Best Online Travel Agencies

Booking.com is our top choice for making your trip arrangements

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Planning a trip can be easier through an online travel agency than if you handle each aspect of the planning separately. You can book hotels, air travel, rental cars, and more through a single site, and booking everything together sometimes results in discounts. By inputting a destination, a range of dates, and other preferences, you will see a list of options for each aspect of travel.

The best online travel agencies offer options from the largest number of airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, and more. Look for sites that offer discounts for combining reservations for different aspects of your trip. For example, the best sites will have lower rates if you book both plane tickets and a hotel through their services. The best sites also provide reviews from customers who actually have booked through the service. These are our top picks.

  • Best Overall: Booking.com
  • Best Budget: Skyscanner
  • Best Price Predictor: Hopper
  • Most Innovative: Kiwi.com
  • Best for Eco-Conscious: Kind Traveler
  • Best for Social Impact: I Like Local
  • Best for Design-Forward Homestays: Plum Guide
  • Our Top Picks
  • Booking.com

Kind Traveler

I Like Local

  • See More (4)

Final Verdict

Frequently asked questions, methodology, best overall : booking.com.

 Booking.com

This industry leader offers one of the most comprehensive trip planning platforms on the Internet.

Lots of options to choose from

Interface is easy to use

Numerous filters to customize your search

Tricky to tell whether changes/cancellations can be made with Booking.com or the vendor directly

Booking.com was founded in 1996 and has grown into an industry leader that stands out for being one of the most comprehensive trip planning platforms out there. From one website, you can compare and book accommodations, flights (including one-way and multi-city flights), sightseeing activities, and even airport taxis. The website lists more than 28 million accommodation options, from hotels, hostels, and B&Bs to vacation homes and luxury resorts—you can browse more choices per destination on Booking.com than other online travel agencies. The website also performs well on cost and typically returns lower-than-average prices for flights and hotels. 

Booking.com's interface is also easy to use. On the home page, search for a hotel by entering your chosen destination and dates. Then, use the extensive list of filters—such as price range and distance from the city center—to narrow the results down and find the best fit. You can also search for a specific hotel, or seek inspiration by clicking through options grouped by destination or property type or by topic such as the country’s best Michelin-starred hotel restaurants or the top cities for vegan travelers. The flights, car rental, and other tabs are just as intuitive. 

Best Budget : Skyscanner

 Skyscanner

You can compare prices across airlines, hotels, and car rentals.

Simple interface

Option to toggle searches between specific dates or by monthly calendars

Search Everywhere button is great for spontaneous planners

Extra clicks are required to make a final purchase

Must read fine print for changes/cancellations—may need to deal directly with the vendor

Ads on the sidebar can be distracting

Find deals on airfare, hotels, and car rentals with an aggregator site like Skyscanner , which uses a metasearch engine to compare prices from all online travel agencies and the airline, hotel, or car rental company in question. Run searches with fixed dates, opt to compare airfare prices month to month, or click “Cheapest Month.” Searches also include options for nearby airports or non-stop flights only. With hotel searches, you can choose to select only from properties with free cancellation, a cleanliness rating of 4.5/5 or higher, or 3- or 4-starred hotels only. Car rental searches include an option to select “return car to different location.”

Once you’ve found the best rate, click on the link to be redirected to the third-party site to make your booking. Feeling spontaneous? The Search Everywhere button on the homepage offers a list of the cheapest flight deals for destinations both locally and across the world—just plug in your departure airport first.

Best Price Predictor : Hopper

The company claims a 95 percent accuracy rate at predicting when flights and hotel rates will be cheapest.

Color-coded system makes it easy to determine cheapest days to buy

App is easy to use

Option to track flights and receive alerts when the best time to buy arises

Some have mentioned the app functions better as a research tool than a booking tool

Unclear whether Hopper will price match if you find a cheaper flight elsewhere

Hopper is a travel app available on iOS and Android that aims to help travelers save on airfare by usng historical data and their own algorithm to predict when flights will be cheapest. Just type in where and when you’d like to fly and Hopper will present you with a color-coded pricing calendar indicating how much tickets are likely to cost. (Green is the least expensive, then yellow, orange, and red for most expensive.) Hopper will also recommend you either buy now or wait, or you can choose to watch a trip and receive notifications on the best time to buy. In addition, the app has expanded to offer hotel and car rental price predictions, too.

Some newer features since the app’s inception in 2009 include an option to freeze a price for a limited time—for an extra fee—as well as exclusive app-only discounts. Hopper is free to download, and you can choose to book directly through the app, though some users mentioned they use Hopper as more of a research tool before booking directly with the airline or hotel. The company claims a 95 percent accuracy rate at predicting flight rates up to a year ahead.

Most Innovative : Kiwi.com

This metasearch engine scours the web to piece together the ideal itinerary using planes, trains, buses, and more.

Creative itineraries get you where you need to go, especially if you’ve got a multi-stop trip

Kiwi Guarantee offers rebooking or cancellation protections

Nomad option appeals to travelers with a lot of flexibility

Creative itineraries mean you may not fly out of the same airport you flew into

Kiwi Guarantee has an additional fee

Charges all-in-one fee for booking flights, trains, buses (though you can always purchase a la carte)

Travelers planning multi-city destinations and seeking a bargain, as well as those looking to take planes, trains, and automobiles to get there, might consider Kiwi . Kiwi is a metasearch engine that scours and pieces together itineraries from various airlines (even if they don’t have a codeshare agreement), considers multiple airports (even if your arrival airport is different from departure), and offers booking options, whether you’re looking at very specific dates or more general ones (up to 60 nights).

Some will find the ability to make multiple bookings for a particular trip more convenient than going at it manually several different times, though note that you must opt into the Kiwi Guarantee program to access rebooking and refund protections should your reservation change or be canceled. Kiwi’s Nomad option allows you to plug in a bunch of destinations you’d like to visit and the length of your intended stay, and the website will churn out the most affordable itineraries for review.

Best for Eco-Conscious : Kind Traveler

A give-and-get business model means booking accommodations with exclusive perks, a donation to environmental organizations, and more.

All participating hotels include a local give-back component

Exclusive savings and perks

Participating hotels are located in some of the most beautiful places in the world

Inventory is much smaller compared to other booking platforms

Some of the amenities mentioned are based on availability only

In 2022, Kind Traveler (an online trave agency focused on hotel bookings) announced an increase in environmentally and socially conscious hotels, charity donations, voluntourism opportunities, and additional perks like waived resort fees or a welcome amenity.

Unlock exclusive hotel rates and perks from participating Kind Traveler hotels with a minimum $10/night minimum donation to a local charity. For example, stay at the Six Senses Laamu in the Maldives and receive up to $33 off the nightly rate and perks such as a food and beverage credit and an Earth Lab or Alchemy Bar workshop when you make a donation to Manta Trust. The organization funds coastal research to protect the island nation’s large yet fragile population of reef mantas.

Select from more than 140 participating hotels from the Hawaiian Islands to Bozeman, Montana, and the Maldives. Charities include wildlife, human rights, arts, education, and environmental preservation organizations.

Best for Social Impact : I Like Local

Choose from a host of travel experiences with the peace of mind that 100 percent of the cost goes directly to local partners.

Social impact mission woven into organization’s business model

Immersive experiences led by local guides

Range of experiences offered

May not be best fit for those seeking upscale, luxury experiences and stays

Can’t sort experiences by a list of countries (though an interactive map is available)

No experiences outside of Africa and Asia

For an online travel agency with a booking platform designed to route dollars spent directly to the communities travelers intend to visit, consider I Like Local . Visit the website to browse a host of travel experiences in countries including Indonesia, Kenya, and Cambodia. Experiences include homestays and farmstays as well as wellness and culturally oriented experiences—from cooking and cycling tours to weaving classes.

To search for an experience, select from drop-down items like travel dates and experience categories, or view a global map and click on a country to view experiences that way.

The platform got its start in 2014 and has grown to 4,000 local hosts across nearly 20 countries. As a social impact organization, 100 percent of each booking fee goes to local hosts. To date, 16,000 travelers have booked with I Like Local.

Best for Design-Forward Homestays : Plum Guide

Browse and book seriously vetted, design-forward vacation homes.

Highly curated inventory of vacation rentals across the world

Design-forward

Thorough vetting process

Does not publish guest reviews

Other platforms have homes available across more destinations

When it comes to booking a vacation home, serviced apartment, or condo, travelers are spoiled for choice. Plum Guide is an online travel agency that specializes in accommodations—though not just any home makes its directory. The company claims that each potential home listed on its site must jump through 150 hoops to be included, from internet speed and mattress and pillow quality to the showers’ water pressure and the home’s proximity to dining, shopping, and attractions.

Search by a featured collection on the website such as “ pet-friendly homes ” or “one-of-a-kind homes in Palm Springs.” Scroll to the bottom of its homepage to view its top destinations, as well as a list of all destinations where Plum Guide homes are available, including Barbados, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland, the U.S., and Turkey. Note: From the top right-hand corner of the site, use the dropdown menu to select currency of choice.

As long as you know what you value most out of your travel experience—such as affordability, social impact, or luxe accommodations—there’s an online travel agency to help plan your next trip. Be sure to read the fine print, as some agencies are third-party websites and not direct vendors. If you're not sure where to start, Booking.com is your best bet for a smooth user experience and hard-to-beat offers on flights, hotels, and other travel arrangements.

What Is the Biggest Travel Agency?

Our choice for best overall, Booking.com, is known as an industry leader with listings for all major hotels, airlines, car rental companies, and more. It boasts more choices for accommodations per destination than any other site, and we found its interface to be user-friendly.

Are Online Travel Agencies Worth It?

This depends on your needs and priorities. The best online travel agencies certainly can save time by booking everything all at once. However, if you're someone who is good at haggling and enjoys the details of planning a trip, you might be able to find better deals by reaching out to hotels or other destinations and speaking to someone personally.

Is It Cheaper to Book Online Than With a Travel Agent?

Not always. A travel agent you know and trust should have the experience and connections to find deals that can match or surpass what you'll find online. Additionally, if something goes wrong, travel agents provide you with an actual person you can use as an advocate to correct the problem . But if you don't have access to a good travel agent, online sites still provide plenty of ways to streamline planning and save money .

We considered dozens of online travel agencies and narrowed down the options based on user experience, volume and quality of inventory, unique offerings and specials, and customer reviews. We also assessed travel companies’ environmentally and socially conscious policies.

Catherine Falls Commercial / Getty Images

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The 10 best online travel agencies in 2024

The top 10 online travel agencies.

  • Booking.com
  • Lastminute.com

Best online travel agencies for business travel

1. travelperk.

Main offerings and features:

  • Industry-leading travel inventory
  • Flexible booking with FlexiPerk
  • Safety alerts with TravelCare
  • Integrated travel policy & approval flows
  • Centralized invoicing
  • Easy & real-time expense reports
  • Carbon offsetting with GreenPerk
  • 24/7 fast customer support in target 15s
  • VAT reclaim
  • Integration with 3rd party tools , such as expense management or HR software like Expensify and BambooHR

Save time and money on your business travel with TravelPerk

2. sap concur.

Sap Concur homepage

  • Works with some of the biggest brands
  • Easy tracking and reporting of expenses for expense reports
  • Many connected apps, such as Uber and Airbnb for cars and hotels
  • One solution for a variety of business travel spending

Click below to compare both platforms’ features and benefits

CWT homepage

  • Ample integrations
  • Award-winning mobile app
  • Employee-centric travel management

Click below for a more detailed comparison between both platforms:

Best online travel agencies for leisure travel, 1. booking.com.

Booking.com_homepage

  • Intuitive booking tool and website
  • Flight + Hotel booking for easily planning trips with no cross-referencing travel websites
  • Simple car rental options and taxi hire
  • Available in over 40 different languages and offers over half a million properties across 207 countries
  • You can book experiences in your destination city to entertain you on your travels
  • Genius rewards program

Agoda_homepage

  • Simple interface and booking tool
  • Deals when making more than one booking
  • 38 different languages and offers a 24-hour, multilingual customer support service
  • Free cancellation within 24 hours of booking
  • Millions of reviews to help make your decision

3. Lastminute.com

Lastminute homepage

  • Filter hotels according to budgets, star ratings, guest ratings, board types, and more
  • ATOL protection on flight + hotel bundles
  • Flash sales for last-minute deals
  • Payment plans to spread out the cost of travel
  • Extra entertainment booking for your trips, like theatrical productions and day trips
  • Gift cards for gifting travel

Expedia homepage

  • Expedia rewards for hotels, cars, and more
  • Experienced support
  • Compare cruise lines
  • Big savings when booking flights, hotels, and car
  • Operates in nearly 70 countries and in over 35 different languages
  • Luxury travel options

Hotwire homepage

  • Book hotels, flights, cars, and bundles
  • 24/7 support
  • Lower prices on the app
  • Great last-minute deals for spontaneous travel

6. Bookmundi

Bookmundi homepage

Best online travel agencies for flights

1. skyscanner.

Skyscanner homepage

  • Super flexible booking filters
  • Cheaper flights and hotels than other OTAs
  • Price alerts for travel routes of interest
  • Easy-to-use booking tool and UI
  • Hundreds of location and currency options
  • One-way, return, and multi-city travel options

2. Kiwi.com

Kiwi.com homepage

  • Simple flight booking tool
  • Partnerships with Booking.com and Rentalcars.com
  • Discover deals anywhere with the option to open up your search
  • Easy-to-use app

How do online travel agencies work?

What are the advantages of booking through an online travel agency.

  • Access to comparison tools
  • Peer reviews to help you with your decisions
  • Flexible cancellation policies
  • All your travel in one place
  • Local flights and deals

Rewards programs

Comparison tools, peer reviews, flexible cancellation.

" "

Flexiperk: Cancel anytime, anywhere. Get a minimum of 80% of your money back.

One account for all of your travel needs, a local approach to global travel, wrapping up.

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Make business travel simpler. Forever.

  • See our platform in action . Trusted by thousands of companies worldwide, TravelPerk makes business travel simpler to manage with more flexibility, full control of spending with easy reporting, and options to offset your carbon footprint.
  • Find hundreds of resources on all things business travel, from tips on traveling more sustainably, to advice on setting up a business travel policy, and managing your expenses. Our latest e-books and blog posts have you covered.
  • Never miss another update. Stay in touch with us on social for the latest product releases, upcoming events, and articles fresh off the press.

Speak to a travel expert

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The Pros and Cons of Booking Through Online Travel Agencies

Carissa Rawson

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money .

You’re likely already familiar with online travel agencies, even if you don’t travel often. These companies — such as Priceline , Expedia and Orbitz — act as intermediaries between you and a travel provider.

Booking your travel through an OTA can be a good idea in some circumstances, but you’ll want to be wary of its pitfalls. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of online travel agencies, so you’ll know what to use to book your next vacation.

