1. Going (Scott’s Cheap Flights)

Going, formerly known as Scott’s Cheap Flights, is the best way to find cheap flights that you wouldn’t have found otherwise. My wife and I took our first ever trip together because of a flight deal sent straight to my inbox by Going!

Going is a subscription service where you pay a membership fee, pick the airports you want to fly out of, and then they send you deals when they come up. What I love about this is that booking just one flight using their deals could save you more money than several years worth of membership fees. Deals aren’t sporadic either, I’d estimate that I get, on average, 1 deal a day in my email!

When Going sends you a deal they really give you ALL the details. They send you the destination, departure airports, dates, deal price, normal price, airlines and other details. If you click on the link to view the deal on their website you can find even more info such as what type of plane it’s on, historic prices on that route, and even information on the destination. Everything you want to know about the flight, Going will tell you.

Going subscriptions start with a free tier that gives you limited deals about 1-2 days after they first come out. This is a great way to introduce yourself to the service to decide if it’s for you, but I recommend the $49/year premium membership, which gets you all the deals right when they come out. When you’re saving hundreds of dollars every time you book a flight with their deals, $49/year more than pays for itself.

There is also a $199/year “Elite” tier, which gives you deals on business and first class tickets as well as “mistake fares” for all US airports, not just your designated “home” airports. Going also recently released a new “watchlist” feature, which allows you to shortlist three destinations and receive updates on deals to those destinations.

2. Rome2Rio

Rome2Rio is my favorite way to plan transit connections in my travels. They have the most complete information on all the ways to travel between wherever you’re going. Whether it’s by train, plane, bus, or boat, you can find out about it on Rome2Rio.

This site can save you tons of time by aggregating all the various companies and methods for travel. You can find times and approximate costs for various forms of transit and they also provide links to the sites where you can book your tickets. This is my go-to site for planning inter-city travel, and best of all it’s completely free to use!

Rome2Rio is also incredibly easy to use. To start, you enter the two locations you want to travel between and then press “search”. You can get as specific as picking a particular location like a train station, or just pick the town or city.

When you search, you are presented with different travel options on the left side of the screen. On the right side you can view the currently selected option on the map. By clicking on a route option you can see more detailed route information such as departure times and transfers. Often these route details will also include links to the sites where you can actually book the tickets for the transport.

3. Google Flights

Google Flights is another great way to get a good price on flights. They aggregate flight information from nearly every airline, allowing you to find the best flight for whatever route you’re looking for.

This is a great tool for when you want to travel somewhere specific and/or want to travel on specific dates. A great feature of Google Flights is the ability to set up alerts for specific flights so you can be notified of price changes.

To create a flight alert, start by entering your departure and arrival airports as well as your dates. When you click “Explore” you’ll be taken to the screen showing flight options for that particular route. If you look on the left side of the screen, just underneath the filters, you’ll see the “Track prices” option. You can toggle this option for either the specific dates you chose or any date. When you turn the tracking on, you’ll get updates straight to your email when prices change. This allows you to book flights at the optimal time to get the lowest price.

Two other potential money-saving features on Google Flights are the date grid and price graph. These allow you to check prices for dates around the flight you selected. Sometimes changing the dates by just a day or two can result in hundreds of dollars in savings.

To access this information, navigate to the page showing flight options for the route and dates you selected. Then, on the right side of the page underneath the filters you’ll see the “Date grid” and “Price graph” options. The date grid shows you pricing information for different combinations of departure and return dates around the original dates you selected. The price graph shows prices for flights that are the same length of trip you selected, but leaving on different days.

It is important to note that, by request, some airlines do not show up on Google Flights. Most notably in the US is Southwest Airlines, who only sell tickets directly on their site. If you’re flying domestic you’ll want to double check on their site because they often have some of the lowest prices on the market.

4. GetYourGuide

GetYourGuide is a site that provides tickets to a wide array of tours, museums, and other attractions. You can search your destination here to find food tours, walking tours, wine tastings, and more. Tourist attractions will often sell their tickets directly on GetYourGuide. Using their app, you can keep your tickets on your phone with no worry of losing them; I have found the site easy to use and have never had any issues with the activities I’ve booked.

Searching for activities on GetYourGuide is incredibly easy. All you have to do is:

1. Type your destination in the search bar
2. Press the search button
3. (Optional) filter activities by type, price, language, and/or duration

Clicking on an activity brings you to a new page with detailed information. Here you can see not only the price, but also information related to cancellation policies, accessibility, dates and times and more. You get a detailed description of the activity so you know exactly what you’ll be purchasing, and there are also reviews from other customers.

Once you know you want to buy a ticket for an activity, you’ll select the necessary information such as number of participants, date, and language. Then you click the “Check availability” button and you’ll be presented with the option to reserve your ticket. When you get to the checkout I recommend creating an account if you don’t already have one. This makes it easier to check the details of your reservation and access tickets on your phone.

