Anyone truly travel-obsessed has a favorite site or two for finding cheap flights and hotels. Here are our favorite apps and sites for booking cheap flights and hotels.
Travel search engines are real lifesavers, thanks to their ability to aggregate all possible airfares or hotel rates on one page, meaning you won’t have to search airline or hotel by hotel. Unless you’re like me, it saves you money and time – and you spend hours dreaming up your next trip.
Besides showing you the cheapest flight to your destination and the lowest-priced hotel there, these sites allow you to see only the results that you actually want. Whether it’s no layovers, hotels with swimming pools, or sticking with brands you’re loyal to, there’s a filter for that. Many sites can even bundle your selections together into vacation package deals if that’s something you’re interested in.
If you’re not using one of these, making travel plans and finding good travel deals, will get much easier. Take a look below at some of our favorite websites for booking vacation deals on both flights and hotels.
Best Websites for Booking Cheap Flights and Hotels
1. Kayak
Kayak is one of the best possible websites to find cheap deals, including flights, hotels, and rental cars. The platform features several tools that can help you do so, including price tracking and booking advice.
On the left-hand side of the search screen, you’ll find a ton of filters to help narrow down your search based on your needs. For flights, that includes specific airlines, number of layovers, bags, and even airline alliances, among many more. You can narrow results by amenities, hotel chains, review scores, and more for hotels.
When you search for flights on Kayak, another tab with hotel options at your destination opens by default, making it easier to find everything at once. Alternatively, travelers seeking convenience can search package deals, bundling the whole purchase into one. Read our full Kayak review for this versatile site’s features, tips, and tricks.
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2. Momondo
Momondo is a travel metasearch site that helps you find and compare the finest flight, hotel, automobile rental, and package holiday deals. If you notice that the user interface feels a lot like Kayak’s, that’s because these two are actually the same company. There are just a few functional differences to meet the needs of various travelers.
Again, you’ll have options on the left side of the screen for searches for the various components of your trip; once your search is performed, you’ll have even more options for sorting and filtering.
One thing I specifically like about Kayak and Momondo is the fact that you’ll instantly see the high and low prices for your destination, even before you hit the search button – the calendar to select dates is color-coded by cost, great for selecting a cheap flight early on in the planning process.
Hotel searches are almost identical to Kayak’s as well. Don’t forget that you can track hotel rates, which function the same as tracking flight prices. This is wonderfully helpful, as hotel cancellation policies are much more forgiving than the airlines, meaning you can save money until the last minute. Read our full Momondo guide for all of the details.
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3. Skyscanner
Skyscanner is a great site for finding not only flight deals but hotels and car rentals as well. It makes searching all possible options at once easy with useful filters and suggestions, putting it at the top of many travelers’ favorites for planning an entire trip.
I find that Skyscanner has a real advantage with its Explore Everywhere function. It’s ideal for flexible daydreaming travelers as you enter your departure point and let Skyscanner guide you through the best ideas to fly to based on price and convenience. You’ll first see large destinations sorted by cheapest and most direct flights, and click through the options to get more specific cities and options.
Just below the flight results, you’ll also find the best hotels at the destination – again, with prices displayed in the interest of finding deals, but also with varying amenities. As you can imagine, this function is a great way to discover and get travel inspiration; Skyscanner is also great for booking your next flight and hotel à-la-carte.
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4. Kiwi
Another useful website for cheap flights and hotels is Kiwi, a great alternative to some well-known travel sites. Kiwi differs in that it is an online travel agency itself, meaning it won’t be displaying any fares besides its own, which comes with its pros and cons.
The things travelers like about Kiwi involve its ease of viewing the cheapest dates for a flight. Once you input departure and arrival points, the dates calendar will display the lowest fares for each day of the month. After you make a date selection, you can also view price trends on a graph for that given day or week, making it easy to score a deal if you’re flexible.
