Planning

Searching for flights and travel can be time consuming. Here are some shortcuts and tips I use when searching and booking my trips!

The great search for the most reasonably priced flights with the best flying days or times is not for the faint of heart. You can find all you want if you take the time to price out airlines and booking websites for a month or so. If you do not have this amount of time (or the desire) to invest in extensive searching, I have to recommend Kayak, hands down. It compares multiple booking sites, if you desire, and has the easiest to navigate search options and flight preferences I have encountered. It is honest (i.e. not profit driven like some of the other sites), and unbiased; whoever has the best flight for you will appear first regardless of airline. There are also great tools on the site too, such as Price Trends providing you advice/confidence for buying now or later, Price Alerts so you do not have to search for your flight each day, as well as a monthly calendar showing you the cost of flights for every day of the month - if you have a flexible schedule, it is the way to go! Overall, Kayak make finding flights easy! They also have the usual hotels, cars, etc. the other sites have, but they do not shove package deals down your throat constantly.

With the increasing costs of flights and added fees these days, you want to make sure you are getting the best seat for your money. Most of us know the difference between First Class, Economy Comfort/Plus (each airline has its own name for this in-between seating option/upgrade), and Economy. What you might not know is that not all Economy seats are created equal. Before you chose your seat, visit SeatGuru to make sure you have full recline or do not end up next to the toilets on your eight hour flight!

Booking is a great place to find hotels of all shapes, quantities, and prices. I use this often when I am on the go.