A couple of can’t miss travel resources: Momondo and HotelsCombined7/8/2009
Flights
Last weekend, I booked a flight to Orlando. My usual process for finding cheap flights is to go to Orbitz and type in my flight information assuming that these were the best deals on the internet. This couldn’t be further from the truth!
I’ve been doing some travel research the last few weeks and came across a Danish website called Momondo. Supposedly they had the biggest aggregator in the world. I decided that this time I wanted to compare flights from Austin to Orlando with the heavily marketed Orbitz vs. the obscure Momondo.
I was shocked to find that Momondo found me a deal over $60 cheaper round trip than the cheapest Orbitz had to offer. I am a true believer now and you can guarantee that I will be using Momondo in the future.
Cheapest Flights
Date Range: 7/16 – 7/19/09
Austin to Orlando (Momondo) – $280
Austin to Orlando (Orbitz) – $342
Where Momondo really shines is finding the cheapest airfare when flying out of country. Unlike Orbitz, Momondo lists all of the newer airlines, up and comers, and foreign flights that you probably have never even heard of. They find the absolute best deals and encourage you to go direct.
Hotels
For hotel search, the U.S. is dominated by two companies, hotels.com and quikbook.com. They both take a percentage of the cut for finding the cheapest room for you. These two sites do a great job of finding the bigger, more established hotel chains but leave out the smaller, newer, less known hotels.
I found an absolute gem for finding the lowest cost hotels around. An Australian website called HotelsCombined. Hotelscombined has the biggest aggregator I’ve seen when it comes to searching for hotels. (Hotels.com and Quikbook are included in the search).
For example, I compared the price of the Strand Palace Hotel in London, England.
Location: London, England
Check in/ Check out dates: 12/1 – 12/5/09
Occupants: 1 Adult
Hotels.com : $136.83/night
HotelsCombinded.com: $132/night
You save $24.15 just by booking with HotelsCombined over Hotels.com!
The reason HotelsCombined is so effective is because they encourage you to cut out the middle man and go direct. They also do a great job of listing the absolute cheapest price around for your search terms. Newer locations, up start hotels, and hotels off the map are included in HotelsCombined search.
Next time when you book a trip make sure to check out Momondo for flights and HotelsCombined for rooms. I vouch for these companies not because I have any pre-established relationship with them, but because they are the cheapest around. They represent what this blog is all about, finding the absolute best in travel resources so you have more money to enjoy your adventures!