Kiwi also allows you to “lock in” a fare for a few days, taking a small down payment immediately and the rest later, which will adjust if the fare drops – a lovely surprise to be notified of.
However, there are downsides to not booking direct with an airline or hotel, so be sure to do your research. Kiwi partners with Booking.com for hotel searches rather than providing results, and we’ll see more later.
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5. Expedia
Another great website for booking cheap flights and hotels is Expedia, the legacy app of the Expedia Group Company. This is one of the world’s largest travel sites, continuously offering discounted airfare and hotel reservations.
There are several different options for finding deals, such as “popular destinations,” “price drops,” “airport takeoffs,” and “borderless dates.” Another feature I like about Expedia is its price match guarantee.
Expedia will refund the difference if you find a cheaper rate within 24 hours of booking your trip. Expedia also sets itself apart from the others, with plenty of flight and hotel packages for amazing destinations around the world.
If you are looking for cheap vacation packages that don’t require the headache of budgeting for and purchasing hotels and flights separately, you can search for them all in one central spot. Booking a vacation package can even be done from the app – ideal for planning your next getaway from an airport lounge.
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6. CheapOair
CheapOair started as a site solely focused on flight deals but has since added other features such as hotels, car rentals, and hotel packages too. The hotel vacation packages feature is one of the main reasons to use this site.
You can search for vacation packages, including the flights plus hotel package or the hotel plus rental car. You need to select a destination and dates – CheapOair will display results by the hotel, which many package travelers appreciate, as it’s where you’ll spend a lot of your time. Prices are displayed as the total per person, making it easy to sort through options based on your budget.
CheapOair has all of these options if you love all-inclusive stays or need the flexibility of a refundable trip. Of course, you can use this site to search for flights and hotels separately, too – it functions much like the other search engines we’ve mentioned.
Just be sure to compare your findings to ensure you’re getting a deal – like Kiwi and Expedia. If you see a deal you like on CheapOair, you’ll be buying it from them directly rather than the airline or hotel. This is one of the best travel websites for booking a complete vacation package, which includes a flight, hotel, and rental car.
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7. Google Flights
Google Flights is my favorite website for finding cheap flights and hotels. You can’t beat the simplicity and smoothness of running searches for flight and hotel deals, especially when doing dozens of them because you’re bored.
We did a whole guide on using Google Flights efficiently to find affordable airfare, and the user-friendly system has all kinds of functions. Some favorites are setting up price alerts, viewing trends, filtering for your preferences, and inputting multiple destinations. The “Explore” function is also awesome for finding inspiration from a map of the cheapest destinations to fly to.
Few people know that there’s a tab for hotels at the top of the Google Flights page, too. As with flights, you enter the place you’re going, along with some dates, and let Google intelligently show you some great accommodation ideas. With both flights and hotels, Google will check prices from dozens of sites to ensure you have all the options to consider for destinations worldwide.
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8. Agoda
Agoda started as a site for hotel deals in the Asia-Pacific region but has grown to function worldwide. You can book hotels, hostels, private homes, long stays, and special accommodations on Agoda.
One of the first things you’ll notice on the hotel search page is that underneath your destination and dates, there’s an option to “Add a hotel.” That might seem like some error, but it’s a pretty cool function that allows you to bundle multiple hotel stays for one trip into one price. For example, if your itinerary has you headed to London and then to Paris, Agoda can bundle your hotels in both places for a potentially better deal.
You’ll notice that Agoda has a ton of filters and options for its search results – probably more than any of the other sites for airlines we’ve seen. As for flights, its search engine is fully powered by Kayak, but the search remains within Agoda’s URL.
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9. Travelocity
Travelocity is another online travel agency that has been around for quite some time – do you recognize their gnome mascot from The Amazing Race? It’s one of the largest travel websites in the world and is another company owned by Expedia Group Company.
