22 Travel Sites And Apps The BuzzFeed Shopping Team Swears By

Even something that'll help you find someone to babysit your luggage while you sneak in a few more crepes before your (dreaded) flight back home.

1. Sonder sounds like a dream for folks who are stuck in that tough spot where they don't wanna shell out for a hotel but refuse to start a wash with towels before they check out of another Airbnb.

Sonder

"If you're over having to clean up after yourself *and* pay a cleaning fee at Airbnbs but hotels are often too expensive and don't come with the benefit of a kitchen, in-unit laundry, or other household luxuries, Sonder is the answer. The company describes its service as 'hotel amenities without hotel formality,' and based on my experiences, I agree! You get to check in via mobile — no having to talk to anyone — but you can also request late checkout, extra towels, or whatever else you might need. Through their app, you also have access to 24/7 support in case anything goes wrong. (I once got locked out and was able to have them remotely change my door code in minutes.) Their options are BEAUTIFUL, and the two I stayed in — in Boston and Philly — were fully fledged apartments that looked straight out of a magazine." —Chelsea Stuart

Check out your housing options on Sonder.

2. Trainline sorts out all the train options and tickets for ya while in Europe and Asia (or at least 45 countries total within those places).

Trainline

"I recently went on a trip to London with my husband, and we really wanted to go to Cambridge for a day trip but didn’t really know the cheapest or easiest way to get there. My friend recommended using Trainline, so I downloaded the app and immediately found it super user-friendly.

I typed in exactly what I wanted to find: two roundtrip train tickets from London to Cambridge with an open return (meaning you can come back at any time). They immediately identified the cheapest option, when the trains were leaving, told me which London station to go to, and how long the journey would be. I was able to pay for and download the tickets right on my phone, and using them was as easy as tapping my phone at the turnstile when getting on the train and getting off. I loved that this app was able to break my train trip down for me in a way that was very straightforward and easy to follow. I highly recommend using this app while traveling in Europe where there are sometimes so many train options that it can feel overwhelming." —Ciera Velarde

Plan an adventure on Trainline.

3. Omio compares transportation option prices (think trains, planes, ferries) to help you get to where you're going without wasting valuable sightseeing (or lying-in-bed-watching-TikTok) time.

Omio

"I just used Omio for the first time this year when googling how to get from Barcelona to Girona for a day trip. Omio popped up, and I booked my train ticket through them as they showed various options and price comparisons. You can book trains, buses, flights, and ferry tickets — with thousands of travel partners like Renfe, RyanAir, Delta, etc. — through them, and if you download their app, you'll have access to mobile tickets which don't require any internet connection to pull up or scan." —Chelsea

Plan your transportation options on Omio.

4. The Find My app + an Apple AirTag for each piece of your luggage gives you some serious peace of mind — because sometimes Lufthansa leaves your bag in Frankfurt instead of putting it on the plane with you back to Newark. It'll also come in handy to have (digital) eyes on your bags while you're out sightseeing. 

www.amazon.com, www.amazon.com

Storytime: After traveling last summer carry-on only, and being a person who tries to carry on whenever possible, I finally bought a couple of Apple AirTags during Black Friday sales. And I am SO grateful I did. My normal carry-on bag was too big to fit the Lufthansa luggage requirements (and BOY, do they check that!), so I had to check my bags for a December 2022 trip to Vienna and back from Prague (with a layover in Frankfurt). My bag didn't make it onto the plane in Frankfurt, and once I landed in Newark, New Jersey, I pulled up the app on my phone and saw that yes, my backpack AirTag was indeed with me, but my suitcase AirTag was still in Germany. (The screen grab is from an Amazon review, but you get the gist.) The AirTag also helped me track FedEx's delivery of the suitcase to my parents' house, where I was spending the holidays immediately after my Europe trip ended. I was even able to see it on a highway less than an hour's drive from my parents' house. TL;DR: I think AirTags are very much a worthwhile investment if you travel a few times a year. And I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Promising review: "I bought a pair of these AirTags for a trip to France, and I’m so glad I did! First of all, the setup is super easy. I had zero problems, and both were done in, like, five minutes. I put one in my purse and one in my suitcase. On the way back home, the airline lost my luggage. Checked the Find My Friends app where the AirTag is tracked, and I could see that it never left the Charles de Gaulle airport. I felt more assurance being able to track my bag through the app as it made its way across the world back to me. 10/10 would recommend!" —Lindsay Kirby