Pros of booking through online travel agencies

There are certainly advantages booking through online travel agencies, though you’ll find different experiences whether you’re using public OTAs — such as Kayak — or private ones like those offered by your card issuer, such as the Chase's travel portal .

✅ It may be cheaper

When searching for flights online, you may see different prices for the same routes that vary across websites. Although it may be a result of fare type — for example, some search results may not clarify that a fare is basic economy rather than main cabin or economy — other times, the difference comes down to competition for your business.

Online travel services will often offer slightly lower prices on flights in an effort to entice you as a customer. This is true for both hotels and airlines.

» Learn more: Best credit cards for online travel-booking websites

✅ It can earn you more rewards

Have you ever heard of shopping portals ? By logging into a shopping portal, you can earn rewards for purchases made with many online merchants. Some hotel chains, such as Hilton , Marriott and IHG , can be accessed through shopping portals while still booking directly on the hotel website. In this way, you can earn rewards with the hotel directly as well as with the shopping portal.

The same isn’t true for shopping portals and most airline sites. However, many public online travel agencies are accessible through shopping portals, which can then earn you rewards for airfare bookings. By opting to book in this way, you’ll be able to earn points or cash-back rewards through the shopping portal that you’d otherwise miss.

Some card issuers will also reward you heavily when using their online travel services. Clear examples of this can be seen with Capital One and Chase. With the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card , for example, you’ll get 10 miles per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel .

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is similar. With this card, you can get 10 Ultimate Rewards® points per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Chase's portal.

While these numbers are high, it’s important to remember that there are trade-offs when booking through an OTA rather than directly with a hotel or airline. We’ll get into that a little later.

Online travel agencies offered by your card issuer may not feature the same prices as booking directly; you’ll want to compare these before committing to a purchase.

Some card issuers will go so far as to give your points more value when redeeming through their online travel agencies.

This is true with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card . When redeeming points on Chase's travel portal, you’ll get 1.25 cents in value per point rather than 1 cent elsewhere.

» Learn more: How much are your airline miles and hotel points worth this year?

Cons of booking through online travel agencies

There are several downsides when it comes to using online travel services for booking travel. It mainly comes down to the fact that travel providers prefer that you book directly with them — and offer more perks to woo your business.

❌ It can be harder to change a booking

Ever needed to change a flight after it's booked? No matter the reason, attempting to alter or otherwise cancel a flight can be a hassle — especially if you’ve booked through a third party.

Generally speaking, rather than offering you direct assistance, both hotels and airlines will recommend you contact the online travel agency you’ve booked with in order to make any changes.

While you may be able to make changes or get refunds with the travel agency, airlines and hotels can — and will — offer much more flexibility when you’ve booked with them directly. You may also be subject to additional fees charged by the online travel agency, which can erase any savings you’ve received.

❌ You may not receive elite benefits

This is the real kicker for anyone wanting elite status. Although airlines will almost always recognize your elite status and allow you to earn miles even for bookings made through an online travel agency, hotels and rental car companies will not.

This is especially important for hotel chains. Earning elite status with hotels generally relies on elite night credits. Although these can be earned in a variety of ways — including having complimentary status by holding certain credit cards — the main method of acquiring elite night credits is by spending nights in hotels. Rooms booked through an online travel agency do not count toward elite status as elite night credits.

Additionally, you will not receive any of the benefits of your existing elite status if your booking is through a third party. This can mean the loss of perks such as room upgrades, complimentary breakfast and even free Wi-Fi.

» Learn more: The best airline and hotel rewards loyalty programs this year

❌ It may be more expensive

Did you know that many hotel chains have best price guarantees? Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and IHG all have a guarantee that’ll give you either points or a discount if you find a better rate elsewhere.

These guarantees are generous; Hilton, for example, will match the rate and then discount it by a further 25%.

Although you’ll need to file claims for these guarantees and they face limitations — such as a 24-hour window from when you made the booking — you can save a lot of money on your stay if your request is approved.

Online travel agencies can be hit or miss

There are two sides to every coin and this is no different, as there are several benefits and limitations of online travel services. Depending on your needs and loyalty program status, you’ll want to choose whether to book directly with a travel provider or rely on OTAs to do the job for you.

Booking travel through credit card portals from issuers like Chase and Capital One can earn you big rewards. But if you anticipate altering your travel plans or aim to earn elite status instead, booking directly is the way to go.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024 , including those best for:

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card

on Chase's website

1x-5x 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

60,000 Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

Chase Freedom Unlimited Credit Card

1.5%-6.5% Enjoy 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel; 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 3% on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year). After your first year or $20,000 spent, enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

$300 Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

on Capital One's website

2x-5x Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options.

75,000 Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

online tour agency

Are Online Travel Agencies Safe To Use? 👨🏻‍💻 17 Best Online Travel Agencies For Seamless Journeys: Travel Like A Pro ✈️

Are Online Travel Agencies Safe To Use? Online travel agencies are generally safe to use, but it’s essential to choose reputable and well-established platforms with positive customer reviews.

The rise of online travel agencies (OTAs) has made travel planning and booking extremely easy in today’s world.

By providing passengers from all over the world with a variety of services, offers, and packages, these platforms have changed the travel business.

Online travel agents can help you with your search for flights, hotels, holiday packages, or tours.

🤔 What are online travel agencies?

4. travelocity, 5. skyscanner, 6. lastminute.com, 8. trip.com, 10. booking.com, 11. expedia, 12. tripadvisor, 14. priceline, 15. cheapoair.

  • 🧐 Things To Consider While Making Reservation Through OTA's

⭐ Advantages & Disadvantages of Online Travel Agencies

Q. is it cheaper to book online or through a travel agent, q. do online travel agencies offer better deals than airlines and hotels directly, q. can i trust user-generated reviews on online travel agency platforms, q. do online travel agencies provide customer support, q. are there any hidden fees when booking through online travel agencies.

  • Q. Are the Online Travel Agencies Reliable?

Q. Do Online Travel Agencies offer personalized itineraries?

Q. are online travel agencies more expensive than booking directly, q. can i book international trips through online travel agencies, 😇 conclusion, 🗨️ tell us in the comments as per you which one is the best online travel agencies.

Best Online Travel Agencies

Online Travel Agency (OTA) is the name for a website that sells travel services. It lets customers book flights, hotels, and other trips all from one place. They are like a travel agent in the digital world.

📃 List of 17 Best Online Travel Agencies at Your Fingertips

After a lot of research and considering travelers’ reviews we have shortlisted some of the best online travel companies that are operational nowadays.

  • Travelocity
  • Lastminute.com
  • Booking.com
  • TripAdvisor

VRBO | Best Online Travel Agencies

A US-based internet travel company called VRBO focuses on vacation rentals. Landlords and managers can directly register their houses on VRBO, similar to Airbnb.

When booking through Vrbo, visitors may also get travel insurance. In addition to being a part of one of the largest travel companies in the world, VRBO has a reputation for being a trustworthy lodging option.

Parkos | Best Online Travel Agencies

A website called Parkos.com makes airport parking stress-free. Thanks to the company’s new online platform, potential consumers can now compare various airport parking and facilities, make a reservation, and pay for it in advance of their trip day.

Both locals and visitors have provided overwhelmingly good feedback since Parkos entered the parking sector in 2014.

All technologically aided services revolve around giving automobile owners confidence that their vehicles are safe when they are away from them.

The majority of people may gain more from this comparison, but those who drive pricey high-end cars may find it interesting.

Also Read: 10 Best Places For New Year Celebration

Agoda | Best Online Travel Agencies

Hotel reservations are the focus of Agoda , a multinational online travel firm located in Singapore.

Along with many other comparable OTAs on this list, it is owned by Booking Holdings, the parent company of Booking.com.

The Agoda network, which offers more than a million hotels and vacation rentals, is primarily focused on the Asian economy but has now grown into Europe and the United States.

The company’s marketing strategy is centered on giving customers affordable or reduced housing.

Travelocity | Best Online Travel Agencies

In 1996, Travelocity was established as an online travel agency with several services for customers. It is owned and operated by the international travel service provider The Expedia Group.

You can check for airfare and hotel bundles, choices for a rental vehicle, cruises, and more using Travelocity’s website.

Additionally, you can read travel-related articles, order tickets for well-liked attractions, and communicate your journey arrangements with loved ones.

A well-known company with a big customer base is Travelocity. They provide a huge selection of vacation packages, many of which are aimed at families.

Skyscanner | Best Online Travel Agencies

Skyscanner is a metasearch aggregator that gathers prices for flights, hotels, and rental cars from all online travel agents (OTAs) in one location. Booking flights and hotels with Skyscanner typically results in the most affordable options.

After making your choice, you will be sent to a third-party booking form on the Skyscanner website where you can complete the transaction and reserve your flight.

Skyscanner is used by millions of people to compare rates and options for their travel arrangements. Simply said, it compiles and presents to customers all of the offers from all online travel agencies (OTAs).

Also Read: 15 Best Countries For Solo Travel 

Lastminute.com | Best Online Travel Agencies

City hopping is a popular pastime in Europe because of how close together the cities are. Among the top three booking sites is lastminute.com .

In this OTA, flight bookings are made through an aggregator website, and hotel reservations are made through an OTA, both of which we have seen before.

Finding last-minute discounts on hotels, flights, and all-inclusive holiday packages is the specialty of the website lastminute.com.

If you’re brave enough to play the chicken, Last Minute has the best travel deals. For tourists looking for a dealer who isn’t scared to wait until the last minute, there are a couple of better OTAs. We’re certain to have the flight or hotel bargain you’re looking for.

Airbnb | Best Online Travel Agencies

Members of Airbnb are allowed to advertise their available lodging and accept overnight reservations. However, the business has added hotels and homestays to its list of offerings.

However, Air b nb is extremely particular about the standards it must uphold when it comes to hotels that can be offered on its platform.

The majority of hotels must demonstrate their distinctive design, how the neighborhood affects their rooms, and how guests can access communal areas.

The most economical choice may be an Airbnb vacation rental. Additionally, compared to hotels, you are more likely to locate more beds in the same property on Airbnb.

Many Airbnbs provide sofas or futons to accommodate larger groups. For longer visits, many of these hotels provide kitchens and washing machines, enabling visitors to save money by preparing their meals.

Trip.com | Best Online Travel Agencies

The largest OTA in China, Trip.com , a Chinese firm, created Trip.com, an international OTA. Trip.com’s marketing initiatives are primarily aimed at domestic and international travelers to China.

Contrarily, Trip.com has a partnership with Booking.com that enables it to broaden its global reach.

Today, Trip.com has hundreds of millions of users worldwide. The organization wants to give both domestic and foreign travelers the best travel experiences possible.

Wotif | Best Online Travel Agencies

Wotif also owns LastMinute, a website that offers last-minute discounts on lodging, transportation, and other travel essentials to Australians and New Zealanders.

This local internet travel business mostly caters to travelers from the UK and Europe. On this website, tourists can search for and buy flights, lodging, auto rentals, excursions, and package deals.

Also Read: 11 Best Ways To Become A Travel Enthusiast

Booking.com  | Best Online Travel Agencies

The biggest hotel booking website in the world, Booking.com , also lets you book travel and a rental car. It can be used by travelers to learn about different types of lodging, locations, and offers.

However, making reservations for different types of lodging is where its true power lies. For the typical person, it serves as an all-inclusive travel agency.

Hotels and other accommodation facilities are only billed by Booking.com after a reservation is made.

There isn’t a monthly cost that must be paid. An all-inclusive internet travel firm called Bookin.com provides lodging and travel options all around the world.

Expedia | Best Online Travel Agencies

Online travel agencies (OTAs) are a business model used by many E x pedia Group businesses, notably Expedia, the largest OTA.

The company was founded in 2001 and was based in Bellevue, Washington, in the US.

It is one of the most prosperous travel companies in the world, having localized websites in more than 40 nations.

Expedia has provided access to flights, hotels, and rental cars for more than ten years. They are the largest travel company in the world.

Its marketing plan places a strong emphasis on the value of providing affordable lodging options.

Expedia is an excellent option if you want to pay for your airfare, hotel, and car hire all at once.

TripAdvisor

One of the most well-known travel platforms, TripAdvisor provides a variety of user-generated information in addition to booking services.

Travelers get access to reviews, images, and ratings posted by other travelers, allowing them to plan their trips with greater knowledge.

The website also offers the ability to compare flights and book excursions and other activities, making it a complete online travel agency (OTA).

Kayak

A meta-search engine called Kayak searches the internet for the finest travel offers on several platforms.

It provides full results on a single page by comparing costs for airfare, accommodation, rental cars, and other services.

Users of its “Explore” feature can find new places to go and the most cost-effective times to travel.

Budget-conscious travelers choose Kayak because of its simple UI and time-saving features.

Priceline | Best Online Travel Agencies

The “Name Your Own Price” option on Priceline is known for allowing customers to place bids on hotel rooms and rental vehicles at the prices they like.

Priceline provides regular booking choices like flights, hotels, and rental cars in addition to the bidding system, which may not appeal to everyone.

Travelers who are flexible with their travel plans can take advantage of their Express Deals feature, which offers big reductions on unpublished rates.

CheapOair | Best Online Travel Agencies

Travelers seeking low-cost airline options without sacrificing quality are catered to by CheapOair .

The network appeals to people who are concerned about their spending because it offers exclusive deals and discounts on hotels, flights, and car rentals.

CheapOair makes arranging travel reservations simple with its user-friendly interface and round-the-clock customer service.

Orbitz

Flights, hotels, holiday packages, and activities are just a few of the travel options that Orbitz provides.

Orbitz Rewards, the platform’s loyalty program, enables customers to earn rewards and take advantage of special member advantages.

If customers discover lower rates elsewhere, Orbitz guarantees they will be refunded the difference with its price guarantee promise.

Hotwire | Best Online Travel Agencies

Hotwire is known for providing significantly lower rates for accommodation, travel, and transportation.

Partner hotels can offer lower rates without publicly undercutting their usual pricing because the platform hides the identity of specific hotels until after booking.

For tourists eager to take advantage of this method of surprise booking, Hotwire’s “Hot Rates” provide huge savings.

🧐 Things To Consider While Making Reservation Through OTA’s

When making reservations through an Online Travel Agency (OTA), consider the following:

  • Price and Deals: Compare prices and look for exclusive deals and discounts offered by the OTA.
  • Cancellation Policies: Understand the OTA’s cancellation and refund policies to avoid any inconvenience in case of changes in your plans.
  • User Reviews: Check user reviews and ratings to gauge the reliability and quality of the service.
  • Customer Support: Ensure the OTA provides accessible and responsive customer support for assistance during and after booking.
  • Hidden Fees: Be wary of hidden fees or additional charges that may not be clearly stated upfront.
  • Booking Security: Verify the OTA’s security measures to protect your personal and financial information.
  • Travel Insurance: Consider purchasing travel insurance for added protection against unexpected events.
  • Flexibility: Choose an OTA that offers flexible booking options to accommodate any last-minute changes.
  • Available Services: Confirm that the OTA offers the services you need, such as flights, hotels, car rentals, and activities.
  • User-Friendly Interface: Opt for an OTA with an intuitive and easy-to-navigate website or app for a seamless booking experience.

