Of the major booking sites, what sets Kayak apart is its real-time search function. While sites like Travelocity and Priceline serve up expired airfares that jump up in price when you try to book them, Kayak searches 200 airlines and fare aggregators at the moment you enter your search. Filters by airline, nearby airports and arrival times allow highly customized searches. Kayak was named one of Travel + Leisure's best travel websites in 2010.
Many booking sites, including Kayak, don't include all of the small, regional operators like easyJet, Thomas Cook and RyanAir. Momondo, a word play of "more world," pulls fares from over 800 airlines worldwide, specializing in bargain European carriers. If your dates are flexible, Momondo includes a calendar view for search results, with a color-coded guide to which days have the best fares. In summer 2010, The Sunday Times named Momondo the best overall flight search site.
A new entrant into the flight aggregator market in 2006, Cleartrip handles Indian and Southeast Asian flights. Its flight search provides a complete picture of each available flight through its partnerships with websites and airlines, including bargain carriers GoAir, IndiGo and SpiceJet. Cleartrip frequently offers incredible sales, such as a fall 2010 for a "buy one, get one free" deal on flights up to $120. Cleartrip was voted favorite travel portal by Condé Nast Traveller's 2010 Readers' India Travel Awards.
Unlike the fare aggregators above, Airfare Watchdog's staff scours the web for the most attractive airfare deals, posts them immediately, and makes sure to remove them from the sites once they expire or are sold out. The site only includes departures from the U.S. and Canada, but you can search for sales by departure city alone to find the destination with the best current deals. In May 2009, Entrepreneur Magazine named Airfare Watchdog the best site for travel deals.
Insidetrip is the online version of a frequent-flying best friend. Each flight receives a rating out of 100, with criteria compiled from speed, comfort and ease. Aside from travel time and creature comforts, Insidetrip includes elusive information like the age of the aircraft used for that flight, the passenger load--how full the flight is--and the waiting time to go through security before the flight. Although flights cannot be booked through this site, CNN reports that checking information with Insidetrip ensures "a top-notch trip."
Owned by TripAdvisor, SeatGuru marries its parent company's user review features with seating charts for over 700 planes of nearly 100 airlines, as of 2010. SeatGuru provides details on amenities such as the nearest power outlet or video screen, and also highlights potential drawbacks like baby seating areas or less legroom. User data will let you know if the seat does not recline or is near a noisy engine or bathroom. SeatGuru is one of Forbes Top 12 Travel Sites.
