Similar sites to expedia

AubreyMac

Good morning,

I have always booked my holidays with expedia as it’s easy to use, can book everything you need at the same time (flights, hotel, transfers, attractions etc) and also see reviews of which there is plenty.

However, I heard that site is expensive. When I searched flights and hotel separately in the past, it’s worked out at similar price.

Are there any similar sites that is cheaper?

Thanks.

marsman802

Expedia want all their money up front.

Often you can book the flights up separately and then book a hotel where you only need to pay a deposit now and balance on arrival/departure.

Try looking on trivago for the hotels as this checks a lot of websites for you. And don't forget the cashback...

I can't help on the similar sites front as I myself have only used expedia in the past

Westin

I think Expedia is a good all round site and I wouldn't consider them out of line on price, in fact their buying power probably allows for keenly priced deals, especially if buying flight+accommodation together.

Be very careful with comparison websites like Trivago, Skyscanner etc as these sites just screen scrape other sites and if you click through on the sponsored links you often end up with some rather dodgy sites.

Just google reviews of Bravofly or reviews for eDreams to see what happens when people chase the cheapest price.

Westin

...or indeed look on this site for reviews about Teletext.

Doshwaster

Don't forget to use Quidco - you typically get 10-12% cash back on hotel bookings.

duchy

Often it's better to buy the flight and hotel from different sites -No one site is ever the cheapest all the time. I tend to use the price comparison sites like kayak and then go for the cheapest reputable site. Ebookers often come out best though.

I've just got back from the USA-Flights BA & AA on a through ticket were from lastminute (there were a couple of companies a few pounds cheaper but they get bad reviews so I won't use them -as mentioned above) hotels came from hotels.com, priceline and expedia . Expedia were the same price as most of the others but I used nectar points so in cash paid terms expedia came out cheapest - Looking back the only times I've used expedia is with nectar points as full or part payment for flight only or hotel.
Obviously quidco or similar is a must to get the best net price.

SW17

marsman802 wrote: »

Expedia want all their money up front.

Not always these days, they have started working with some hotels on the same basis as Booking.com, where you pay the hotel directly. It is still a relatively small part of their offering though.

jpsartre

duchy wrote: »

I've just got back from the USA-Flights BA & AA on a through ticket were from lastminute (there were a couple of companies a few pounds cheaper but they get bad reviews so I won't use them -as mentioned above)

Note that Lastminute.com is now owned by Bravofly, the latter of which has a large number of complaints.

marsman802

SW17 wrote: »

Not always these days, they have started working with some hotels on the same basis as Booking.com, where you pay the hotel directly. It is still a relatively small part of their offering though.

Ah that's good to know - I can see why some would like to pay up before so they know how much is spent but that's not for me anymore.

Obviously_the_best

Travel republic
Alpharooms
Low Cost Holidays
eBookers

They're the three main flight+hotel+car type ones I think of.

You probably better off buying flights separate from hotels though, as Hotels on their own get a far higher rate of cashback at TCB (try booking through eBookers or hotels.com for the best rates), and dealing direct with airlines is far easier than through an agent.

Doshwaster

marsman802 wrote: »

Ah that's good to know - I can see why some would like to pay up before so they know how much is spent but that's not for me anymore.

It depends on the reason for travelling. For holidays I now like to pre-pay so I can get it over with and not have to worry about the bill when I get home. When travelling for work I will always book a refundable rate and pay at the hotel as I can't claim the money back until after I stop and my travel plans often change.