Get an AirTag from Amazon for $29 (also available in a four-pack for $89). If you have an iPhone, the Find My app is already available on your phone. 

5. Hotwire Hot Rates (which show up in red while you search the travel booking site) narrow down some solid discounts on your next vacation. Just note that they're often nonrefundable.

Hotwire

As you can see from the above screenshot, a Hot Rate omits the name of the hotel, but (with some basic ingenuity and a few minutes of your time) you can match up the number of Expedia ratings with the hotel name and location on other sites. But WHY are these hotel listings cheaper? Hotwire works with top-rated hotels that have excess availability. So it's preferable for these hotels' to fill up rooms — albeit at a discount — than for them to remain empty. But like I said up there, make sure your plans are solid before booking because while searching some deals for an upcoming trip, I noticed all the available ones were non-refundable. 

BuzzFeed Shopping contributor AnaMaria Glavan says: "When you go to search for a property on Hotwire, you'll scroll past generic images emblazoned with 'Hot Rate' in blood red font. All major details are listed: star rating, discount percentage, included amenities, Expedia rating, and general location. The kicker? The name of the hotel remains anonymous.

I recently stayed at Hilton Orlando-Bonnet Creek Resort on a trip to Disney, paid $159 instead of $229 per night, and saved a total of $210 for three nights.

While digging for a hotel, I refined my search to the more expensive Bonnet Creek area (for non-Disney people like me, that's prime real estate near the parks; CC my wonderful coworker Heather for enlightening me) and was met with several options. I chose this one because the price was right and I saw that the Expedia rating was near perfect."

Want more info? Check out AnaMaria's full Hotwire Hot Deals explainer.

6. A membership to Going (formerly Scott's Cheap Flights) reverse engineers when/where you'll go thanks to info on the best flight deals. There are two levels of membership, both of which entail *several* daily emails tailored to your "home" airport with priced-out deals and time windows they're available.

Going, Chelsea Stuart

Premium members receive airlines' mistake fares from all their departure airports (up to 10). And Elite members receive the same for every single mistake fare Scott's Cheap Flights finds. Additionally, Elite members can refine results for fare classes. So if you absolutely refuse to sit in Economy (good for you, I'll sit wherever on a plane), you won't receive alerts for Economy deals as an Elite member. 

"I have booked many a spontaneous flight thanks to Going! Back in 2018, I scored my first success: a nonstop flight from JFK to Paris Charles de Gaulle for $276 :::insert pause for you to pick up your jaw::: TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY SIX FREAKING DOLLARS. Since then, I've been hooked and used them to score incredible fares to London and Barcelona, as well." —Chelsea

Sign up for Premium membership for $49/year or Elite membership for $199/year.

7. The Hopper app lets you sift through all sorts of travel deals for hotels, flights, car rentals, and home rentals. You can also set watch alerts for flights and get push alerts when the prices change.

Hopper

As you can see from my app screen grab, I have a list of flights set to watch and the Hopper app sends me push notifications about a route/date's current price and whether or not it predicts that the price will fall more.

I successfully found and booked a gorgeous 4-star hotel in Hội An, Vietnam for a March trip earlier this year, and was able to easily cross reference reviews on other travel websites to make sure it would be perfect for my purposes. And it was! Friends and family couldn't believe I snagged such a great boutique hotel for so cheap. And when I arrived in town, it was everything it promised.