Advantages of Online Travel Agencies

  • Convenience: Users can book flights, hotels, and other travel arrangements from the comfort of their homes, saving time and effort.
  • Wide Selection: Online travel agencies offer a vast inventory of travel options, providing a variety of choices for different budgets and preferences.
  • Price Comparison: Users can compare prices across multiple airlines, hotels, and car rental companies to find the best deals.
  • User Reviews: Travelers can read reviews and ratings from other users to make informed decisions about their bookings.
  • Exclusive Deals: Many online travel agencies offer exclusive discounts and promotions for their customers.
  • 24/7 Access: Online travel agencies are available round the clock, allowing users to make bookings at any time.

Disadvantages of Online Travel Agencies

  • Hidden Fees : Some online travel agencies may have hidden fees or additional charges that are not disclosed upfront.
  • Lack of Personalized Service: Unlike traditional travel agents, online platforms may lack personalized recommendations and support.
  • Technical Issues: Technical glitches or website outages can cause inconvenience and delay in making bookings.
  • Limited Flexibility: Some online travel agencies have strict cancellation and refund policies, limiting flexibility for travelers.
  • Scams and Fraud: There is a risk of encountering fraudulent websites or services when booking through unknown or unverified platforms.
  • Overwhelming Options: The abundance of choices on online travel agency websites can sometimes lead to decision paralysis for users.

🙋🏻‍♀️ FAQs For Online Travel Agencies

There are a lot of questions that come to our mind while making reservations through online travel agencies some of the commonly asked questions are answered below.

A. Booking online often offers better deals and discounts compared to traditional travel agents.

A. Yes, online travel agencies often negotiate special deals and discounts with airlines and hotels, which can result in more cost-effective options for travelers.

A. While most user-generated reviews are genuine and helpful, it’s essential to consider multiple sources and exercise discernment when making decisions based on reviews.

A. Yes, reputable online travel agencies offer customer support via phone, email, or live chat to assist with booking inquiries and travel-related issues.

A. While some online travel agencies may charge service fees or have specific booking terms, reputable platforms are transparent about any additional costs during the booking process.

Q. Are the Online Travel Agencies Reliable ?

A. Absolutely! Online Travel Agencies are reputable and reliable. They work with established partners and have a track record of excellent customer service.

A. Yes, they do! Online Travel Agencies take your preferences and interests into account to craft personalized itineraries tailored to your needs.

A. Not necessarily. Online Travel Agencies often secure exclusive deals and discounts, making them competitive with direct bookings.

A. Yes, you can! Best Online Travel Agencies offer a wide range of international travel options and guide visa requirements.

In conclusion, online travel companies have completely changed how we organize and book our journeys.

These OTAs have evolved into crucial tools for modern travelers thanks to their user-friendly interfaces, vast inventory, and affordable prices.

The top online travel agencies included in this article can assist you in organizing an enjoyable trip, regardless of whether you are an experienced traveler or preparing for your first excursion.

Also, don’t forget to book your personalized holiday package with  Fiery Trippers . Let us make your vacation a romantic as well as a dreamy getaway.

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The Complete Guide to Booking Travel Online

What is an online travel agency, and what are the best sites and apps to use to search for hotels and flights we break it all down for you..

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The Complete Guide to Booking Travel Online

There’s a lot to navigate when researching and booking travel online.

Photo by Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

My first travel adventure was to Venezuela. I booked the ticket with a travel agent over a pay phone. The agent searched a dozen flight itineraries over a few days, all so I could save $15.

Times have changed. Today, flight searches start online , often on your mobile device. Passengers book either directly with the airline or hotel or with online travel agencies. Rarely do we get on the phone. In fact, American Airlines and United Airlines charge $25 to make a domestic flight booking by phone. And pay phones hardly exist anymore.

So, what is the best way to book online? Here is our complete guide to online travel agencies, search tools, and the variety of booking options available on both mobile devices and desktops.

What is an OTA?

An online travel agency, or OTA, is a website or mobile app that allows users to search for and book travel services such as flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and activities. The booking is made directly with the online travel agency but confirmed by the service provider, such as an airline or a hotel. As a customer, your relationship is with the OTA.

What are the main OTAs?

Many online travel agencies nowadays are owned by two main companies: Expedia and Priceline. The Expedia Group is the largest online travel agency in the United States with 70 percent market share, according to travel data firm Phocuswright. Expedia Group operates Expedia.com , Orbitz, Hotels.com , Trivago, CheapTickets , Hotwire , Vrbo , and Travelocity .

Priceline is a major competitor to Expedia, with global revenues larger than the Expedia Group. The company owns Priceline.com, Booking.com, Cheapflights, Momondo, and Kayak—the latter two being metasearch engines (more on that below).

There are also independent newcomers such as Hopper (a mobile-only booking tool) and Kiwi.com (which allows you to book flights on air carriers that don’t normally have a commercial relationship).

Are OTA fares lower than booking directly?

Generally, no. The fares that are displayed by an OTA will be similar if not slightly more expensive when compared to an airline’s website. They’re usually only a few dollars higher or lower. The OTAs charge a booking fee to the airlines, and often that fee is passed directly to consumers. For example, Lufthansa tacks on an additional $18 to any booking made through an OTA for Lufthansa flights. The same flights are exactly $18 cheaper on the airline’s website.

Where you can score a good travel deal through an OTA is when booking a last-minute hotel and flight package. Many OTAs have cut agreements with airlines allowing last-minute travelers to access lower rates than are typically available when passengers book a flight alone.

Are all airlines available to be booked through OTAs?

No. Many OTAs do not display flights from some of the low-fare leaders. For example, Southwest and Allegiant flights are not available through OTAs; the same goes for Ryanair in Europe. And, earlier this year United Airlines threatened to pull out of Expedia altogether, only recently signing a multi-year agreement to stay in. The airlines would rather not lose any margin to online travel agencies in an already low-margin industry and would rather maintain a direct relationship with the customer.

Are smaller OTAs safe to use?

Expedia and Priceline are the two largest players in the online booking space, but there are dozens of independent OTAs, such as CheapOAir, OneTravel, JustFly, and SmartFares. Confusingly, you might actually stumble on ads for these OTAs while using Expedia or Priceline sites. That’s because the larger OTAs earn revenue through advertising, sending passengers to smaller OTAs and charging those OTAs for the favor.

Buyer beware: some of these lesser-known OTAs are masters at hidden fees. For example, a flight search on JetBlue allows for free seat selection in many instances. If you perform the same search on FlightNetwork, an independent OTA, and select a seat, you will be charged an additional $25—despite the fact that JetBlue doesn’t charge a seat selection fee if you book directly.

What if you need to change your itinerary?

Itinerary changes are often a pain. If your plans change, it won’t matter whether you’ve booked directly with an airline or with an OTA—you’re going to pay fees for the privilege, if you can even change your ticket at all.

For example, CheapTickets.com, which is part of the Expedia Group, charges $25 to change or cancel a ticket if that change is requested after 24 hours of making the booking—it is free if you do so within 24 hours of booking. However, the fees go up from there. JustFly, an independent OTA, charges a $75 fee for changes to domestic flights in addition to airline change fees, plus the difference in fare, for tickets that can be changed. For an international trip, the fee rises to $200. That means to change an international flight with Delta (which charges a $100 change fee) booked through JustFly, you’ll be assessed $300 in fees, plus the difference in fare. At that rate, you may as well book a new flight. FlightNetwork indicates in its terms of service that changes may incur a change fee but doesn’t specify what those fees are. That hardly makes the few dollars you saved by booking with the OTA in the first place worth it.

What is an OTA price match policy?

To assure travelers that they are getting the lowest fare possible, many OTAs have a price match policy. The rules vary and so do the benefits.

For example, if you book with Orbitz and find a less expensive flight, car rental, or activity on any U.S.-based website within 24 hours of your booking, Orbitz will refund you the difference you paid. And it works: I have personally found a flight in the same class, on the same airline, for the same origin and destination cities, and requested Orbitz to refund the difference of around $35. Within a few weeks, I received a check in the mail. A similar program applies for CheapOAir, but there’s a catch—the price difference must be found on a major OTA such as Expedia or Travelocity.

Expedia has a particularly good price match policy, but you have to pay extra for it at the time of booking. Expedia offers the price match option as an add-on that costs between $5 and $30 when you book. With the price match applied, if the airfare on Expedia drops between 120 days of the flight and up to six hours before the flight, Expedia will automatically refund you the difference in fare. Unfortunately, fares generally do not drop substantially as the travel date approaches, so while this might give you peace of mind, it’s probably not worth the expense.

How do Google Flights and other travel metasearch engines work?

Frequent fliers are likely familiar with websites such as Google Flights, Kayak, Momondo, or Skyscanner. On these websites, passengers search on the site but are redirected to the service provider to complete the booking, such as an airline, rental car company, or hotel.

Metasearch started with a product called ITA Matrix, which is a tool for searching airfares online but not for actually booking online. ITA Matrix allows for multi-city searching, such as setting two different departure or arrival airports, and for offering a calendar view of fares for easier comparison. That company was acquired by Google in 2011, and savvy travelers swear by it to help find the least expensive fares online. Most consumers are more familiar with Google Flights, which has gained traction more recently not least because it has the benefit of being displayed first in search results on Google.

Metasearch engines receive distribution fees from the airlines for sending traffic to the supplier websites. There are no additional hidden fees for using a metasearch engine because you’re booking directly with the airline or hotel.

A major benefit of the metasearch engines is their price tracking tool, which lets users know whether the displayed fares are low, average, or high for the flight, allowing travelers to make a more informed decision on whether to book a flight or not . Google Flights and Kayak, for instance, both have price tracking tools.

Why not just book directly?

The airlines would definitely much rather you book directly with them. Over the past five years, they have gotten much better at marketing and selling their product directly to consumers online and through mobile sites and apps. But in the past, they weren’t so good at it. In fact, Delta, Northwest, United, American, and Continental got together to invest $145 million to launch Orbitz in 1999 to counter the threat from Expedia. Now Orbitz is owned by Expedia.

The airlines also try to encourage customers to book directly so that they can maintain a closer relationship with them. It allows carriers to connect bookings with loyalty programs and create special offers and discounts catered to individual passengers.

There is another benefit to booking directly. The U.S. Department of Transportation requires carriers to hold a reservation at the quoted fare for 24 hours without payment or allow a reservation to be cancelled within 24 hours without penalty, so long as the booking is made at least seven days before travel. The law applies, however, only to U.S. and foreign air carriers that have websites marketed to U.S. consumers. This means that, in theory, an online travel agency does not have to offer such a policy, although most OTAs do.

What are the options for booking on your mobile device?

Airlines and the major OTAs all have apps to help you book and manage your trip on your mobile device, but their functionality is lacking compared to these websites’ desktop editions. For example, Expedia’s app doesn’t allow you to view flights on a month-view calendar. Kayak has an app with more bells and whistles and a better user interface, including a month-view calendar with color-coded pricing. It also has a handy “augmented reality” function to help you see if your carry-on bag will fit in the overhead bin (a feature originally developed by KLM). Point your phone’s camera at the luggage, and it’ll give you the dimensions.

While apps are improving and gaining in popularity, you still might find it easier to locate the best deals on flights and hotels by using your desktop, where you can have multiple tabs open and have all the available search tools at your disposal. Apps are fine for booking directly with an airline once you know which flights you want to book.

If you’re determined to use your mobile device, you may want to look into Hopper. Hopper is a mobile-first flight booking tool that has a solid price prediction tool. You can research travel options and book directly on the app. Another benefit of Hopper: Of its team of 300 employees, nearly half are dedicated to customer support and are based in Canada versus some OTAs and airlines that outsource much of their customer service further afield.

The bottom line?

Like many travelers, I enjoy a flight deal as much as the next person, but I also don’t like any added hassle. I typically start my travel searches using the ITA Matrix or Google Flights to get a general sense of the fares. It helps to know what is a good deal and what is expensive for a particular route. I do my research, typically on a desktop computer. When I’m ready to book, I’ll book directly with the airline. I’ve found that customer service is better when booking directly with the service provider. But I’ve also saved money by using OTAs and have booked with them, too. Whichever way you choose to book, you can be safe in the knowledge that finding and purchasing travel online is a lot easier today than searching for a deal with a travel agent on a pay phone.

>> Next: How to Get the Best Last-Minute Travel Deals

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The 10 Best Online Travel Agencies: The Top OTAs to Connect to in 2023

Lexi DeMers

Lexi DeMers

online tour agency

Updated: 15 Mar 2024

Online travel agencies don’t just make life easier for travelers. The best online travel agencies also offer a variety of benefits to business owners. From accessing niche markets to benefiting from the billboard effect, listing your hospitality business on popular travel sites has many perks. 

These sites can help you cover low-season lulls or ensure you maximize your bookings year round. Discover how online travel agencies can help you capture your share of the $521 billion online travel market . In this article, we’ll cover the best online travel agencies for hoteliers and other accommodation providers, detail the benefits they offer, and discuss how you can easily manage multiple channels. 

The 10 Online Travel Agencies with the Highest Revenue 

Before you take the time and effort to list your business on a new channel, you’ll want to make sure that it will actually help you gain new guests. Below are the 10 best online travel agencies worldwide by annual revenue , as reported by Statista. 

Booking.com

Edreams odigeo, tripadvisor, manage all your channels with one centralized booking system, a closer look at the best online travel agencies.

All online travel agencies are not created equal. In fact, many channels cater best to specific businesses. Though listing your property on the highest earning online travel agencies is a great strategy, it is even better to understand the markets that each OTA serves. Below, we will take a closer look at the best online travel agencies.

Booking.com is a global powerhouse in the online travel agency sector. Its expansive platform includes a diverse array of property types, ranging from hotels and resorts to apartments and hostels. So it is a great OTA option for a variety of business models. Renowned for its user-friendly interface and extensive property listings, Booking.com attracts travelers from around the world. 

Hotels can seamlessly integrate with this booking engine, streamlining their reservations and room management. On average, Booking.com charges businesses a 15% commission on every booking, though this rate can vary from region to region. 

Expedia is a leading online travel agency known for its global reach and comprehensive travel offerings. This one-stop shop caters to travelers searching for accommodations, flights, car rentals, and vacation packages across the globe. 

Business owners benefit from Expedia's tools like the Partner Central platform, which aids in managing bookings, optimizing rates, and enhancing visibility. Expedia's loyalty program, Expedia Rewards, encourages repeat bookings which is why it is one of the best online travel agencies for hoteliers. However, depending on the region your business is in, Expedia charges 10% to 30% commission. 

Airbnb is a unique online travel agency that connects travelers with a wide range of accommodations, from cozy private rooms to entire homes. While it initially gained fame for its home-sharing platform, it has expanded to include boutique hotels and traditional accommodations. As such, it ranks toward the top of our list of the best online travel agencies. 