Travelocity lets vacationers find the best flight and hotel deals in one spot. If you are looking for cheap vacations worldwide, you can use its “add a flight and hotel together” and/or “add a car” checkboxes to find package deals for flight, hotel, and car rentals, all included in one price. These companies offer many of the same benefits as competitor sites, such as price matching and free cancellation within 24 hours.
I think Travelocity does a nice job with flight bookings in particular. You’ll see round-trip prices from the beginning but can select from a list of possible return flights after selecting a departure marked with their respective price differences. Fare differences, such as basic economy exclusions, are also clearly laid out from the beginning.
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10. Orbitz
Orbitz is another one of the oldest travel websites for vacation deals. Travelers to this Expedia-group website can search accommodations, flights, rental cars, cheap vacation packages, cruises, and tours and activities at a destination. As you can tell, this site won’t require you to visit many others!
Searching for flights on Orbitz is easy with the filters and options that any traveler would want to see. Results are sorted in the order of best price but can easily be changed to display the shortest, longest, earliest, or latest flights first.
You’ll also notice that registered users will earn Orbucks for each booking, with that amount shown on every result – great for collecting rewards for the next trip.
You can search for hotels separately, then check in the box to add one to your flight or take advantage of one of the site’s suggestions during the booking process to bundle one before checkout. Like some others, Orbitz is an online travel agency that will sell you your bookings rather than a travel search engine.
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11. Booking.com
If you’re a frequent reader of ViaTravelers, you know we’re huge fans of Booking.com. The main site of the travel site giant Booking Holdings, which also operates sites like Agoda, Kayak, and Momondo, Booking.com is one of the most visited travel platforms in the world, and the sheer volume of options they offer is amazing.
Most people think of Booking.com as a hotel website, and it is – you can find just about any hotel in any city listed, along with private vacation rentals and other types of accommodation. The search process is simple, the results are easy to sort through, and the whole system makes it easy to decide.
But, if you look toward the top of the site, you’ll see options to book flights, cars, attractions, and vacation packages. There’s even a section to book your airport transfer. Booking.com gets it right by giving you all the right options and information without overwhelming you.
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12. Priceline
Another household name for flights, hotels, and vacation packages is Priceline. This online travel agency is another that offers easy searching and booking of each component of your trip separately but tries hard to get you to bundle them together.
You’ll find all the usual filters and options when searching for flights, and Priceline helps show you the cheapest dates by color-coding the calendar and displaying the lowest price of each day even before you press the search button.
They are also partnered with an online bank that offers monthly payments over time for flight costs, displayed prominently under each airfare. This could be an interesting idea for the right traveler, but be careful with these loans – you should understand exactly what you’re getting into.
Hotel searches are similarly convenient, with a range of amenities, options to select, and traveler ratings displayed. This site allows you to add multiple hotels to the same trip, combining them into a single booking transaction for simplicity.
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13. Trip.com
Finally, we have Trip.com, another lesser-known but great website to book flights and hotels, along with trains, cars, and tours. This is the parent company of Skyscanner.
I find that Trip.com has several unique advantages for booking flights. For one, results automatically display the baggage inclusions for each option – a nice thing to know in the age of airlines charging for everything. Second, an orange sticker will let you know if limited seats are left on a particular flight. That’s good to know if it’s a flight with few alternatives or one you want to take.
Searching for and booking trains is another unique capability for those traveling to Germany, the U.K., Japan, Korea, and China. Rail travel can be a cheaper and more enjoyable alternative, but it can be a nightmare to book if you don’t know where to go to do so.
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14. Hopper
Hopper is a travel app that has been designed to be fast and easy to use. It helps travelers narrow their options quickly and efficiently by setting basic requirements before showing the results, such as flight duration or the number of stops desired. They’ve also begun selling hotel rooms and rental cars on their platform.
Interestingly, Hopper is only accessible in mobile app form – there’s no website. That has proved popular with younger travelers who enjoy doing all the searching from their phones. The user interface is remarkably simple, and you’ll understand how to use it immediately during your first search.
