Best travel site

[Xaroc]

I am looking to book a trip later this month and wondered what travel sites people would recommend as having the cheapest rates for airfare and hotels. I need to be able to leave either late in the day one day or early in the day the next so from what I know priceline is out unless someone points out otherwise.

-- Xaroc

[DennyA]

I always check Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz, as well as JetBlue.com if they fly where I'm going.

The airline rates are generally similar between the sites (but not always identical), but each site offers its own hotel deals in conjunction with various chains. It's worth the effort to check all three.

[DrCrypt]

Except in extremely rare instances where airlines are having a web-only deal (such as a deal my mother got for a round trip flight from Boston to Dublin for about 100 bucks), I think travel web sites are an incredibly poor stand-in for having a really good travel agent. On sites like Travelocity, I have never once been able to find a better deal than what my travel agent could find... and usually, my travel agent can save me a couple hundred euros over what similar flights are going for online. It makes sense, really - these people are building careers out of figuring out exactly what routes, times of year and different combos of discounts will yield the cheapest flights. Also, small tip: flying on the thirteenth of any month, but especially on Friday the Thirteenth, will usually save you huge amounts of cash. Never underestimate the superstitions of the masses.

[Timemaster Tim]

I think travel web sites are an incredibly poor stand-in for having a really good travel agent.

I agree, every time I've checked out flights on the web, I've found my travel agent got me something cheaper.

[Nathan Phoenix]

In my experience, travelocity is good for getting an idea of what carriers will be flying on your route. From there, if you actually go to the carrier website, you can find the same flight that is on travelocity for about 5-10% less.