Accommodation providers can tap into Airbnb's extensive network, reaching guests from around the world. While there are a few different options, most hosts on Airbnb are charged a 3% commission. Meanwhile, Airbnb charges a 14% service fee to guests on top of the nightly rate you set. 

Trivago is one of the best online travel agencies, but getting your property on the site isn’t as straightforward as the other options on this list. Trivago is a metasearch engine that scours the Internet to find the best hotel deals for travelers. It collects hotel listings and prices from various online travel agencies, hotel chains, and booking sites. 

Owners can leverage Trivago by ensuring their listings are well-optimized on other OTAs. Since it doesn't handle bookings directly, Trivago doesn’t charge business owners any commission and instead gets its revenue from other sites that advertise there. 

Despegar is one of the best online travel agencies, primarily serving the Latin American market. It offers a wide range of travel-related services, including hotel bookings, flights, and car rentals. With a strong presence in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries, Despegar provides travelers with a convenient platform to plan and book their trips.

Business owners looking to tap into the Latin American market can benefit from listing their properties on Despegar. It allows them to access a diverse and growing customer base while also providing travelers with options tailored to their preferences and language. Hoteliers can expect to pay 10% to 15% in commission on bookings from this site. 

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As one of the largest online travel agencies globally, Trip.com offers a variety of services to travelers. Formerly known as Ctrip, it has a strong presence in the Asian market but has expanded its reach to cater to a diverse international audience. Travelers can use Trip.com to book hotels, flights, trains, car rentals, and other travel-related services. 

Accommodation providers aiming to attract travelers from Asia and beyond can benefit from partnering with Trip.com. As one of the best online travel agencies, it provides access to a vast customer base seeking a variety of accommodation options. By listing on Trip.com, you can expect to pay anywhere between 10% to 25% in commission. 

eDreams Odigeo is a leading European online travel agency that serves as an umbrella for several well-known brands, including eDreams, Opodo, GO Voyages, and Travellink. It caters to travelers seeking a wide range of travel products and services. By partnering with eDreams Odigeo, accommodation providers can tap into the European market and beyond. 

Whether you run a boutique hotel or manage a large resort, listing your property on one of the  eDreams Odigeo sites allows you to reach travelers from various European countries. Depending on the exact site you list your business on, you may pay commission or your guests may pay service fees. 

As a prominent online travel agency in India, MakeMyTrip has a strong foothold in the South Asian market. It offers a range of travel services, including flights, hotels, and holiday packages. By listing your property on MakeMyTrip, you can tap into the growing Indian travel market and attract travelers looking for both domestic and international accommodation options. 

MakeMyTrip's user-friendly interface and extensive marketing efforts make it a valuable platform for reaching travelers across India and the Indian diaspora. After some controversy over excessive rates in 2019, MakeMyTrip pledged to cap its commission at 22% . However, your guests will also be charged a booking fee when making reservations on this site. 

If you're targeting spontaneous travelers or those seeking last-minute deals, Lastminute.com is the best online travel agency to consider. As the name suggests, it specializes in providing travelers with a wide array of last-minute options, from flights and hotels to car rentals and activities. 

By partnering with Lastminute.com, you can attract travelers looking for instant bookings, making it an excellent choice for filling last-minute vacancies. This is great for offering discounts during off-peak periods or showcasing special promotions. To learn more about the commission rates Lastminute charges, it's best to reach out to the company directly. 

Tripadvisor is renowned for its comprehensive database of traveler reviews. But it's also a powerful online travel agency, offering an extensive platform for accommodations, restaurants, and attractions. 

By delivering exceptional experiences to your guests, you can earn positive reviews that attract more travelers to your property. Tripadvisor offers various tools for property owners to manage their listings, showcase their amenities, and respond to reviews, ensuring your property's reputation remains stellar. Plus, Tripadvisor only charges owners a 3% commission fee. 

Two people smiling while working together on a computer outside.

Other Great OTAs for Your Business 

Aside from the top-performing online travel agencies globally, there are still many more OTAs that can help boost your earnings and expand your audience. Depending on the region you’re in and your ideal target market, the other great online travel agencies below may work well for you. 

VRBO, which stands for Vacation Rental By Owner, is a platform specializing in vacation rental properties. It's a part of the Expedia Group and caters to travelers seeking unique and often more private accommodations, such as vacation homes, cabins, cottages, and condos. VRBO charges owners a 5% commission. 

Hostelworld

Hostelword is one of the best online travel agencies for low-cost accommodations like hostels and budget-friendly hotels. Hostelworld connects hostel owners with a global community of backpackers and budget travelers, making it an essential choice for those operating in the hostel industry. When receiving bookings from Hostelworld, business owners typically pay between 10% and 25%. 

Primarily known for its flight booking services, Hopper has expanded into the hotel industry. This innovative OTA offers travelers a unique approach to booking accommodations. Hopper's app leverages data analytics to predict the best times to book hotels at the lowest rates, helping travelers save money. And the best part of this platform is that it doesn’t charge hosts any commission fees on bookings. 

Strongest in the Asian market, Traveloka offers a comprehensive platform for booking flights, hotels, activities, and other travel-related services. It has gained popularity for its user-friendly interface, competitive prices, and extensive coverage across Southeast Asia. Owners will pay between 10% to 15% of booking revenue in commission to Traveloka. 

Your business. Your Bookings. Your way.

What are the benefits of using an online travel agency.

Online travel agencies have revolutionized the way the hospitality industry operates. They offer a wide array of benefits that cater to both travelers and accommodation providers. In this section, we'll explore the key advantages of collaborating with some of the best online travel agencies.

Higher Booking Volume.   Of course, the main goal of listing your property on an online travel agency is getting more bookings. These sites have large audiences, which can lead to a substantial increase in bookings. 

Market insights. The best online travel agencies provide valuable data and market insights that can help you understand traveler preferences, booking patterns, and trends. In turn, this can inform your pricing, marketing, and property management strategies.

Build an Online Reputation. Many OTAs offer a review system that allows previous guests to share their experiences. Positive reviews and ratings can build trust and credibility, encouraging potential guests to choose your property.

Easier international reach. If you have international guests in mind, the top online travel agencies can help you reach travelers worldwide. They also often support various languages and currencies, making it easier for international guests to book.

Billboard effect. The Billboard Effect describes the phenomenon in which accommodation providers gain more direct bookings on their own websites after listing their property on OTAs. It illustrates that these platforms serve as powerful marketing and distribution channels.

How to Find the Best Online Travel Agencies for Your Business 

While listing your business on all of the best online travel agencies is a smart move, you can go a step further with OTAs. If you want to find the absolute best online travel agencies for your business, you’ll need to identify sites that fit your niche. 

Many OTAs cater to specific audiences, such as Thermal for surf trips and Bookatrekking.com for trekking adventures. There are also great online travel agencies for other niches, including luxury accommodations, yoga retreats, family hotels, and more. Take some time to explore various platforms’ user base and commission rates to determine which OTAs would be best for your business. 

How Can I Manage Multiple OTAs?

While having a presence on multiple OTAs can offer big rewards, having to log into and manage several different platforms is extremely time consuming. Not to mention, you risk double-books and other errors. Thankfully, you can use a channel manager to help streamline your bookings across multiple online travel agencies. 

At Bookinglayer, we offer Channels ; a fully integrated, user-friendly channel manager that allows our clients to maximize their revenue without spending extra time on administration. Channels allows business owners to integrate with up to 35 different platforms while conveniently managing everything from one simple dashboard. 

Want to Learn More About How Bookinglayer Helps Business Owners?

Bookinglayer is an all-in-one software suite designed specifically for adventure travel businesses that have complex booking scenarios. If you want to offer accommodation and activities, Bookinglayer is the most comprehensive platform on the market.

Whether is optimizing your booking flow, automating your payment processing, or streamlining your daily reports, we can help you save time, reduce errors, and increase conversions. You can sign up for a free demo to discover if you are the right fit for our software suite. 

Best Online Travel Agencies FAQ

What is an online travel agency.

An online travel agency is a web-based platform that allows users to research and book a range of travel-related services. Also known as OTAs, these marketplaces display services from various providers. They often include accommodation, flights, rental cars, tours and activities, and more. 

How do online travel agencies work?

Online travel agencies are third-party services that offer users a convenient and easy way to plan and book travel experiences. They aggregate travel services, facilitate bookings, collect payments, and publish reviews. In return, they oftentimes earn a commission from the bookings they sell.  

How do OTAs make money?

OTAs typically make money by charging business owners a commission on the bookings they sell. These commission rates can range from 10% to 30%, depending on the platform you choose and the region you operate in. In addition, some OTAs may also charge customers a service fee to help cover the costs of running the platform. 

What is the downside of using OTAs?

The downside of using an OTA is that you will likely need to pay a commission to the platform. As such, many business owners prefer to collect direct bookings. Nonetheless, the best online travel agencies serve as a great way to advertise your property and can help you increase your revenue, despite the commission charges. 

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What are online travel agencies? The ultimate guide to OTAs

Love them or not, online travel agencies (OTAs) play a critical role in every property’s distribution strategy. According to Expedia Group’s 2023 Path to Purchase report, OTAs captured 51% of online hotel & lodging bookings and possess the visibility and marketing power that most individual properties cannot achieve on their own. 

Working with OTAs isn’t just a matter of signing up and hoping for the best. To take advantage of the opportunities and avoid the pitfalls, you need to actively manage your listings, pricing, and inventory and take a strategic approach to online distribution. 

If done correctly, adopting the right OTAs as part of your distribution strategy can actually help drive direct bookings through the “billboard effect.” Building a comprehensive channel mix incorporating different types of OTAs will ensure you reach your target audience and secure a steady stream of reservations. 

See which OTAs dominate globally, regionally, and across property types based on Cloudbeds customer data and how properties like yours use OTAs as part of their distribution strategy. 

At Cloudbeds, we know the world of OTAs and distribution channels can be complex. We’ve created the Big Book of OTAs to help demystify this process and explain how to create a recipe for success when working with third-party distribution channels.  

What is an online travel agency (OTA)?

An online travel agency (OTA) is a website that acts as a search engine for travel. They connect providers across the travel industry to help travelers easily plan their trips. On OTA sites, travelers can often access package deals with accommodations, airfare, cruises, rental cars, and more .

On average, travelers view 141 pages of travel content in the 45 days before booking a trip, with OTAs making up 67 of those pages. Therefore, properties must be active on as many channels as possible to increase brand awareness and drive bookings — both OTA bookings and direct bookings (more on this later). With the increased popularity of OTAs around the world, hoteliers now have access to markets once unattainable.

How do OTAs work?

Online travel agencies emerged in the 1990s, using the internet’s extensive reach to aggregate global travel supply into a single place so consumers could book their own travel online. These self-service tools reshaped the hotel industry and the way travel was researched and booked, as the general public could now easily plan their trips and reserve their airfare, accommodations, and tours on their own rather than rely on a physical travel agent.

Sites such as Expedia.com, Booking.com, Airbnb, Orbitz, Hotels.com, and TripAdvisor are often consumers’ first stop when researching and booking their next trip. These sites offer a seamless user experience at all stages of the buying process: problem/need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase behavior.

Properties of all types and sizes can connect to multiple OTAs through an integrated channel manager . A distribution system, like a channel manager, shares room inventory and rates from your property management system (PMS) to your booking engine and OTAs. Properties that use a channel manager can streamline hotel operations, increase hotel revenue via revenue management best practices , and increase occupancy across channels (all without the fear of overbookings). 

OTA business models

Hotels form partnerships with OTAs by basically outsourcing marketing to OTAs, who then make money through two business models: the merchant model (guest pays the OTA  in advance) and the commission model (guest pays the hotel at check-in or check-out). Most OTAs offer a blended model so that hotels can let guests choose which option they’d prefer. 

The merchant model

In this model, the online travel agency acts as the merchant of record and collects payments from guests at the time of booking. Once the guest has checked out, the OTA pays the hotel. Contracts exist between hotels and OTAs to provide a set number of rooms to the OTA at a favorable rate. The OTA then makes a profit off each room sold but must meet its contractual thresholds.

The agency (commission) model

In this model, the consumer books via the OTA but pays the hotel directly at the time of checkout. The hotel then pays the OTA a commission on the total value of the booking after checkout. There are no contracts, and rates are set by hotel management. 

The advertising model

This model has increased in popularity and exists on metasearch sites such as Google Hotel Ads, Tripadvisor, Trivago, and KAYAK. Metasearch engines work primarily on a cost-per-click basis where hotels can promote their rooms with links to their direct booking engine, and pay a fee based on the number of clicks they receive. Some of these sites, such as Google, also offer a cost-per-acquisition model (also known as “pay per stay”) where the property pays a percentage of the total reservation cost upon completion of the stay.

For hotels, it can be frustrating to watch distribution costs rise without getting more in return, but there are costs associated with direct bookings too. Demand doesn’t appear without at least some sort of distribution or marketing strategy in place, and those marketing campaigns, loyalty offers, special deals, and direct booking tools have a cost to the hotel. That’s why it’s important to use OTAs wisely and in conjunction with your own direct marketing strategy. 

Online travel agencies vs. online travel agents

Before the rise of OTAs, it was the role of a travel agent to book leisure and business travel. This is because travelers back then did not have access to hotel availability and rates the way we do today. While the internet has made it easier for travelers to book their own trips online, some segments like luxury, corporate, and group travelers still prefer to utilize a person, or online travel agent, to help plan and book a trip.

Travel agents are beneficial when planning complex trips such as a destination wedding, honeymoon, or corporate trip. They have the expertise and connections to find unique accommodations at better rates than most people can find themselves.

Travel agents such as Kuoni have a team of destination experts who work behind the scenes to curate tailor-made accommodations, experiences, and itineraries. Their in-person stores allow travelers to enjoy a glass of champagne while meeting with a travel expert to plan their dream vacation.

Travel agents usually have a portfolio of properties they recommend to travelers and take a commission fee, similar to OTAs. Strong relationships with travel agents can help properties drive more bookings in alternative segments than the OTA market.

Difference between OTAs and metasearch

With so many online booking channels available today, it can be challenging to understand the difference between certain channels.

Metasearch websites like Skyscanner act as aggregators and display hotel information and room rates from a variety of online channels, including OTAs like Agoda, Trip.com, Travelocity, or Priceline.com and a hotel’s website. It enables travelers to compare all of their hotel booking options in real time across the web so that they can book the best deal.

OTAs provide room rates and booking capabilities for only one channel — their own. Meanwhile, metasearch sites can display up to twenty or more results.

Properties can invest in hotel marketing efforts through metasearch engines. Metasearch sites rank listings and it pays off to be near the top. Paying to have your listing higher in the ranks to drive more direct bookings can drive serious results. 

Is Google an OTA?

