How To Plan A Trip: Which Search Engines To Use?

By now I've done so much traveling, I've got my planning habits down to a T. Once I have the destination in mind, the first phase is the "research phase".

My go-to travel search engines are Tripadvisor and Kayak. I rely on the reviews on Tripadvisor, and I compare prices on Kayak.

I especially depend on Tripadvisor when discovering things to do and when choosing a hotel. I love that the site is supported by real travelers' experiences, reviews, and photos. Because professional photos on a hotel's website could be very deceiving. If a room looks good in an amateur tourist's photo, chances are it will probably look good in person too.

The ranking system makes it easy to navigate as well. Furthermore, I really appreciate the help in the "Travel Forum". If I can't find what I need or if I have a question, I just start a topic, and people from all over the world can chip in!

I go to Kayak when I am ready to look into flights and hotel. It compares fares from different airlines and rates from hotel sights such as Travelocity, Expedia, and Priceline.

There are obviously tons of other travel search engines out there. But when planning a trip, there is so much to check out and deiced, the planning process is lot easier when I know I can count on these two tried-and-true sites.