When you book items on the app, you also receive Carrot Cash rewards that you can apply to future bookings. For this booking, I applied $23.20 in Carrot Cash to my 2-night booking of $80.98. Once the app added taxes and fees ($10.37), a Cancel for Any Reason guarantee ($11) and a tip to the app ($5), my total came out to $84.15. So the rewards cash basically paid for all the hotel's fees and taxes that get lobbed on to any hotel booking.

I previously booked a 2-star hotel in Rhodes, Greece, through the app for a six-night stay and it was just what my friend and I needed (basically a clean dorm room with housekeeping) and the dirt-cheap price meant that we could afford to stretch out our trip in Greece!

Download the Hopper app.

8. Google Flights to set up *free* price tracking on any trips you know are coming up...or just any you'd like to make.

Google Flights

If I even consider going somewhere, I set a Google Flights tracking alert. It works super simply, and as far as I can tell, there's no max for the number of trips you can track. (I have dozens at a time.) Google Flights pulls in flight prices from all sorts of airline sites and other travel sites to find you the best deal. You can also refine your results by number of layovers and time of day a flight leaves. TL;DR it keeps an eye on flight prices for you for FREE and emails you any updates. 

Set up your notification preferences on Google Flights.

9. And while we're on the subject, Google Maps because you shouldn't be afraid of public transportation! Depending on where you're visiting, it can be much easier to navigate than your local public transit app options.

Google Maps

I get it, not everyone lives in NYC like I do where I take public transit nearly any time I leave my apartment. Many cities and destinations have wonderful options and you can even use Google Maps to figure out how to get around. 

This is a screen grab of directions from the Flower Market to the Matisse Museum in Nice, France. (A route I WALKED last summer and wish I hadn't. It's uphill. Take that bus!) Google Maps is incredibly helpful when it comes to public transportation. I use it on the reg both at home and anywhere I travel. And many times, it's the most effective option for getting around. 

Of course, no public transit system is exactly the same as another. For example, an Oyster card for the London's Underground requires that you tap your card when you enter *and* exit the train station because the fee varies based on the distance you travel. Same with D.C. But in NYC, you just swipe your Metro card (or tap your phone's digital wallet) when you enter the train station and don't have to swipe or tap your payment when you leave because you could, tbh, endlessly transfer over and over again for a whole day (or more if you wanted) with only one swipe.

10. AmexTravel (if you're an Amex card holder) sifts through all kinds of flight and hotel deals. Plus! As it currently stands in 2023, you can get $200 off a hotel you book through the service when you use your Amex card.

American Express, Elizabeth Lilly

Last year I was able to book find a deal through AmexTravel for the luxury hotel Hotel Bardo (formerly Mansion on Forsyth Park) in Savannah, Georgia, for the Indigenous Peoples' Day weekend (and holiday weekends tend to run pricier for travel). Thanks to AmexTravel, it ended up being FULLY refundable up until a few days before check-in and $279/night (a mere $40 more a night than some 2-star hotels in the historic district on the same dates, and cheaper than anything else in the historic district). If you've never been to Savannah, this is a hotel they point out and circle around during the hop-on, hop-off trolley tours — which means it's kinda a big deal. The booking also included $100 to use on the property as we want (like on food, at the bar, spa services, etc.), so my friend Courtney and I went to brunch in the adjoining restaurant with it.

Browse deals and offers on AmexTravel.

11. FTLO, an actually cool group travel company that gives you a chance to have someone do a chunk of the planning for you and meet like-minded people who wanna explore without waiting on flaky friends or partners who keep putting off that bucket-list trip.