Google is often a traveler’s first stop when looking for a hotel room. In recent years, Google has changed the hospitality industry with its products. Google offers Google Hotel Search, which acts as a hotel metasearch platform. When a traveler enters a property’s name into Google, it will show all of the rates and listing information from across the web.

Google also has free booking links , a game-changer for independent hotels as they can list their direct rates and links to their own website within the Google Hotel Search box. This option encourages potential guests to book direct.

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Online Travel Agencies: Do They Offer the Best Value? (Hint: No)

Fora Author Fora

The Modern Travel Agency

https://www.foratravel.com/the-journal/online-travel-agencies

Do online travel agencies offer the best deal? And what’s the difference between an online travel agency (a.k.a. OTA) and a host agency for independent travel agents ? We have all the intel you need to make the right decision.

Already know the difference between OTAs and real, human travel advisors? Connect with Fora to book and plan your trip with expert advice, VIP travel perks and more (i.e., all the things you don’t get when you book with an OTA).

First, what is an online travel agency (a.k.a. OTA)?

Online travel agencies are “travel agencies” in name only. More accurately, they’re automated marketplaces that allow travelers to book accommodations, flights and car rentals from a single user interface. 

Expedia, Booking.com and Travelocity are among the most well-known examples, but there are dozens of choices that offer similar experiences.

Which online travel agency is the most popular? What’s the biggest OTA?

Booking Holdings, which owns Booking.com, Priceline.com and a few other recognizable names, is the largest online travel agency. But Expedia Group Inc., which owns Expedia, Travelocity, Vrbo and, again, other recognizable OTAs, isn’t far behind. 

It might be surprising to learn that these two companies own virtually all the most popular OTAs in the United States. But the more important point is that because of a lack of real competition, these OTAs have a lot of leeway in the prices they charge. 

Worse, most hotels and suppliers don’t have much of a choice but to allow OTAs to charge high prices on their behalf because such a high percentage of their bookings go through online platforms. Which is where online host agencies come into play. But we’ll come back to that later.

Are there different types of OTAs?

Technically, there are three different types of online travel agencies. However, within the industry, there’s a conscious effort to create separation between them. 

The three models are as follows: merchant agencies like Expedia, advertising platforms like Google and, in the strictest, most literal definition of an online travel agency, most modern host agencies.

Merchant-model OTAs 

Merchant-model online travel agencies are exactly what we’ve been talking about thus far. This is the most common type of OTA, and further down, we explain why they’re not your best choice for planning and booking trips.

Of the three choices, hotels generally prefer to get as few bookings from merchant OTAs as possible because hotels don't see as much of the booking value acquired through such sites, and are often delivered less reliable clients. This type of OTA has played a major role in soaring hotel prices since the early 2000s, especially domestically, because hotels have largely been forced to raise rates to protect their profits.

Advertising-model OTAs

Advertising-model OTAs aren’t agencies so much as they are ad platforms. The most prominent example? Google. Hotels basically pay to advertise their rooms on search engines and similar websites using a cost-per-click model. 

For hotels, advertising-model OTAs can offer a slightly better deal than merchant OTAs. But they’re still not most hotels’ favorite choice. Moreover, these OTAs can be frustrating for consumers, as they often display inaccurate prices for hotels and other suppliers.

Contemporary host agencies

Contemporary host agencies are considered online travel agencies only in the sense that their services are available via the internet.

Host agencies such as Fora provide a variety of tools, exposure and other benefits for independent travel advisors, who remain in charge of their own business. The best agencies also provide extensive travel agent training , community resources and more.

In the host-agency model, clients work directly with independent travel advisors — real people — who can not only make reservations anywhere, but also plan itineraries, which is something merchant online travel agencies can’t do. Additionally, travel advisors can answer nuanced questions, set up special accommodations and do much more that an automated system can’t even begin to address.

What do we mean when we refer to online travel agencies?

We’re talking about the merchant model (i.e., Priceline.com, Airbnb, etc.). Advertising models aren’t as popular, and host agencies are, again, only semantically considered online travel agencies. 

How do online travel agencies work?

We’ve covered the basics, but here’s how online travel agencies work — and why you may not be getting the best deal if you book through one.

How exactly do OTAs make money?

There are two common ways OTAs make money: first, they operate similarly to a traditional travel agency by earning commission from hotels and other suppliers — car rental agencies, tour operators and so on. Additionally, some OTAs will purchase blocks of hotel-room bookings at a discount, only to turn around and sell them for a profit.

(How do travel agent commissions work? See our guide.)

The top online travel agencies charge hotels & other suppliers exorbitant commission rates

Unlike traditional travel agencies, which typically earn between five and 10 percent commission from a partner, the OTAs typically demand much higher rates, usually around 30%. Many hotels have grown to rely on these bookings, so they have no choice but to raise their rates and comply. 

Unfortunately, this has had a ripple effect throughout the industry. However — and this is a big however — contemporary remote travel agents who work with a host agency (like us) are able to one-up online travel agencies by offering awesome upgrades, perks and other benefits to dramatically increase the overall value (we’ll come back to this later) at no extra cost.

Want to know what types of perks Fora Advisors can unlock for you? Book and plan your next trip with Fora .

Why do travelers use online travel agencies?

The simple answer: most travelers aren’t aware of the alternatives. 

Traditional travel agencies were decimated by OTAs in the 1990s and early 2000s. Plus, a lot of travelers today either assume that travel agents are a thing of the past (they’re not) or only plan and book bespoke vacations for elite clients (anyone can use a travel advisor).

Are there any benefits of using an online travel agency?

There’s no arguing that OTAs aren’t fast. And occasionally, you may find that online travel agencies offer a good, though rarely the best, deal. 

But when you take a look at all the drawbacks below, you may question whether it still makes sense to book through an OTA.

Client-focused drawbacks of using online travel agencies

Curious to know why online travel agencies aren’t your best choice for booking? Read on. 

Already convinced? Connect with Fora to plan and book your next trip.

1. You’ll rarely receive the best value (and sometimes you’ll pay more for less)

Online travel agencies may play a role in dictating hotel rates, but they can’t offer the enticing perks you get when you book through a travel advisor instead. In other words, you may be charged the same rate regardless of how you obtain a reservation, but you’ll get a lot more for your money if you book through a travel advisor.

What kind of perks are offered? It depends on the hotel and host agency, but property credits (usually between $50 and $100 in value), complimentary meals, extended check-in/out times and special amenities are just a few of the awesome extras Fora Advisors can unlock. 

Fora Advisors may occasionally be able to score better rates, too, particularly at independent hotels.

2. You won’t get a personalized experience

Ultimately, online travel agencies only care about putting heads in beds. That’s their bottom line, and it’s a deeply impersonal process. A personalized stay is off the table.

In contrast, you’ll exclusively work with an actual human if you book through a travel advisor. Better yet, travel advisors can work with a hotel to VIP your stay (even if perks aren’t offered). This is especially beneficial if you require some sort of special accommodation. OTAs can’t do this — and even if by some miracle you manage to put in a request, OTAs don't make sure the hotel follows through. 

3. You can’t always redeem rewards perks

This varies by the online travel agency, but oftentimes, you can’t book special rates or redeem rewards when you book with an OTA. Some won’t even allow you to earn points toward loyalty programs. 

4. It can be harder to change a booking

Seriously: good luck. 

If you need to change a booking, you generally have to jump through all sorts of hoops and hope that the supplier actually hears about the changes — or you have to outright cancel the booking and hope that you can rebook. At best, it’s a hassle. At worst, it can be a nightmare that causes you to lose money that otherwise could have been spent during your trip.

Want to avoid the pitfalls of booking through an OTA? Get personalized service, VIP travel perks and more when you plan and book your trip with Fora .

5. And worse, your booking can be changed or canceled with little heads up

Imagine living out your Spain bucket list only to find out one of your bookings was canceled, and no real effort was made to warn you. Online travel agencies are automated systems — they can’t, and don’t, always react in a timely manner if a hotel is forced to alter or cancel a booking. 

Worse, OTAs have been known to overbook hotels or rental cars, leaving some travelers stranded or unsheltered at the last minute. This isn’t a common occurrence, but why even take the chance?

In either scenario, a travel advisor would be able to help you immediately.

6. Hotels know they’re getting lower-quality clients, so they’re less likely to roll out the red carpet

First, let us be clear: when we say “lower-quality clients,” we only mean clients who aren’t likely to rebook the same hotel in the future.

Going back to “putting heads in beds,” hotels have no idea whom they’re catering to when a booking is made through an OTA. At reputable hotels, this matters. Great hotels want to take care of their guests because there’s a promise of repeat business, and it’s the right thing to do.

When a travel advisor makes a booking, they can let the hotel know who their client is and the hotel can take steps to make sure their guest — you — is well cared for. At a minimum, the hotel knows that if they do a good job, the advisor is likely to send back more clients.

For the client, this means they’re far more likely to enjoy an awesome experience when they book with a travel advisor because the hotel is incentivized to roll out the red carpet. When they book with an online travel agency, though, the hotel wants to recoup the OTA commission cost, so they typically offer nothing extra.

Recap: if not OTAs, what are the best travel agencies to go through?

Host agencies such as Fora offer a much better deal than online travel agencies.

Fora advisors offer actual guidance & real service

Fora travel advisors are subject-matter experts. They can break down any aspect of your trip to make sure you’re getting the trip you desire. There’s no guesswork involved, which can’t be said when you book through an online travel agency. 

Let’s say you’re booking with a Virgin Voyages travel agent from Fora. They’ll be able to tell you the differences between all the cabins, itineraries and so on. Better yet, they can help you decide which options best suit your preferences and budget, offering a truly tailored experience.

You’ll get the best value when you book with a Fora Advisor

We’ve touched on this before, but it’s worth repeating. 

Fora Advisors secure the best available rates for clients, and there are extras to take advantage of when you book with them. Our travel advisors can score all sorts of perks for clients who stay at partner properties (nearly 5,000 hotels globally and counting). 

For example, say you book a room at Hotel Californian, one of our favorite hotels in Santa Barbara , through an online travel agency for $500 per night (it’s a nice hotel). You’ll still pay that same rate with a Fora Advisor, but when you book with us, you’ll also get complimentary daily breakfast, a $100 hotel credit that can be put toward the onsite spa and, whenever possible, extended check-in/out times — and potentially more. You’ll also get VIP treatment, personalized service and an all-around better stay.

Find out for yourself when you plan and book with Fora .

A nd even if you don’t stay at a partner hotel, you will still get better service (plus potential upgrades at many hotels around the world) when you book with a Fora Advisor. 

Fora travel advisors offer peace of mind and can help if things go awry

One of the absolute best advantages of booking with a Fora Advisor over an online travel agency: we can help if something goes wrong with your booking. 

Whether you receive the wrong room, have a reservation canceled or suddenly require some sort of special accommodation, Fora Advisors can work with the hotel to make things right at a moment’s notice. (Our personal relationships with thousands of hotels around the world help make this possible.)

OTAs often don’t even try — or they put you through a bureaucratic process, days or even weeks later, after your trip. 

Does it make sense to book corporate travel through OTAs?

It’s not unreasonable to wonder if online travel agencies offer a better deal for corporate clients. But for all the reasons mentioned above, corporate travel agents still offer better value than OTAs. This is doubly true for more nuanced bookings — like corporate group travel — where it’s wise to have an actual person there to make sure that reservations and itineraries are honored by suppliers.

Want the best value for your trip? Book with Fora instead

Overall, online travel agencies simply can’t compete with the value that a Fora Advisor offers. From A+ travel perks to unwavering assistance if something goes wrong, it makes so much more sense to plan and book your trips with Fora .

P.S. Love the idea of travel planning as a career? Become a Fora Advisor

Considering a job in the travel industry ? Check out all the reasons to become a Fora Advisor , from uber-flexible schedules to extensive marketing and training resources — not to mention unlimited earnings potential.

Interested? Sign up to become a Fora Advisor . Or check out our posts below to learn how to become a travel advisor .

How Much Do Travel Agents Make? Fora’s Full Guide  

Everything You Need to Know about a Fora Travel Advisor Salary (and How Our Advisors Get Paid)  

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What is an online travel agency?

Online travel agencies have become an essential part of doing business for many tour operators. But what is an online travel agency and what do they do?

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For a lot of tours and activity providers, working with online travel agencies is an essential part of doing business. These have strong, well-known branding, can reach guests in new markets and have marketing budgets that most operators could only dream of. But what is an online travel agency?

An online travel agency, or an OTA, is an online marketplace for travel that sells products to consumers. There are a large number of these, and many focus on specific segments or markets. The big 3 OTAs, according to Skift, are Trip.com, Booking Holdings, and Expedia . For tour operators, some of the main ones are GetYourGuide, Viator, Expedia and Musement.

A brief history of OTAs

OTAs have become the way that most consumers purchase travel products. The first were founded in the mid-90s, with Travelweb selling hotels, the Internet Travel Network for flights, and in 1995, Viator launched for experiences. Since then, the OTA market has grown to $475 billion and is predicted to be $1 trillion in 2030 . Two-thirds of all travel revenue is spent with an OTA.

Despite Viator being one of the first OTAs, tours and activities have always lagged behind airlines and hotels when it comes to online sales. In part, this is because many of the companies that operate in the sector are smaller and lacked the resources to come online. Cost-effective reservation systems changed that , as did the ability to stop and work on different parts of businesses during the pandemic. Phocuswright and Arival say that online bookings jumped from 17 per cent of all bookings in 2019 to 30 per cent in 2021 .

In 2019, OTAs only accounted for three per cent of all bookings for experiences, according to the same research. By 2021, this was four per cent, and by 2025, it is expected to be seven per cent. This represents a jump from $8 billion in revenue to $20 billion by 2025. In 20 years, OTAs have come a long way.

Travellers use OTAs for several reasons. In 2020, Arival found that these were because of price, ease, best ticketing options and where the consumer first found the trip . Operator websites performed better when it came to providing the best options and finding what they wanted. However, 45 per cent of travellers said that OTAs had the best price and, since the survey, their marketing budgets will have ramped up, meaning that these are where consumers will discover products.

Difference between online and offline agencies

The main difference between an OTA and a brick-and-mortar travel agency is that the consumer is expected to do some of the work. Offline agencies contain a huge amount of expertise and contacts that should give travellers a worry-free holiday. They will book the flights, hotels and sometimes experiences so that the traveller doesn’t have to.

OTAs are cheaper because they turn this on its head. They offer do-it-yourself travel to their customers. On an OTA, a traveller will find the contacts and content they need but must rely on their own ability to book the right trip. The traveller also uses reviews provided by others to judge the quality of their trip. All the knowledge and experience of the in-person travel agent has been outsourced.

OTAs are also able to reduce costs because they do not need to rent a high-street location or spend money on other associated costs. However, they do need to spend more on customer service for those customers who have problems and on marketing. The difference in cost is the main reason that most consumers are happy with a DIY approach to travel, although there are a lot of people who love researching and making their holiday plans.

