The 5 Best Travel Websites to Help You Save

If you’re planning a summer vacation, you’re going to want to use one of these sites.

I love to travel. If I could, I would live on the road, jetsetting from city to city, but my husband doesn't think this is a viable option right now, thanks to things like having dogs, having jobs and our new son .

Instead of living on the road. I try to plan adventures both big and small as frequently as possible to try to fulfill my need to see the world. But, as we have not yet found a money tree, all of our travels are planned on strict budgets.

I am currently planning out a trip we will take later this year – a circle tour of Lake Michigan – so I thought I would share some of my favorite travel websites that will help you plan a fabulous vacation without breaking the bank.

Living Social and Groupon

Both of these daily deal sites offer travel discounts and I can personally attest to the fact that they offer some great deals. Last summer my husband and I traveled to Costa Rica and booked one of our hotel stays using a deal we found on Groupon because when I called the hotel to inquire about any possible deals, they informed me they entered into a contract with Groupon to offer the lowest possible price.

I recommend reading all of the fine print before purchasing any of the discounted travel deals from daily deal sites because sometimes there are blackout dates or flight stipulations or any number of possible clauses that could affect your vacation but overall these sites offer some fantastic deals. One more tip that will help you save even more: Both Living Social and Groupon frequently offer coupons that can be applied toward travel deals so be on the lookout for one before purchasing!

Venere

Venere is my secret weapon when traveling to Europe. On big vacations I usually spend months planning out hotel stays, especially when traveling overseas, so I don't like to book hotels that make you prepay because chances are I will change the hotel a couple of times before settling. Despite working primarily with small, independent and boutique hotels, many of the accommodations listed on Venere do not require prepayment. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, the prices are generally quite affordable. A few years ago my husband and I were able to stay in a small hotel in Bologna, Italy for what amounted to $30 per night thanks to a deal I found on Venere.

Venere also offers the occasional coupon for even bigger savings, so be sure to get on its mailing list.

Airbnb

With Airbnb you can rent out extra rooms in people's houses or even their entire apartment or house. I will admit that I was hesitant about using Airbnb for the first time, though in retrospect I shouldn't have been. I just wasn't sure about working with a property owner instead of an established entity like a hotel. I needn't have worried though because my first Airbnb experience couldn't have been easier! I traveled to Nashville for a girls' weekend last year and since hotels were proving to be expensive during our stay, we went the Airbnb route where we were able to rent a couple's pool house for a fraction of the price of a hotel room. We had a completely private space and the owners were sweet and accommodating without being annoying.

Jetsetter

I don't regularly book travel through Jetsetter because while it offers fantastic deals. the hotels are usually a bit ritzier than is necessary for us. Generally, when I am using Jetsetter, it is to book one-night stays in large cities. For instance, a couple of years ago we traveled to St. Lucia for a wedding but there were no direct flights from Chicago so we had to stay a night in Miami. Through Jetsetter I found a one-night-only deal for one of the fanciest hotels on Miami Beach for less than $100! Jetsetter is the site I'd recommend if you prefer upscale hotels because while not always cheap, the deals are still pretty good.

CheapOair

While there is no shortage of flight aggregators on the Internet, CheapOair.com is my search engine of choice because it does what many other search engines do not: Combines flights from multiple airlines to get you the cheapest possible flights. When I am looking to book a flight I will usually first go directly to each airline's website to compare pricing and then I will see how those rates compare to CheapOair.com. Most of the time, I can save some money by booking my flight through this website. The only downside is that this approach may not be ideal if you are loyal to one airline in particular.

CheapOair also regularly sends out coupons to its newsletter subscribers, and while the coupons are usually only good for $5 to $15 per flight, that is still a better coupon than the airlines themselves ever send out!