Instagram: @elilly1

I am a HUGE FTLO Travel devotee. I've been on the Greek Isles, Croatia, Amalfi Coast and Puglia, Barcelona and South of France, and Vietnam trips. Take all my money, FTLO! No, but really. I've made friends on all four trips and had multiple times of my life. These trips take you on insider-y activities like boating around to different caves and beaches, taking a cooking class from a local chef, wandering around medieval towns, and well, jumping into a natural pool at the Cave of Poetry in Roca Vecchia, Italy, as you see me doing here last summer. You could figure out a lot of that on your own I guess, but that would a lot of trouble IMO and you may be limited for transportation and private tour possibilities thanks to the amount of people in your party. In case you're wondering, there's also some free time built-in for the tour and folks often add a few days before or after their FTLO trip to further explore the area. 

I could go on and on and on, but I shan't and instead will let you explore the FTLO site yourself for travel inspo and info. And if you're interested in something a bit longer, check out SOJRN, which is like modern study aboard for adults.

12. GetYourGuide provides you with all kinds of vetted local tour options so you can customize your travels without having to wade through a week's worth of research (or rent a car to do Iceland's Golden Circle).

Get Your Guide

I went to Iceland in February of this year, and my travel buddy cobbled together a stellar itinerary through a bunch of Get Your Guide bookings. We saw the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, the Blue Lagoon, the Northern Lights, *and* Southern Iceland hot spots.

We were even able to easily book an airport transfer (which, if we're being honest, I ate the cost of because we met a great cab driver who drove us to the airport instead). Because of this, we avoided renting a car to drive in the very icy conditions to get around the breathtaking country.

Check out all kinds of activities on GetYourGuide.

13. Atlas Obscura if you're into the ~unusual~ and are a research person when it comes to trip planning. It'll clue you into all sorts of sightseeing ops that are a bit off the beaten path or decidedly kooky.

Instagram: @elilly1

I clock in WAY too much time on that site, tbh. Defining your search by Places and then a destination is a sure way to uncover something that isn't in all the guide books. For example, I learned about the (shown) Gillette Castle State Park from an Atlas Obscura entry, and talked my friends who live in Connecticut into taking me while I was in town for a weekend visit. If you're in the neighborhood, it's worth a visit, even if you can't go into the manse because a wedding party is renting it out (like when I visited). 

Here are just a few other kooky but fun spots I've visited thanks to a feature on the site:

- Rome: The Mouth of Truth, St. Valentine's skull, the Head of St. John the Baptist, and The Temple of Hercules

- Florence: Il Porcellino 

- Venice: the cursed Palazzo Dario (but I didn't get too close!) and Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs

- Savannah, Georgia: Abe's on Lincoln 

- Los Angeles: Angels Flight, The Last Bookstore, and Hollywood Forever Cemetery

- Newport, Rhode Island: The White Horse Tavern, Newport Cliff Walk, Newport Tower, and the Location of the First Gas Street Lamp  

 - and in my own home of New York City: a Berlin Wall Section, the Roosevelt Island Smallpox Hospital Ruins, Fraunces Tavern, the Irish Hunger Memorial, the Crabs of Cleopatra's Needle, and the Ghostbusters Fire House 

Browse unusual sites on Atlas Obscura.

14. Airbnb Experiences for tours and activities to try out in your locale — even if you're strictly a hotel person.

Airbnb Experiences / Via airbnb.com

I've had an incredible amount of success with Airbnb Experiences, both virtual during lockdown and IRL on trips. There are lots and LOTS of reviews on these bookable experiences and you can only review them once you've been on the tour...unlike other review-gathering sites that don't confirm that you visited the attraction or went on the tour. (I still love those sites, but I trust these reviews more.) 

I'm a total dad on vacation, as in I love to study Google Maps beforehand and plot out what I'm going to see. Yet I realize not everyone is that intense about planning. And! No matter how much planning I do beforehand, a self-guided walking tour can never live up to one led by a local. Last year while in Italy my friend and I booked a Rome ghost tour and we had a fantastic tour guide (s/o to Yash!) who was able to answer our questions about certain things while still telling us all sorts of spooky, macabre stuff. We also had an amazing Venice walking tour with Claudia, a native Venetian. 