After buying your ticket you should be good to go, just make sure you double and triple check the details so you don’t miss anything. I recommend downloading the mobile app so that you can access tickets. You can even make them available offline or add them to your apple wallet. Of course, the option to print out a physical copy is also available.

5. Airbnb

Airbnb is famous for providing rooms, apartments, and homes for travelers, often at a lower price than hotels or other rentals sites. I’ve had plenty of great experiences staying in Airbnbs and they are still a good option to look into. However, in recent years, there have been increasing ethical concerns surrounding the site, as locals in many tourist hotspots have been driven out of their homes because landlords and corporate owners can make more money turning them into vacation rentals. For this reason I would urge caution when booking with Airbnb and make sure that you don’t use it in places where locals have been displaced because of the system.

That being said, my reason for recommending Airbnb isn’t because of the stays, but because of the experiences. Experiences is a feature I don’t hear mentioned often about Airbnb, but is one that I have had much success with. From a photoshoot in Lisbon, to a haunted tour in Paris, to a bacaro and wine crawl in Venice, I’ve had plenty of unforgettable experiences that I booked on Airbnb. These experiences are a great way to gain a unique perspective on your destination as well as giving you an opportunity to meet up with like minded locals and fellow travelers. Next time you’re planning a trip, don’t forget to check out experiences on Airbnb, they haven’t let me down yet.

6. Google Maps

I’m sure you’re all familiar with Google Maps, many of us use it every day to get us from place to place at home. Maybe it’s not specifically a “travel” app in the way some of the others on this list are, but I find that I spend more time here than anywhere else when planning a trip. Whether it’s figuring out how to get from one attraction to another, finding the best restaurant by your hotel, or finding every single place there is to eat ice cream, Google Maps has you covered.

While blogs such as this one, and the many other great ones out there, can point you in the right direction of tons of great places to eat and things to do, there’s nowhere more comprehensive to search than Google Maps. In my experience the reviews here are more reliable than those on TripAdvisor, Yelp, or other comparable sites, and you can usually find all the information you want from opening times to menus, and more.

Another great Google Maps feature for travelers is My Maps. You can access this by clicking on the 3 bars in the upper left corner to open the menu, selecting “Saved” then clicking on the “Maps” tab and finally selecting “Open My Maps”.

Using My Maps you can visualize all the places you’re interested in by creating a marker for the location. This is perfect for planning out which activities you want to do on the same day as well as determine where you might eat near those places.

You can also pull these maps up on your phone to view them in relation to your current location while you’re on your trip. My one ding on this feature is that the descriptions that you enter sometimes don’t show up on your phone, which can be a bit of a nuisance if you put information in there that you’d like to see while you’re out and about on your trip. Overall though, Google Maps is probably my most-used travel tool and I guarantee it’ll help you plan your next trip.

If you want a more in-depth guide on how to use Google Maps for planning your next trip, check out my blog post on the topic.

7. TheFork

TheFork is a restaurant booking app that is used primarily in Europe. While the ability to book a restaurant and see reviews is useful on its own, what sets TheFork apart from other apps I’ve used in the States, such as OpenTable and Resy, is that you can often get discounts or special fixed-priced menus when you book through TheFork.

I booked with them at a restaurant in Paris and I was pretty skeptical that I would actually get a discount. I didn’t mention it to the restaurant at all as I’m not one to make a fuss, especially not when I’m in a country where I don’t speak the language, but sure enough when the bill came I got a huge discount on a very nice meal.

Not every reservation has a discount associated with it, but if you’re in Europe it’s definitely worth the time to check it out because eating out is one of the biggest expenses in your travels and getting discounts like these can help you save some money, eat nicer meals, or both!

Booking on TheFork is super easy; you start by searching for the city you’ll be eating in. Then, you can filter down by things such as availability, cuisine type, ratings, and more. When scrolling through the options you’ll be able to see their average review, cuisine type, address, pricing, and whether or not there’s any discount by booking through TheFork. You’ll also be able to see the location on a map on the right side of the screen.

When you click on a restaurant you’ll find a few more details such as photos, menus, opening hours, and FAQs. From this screen you’ll also be able to actually make your reservation by using the booking widget on the right side of the screen. You’ll first pick your date, then time, and finally the number of patrons. At the end you’ll also see confirmation of the offer from The Fork if there is one. Finally, you can press “Book” and confirm your reservation.

If you are able to visit restaurants on TheFork frequently, you’ll be able to take advantage of their rewards program, which gives you points every time you book. Unfortunately these points expire after a year so I’ve never racked up enough to take advantage of them.

Disclosure: Note that some of the links in this article may be affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, these links allow me to earn a commission if you make a purchase. I will only recommend products and companies I actually use and the income I earn helps me to keep this site up and running.