I would like to think I know a thing or two about travel planning. I was a travel agent with a world renowned travel agency for four years, I have planned my own travels to 81 countries and I now offer private travel consulting to help others plan their perfect holiday.
Planning a holiday is not exactly easy and it’s definitely time consuming. It can especially be confusing with the amount of options available and the sheer number of websites you can use to book. How do you know they’re safe? How do you know they are reliable or the best price?
After a decade and a half of using possibly all websites known to man, I will share my favourite travel resources to save you scouring the whole internet.
Travel planning
After years of booking flights, accommodation, tours and more, these are the websites I recommend.
Flights
Skyscanner – the first one I go to when I need to look up a flight. Skyscanner is a search engine that searches many different flight booking websites to get the best prices. You can now also book through the website for select flight options.
Accommodation
Plannin – this new booking system is changing the game for accommodation booking. Sign up for free and you can get up to 40% off hostels and hotels! I have been using this for 2024 and their rates have been cheaper every single time, even compared to my usual favourites like booking.com & Agoda.
Byrdli – I have saved some of my favourite accommodation in my Byrdli Travel Club profile, I also have Guides where I share itineraries for a few days in some of my favourite places so you not only get accommodation when you book but lots of travel tips and insights to plan the perfect holiday!
Booking.com – this was my go-to accommodation platform for years until recently. People get comfortable using one platform to book everything which is what happened with a lot of people and Booking (myself included). Then these platforms take advantage of that and hike up the prices.
Recently I have noticed they are often not the cheapest option (even with my ‘Genius discounts’ which seem to be on marked up prices just to appear like a discount). I’ve found better deals with Plannin almost every time BUT Booking do have the most options. A lot of smaller run family hotels will only list their accommodation on one or two sites and Booking.com is a popular option so that’s why I’m including it in this list.
AirBnb – can be great for booking apartments, houses or villas. Especially when traveling in groups. Take this recommendation with a grain of salt though as there are many things wrong with AirBnb.
First off, private homes are not licensed or insured for lodging and tourism. This means if anything were to happen, such as damage, fire, theft etc. you will not be covered by your travel insurance policy and neither will the homeowner a lot of the time. This puts a lot of financial risk on yourself and your travel party.
There are also many legal complications and ethical considerations with staying with AirBnb. With a current financial crisis, there are many people needing housing across the world. With people choosing to rent their properties on AirBnb instead of to local families, it causes a lot of issues with local communities. This is why a lot of cities and countries are starting to ban AirBnb and/or add extremely high taxes and tariffs, making it less affordable.
Day tours & excursions
GetYourGuide – the widest range of affordable day trips and more.
Klook – great range of options worldwide. Use code: WANDERLUSTKLOOK for 10% off!
Viator – little bit more expensive but you can find unique day trips that aren’t on the other two here.
Tour companies
G Adventures – a great company that host trips worldwide and caters to many different demographics, budgets, activeness etc. They try to put 100% of their money into local economies so they will never stay in a foreign owned chain hotel, hire local guides and focus on authentic experiences.
Contiki – a bit more up market accommodation and inclusions. Think private tour buses, 3-4 star hotels and several guides.
Car hire
Kayak – I always find the best deals on Kayak for car hire.
Travel essentials:
These are my travel must-haves to make your trip go smoothly.
Travel money card
Wise had been my go-to travel money card for years with 0% international transaction fees and the best exchange rate on the market. An added bonus is that you can order a physical card and also get an additional card to use with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay etc but they will be different card numbers. So if you lose either your phone or bank card, you can block it and still use the other card. Genius! The digital card can also be activated straight away while you wait for the physical one or even if you’re overseas already and am getting stung by hefty fees from your bank and want an alternative!
Want to try it? Get a FREE card on me!
Travel SIM card
I use SIM Corner when I travel as they have excellent bundles for worldwide destinations and it is so quick and easy to set up. Their Europe 200GB and USA Unlimited packages are especially amazing. Use code: WANDERLUST5 for an additional discount!
Visas
Entriva is the most user friendly website I’ve found to search visa information with an easy interface. You can create a profile, purchase & track your visas and have everything saved in the one spot!
Travel insurance
Never leave home without it! An affordable and reliable company I use is EKTA.
Digital nomad insurance
If you’re a digital nomad and have insurance covering your personal items already or just need health insurance coverage overseas, then I highly recommend Safety Wing.
VPN
I use Surfshark VPN to watch programs from different countries, to get better flight & accommodation deals (setting your VPN to Vietnam or India is best) and for social media.
Get Surfshark and enter promo code ‘TWT’ for 83% off and 4 extra months free!
Budget travel planning
One of the hardest things to figure out when planning is how to budget your trip. Sure you can find how much your flights, accommodation and trains/buses will cost, but what about the every day things like food and public transport?
I used my own personal experience traveling across six continents and months of additional research to design a budget travel planner that gives you examples of the average cost for food & public transport around the world to give you a better idea of what a trip might cost you.
some of these links are affiliate links and by purchasing through these links or with these discount codes I may get a small kick back from the company but at no extra cost to you. So thank you if you choose to book via my link to support my blog. I appreciate it so much.
If you need travel tips, check out more on thewanderlusttimes.com or find us @the.wanderlust.times on social media!
