Ever met someone who finds a favourite meal at a restaurant and orders it every single time? Just because they know they LOVE IT, and can always count on getting the best.
Yeah, that’s me, with a Chicken Tikka Masala. With exactly 2 poppadoms and mango chutney sauce.
AND with how I plan travel.
I’m super, super picky when it comes to using booking platforms / trip planning tools. If I have a great experience, I’m a hopelessly devoted customer who badgers all her friends to use it too. But if not? They won’t burn me twice, and I certainly won’t ever recommend them. To anyone!
These are the brands I wholeheartedly trust, using them 10+ years every time we’ve booked our trips. They’re easy to use, reliable, some offer great deals while others are simply very helpful!
BOOKING.COM
FOR ACCOMMODATION
🏩🛎🏕️
Easily find, compare and book budget-friendly all the way to luxury hotels worldwide, listed all in one place. I love how flexible they are too. Free cancellation on most properties keeps your itinerary easy to change until the very last minute!
Soon you’ll reach their “Genius” level, benefitting from decent exclusive discounts and freebies (early check-in, late check-out etc). Sometimes it knocks hundreds of pounds off the original price!
We booked EVERY single accommodation on our entire 4 month sabbatical to Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand on Booking.com. There were absolutely no issues whatsoever, on any of them!
VIATOR.COM
FOR TOURS & ACTIVITIES
🤿🐬⛵🏄♂️
Find all the best operators for half, full, multi-day tours and activities for your intended destination all on one platform. The interface is so clear, showing recent customer reviews.
We love how most of these tours have flexible free cancellation until last minute too, and you can usually reserve your spot without payment too!!
A great Europe-based alternative we like is GetYourGuide. We’ve also used it before and have only good things to say. We personally find Viator easier to use and has a larger tour choice!
SKYSCANNER
FOR THE BEST FLIGHT DEALS
🛫
So many competitors come and go, but Skyscanner is still the one we always come back to. It’s just so easy to use, with a clean layout, no clutter and all key info is super obvious.
The “month by month” view is brilliant to see the best deals with the colour-coded price indicator, like this:
STAYSURE (UK ONLY)
FOR RELIABLE TRAVEL INSURANCE
🛡️❤️🩹
We actually found Staysure by chance when I needed travel insurance to cover my 30 week pregnancy for a trip to Bergen. They were the only provider that confidently offered solid cover without making me feel like a hassle.
It was so easy and stress-free that we’ve stuck with them ever since. We also love their easy-to-use website, flexible cover options and genuinely reliable policies.
The best bit? They now often send 20% discount letters to use for our next policy. Win win! 😄
➔
ROME2RIO
FOR PLANNING TRANSPORT ROUTES
🗺📌
Someone needs to give the creator of Rome2Rio.com a medal! This free and easy-to-navigate website is just amazing. Their tagline says it perfectly, “Discover how to get anywhere” by plane, train, ferry or car.
Country to country, city to city, airport to hotel – you name it!
It clearly tells you all the possible transport routes, plus estimated prices, duration, timetables etc so you can easily compare. It even links you to the direct booking websites you need! *chefs kiss*
UBER
FOR TAXI SERVICES
🚕
This one needs no introduction. A worldwide powerhouse, you bet if its available, we’re using it! It’s super easy to book services instantly on-the-go. Watching the driver in real time as you wait is pretty fun too!
We’ve recently started using Uber Reserve too (pre-scheduling Uber’s days / weeks in advance, including our recent trip to Croatia, and it was seamless! Very impressed.
Set yourself up on the free app on APPLE / ANDROID.
(Tip: If you’re in South East Asia or Malaysia, they have their own version of UBER called GRAB. It’s very similar.)