Tour guides are also amazing at directing you how to get back to your hotel, and rec other things to do and places to eat.

Get some serious planning help on Airbnb Experiences.

15. But also poke around on Viator a bit because they have amazing trips and experiences that you can't always find on other sites. Embrace the bookable day excursion!

Elizabeth Lilly

Like Airbnb Experiences, there are lots and lots of reviews on Viator to help you vet possible bookings. 

While in Rhodes, Greece, last summer, I scrolled through Viator on my phone while lounging in a beach chair, and easily booked two boat excursions. The first was a cruise to picturesque Symi Island (shown here). And the second was easily the highlight of our six days on the new-to-me Greek island. The full-day all-inclusive cruise entailed unlimited wine, beer, and water, and had snacks and a Mediterranean buffet chock full of delicious food. We stopped at three popular beaches on the island for swimming and snorkeling, and did a lot of dancing with our new friends on the way back to the port. What an exhausting but amazing day!

And during my (previously mentioned) Iceland trip in February, my friend and I signed up last minute for a folklore walking tour after inclement weather had us cancel a Golden Circle tour. It was a total delight and our guide was the best! I learned soo much about elves. 

Get even more excursion ideas on Viator.

16. Strawberry Tours offer free walking tours (you just tip the tour guide) in a variety of cities. It's true, you can find amazing tours for $0 while abroad (or stateside) without having to dig or meet up with someone sketchy.

Elizabeth Lilly

I've been on two Strawberry Tours, both in London on separate trips (the Jack the Ripper tour and ghost tour). The tour guides for each were top-tier and I didn't feel as if I were missing out on quality by not paying for the tour from the jump. Though, you MUST tip the tour guides (you should be doing that anyway). But they're literally working for tips. So the tour does cost you in that regard. Just google "[destination] free walking tour" and you'll come upon all sorts of options!

(I took this eerie pic of Buckingham Palace in St. James Park while on the said ghost tour. Spooky!)

Check out tons of free tours on Strawberry Tours.

17. Luggage Hero saves you the hassle of dragging your weekender bag to the Liberty Bell or awkwardly wheeling your suitcase into a restaurant you were able to squeeze in before heading off to the airport. It sets you up with folks who'll babysit your bags while you do other stuff.

LuggageHero

"LuggageHero has saved me from schlepping my suitcase across cities around the world! I've used it in Philly, Boston, Barcelona...basically everywhere I've gone the last few years. I typically use it when I have an early checkout from an AirBnb or hotel but a late flight out and want to make the most of my final hours in a destination. I book a LuggageHero location in whatever neighborhood I plan to hang out in and then pick up my bag when it's time to head to the airport. It's super easy to use — just pull up the app, pop in your location, and it'll tell you what shops participate in the program and prices for by-the-hour storage or a flat rate for longer storage. Most of the time, it hasn't cost me more than a couple bucks and I don't have to babysit my bags all day long." —Chelsea

18. Turo helps you zero in on bookable cars near you *and* lets you cancel your plans as close as 24 hours in advance. Because, well, have you priced out a regular ole rental car lately (or had to drive to the airport *just* to get a rental car)?

Turo

"Every car rental experience before using Turo felt like jumping through a million-and-a-half hoops, from schlepping out to a remote airport parking lot to the long wait times just to get my car assignment. Turo is essentially Airbnb for cars but with a better app (I'd argue).

You can browse cars from your phone, filtering for all the usual things like availability, price, and seat number, plus a bunch of extra stuff like pick-up location (some will deliver it to you for a fee), the make, model, and desired features! After booking, you'll communicate directly with your host to coordinate pick-up and drop-off details. Some hosts will meet you with the car, others are 100% contactless!