Offline travel agencies still exist, and many of the larger brands have moved to a hybrid model. In this case, they offer the full-service, high-street experience while also offering their own OTAs. For example, TUI’s office can still be found in town centres, while their website offers packages and DIY options. TUI is also the owner of the European tours and activities OTA, Musement.

Types of OTA for experiences

There are as many different types of OTA for tours and activities as there are types of trips. Operators who work in the adventure or wellness spaces will be able to find OTAs that work specifically in their niche. Some OTAs focus on specific geographic markets or languages, such as Civitatis for the Spanish-speaking segment. KKDay and Klook have different approaches to the Asian market. Then there will be those that focus on a specific segment and language.

The largest OTAs do not do this. They cast their net wide — both in terms of the activities they offer and the customers they wish to sell to.

Operators wishing to expand their sales reach should connect to both the main players and choose other OTAs who fit their niche and market. This can be made easier with a channel manager, such as TourCMS, which offers a range of connections to different OTAs, resellers and a marketplace .

What OTAs do

OTAs will use different techniques to sell tours and activities and will take a percentage of each sale. These will include consumers searching for a tour on the OTA’s site, on a search engine, and targeted marketing on social media.

When a traveller searches for an activity on an OTA, they will be shown a range of results that have been decided by the company’s algorithm. This will be based on the type of search, as well as other factors such as review scores, relevance and popularity. A general search for experiences in Monte Verde, Costa Rica, will display the OTA’s ranking of all the experiences in that area for the guest to choose from. A more specific search for walking tours in Paris will do the same, but just for that segment. The traveller will be able to filter the results, but they will always be ranked by the algorithm.

However, that’s not how most searches made by those planning their travel begin. This will happen on a search engine, almost certainly Google. Because of their size, the large OTAs will often show up in the first results organically due to their search engine optimisation. Guests will click through and see the trips they offer. The OTAs will also feature in the Google Things To Do section for that destination.

The very first results shown on a lot of searches are sponsored. These are adverts where a company has paid to appear next to a certain set of words that have been searched for. OTAs target these words so that they appear as the very first link, with their price showing, on that search. The results of this will be constantly monitored and optimised. 

OTA advertising will work slightly differently on social media platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram. These have access to so much information about their users that it is possible to send targeted adverts that aim for a traveller to see exactly what they want when they want to buy it (which doesn’t always happen in practice). This traveller may also have visited the OTA’s site for research, in which case they will receive highly specific retargeting ads that are based on exactly what they have looked at.

This is why some tour operators consider the commission they pay OTAs, which can be 30 per cent of the total price, as a marketing cost. It means the operator can reach customers in source markets and in-destination that are actively looking for things to do, and who they would not have been able to advertise to themselves.

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Europe Tour Companies

Looking for an unforgettable Europe tour? Book a fully-organized trip with the best tour companies in Europe and let the tour operator take care of everything for you. Check out the tour details and read 255130 reviews from our customers to help you choose the perfect tour for you.

List of Europe travel companies & tour operators with 255130 reviews

Expat Explore Travel

Expat Explore Travel

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  • Excellent - 4,244 reviews for Europe tours
It was an amazing 11 days jam packed with alot of things to see and do! Our guide was the most amazing guide I've ever met! Peter (guide) and the driver Silvian made this trip the most memorable! His attention to detail and knowledge of everywhere we went was off the charts! Peter also cares alot about his passengers and make sure all passengers needs are met! Peter makes this trip 10/10. Explat explore I nominate Peter once again for the best guide in 2024. Only downside of the trip is that the hotels that were booked are abit too far from the major cities we went to, sometimes over 30 mins travel by train etc. This made it harder for us to explore more during the night. Thanks Peter and Silvian for a great trip!
Peter and Sylvio made this trip. Best ever tour guide. So knowledgeable and so so caring. Also sooooo funny. We loved it. Sylvio was such a professional and and an awesome driver make sure we were all looked after too. Just an incredible team.

Europamundo

Europamundo

  • Good - 2,969 reviews for Europe tours
I had an amazing experience.
We had a great time. I am planning my next trip soon with tourradar. Your tour guides are fantastic, especially Gaetano, Filipo, and Lee

Intrepid Travel

Intrepid Travel

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  • Excellent - 11,692 reviews for Europe tours
Overall, it was 6 days of diving into the rich culture and history of Turkey, scenic views and fun under the sun. Ata our guide, was very accomodating and flexible to our group's needs. A couple of non-attendees have hindered our prompt start and delayed our itinerary for the 1st day. The Istanbul part could have been planned more I believe, although most people stay a day or two after the group tour.
The area covered was perfect. The guide was fantastic. Her knowledge thorough and well delivered with great personality. She had the patience of a saint!

G Adventures

G Adventures

  • Excellent - 19,077 reviews for Europe tours
Was an amazing tour!
Hotels had dead cockroaches lying around, guide was sweet but not experienced at creating a cohesive group feel. On top of which, the credit that GAdventures gave me to compensate for the mediocrity of the trip expired in 6 months - even the airlines give you a year! And some trips have no option to have a private room (yes, I';m willing to pay extra for that).

Travel Talk

Travel Talk

  • Excellent - 6,386 reviews for Europe tours
I was impressed with how much we were able to see in a short amount of time.
excellent, highly recommended

Penguin Travel

Penguin Travel

  • Excellent - 480 reviews for Europe tours
The itinerary and experience exceeded our expectations. Georgi and Bobby took great care of us and made sure we were always happy and safe!
Excellent, Amazing tour from Penguin Travel. I really enjoy the tour. Thank you to Bobby our driver for keeping us safe back to sofia and taking care our luggage. Also Thank you to our Amazing Tour Leader Georgi, who is always there when needed. very well recommended.

Costsaver

  • Excellent - 863 reviews for Europe tours
Gerry Baines did a wonderful job in keeping everything organized, and on time.
We got to experience 5 countries and numerous cities! Never could have done this so efficiently and cost effectively on our own. And in each place we visited, we were provided historical and modern day insights, information, and cultural entertainment. Our tour director Sarah Rose was amazing. Her primary concern was always her guests' enjoyment and comfort. She went above and beyond! David, our coach driver, was also fantastic! Once in a lifetime experience for our family! Loved it!!!!

Globus

  • Excellent - 74,884 reviews for Europe tours
The only thing that will keep me from considering or recomending Tour Radar with Hlobus is the lack or inability to talk to a real person I had to text TourRadar to ask globus for information only to be told many time one or the other is not answering. In the end it all worked out and the staff at the site was good but the early communication may cause me to shop around
Great trip, good hotels and guiding and lovely food!

Choose Balkans

Choose Balkans

  • Excellent - 290 reviews for Europe tours
The tour was a perfect blend of the historical, the wilderness and the gastronomic! Being able to learn so much knowledge about regional and urban Albania was a complete delight. Throw in having your own personal time to enjoy each day, by yourself, as well was great for me as well. The tour was extremely well structured with my guide, Daniel, being flexible and accommodating is what interested me the most. His encyclopedic knowledge of all subjects was amazing and made the journey so much more interesting. Special call out to all the accommodations along the trip which were so welcoming and first rate. I would certainly recommend this tour to others I meet wanting to travel to Albania. Cheers,
Juli was our tour guide and was fantastic! He knew the local history, architecture, culture, food, and current environment. We could not have found a more knowledgeable guide and competent driver on our own! And the Choose Balkans team that organizes and manages all the logistics are world class! I've traveled to more than 40 countries, and I'd match this tour group with any in the world I've used before. I'm grateful for a memorable experience and for making our time in Tirana worthwhile. It was a trip that we will not forget!

Contiki

  • Excellent - 5,345 reviews for Europe tours
Richard the tour guide was amazing, he went above and beyond for everybody. If I had known this tour was going to be full of arrogant Aussies with no manners I’d never had gone on it. It’s very cliquey a lot mean girl vibes. You do get your moneys worth in terms of experience of each city you visit. I wouldn’t recommend
I am satisfied with all the tour. The tour was so amazing. The tour guide (Bento) was so informative, helpful and efficient with everything. The couch driver (Greg) was so helpful with everything and feel safe as he has excellent driving skill with welcoming smile. I would say the tour was fabulous.

Trafalgar

  • Excellent - 1,887 reviews for Europe tours
Great experience, better than expected. Will be using them (Trafalgar) again in the future.
Nikos was fantastic!

Topdeck

  • Excellent - 4,618 reviews for Europe tours
Roxy (tour guide) and Adam (driver) are legends! They are so knowledgeable and professional. Definitely made the trip amazing for all of us. Thank you so much Roxy and Adam!
It was an incredible, well-organized, and fun trip!

Cosmos

  • Excellent - 19,642 reviews for Europe tours
It was good, but tiring.
Wonderful! First time traveling outside of the US alone. It was a beautiful tour! Henry was amazing! He was full of knowledge and fun facts. The itinerary was awesome and well organized. So happy I went! I made life long friends sling the way! Recommend and will be using this tour again soon! Just book it! You’ll love it!

Insight Vacations

Insight Vacations

  • Excellent - 625 reviews for Europe tours
There was the largest December snow in 90 years just before we a. It made getting there a little difficult but well worth it! Our carriage ride was magical. Greg made it even more special. He was so attentive to everyone’s needs and abilities. Never rushing anyone. Not to mention his surprises every time we got back on the bus. Starting each day with “Louie Armstrongs it’s a wonderful world. We all would sing along. We became friends instantly and felt like family within just a few days together. I highly recommend Greg as a tour guide he really added to the experience. The atmosphere he created by showing us all how much he truly cared for each of us. He is an exceptional person and I for one feel that the trip would have not been the same without him!!!!!
Great variety of markets. Well organised and Greg was very helpful when I had a bit of a mobility issue.

TruTravels

  • Excellent - 15,410 reviews for Europe tours
Overall the tour was amazing to visit different islands and was amazing weather, great company
The most amazing guid ever! Very funny and very good at her job

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Safari Tours

There’s nothing quite like the excitement of a safari tour . Seeing wild animals in their natural habitat will always be a magical experience and a safari is a perfect choice for an unforgettable vacation. Imagine traversing vast open plains, lush grasslands and rugged forests in search of exotic and rare wildlife. 

You might think that you’ll need to compromise on comfort if you choose a safari tour, but these days most camps and lodges offer all the kinds of amenities you could wish for on your vacation. In fact, luxury safaris are increasingly popular, allowing intrepid travelers to immerse themselves in the freedom of the wild whilst enjoying all the comforts of a 5-star vacation. 

Of course, when you think of a typical safari, Africa instantly springs to mind, but other safari destinations to discover include Sri Lanka, India and Malaysia. Depending on the wildlife you want to see, there are countless options to choose from when it comes to safari tours. 

Our exciting selection of safari tours brings you closer to the most exotic and rare wildlife on planet earth. Take the opportunity to get in touch with your wild side by discovering your perfect animal-inspired adventure today!

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Our classic tour of South Africa combined with a stay at the magnificent Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

African vacation

Taking a safari on your African vacation is the ultimate wildlife experience! From observing the Great Migration in Tanzania to exploring the mist-covered forests of Uganda on a Gorilla-trekking adventure, African safaris are the most popular choice for avid wildlife lovers. If you take an African safari you’ll probably want to see all the members of the famous ‘Big Five’ : the lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and buffalo. Some of the best places to spot these legendary creatures are in the wildlife reserves and national parks of South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia. 

A vacation to Africa is also the chance to experience a rich diversity of cultures, observe colorful local life and view some of the most unspoilt and spectacular landscapes on earth. Africa’s coastline is awash with idyllic beaches, whilst this huge continent is also home to dynamic cities and awe-inspiring historic sights. Furthermore, combining multiple countries into one multi-center African vacation is an ideal way to gain an understanding of the continent as a whole. 

South African safari vacation packages

South Africa is one of Africa’s most sought-after safari destinations. Home to the world-famous Kruger National Park, a safari vacation package to South Africa is perfect for those who dream of seeing lions in the wild. In fact, Kruger National Park is home to one of the largest populations of lions in Africa! You can also spot the other four members of the ‘Big Five’ within this famous national park. What makes a South African safari vacation so appealing is that wildlife spotting can be combined with sightseeing in the vibrant cities of Johannesburg, Pretoria or Cape Town. The ‘Rainbow Nation’ is known for its complex history, so a package vacation to South Africa is also the chance to uncover the heritage of this wonderful country!

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  • Flight New Windsor - London (SWF - STN) $387+
  • Flight Boston - London (BOS - LHR) $390+
  • Flight Boston - London (BOS - LGW) $426+

Fort Lauderdale

  • Red Carpet Inn Airport Fort Lauderdale $65+
  • Days Inn by Wyndham Fort Lauderdale Airport Cruise Port $65+
  • HomeTowne Studios by Red Roof Fort Lauderdale $67+
  • Flight Atlanta - Fort Lauderdale (ATL - FLL) $43+
  • Flight Raleigh - Fort Lauderdale (RDU - FLL) $44+
  • Flight Philadelphia - Fort Lauderdale (PHL - FLL) $46+
  • Green Tortoise Hostel Seattle $59+
  • Travelodge by Wyndham Seattle By The Space Needle $122+
  • Holiday Inn Seattle Downtown $127+
  • Flight Denver - Seattle (DEN - SEA) $78+
  • Flight Ontario - Seattle (ONT - SEA) $89+
  • Flight San Diego - Seattle (SAN - SEA) $91+
  • Fabhotel Royal Residency Lakdikapul $20+
  • Katriya Hotel & Towers $26+
  • Royalton, Hyderabad $42+
  • Flight New York - Mumbai (JFK - BOM) $486+
  • Flight New York - New Delhi (JFK - DEL) $518+
  • Flight New York - Ahmedabad (JFK - AMD) $567+
  • Best Western Sapporo Odori Koen $28+
  • Smile Hotel Premium Sapporo Susukino $30+
  • Nest Hotel Sapporo Ekimae $32+
  • Flight Los Angeles - Tokyo (LAX - NRT) $448+
  • Flight San Francisco - Tokyo (SFO - NRT) $516+
  • Flight Ontario - Tokyo (ONT - NRT) $603+
  • Royal Grove Waikiki $111+
  • Kuhio Banyan Club $118+
  • Pacific Marina Inn $127+
  • Flight Los Angeles - Honolulu (LAX - HNL) $217+
  • Flight Oakland - Honolulu (OAK - HNL) $226+
  • Flight San Francisco - Honolulu (SFO - HNL) $256+
  • Super 8 by Wyndham Dallas Love Field Airport $54+
  • Dallas Love Field Inn $60+
  • Comfort Inn Dallas North Love Field Airport $67+
  • Flight Atlanta - Dallas (ATL - DFW) $50+
  • Flight Chicago - Dallas (ORD - DFW) $50+
  • Flight Chicago - Dallas (MDW - DFW) $51+
  • OYO Hotel And Casino Las Vegas $26+
  • The STRAT Hotel, Casino & Tower $29+
  • Four Queens Hotel and Casino $45+
  • the D Las Vegas $46+
  • Flight Burbank - Las Vegas (BUR - LAS) $23+
  • Flight Los Angeles - Las Vegas (LAX - LAS) $31+
  • Flight Oakland - Las Vegas (OAK - LAS) $47+
  • Flight San Francisco - Las Vegas (SFO - LAS) $61+
  • Freehand Chicago $35+
  • Chicago Getaway Hostel $46+
  • Travelodge by Wyndham Downtown Chicago $103+
  • Flight Atlanta - Chicago (ATL - ORD) $33+
  • Flight Atlanta - Chicago (ATL - MDW) $37+
  • Flight Dallas - Chicago (DFW - ORD) $51+

San Francisco

  • Hi San Francisco Downtown Hostel $51+
  • The Mosser $73+
  • Chancellor Hotel On Union Square $114+
  • Flight Ontario - San Francisco (ONT - SFO) $36+
  • Flight Phoenix - San Francisco (PHX - SFO) $59+
  • Flight Los Angeles - San Francisco (LAX - SFO) $63+

Washington, D.C.

