them myself for bookings and found deals I couldn’t match anywhere else.
– Want to see the weekly airfare deals for your home airport? Sign up for Smarter Living’s weekly newsletter.

Now get outta town!