These are all the travel resources that I personally use for my travel planing and during the trip. These have helped me greatly to travel cheaper and smarter. Some of these websites offer great deals from time to time.
Airfare
Skyscanner is the best flight search engine out there. It includes every small budget airline for a given route. You can definitely find the cheapest flight using Skyscanner.
Momondo is also a very good search engine. I prefer momondo for it’s association with new and upcoming booking sites which offer great discounts.
Google Flights has some unique search options such as map search, flight alerts, etc. I use it’s map search to figure if flying to a different city is cheaper than to the one I am planning to.
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Accommodation
Airbnb is my go to website for accommodation. I prefer Airbnb not just for the price but for various other reasons. Airbnb gives you the opportunity to experience the local culture, language and hospitality. Get $40 USD OFF on your Airbnb booking using this link.
TripAdvisor is always the first site I usually start my accommodation research with. You can never go wrong with TripAdvisor ratings and reviews. I usually consider booking hotels/hostels that has at least a 4 star rating on TripAdvisor.
Orbitz runs a 15% coupon discount on the hotel bookings most of the times. You can find the coupon code on their home page. I also like their reward program where you get back up to 5% of the hotel and 1% of flight bookings in the form of Orbucks.
Expedia runs great deals from time to time. Sometimes up to 50% off. I like their Expedia+ membership program, which give 10% discount on most bookings and cash back in the form of Expedia points.
I have been using Booking.com for several years now. It’s my go to website for all hotel bookings. Booking has great deals from time to time. A lot of refundable hotel options as well, which especially are useful for visa applications.
I do stay in hostels from time to time. Hostelworld is where I search and book my hostels. The good thing about Hostelworld is that you only have to pay 15% of the total price upfront. Taxes are included in the price.
Agoda have amazing discounts on hotels and hostels in Asia. If you are traveling in South East Asia, you should be using Agoda. They are headquartered in Singapore and have huge presence in South East Asia. They also send coupons to your email from time to time.
MakeMyTrip is my go to website for hotel bookings in India. They have great discounts on most hotels in India. If you are from India or traveling in India, I suggest to use MakeMyTrip. They also have flight, train and bus bookings. They accept international credit cards.
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Transportation
I prefer public transit whenever possible. But, if public transit is difficult to use, my next go to option is Uber. Much better than taking a taxi. It’s safe, cheap and moreover it’s useful if you don’t speak the local language.
Grab has a bigger market share over Uber in South East Asia. In Asia, Grab is also available in places where Uber is not. I prefer Grab over Uber in South East Asia due to it’s wide availability and offers.
RedBus is a bus ticket booking website in India. I use RedBus to book all my intercity bus tickets in India. They coordinate very well and make sure to send you all the info you need to board the bus.
EasyBook is a bus ticket booking website operational in Malaysia and Singapore. I have used it to book all my buses in Malaysia. It’s easy to use, convenient and accepts international credit cards.
Rome2Rio is a transport search engine. It can search flight, train, bus, ferry and drive options between cities along with their prices and duration. If you aren’t sure which transport option is the cheapest or quickest, checkout on Rome2Rio.
Blablacar is the largest long-distance ridesharing community. It is the cheapest way to travel by road. It can also be a great way to meet locals and travelers. Blablacar is available in Europe and a few other countries.
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Travel Gear
Osprey makes durable backpacks, travel packs and day packs. All their bags come with lifetime guarantee. I currently use Osprey Farpoint 55. I have used a Farpoint 40 before. Both are exceptional travel packs.
Lonely Planet books are my preferred travel guides. I find them very accurate. They provide me with all the info I need. I used to purchase their print versions, but now I prefer their kindle versions.
I own quite a bit of gear from Columbia. I have their trekking shoes which helped me greatly on my EBC trek. I also love their convertible hiking pants. One of the best brands for trekking and hiking gear.
I’m a big fan of the North Face jackets. I own a down jacket that light weight, compresses small and stashes into it’s own pocket. It’s my only jacket while traveling. It helped me tremendously on my EBC trek.
Decathlon are sporting goods super stores. They make and sell their own products. They are durable and super cheap. No need to spend hundreds of dollars on sleeping bags, camping gear or travel apparel. Just go to Decathlon.
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Travel Insurance
WorldNomads is the best travel insurance out there. You can buy their insurance from anywhere and for any duration. You can buy and extend your insurance while on the road. Their flexibility comes with a price though. Their premiums are not cheap.
Insurance Pundit is a travel insurance aggregator for Indian travelers. They provide policy comparisons, quotes and purchase options. They also offer insurance for year long trips. You must purchase the insurance before you leave on the trip.
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Blogging Resources
SiteGround is the best hosting service provider out there. Ask any blogger and will tell you that SiteGround has the best customer service. After 2 painful years of being on HostGator, I switched my hosting to SiteGround. I highly recommend.
NameCheap is the cheapest and most reliable domain service provider. I keep all my domains at NameCheap. It’s always a good idea to keep all your domains at one spot and separate from your hosting provider.
English is not my first language. Though I am very proficient in English, I do make grammatical mistakes. Grammarly comes in handy in situations like that. Grammarly proof reads my blog posts and fixes my grammar.
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Apps I Recommend
I can’t imagine myself traveling without Google Maps. I use it for navigation, transit directions and mainly to pin all my places of interest before I head out to explore. No need to carry around a huge paper map and become a target for pick pocketers.
I’ve started to use Maps.Me more and more these days. It’s a crowd sourced offline maps app. Even small alleys and hiking trails are on the map. Just download the entire country when you have wifi and it works very well offline with GPS.
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Disclaimer: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click on them and make a booking or purchase, but at no additional cost to you. These commissions help support this blog.