Travel Resources: Flight Hacks, Hotel Finders & Must-Have Apps

This is a directory of travel resources, travel hacking tools, and services to help you find cheaper flights and have a better travel experience. This is not a guide to getting or redeeming airline miles using credit cards.

• Google Flights – Google’s fast flight search engine with great UI. Shows legroom, wifi, power details. Compare prices and see flight options, not always the cheapest compared to more specialized search engines and smaller airlines. Try Google Flights “Any Destination” feature: Leave the destination field blank to see prices for flights from your airport, useful for flexible travelers.
• Skyscanner – Popular flight aggregator with “Inspire” feature for flexible destination searches. Strong multi-flight routing.
• Trip.com – often the best option for booking travel in Asia. For travelers booking hotels in China, it’s one of the few platforms available in English, making it the most reliable choice for non-Chinese speakers.
• Daily Drop – Scans multiple airline and hotel loyalty programs in real time to find the best redemption options and sends deal alerts based on your preferred airports and destinations.
• Checkout Reviews helps travelers avoid hidden issues by aggregating and understanding real Airbnb and vacation rental reviews—just paste a listing link and check for issues like noise before you book.
• Kiwi.com – Specializes in multi-city flights and complex routing with Nomad tool for optimized multi-destination trips.
• PanFlights – Fast interface with cached/live results comparison and CO2 sorting options. Good for multi-city and stopover searches.
• Direct Airline Websites – Always check the airline’s website, as Google may not show the best and most up-to-date prices.
• FlightConnections.com – Database of flights, schedules, airline routes, and connections; useful for finding flight options not on mainstream sites.
• World Traveler Club – Premium deals on business class flights worldwide. Free tier available. 
• Dollar Flight Club – Instant alerts for deals from your home airport. Special business/first class deals section. Use coupon code DFCbusiness50 for 50% off at signup for Premium+.
• FareDrop – Notifies of up to 80% off flights. Free tier with customizable alerts.
• Manyflights – Regular email alerts for deals from selected airports. Premium version includes price drop monitoring.
• Credit Card/Travel Portals – Use these for booking hotels and flights to earn points, miles, or cashback if applicable.
• Kayak Explore – Find your departure airport by leaving the destination field blank to discover flight prices
• Secret Flying – Global coverage of error fares and special airline offers.
• Fly4Free – Similar to Secret Flying and offers a mix of cheap flights and hotel deals. Error fares and heavily discounted flights worldwide.
• Flynous – Find error fares, especially on flights from European hubs, also offers promo codes.
• Travel Free – Expands options by including bus trips as well as hotels and cruises.
• Azair.eu – Good for finding cheap flights in Europe and parts of Asia; search based on airport or region.
• AwardFares.com – Real-time seat allocation map. Award flight and upgrade availability checker for 90+ airlines. Helps find and book award tickets and upgrades on various airlines; includes flight alerts and seat maps.
• Skiplagged – Known for hidden city fares, also useful for finding longer layovers for an extended stay.
• Hopper – Mobile app with predictive pricing and deal alerts.
• Budget Airline Websites – Search for smaller, lesser-known carriers and airlines not displayed on major search engines using “[country name] + airlines” or “[airport name] + budget carriers”. Albania Air and Alba Wings are examples of airlines that may not appear on major flight search portals like Google Flights. Don’t rely solely on Google/Kayak/Skyscanner; check small carrier websites for better deals.
• Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) – Popular deal alert service with dedicated team searching for flight deals.
• AwardWallet – Tracks frequent flyer miles, rewards, and points, with expiry alerts and trip tracking. Similar to TripIt PRO.
• AirHelp – Handles flight delay, cancellation, and overbooking claims. Get up to $700 in compensation without dealing with airlines.
• OnwardTicket – Provides temporary onward flight tickets to meet immigration requirements for a small fee.
• Stasher, Bounce, & LuggageHero – Find secure day luggage storage locations worldwide, with full insurance coverage.
• SendMyBag – Skip baggage fees and airport stress by shipping your luggage ahead of time.
• Bookshop.org – Support indie booksellers instead of Amazon when buying travel books.
• Discover Cars – Compare car rentals with no hidden fees, flexible cancellation, and 24/7 support. Filter for debit card acceptance and get good, true full coverage insurance in 10,000+ locations worldwide. I’ve used this company a couple of time and I had a great experience.
• LocalRent – Better car rental deals in Bulgaria, Greece, Portugal, South Africa, Thailand, and more.
• Wise – Multi-currency account with lower fees than banks. Get local bank details, spend with a debit card, and avoid bad exchange rates.
• Rome2Rio – Better than Google Maps for transport planning, showing every possible travel option in one search.
• Welcome Pickups – Pre-book an airport transfer with an English-speaking driver for the same price as a taxi. Enjoy personal meet-and-greet, flight monitoring, fixed pricing, and local travel tips in 342+ destinations worldwide.
• InDrive – A ride-hailing app with no surge pricing, allowing passengers to set their own fare and choose a driver based on rating, reviews, and car preference. Offers city-to-city rides, verified drivers, and a built-in safety button in 650+ cities across 47+ countries.

Terminology & Tips

• Hacker Fares: Often refers to cheaper one-way flights, or using a hidden city flight strategy.
• Open Jaw Flights – Book a one-way flight flying into one destination and flying out from a different destination.
• Split Tickets – Book separate flights with multiple airlines for potentially cheaper routes.
• Stopover vs Layover: A stopover is longer, a layover is a shorter change of aircraft.
• Incognito Mode: Helps by preventing tracking and is worth trying while researching flights.
• VPN: By hiding your location, VPNs can help find lower prices for specific countries.
• Timing: Booking 1-2 months out is an optimal time; use price alerts on Google.
• Hidden City Ticketing: Book a flight with a stopover in your target city and exit there. Saves money but has risks and inconveniences, such as not being able to check luggage to your final destination and risk airlines invalidating your miles.

Disclaimer: I personally use everything on this list at some time or another. If a tool or app becomes less useful, I update the page to reflect that. Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may earn a commission—at no extra cost to you. This helps support my work and keeps the site running. I only recommend tools I personally trust and use.