Hotelscombined.com is an amazing tool for those looking for the best hotel rate available.

In one search, Hotels Combined queries over 30 online travel search engines to find you the cheapest rate, and everything is nicely organized in one results screen.  All the big guys are represented here, including Orbitz, Travelocity and Hotels.com.

What I love most about this website is the simplicity.  All it is are hotel rates, no pop-ups trying to sweep you away on a last minute vacation and no meddlesome questions like “are you sure you don’t need a rental car?”

Hotel info and pics are also neatly organized as are customer reviews.  Make sure to check it out next time you need a hotel.

Kayak.com is a great search engine when looking for the cheapest flights. One of the best features of the website often gets overlooked…fare alerts.  All you do is log-in and tell them where you want to go and what you want to pay….once the fare hits your target price you get an email.

Established in 1982, Unique Inns is one of North America’s first bed and breakfast innkeeping organizations.

Every member inn is operated by experienced innkeepers, who are committed to providing guests with genuine hospitality, generous amenities, and world-class accommodations. Innkeepers also specialize in providing off-the-beaten-path travel experiences, from customized fine dining and wine-tasting events to shopping, wilderness adventures and spectacular sightseeing tours. Each member is an expert at packaging their best regional offerings to create memorable travel experiences.

I have stayed at several Unique Inns member properties and can vouch for the fact that each inn holds up to the organizations standards. www.uniqueinns.com

For the frequent flyer I have found a website that is a must, ExpertFlyer.com. 

The website was created with the intention of helping flyers find award seats, upgrades, cheap tickets and to overall facilitate the process of finding the correct flight for your needs.  Much of the information found on the website used to only be available to travel agents but now is available to prying eyes.

A perfect example of a once hidden flight search feature is “fare buckets.” Perhaps you have come across the situation where you find out the guy next to you paid twice as much as you did for the same flight…or the opposite scenario if you are unlucky!  How this works is that airlines can sometimes offer up to 20 different fares for the same flight.  ExpertFlyer shows you how many different fare buckets a flight has available and approximately how many seats each bucket has.  This feature helps you decide on if you really have a good deal or if you should hold out for a lower fare.  

Other great features found on ExpertFlyer include: the ability to search for a flight based on the availability of reward tickets or upgrades, airplane seat maps and flight alerts to let you know when the fare you are looking for becomes available.

ExpertFlyer does not sell flights. In order to buy a ticket you need to call the airlines directly and book based on the information found through the site…but it is fun stumping the sales agents and getting questions like “how did you know about that fare?”

I found that using ExpertFlyer I was able to find much cheaper fares for upcoming trips, without having to go to ten different travel search engines. Of course a fabulous service like this does not come free, the monthly subscription ranges from $4.99 to $9.99 per month depending on what features you want access to…but if you do fly often I say it is worth the expense.

Most travelers know about Tripadvisor.  But just in case some of you don’t, I decided to make it the Travel Website of the Week.

Ever book a hotel and wonder….I wish I could find out what the rooms really look like and not rely on the hotels photoshopped, fresh flower filled version of what a room is?

Well Tripadvisor is the answer…the website is filled with tons of frank reviews of hotels including candid pictures that tourist take of the property.  With this website you can make an educated guess on where to stay.

The other great feature is that the website allows you to search several of the big travel search engines at once to get the best rate when booking.

And the fun does not end at hotels….there are reviews of restaurants, tourist attractions and much more.

Next time you book a trip check out tripadvisor.co