Hopper issues the tickets themselves, so consider this route if you feel strongly about airlines not booking directly. However, there is no booking fee, and every transaction earns Carrot Cash rewards points towards future travel.
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How to find the best deals on flights and hotels
Finding the best airfare and hotel offers might be challenging at times. It may be tough to determine which websites will provide the best fares. The easiest approach to locating good deals on airfare and accommodations is to study through these top-rated budget travel websites.
You should set up the right travel alerts and ensure you save your search results to compare different rates across other sites. It’s best to keep track of the best deals when booking flights or hotels, especially if planning multiple trips throughout the year.
These sites will provide some of the best deals for airfare and accommodations. Knowing which websites offer the best rates can be challenging, so follow our advice on finding cheap flights and hotels. These sites regularly update their discount and coupon codes, so make sure you regularly check back to see if they have anything new.
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Is it Cheaper to Book a Flight and Hotel Together in a Package Deal?
As we’ve seen, it’s very common for these sites to offer a bundled hotel package along with flights or vice-versa. They’ve advertised aggressively, and travelers often wonder whether they’re getting a deal.
The truth is that these sites offer flight and hotel vacation packages that can sometimes save you a bit of money. That’s because they purchase the rights to air seats and hotel rooms in bulk at a discounted rate, allowing them to pass down some savings to you as a bundle.
However, it’s not always the case that you’ll get a vacation at a discount, and it’s best to do the math before making any decisions. Plus, there are disadvantages to booking a vacation package.
You won’t earn frequent flier miles or hotel points, and cancellation policies can be more punishing. You also probably won’t be able to take advantage of the ability to set price alerts to cancel and rebook if fares drop.
Customer service with some of these travel agencies can be a nightmare, so if something goes wrong and you need to get in touch, know that it may not be straightforward.
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FAQs
What is the best site to book a flight and hotel?
The best site to book a flight and hotel often depends on individual travel needs, but a widely trusted option is Skyscanner. With a user-friendly interface, Skyscanner offers many choices for booking a flight, hotel, and car rental. Furthermore, it frequently provides deals on combined flight and hotel bookings, making it a one-stop solution for many travelers.
What are the best websites for cheap flights and hotels?
The best websites for booking cheap flights and lodging are Kiwi, Skyscanner, Expedia, and Google Flights.
What are some tips for finding the cheapest flights and hotels?
We’ve written a complete guide on how to find cheap flights, but here’s a ten-second snapshot of the best tips. First, have as much flexibility as possible – consider more destinations and try not to be super-firm on your chosen dates.
Second, set up price alerts from your website of choice – do this even for flights already booked, as you can cancel and rebook if the fare drops, getting credit for the difference. Third, book an appropriate time in advance, as prices rise as the dates approach.
How far in advance should I book my flights and hotels to get the best deals?
Continuing from the question above, there are certain windows to take advantage of when booking flights and hotels in advance. For domestic flights, 2 to 3 months beforehand usually gets you the lowest prices, while international flights need 5 to 6 months.
Hotels should usually be booked as far in advance as possible, but don’t increase prices as dramatically as airfare. Waiting until the last minute is a great way to pay more money than necessary for either.
Are there any hidden fees or additional costs I should know when booking flights and hotels online?
Compared to booking airline tickets over the phone, it’s actually the opposite – you’ll avoid extra taxes and fees online, whereas you’ll be charged them on the phone! There is rarely, if ever, a special fee to book flights or hotels online.
By law, airlines must show you the final price, taxes, and fees included from the beginning. Hotels may surprise you with resort fees and taxes at check-in, but these are still in the fine print before you make your reservation.
What is the cheapest website for flights and hotels?
Generally speaking, travel aggregators such as Skyscanner, Google Flights, and Kayak are great places to look up cheap flight and hotel deals. These apps aggregate actual pricing information from airlines and hotels for destinations worldwide without including an extra booking fee, ensuring you get the best possible price.