  • Generator Hotel Washington DC $70+
  • Days Inn by Wyndham Washington DC/Connecticut Avenue $123+
  • Georgetown Residences by LuxUrban, Trademark Coll by Wyndham $148+
  • Hotel Harrington $164+
  • Citizenm Washington DC Noma $168+
  • Beacon Hotel & Corporate Quarters $174+
  • Henley Park Hotel $192+
  • Hyatt Place Washington DC/US Capitol $196+
  • Morrison Clark Historic Inn $200+
  • Citizenm Washington Dc Capitol $200+
  • Arc Hotel Washington DC, Georgetown $201+
  • Washington Plaza Hotel $202+
  • Flight Atlanta - Baltimore (ATL - BWI) $37+
  • Flight Orlando - Baltimore (MCO - BWI) $42+
  • Flight Boston - Baltimore (BOS - BWI) $56+
  • Flight Houston - Baltimore (HOU - BWI) $72+
  • Flight Dallas - Baltimore (DFW - BWI) $73+
  • Flight Los Angeles - Baltimore (LAX - BWI) $83+
  • Flight Chicago - Baltimore (ORD - BWI) $86+
  • Flight Dallas - Washington, D.C. (DFW - DCA) $95+
  • Flight Boston - Washington, D.C. (BOS - DCA) $123+
  • Flight Minneapolis - Washington, D.C. (MSP - DCA) $125+
  • Flight Boston - Washington, D.C. (BOS - IAD) $129+
  • Flight Houston - Washington, D.C. (HOU - DCA) $139+
  • Hotel Boutique Casa Mallorca $70+
  • Suites Malecon Cancun $71+
  • Avani Cancún Airport Hotel $84+
  • Flight Dallas - Cancún (DFW - CUN) $165+
  • Flight Orlando - Cancún (MCO - CUN) $180+
  • Flight Houston - Cancún (HOU - CUN) $182+

United States

  • Flight Newark - Fort Lauderdale (EWR - FLL) $51+
  • Flight Newark - Miami (EWR - MIA) $55+
  • Kauai Palms Hotel $192+
  • Tip Top Motel $194+
  • Kauai Beach Villas $220+
  • Flight Los Angeles - Hawaii (LAX - USHI) $192+
  • Flight San Francisco - Hawaii (SFO - USHI) $249+
  • Flight Seattle - Hawaii (SEA - USHI) $275+
  • Super 8 by Wyndham San Diego Hotel Circle $85+
  • California Suites Hotel $93+
  • Best Western Seven Seas $105+
  • Flight Phoenix - San Diego (PHX - SAN) $48+
  • Flight Denver - San Diego (DEN - SAN) $57+
  • Flight San Jose - San Diego (SJC - SAN) $57+
  • Shared Living Not A Hotel $34+
  • Super 8 by Wyndham Phoenix West $53+
  • Hometowne Studios by Red Roof Phoenix - Dunlap Ave. $56+
  • Flight Ontario - Phoenix (ONT - PHX) $38+
  • Flight Salt Lake City - Phoenix (SLC - PHX) $48+
  • Flight Los Angeles - Phoenix (LAX - PHX) $57+

Los Angeles

  • Boutique Hostel $34+
  • Freehand Los Angeles $41+
  • City Center Hotel Los Angeles $104+
  • Four Points by Sheraton Los Angeles International Airport $108+
  • Rotex Western Inn $108+
  • La Quinta Inn & Suites LAX $125+
  • USC Hotel $129+
  • Flight Oakland - Los Angeles (OAK - LAX) $55+
  • Flight San Francisco - Los Angeles (SFO - LAX) $58+
  • Flight Dallas - Los Angeles (DFW - LAX) $66+
  • Flight Chicago - Los Angeles (ORD - LAX) $74+
  • Flight Denver - Los Angeles (DEN - LAX) $79+
  • Flight Houston - Los Angeles (HOU - LAX) $82+
  • Flight Houston - Los Angeles (IAH - LAX) $82+
  • Selina Gold Dust $52+
  • Motel 6 Miami. Fl $73+
  • La Quinta Inn by Wyndham Miami Airport North $81+
  • Miami Gardens Inn & Suites $84+
  • Days Inn by Wyndham Miami International Airport $91+
  • La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Miami Airport East $97+
  • Holiday Inn Express & Suites Miami-Kendall $112+
  • Radisson Red Miami Airport $113+
  • The Palms Inn & Suites Miami, Kendall, Fl $114+
  • Holiday Inn Miami West - Airport Area $117+
  • Courtyard by Marriott Miami West/FL Turnpike $123+
  • Flight Atlanta - Miami (ATL - MIA) $42+
  • Flight Philadelphia - Miami (PHL - MIA) $47+
  • Flight Chicago - Miami (ORD - MIA) $52+
  • Flight Chicago - Miami (MDW - MIA) $55+
  • Flight Baltimore - Miami (BWI - MIA) $60+
  • Flight Raleigh - Miami (RDU - MIA) $63+
  • Flight Boston - Miami (BOS - MIA) $68+
  • Flight Charlotte - Miami (CLT - MIA) $75+
  • Flight Detroit - Miami (DTW - MIA) $76+
  • Flight Houston - Miami (HOU - MIA) $77+
  • Hometowne Studios by Red Roof Denver - Glendale/Cherry Creek $64+
  • Super 8 by Wyndham Denver Stapleton $75+
  • Days Inn & Suites by Wyndham Denver International Airport $97+
  • Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham Denver Airport $100+
  • Comfort Suites Denver International Airport $101+
  • Quality Inn & Suites Denver International Airport $101+
  • Baymont by Wyndham Denver International Airport $101+
  • Flight Minneapolis - Denver (MSP - DEN) $38+
  • Flight Detroit - Denver (DTW - DEN) $63+
  • Flight Chicago - Denver (ORD - DEN) $68+
  • Flight Houston - Denver (IAH - DEN) $68+
  • Flight Atlanta - Denver (ATL - DEN) $69+
  • Flight Ontario - Denver (ONT - DEN) $69+
  • Flight Orlando - Denver (MCO - DEN) $75+
  • Hi Boston Hostel $61+
  • Found Hotel Boston Common $101+
  • Ramada by Wyndham Boston $153+
  • Flight Baltimore - Boston (BWI - BOS) $52+
  • Flight Philadelphia - Boston (PHL - BOS) $58+
  • Flight Miami - Boston (MIA - BOS) $68+
  • Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Atlanta Airport $63+
  • La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Atlanta Airport North $100+
  • Sonesta Atlanta Airport North $105+
  • Flight Detroit - Atlanta (DTW - ATL) $36+
  • Flight Baltimore - Atlanta (BWI - ATL) $37+
  • Flight Chicago - Atlanta (MDW - ATL) $37+
  • Generator Madrid $34+
  • C&h Aravaca Garden $39+
  • Toc Hostel Madrid $44+
  • Flight New York - Madrid (JFK - MAD) $367+
  • Rodeway Inn Fairgrounds-Casino $68+
  • Econo Lodge Airport at RJ Stadium $69+
  • Tampa Inn Near Busch Gardens $70+
  • Flight Philadelphia - Florida (PHL - USFL) $46+
  • Flight Newark - Florida (EWR - USFL) $51+
  • Flight Chicago - Florida (ORD - USFL) $52+
  • Flight Atlanta - Tampa (ATL - TPA) $45+
  • Flight Cincinnati - Tampa (CVG - TPA) $48+
  • Flight Raleigh - Tampa (RDU - TPA) $53+

New Orleans

  • Ramada by Wyndham New Orleans $68+
  • Wyndham Garden Hotel Baronne Plaza $93+
  • Hampton Inn & Suites New Orleans Canal St. French Quarter $102+
  • Flight Orlando - New Orleans (MCO - MSY) $47+
  • Flight Dallas - New Orleans (DFW - MSY) $60+
  • Flight Chicago - New Orleans (ORD - MSY) $63+

Frequently asked questions about KAYAK

How do i find travel deals on kayak.

Simply use one of our travel search engines to scan for prices gathered from hundreds of travel sites. KAYAK’s search results pages have loads of filter options to help you find deals, discover exactly what you’re looking for and make booking seamless. Plus, there’s no extra fee from KAYAK.

How can I use KAYAK to manage my travel bookings?

KAYAK Trips creates a travel itinerary for you that will give you flight status alerts, can be shared with friends and more. Simply forward your booking confirmations to [email protected] or use the KAYAK app and sync your email account to keep all your travel plans organized in one app, even if you didn’t book with KAYAK. You can share your holiday plans with friends and family and also check out your travel stats for past vacations, like how far you’ve traveled, your most popular cities and how many times you’ve traveled around the world. Even if you don’t have signal, don’t worry, as you can access Trips to check out your itineraries whilst on the road. Your data is safe and secure with us and you won’t have to re-enter credit card info when booking future trips. If you want to make changes or cancel bookings, then you should contact the travel provider, which is provided on the booking confirmation.

What makes KAYAK a great travel app?

On the KAYAK app for iOS and Android you’ll find all the great travel offers found on the website and much more. There are special mobile rates and app only deals that allow you to save even more money. Plus, you can get notifications straight to your phone letting you know when prices for your next trip have dropped. But the KAYAK app is much more than just a travel app. Use the Trips function to manage your travel itinerary and get up to date status alerts on flights, check-in changes and to store your boarding pass. Even if you’re in the middle of nowhere on your travels, you can still access your travel notes via Trips, as no internet connection is required.

What are KAYAK Price Alerts?

Instead of manually checking back in on the price of your next flight or stay, let KAYAK do the hard work for you with KAYAK Price Alerts. Once you’ve saved your search, our data will determine how the price will rise or fluctuate over the coming days. You’ll then get a push notification letting you know when’s the perfect time to book.

WTOP News

Should You Use a Credit Card Travel Portal?

U.S. News & World Report

April 10, 2024, 8:00 PM

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You have many options for booking travel, whether you want to book directly with airlines and hotels, use an online travel agency or book with your credit card’s travel portal. Using a credit card travel portal may allow you to take advantage of cardholder benefits and credits and give you additional choices for your booking.

Understand how to use credit card travel portals to save money on your next trip and maybe get some elevated perks along the way — but also recognize when it doesn’t make sense.

[ Read: Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards. ]

What Are Credit Card Travel Portals?

Similar to online travel agencies, such as Expedia or Booking.com, credit card travel portals are online travel booking platforms. Cardholders can use credit card travel portals to browse and book travel options, including flights, hotels, rental cars and experiences using your credit card or rewards.

Credit card travel portals include:

— American Express Travel.

— Capital One Travel.

— Chase Travel.

— Citi Travel.

Some credit cards offer cardholder savings or perks when you book travel using the issuer’s credit card portal, such as travel credits or cardholder privileges, including free breakfast or late checkout.

How Credit Card Travel Portals Stack Up

When you use a credit card travel portal, the amount and method of payment may be the deciding factors in how you book. Using a credit card travel portal to book travel can save you money, but not always.

We compared a midweek economy flight from Los Angeles to New York and a weeklong stay at a three-star hotel in Manhattan. In some cases, credit card travel portals were competitive, but Expedia had the lowest overall price for flight and hotel costs on this test trip.

Still, this is just one example, and travel prices can fluctuate depending on how you book. It’s always a good idea to compare all of your options.

[ Read: Best Cash Back Credit Cards. ]

Benefits of Credit Card Travel Portals

Booking your travel with a credit card travel portal can help you earn more points or redeem travel credits. Some examples:

— Cardholders of the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card get a $300 annual travel credit for bookings through the Capital One Travel site. When booking on the Capital One Travel site, cardholders earn unlimited 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars and 5 miles per dollar on flights. ( See Rates and Fees )

— With The Platinum Card ® from American Express , cardholders get a $200 annual hotel credit for prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection bookings with American Express Travel and earn five points per dollar on flights and prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel. ( See Rates and Fees )

— Chase Sapphire Preferred ® Card holders get a $50 annual Chase Travel hotel credit and earn five points per dollar on Chase Travel purchases.

“Using the travel credits is huge,” says JT Genter, editor in chief of rewards and travel tracking tool AwardWallet. “Card issuers are leaning more towards those only being accessible through the portal.”

Credit card travel portal bookings may help your points go further, too. “Because I have a Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, when I use the (Chase) portal to book travel, my points get an extra 25% bump,” says Chip Chinery, personal finance blogger at Chip’s Money Tips. For example, you’d only pay 100,000 points for a flight or hotel that would require 125,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book without the points boost.

Helpful features can add up to savings on credit card travel portals. For example, Capital One Travel offers a price match guarantee. Genter used the Capital One Travel price match feature on a flight from Cairo to Marrakech, Morocco. Although he booked with Capital One Travel, an online travel agency had a better price. He was able to price match with Capital One Travel to get a travel credit.

Genter points out that cardholders of The Platinum Card from American Express can take advantage of the International Airline Program for potential savings on international flights in first, business or premium economy.

You may also get benefits for booking with credit card travel portals, particularly when booking hotels. For example:

— Cardholders of The Platinum Card from American Express get elite benefits at participating hotels, including early check-in, room upgrades, breakfast for two, a $100 experience credit, complimentary Wi-Fi and guaranteed 4 p.m. check-out.

— If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve ® , you can book The Edit properties through Chase Travel and receive benefits, including daily breakfast for two, a $100 on-property credit, room upgrades, early check-in and late check-out and complimentary Wi-Fi.

Drawbacks of Credit Card Travel Portals

Travel credits and on-property perks are compelling reasons to use a credit card travel portal. However, it pays to compare pricing among your card’s portal, direct booking or an online travel agency, because the lowest-priced option depends on the trip you’re taking. Also, you may forfeit some benefits, as credit card travel portals are third-party bookings.

With a third-party booking, you’ll have less flexibility in customer service and cancellation than you would if you booked directly. For example, if you’re dealing with a delayed flight and need service from the airline, you may be directed to the travel portal customer service. You may have limited options for cancellation and how you get your money or rewards back.