Every experience has been really smooth and easy, and the app walks you through check-in and checkout procedures that include taking pictures of the car before and after use to avoid any misunderstandings between you and your host. Unlike standard rental agencies, all the fees I'm responsible for are clearly outlined from the get-go so I'm not fretting about surprise charges during my trip. Not to be dramatic, but Turo has transformed my car rental experience and made it soooo much better (and cheaper) that I really can't imagine renting any other way at this point." —Danielle Healy

19. Out of Office aggregates travel tips and recs from IRL people you actually know. BuzzFeed writers have gobs of travel tips — hence this story — but it's also nice to get 'em from folks who know you personally.

OOO

"I first heard about the OOO app through Grace Atwood, a Charleston-based influencer I follow who is always getting asked about her Charleston recommendations. The OOO app is basically a social networking app but all about traveling — you create your profile, add your recommendations for your favorite places, create wishlists for places you want to visit, and make itineraries for upcoming trips. And you can also “friend” people — I immediately friended Grace and had access to all of her favorite Charleston recommendations in one place, complete with photos, information, why she recommended it etc.

The app also has a really cool and helpful feature called “trip generator” — you plug in where you want to go, you answer a few questions, and it generates a complete itinerary for you that you can rearrange and customize. I’m headed to San Diego soon for a wedding, so I had the app generate a trip there, and I found some really cool-looking restaurants that I’m definitely going to check out, and it took me all of 30 seconds to get those personalized recommendations! This is a fantastic app if you’re always getting asked for your travel recommendations by friends. Instead of making a list for them, just tell them to download the OOO app and friend you to see all of your recs in one place!" —Ciera

Explore your friends' recs on OOO.

20. The TripIt app, which consolidates reservations from your email inbox to this app in a timeline for each trip. It captures confirmation numbers and time stamps at a glance so you don't have to dig in your inbox or separate airline or travel apps.

TripIt

These are screen grabs from my own recent TripIt app. I travel just about any chance I get, and this app has made my past two international trips much easier (2.5 weeks in Vietnam and Malaysia with five legs, and five days in Iceland). I was able to corral my tour and flight info very easily and refer back to it constantly just through that.

Download it for free here.

21. VIA Rail Canada gives you a range of prices for your train travels throughout Canada.

Via Rail / Via Rail, Tasia Bass / BuzzFeed

"If you're traveling throughout Canada, a train ride can be a fun and affordable option rather than driving. This is why I often find myself on the Via Rail site for when I want to save some money while having a weekend getaway. There's usually five options for tickets starting at Escape and ending at Business Plus, depending on your travel needs. Honestly, I've done an Escape ticket before and despite it being a budget traveller ticket, I find it's just as good as any other class of ticket. The site is very easy to use, I just log in my starting location and where I am going, if I want one way or round trip, and the dates, then it will give me a list of options for that day. Since I live really close to the Canadian border, I head over to Canada a few times a year to get away without having to worry about expensive airfare for a plane that may be delayed or cancelled. Plus you get to see so much of the Canadian countryside on a train. They also now have an app, making it easier for you to scan your ticket once you get on the train." —Tasia Bass

Start planning on VIA Rail Canada.

22. And, the app for whatever airline you're flying because you can often get updates on flight status and gate changes there before you receive emails about them.

Delta

First off, you should absolutely be checking into your flight as soon as it's open! If you weren't already aware, the last folks to check in are the ones who can get bumped from overbooked flights. (Though if that happens to you, absolutely google your rights and make sure the airline is compensating you properly for that.) I always download the airline app when I check into a flight.

There've often been times when I've gotten a push alert from an airline app about a delay before I have time to check my inbox for an email alert. IMO it also tends to be easier to check in and add checked baggage, change seats, etc., via an app. And when your trip is over, simply offload it from your phone until next time.

As you can see from a recent trip, the app kept me updated on when I could check in for my return flight. And! I was randomly upgraded to a first-class ticket, and was easily able to download a fresh boarding pass that reflected that to my wallet.