Another major point to consider with third-party bookings: You generally won’t be able to earn points or miles with the airline or hotel, though you can earn points with your card. Additionally, you may not be able to use elite benefits for any status you hold. For example, if you have Hilton Honors status that entitles you to a daily food and beverage credit, you’re not likely to get it when you book a stay with your credit card travel portal.

[ Read: Best 0% APR Credit Cards. ]

When to Use a Credit Card Travel Portal

Booking travel with a credit card travel portal can make sense in some scenarios. For instance:

— You want to compare your travel options across multiple airlines or hotels in the portal.

— You have a travel credit available that can only be redeemed through the issuer’s travel portal.

— You have rewards you want to redeem on the portal, and booking this way offers a good redemption value.

— You want to take advantage of benefits, such as elite hotel perks that you can get when using a credit card travel portal.

— Your booking options on the portal are priced lower compared with other options.

— Booking on the portal earns elevated rewards, and the prices and benefits are comparable to those of other booking options.

“It makes sense if you want to take advantage of the credits but also to earn bonus points,” says Genter. “And sometimes, they have promotions such as hyper-targeted offers.”

More from U.S. News

Which Hotel Credit Cards Offer a Free Night?

Best Credit Cards for a Disney Vacation

Which Credit Cards Can Get You Airport Lounge Access?

Should You Use a Credit Card Travel Portal? originally appeared on usnews.com

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7 best travel agency software to boost revenue in 2024

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What is travel agency software?

What should you look for in software to manage your travel agency.

  • best software for travel agencies in 2024 

Your client's experience with your travel agency starts well before they set off on their trip. Instead, their journey begins the moment they go to your website to see what your agency has to offer. From there, communication, itinerary planning, payment options, and timely updates are all important components of the overall package that make up a great travel booking experience.

The best travel agency software helps you provide the service you need to foster strong relationships, retain clients, and drive revenue.

Read our list of the 7 best travel agency software tools in 2024 to transform your agency into a premier destination of its own.

Travel agency software covers any tools that can help your travel agency operate more efficiently, delight your customers, and find and book hotels, air travel, trains, and car rentals.

Some tools help book flights and hotels, while others are focused on marketing, client communication, or building a website that converts visitors.

The best travel agency software should help you streamline your workflows and give your clients the service they need. Here’s what to look out for when evaluating tools for your travel agency.

  • Travel options: Good booking software should give you access to a wide range of flights, hotels, car rentals, and tours.
  • Cost reduction: Travel is expensive. Good travel agency software ensures that you can get prices that are acceptable to your clients while leaving you with enough profit.
  • Customer experience: The best software for travel agencies gives your clients an excellent customer experience. Branded client portals are effective ways to centralize client communication and provide excellent transparency.
  • Efficiency: Travel arrangements require complex and often disparate workflows. Any travel agency software you choose should be able to streamline your workflows so your service is fast and efficient.

Now that we know what to look out for, let’s get into our list of our favorite tools to run your travel agency.

10 best software for travel agencies in 2024 

Here are our top picks for the best travel agency software available on the market today:

Alright, let’s take a look at what each tool does, how much it costs, and what real customers have to say about them.

1. TravelPerk

TravelPerk

  • Best for: Booking trips for your clients
  • Pricing: Starts at $99 per month, plus 3% of each booking

TravelPerk is an all-in-one tool for booking and managing everything your client needs for a trip. The tool gives travel agencies access to a wide range of flights, hotels, trains, and cars, so they can put together superb inventories at great prices. While it’s a great choice for travel agencies, it’s also a good option for large teams who need business travel management solutions.

The TravelPerk interface is clean and modern. It acts as a portal to an incredible travel inventory that is capable of meeting all your clients' needs. The search filters are solid and remove a lot of time-consuming tasks. The mobile app is another great feature that allows agents to work on the go.

Other interesting features of the app include carbon footprint tracking, which is a good tool for environmentally conscious clients. What’s more, if you have a lot of business travel clients, you can take advantage of VAT recovery and even integrate individual travel policies into the platform to track travel expenses.

Overall, TravelPerk saves you time on bookings while giving you access to a wide range of inventory. What’s not to like?

TravelPerk notable features

  • A centralized platform to help streamline the booking process
  • Access to a huge inventory of flights, hotels, and transport options
  • Carbon footprint tracking

TravelPerk reviews

Here is what real TravelPerk customers have to say about the solution.

  • G2: 4.6/5 ⭐
  • Capterra: 4.8/5 ⭐
  • GetApp:   4.7/5 ⭐

Copilot for creating client portals

  • Best for: Client management and communication
  • Pricing: Starts at $29 per month per user

Copilot is the platform service businesses are built on. It allows firms and agencies of all sizes to bring their entire tech stack under one roof. From communication, contracts, payments, intake forms, and more, Copilot is a one-stop shop for running a service business. And because running a travel agency is very customer-focused work, Copilot focuses mainly on the client experience and the customer-facing side of your business. The goal is to create such a great, personalized customer experience that your clients keep coming back to you to plan their trips.

Some Copilot features that work well for travel agencies include customizable intake forms so you can better understand your client’s travel needs. These forms help you collect pertinent information that you can easily transfer into an integrated CRM tool. What’s more, you can build beautiful branded client portals to centralize itinerary planning and other requirement discussions.

A client portal also offers secure file-sharing, which you can use for travel documents, visas, and information about flights, hotels, car rentals, and more. Having all these documents available on the cloud and in one centralized place is a huge benefit for your clients.

Another great Copilot feature that will help your travel agency is the in-built payment management. You can create invoices, subscriptions, and offer secure checkout — which means your clients have flexible and easy ways to pay for their travel.

Overall, Copilot is an indispensable tool for travel agencies who want to demonstrate their professionalism and trust by providing a user-friendly client portal that your customers will love.

Copilot notable features

  • Automated onboarding workflows that help you collect important client details and cut down on your admin work.
  • Integrated payment portals that offer clients different payment options, including subscription payments.
  • White-label client portals that centralize communications share important travel documents and keep everyone up to date about how travel plans are progressing.

Copilot reviews

Here is what real Copilot customers have to say about the solution:

  • G2: 4.8/5 ⭐
  • Capterra: 4.9/5 ⭐
  • Software Advice: 4.9/5 ⭐

3. WeTravel

WeTravel

  • Best for: Payments for group travel
  • Pricing: Starts at $79 per month, with custom plans for travel agents

WeTravel started out life as a platform to help simplify payments for group tour operators. However, it has expanded over the years and now it is used by travel agents to solve the complexity of group travel.

The big idea with WeTravel is that you can easily generate a slick, professional page for group trips. Your page means you can centralize everything you need for the trip and include photos, itinerary descriptions, and traveler information.

However, perhaps the best feature is the secure payment portal that solves the messy problem of taking payment from a wide array of travelers. Clients can pay by card or electronic transfers, and you can even offer payment plans.

WeTravel’s easy-to-use interface and superb drag-and-drop inventory creation are excellent features for small travel agencies who want to provide high-quality and polished customer experiences. Their processing fees are just 1%, which is very competitive.

You can also integrate WeTravel with marketing tools to help you capture leads and send out promotional materials for various trips. However, WeTravel might not work for very complex itineraries. Additionally, it’s mobile-friendliness does need a little work. But don’t let that put you off, because WeTravel is a great tool to have in your arsenal.

WeTravel notable features

Wetravel reviews.

Here is what real WeTravel customers have to say about the solution.

  • G2: 4.1/5 ⭐
  • GetApp:   4.8/5 ⭐

4. Avochato

Avochato

  • Best for: Text message notifications
  • Pricing: Starts at $19 per month, with custom plans for busier agencies

Keeping clients up to date on travel information is a big challenge these days. One of the best ways to ensure that clients have the information they need is by SMS because the technology has incredible open rates of around 98% .

Avochato is an SMS business communication platform. While it’s not solely focused on travel agencies, it’s used widely across the industry to provide the swift and personalized communication that clients treasure.

Conversational customer support is a big advantage in relationship businesses like travel. Avochato helps teams deal with booking inquiries, trip updates, promotional messages, and even gathering feedback. It’s very intuitive, and if you’re a growing agency, it’s more than capable of scaling with you.

However, WeTravel is not perfect. For starters, it’s very US-focused, which might not work for every travel agency. What’s more, it’s a little pricer than some other SMS solutions out there. Finally, while it does provide support for video and images via MMS, the communications might lack the immersion of a client portal or email communication. That said, it’s a great tool for communicating critical information that won’t get lost in your client’s inbox.

Avochato notable features

  • Shared team inbox that allows multiple agency staff to communicate with clients
  • Excellent integration with CRM tools
  • Broadcast or schedule SMS messages for announcements, reminders, offers, and trip details

Avochato reviews

Here is what real Avochato customers have to say about the solution.

  • G2: 4.4/5 ⭐
  • Capterra: 4.7/5 ⭐

BizAway travel booking software

  • Best for: Business travel bookings
  • Pricing: Starts at $4 per booking

BizAway launched in Stockholm, Sweden, almost a decade ago with the goal of streamlining the travel process for businesses and agencies. Since then, it has expanded internationally, but it is still primarily focused on the European market.

Some of the problems that BizAway solves include fragmented, time-consuming, and frustrating booking experiences across multiple platforms. It’s also adept at expense management and compliance with business travel policies, with a particular focus on approvals and policy control.

While BizAway is the best tool for European travel, that’s not to say that it won’t work for different regions. Indeed, they have a huge inventory for worldwide travel thanks to widespread access to various travel suppliers.

The booking interface is gorgeous and makes it simple to find and secure hotels, car rentals, trains, and more from inside the platform. It also integrates well with CRM, HR, and accounting software, making it a good choice for both travel agencies and corporations.

Overall, BizAway makes our list of the best travel agency software because it can save you money on travel packages. For travel agencies, any tool that helps you achieve better margins is worth having in your software stack. Sure, it might lack some of the deep customization options of its competitors, but make no mistake, this is a solid solution that makes travel and booking management far easier.

BizAway notable features

  • Superb user interface booking system
  • Excellent and in-depth reporting tools
  • Superb expense management and policy control tools for corporate travel clients

BizAway reviews

Here is what real BizAway customers have to say about the solution:

  • Software Advice: 4.7/5 ⭐
  • GetApp: 4.7/5 ⭐

Webflow for agencies

  • Best for: Building a travel agency website
  • Pricing: Starts at $14 per month, but busy agencies will need higher-tier plans

Webflow is a visual website building site with CMS and hosting capabilities. It allows businesses of every type to build professional-looking custom websites that are ready for the modern age.

While there are many solid template-based website builders out there, Webflow is a winning choice for travel agencies for a number of reasons. Firstly, travel marketing is heavily reliant on images. Webflow helps you sell experiences because it handles visuals superbly. Additionally, it offers great responsive design, which is essential for clients who browse for trips via mobile. Finally, Webflow integrates well with third-party custom booking systems.

Weflow is flexible enough to suit a wide variety of travel agencies, from small operators to luxury travel websites. It’s very easy to build a site that will totally wow your clients without knowing any code. This feature will save you money on maintenance and getting your site built. When you add in Webflow’s hosting, these advantages alone are enough to justify its monthly price.

Another thing to consider is that Webflow builds fast-loading websites. Website loading speed is important to clients, and it’s also an SEO ranking factor. But that’s not the only way that Webflow will help with SEO. It also comes with SEO tools that help you structure your site so that you maximize visibility and promote organic site visits.

Overall, Webflow is a powerful web design tool that lets you build superb, visually appealing websites. A well-designed, secure, and fast-loading website is the first step on the path towards building trust and credibility, which are essential in the travel industry.

Webflow notable features

  • Customizable design that helps you create a unique and visually striking website without coding
  • Build in CMS to manage your destinations, tours, packages, blog content, and more
  • Easy integration with booking and payment tools

Webflow reviews

Here is what real Webflow customers have to say about the solution.

  • Capterra: 4.6/5 ⭐
  • GetApp:   4.6/5 ⭐

Front

  • Best for: Customer operations
  • Pricing: Starts at $59 per month

Since Front was launched in 2013, it has become widely adopted by travel agencies and other businesses as a way to enhance collaboration and customer communication via shared email inboxes.

Travel planning involves a lot of communication with hotels, car rentals, tour operators, trains and buses, and so on. Front helps you centralize these communications so that nothing is missed or forgotten.

The front really comes into its own for travel agencies, thanks to a few core features. Firstly, it’s a great way to collaborate on travel inventories because members can leave notes, assign tasks, and trash out the finer details, all in one place. What’s more, the booking tools are great for group planning.

If you’re a very small travel agency, some of the features might feel excessive. However, for busy teams, you can customize Front around your workflows, benefit from data & analytics tools, and get real-time visibility into which tasks your agents are handling, and which have fallen through the cracks.

Overall, Front ensures that your back office is streamlined, efficient, and on top of everything.

Front notable features

  • Shared inboxes are a great way to provide much-needed visibility and oversight into disparate travel communications
  • Superb templates for providing travel updates
  • Excellent integration with CRM and booking tools

Front reviews

Here is what real BizAway customers have to say about the solution.

  • G2: 4.7/5 ⭐
  • GetApp: 4.6/5 ⭐

The best travel agency software makes life easy for you and your clients. Whether it’s by giving you access to a wider range of hotels and flights, ensuring your communication is timely, and that you can offer flexible ways for your client to pay.

Copilot’s super client portals help you streamline your onboarding, client communication, progress, document sharing, and payments. Sign up for a free Copilot trial today and take a holiday away from disorganized communication, inefficiency, and slow payments.

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online tour agency

Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument sells tunnel tour tickets

C LEVELAND, Ohio — The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument on Public Square is hosting its popular Tunnel Tours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., April 27-28. Online ticket sales begin at 10 a.m., April 11, on the Monument’s website . A limited number of tickets are available in advance; standby tickets will be available on tour days. Tickets are $5.

The Monument is dedicated to the 9,000 people from Cuyahoga County who served the Union in the American Civil War. Designed by Cleveland native Levi T. Scofield, it has been open since 1894. A concentric system of tunnels and walls beneath the Monument serve as its foundation.

Scofield, interestingly, was a captain in the Civil War. He went on to design several public buildings and monuments. In addition to the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, his projects include the historic Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield and the Schofield Building — now the Kimpton Schoefield Hotel — in downtown Cleveland.

The 30-minute tours include a guided walk-through of the tunnels with additional guest speakers in the Memorial Room. The Memorial Room is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. year-round.

Ticket sales and donations during the event will support Monument programming.

Send dining, drinking and culture story ideas to Paris Wolfe at [email protected] . Review her previous stories here. Follow Paris Wolfe on Instagram @pariswolfe.

©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit cleveland.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A view of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Cleveland's Public Square.

Pinkline - Get a Ride 4+

Mykonos, athens, greece, n.g.k. single-member private company, designed for iphone, iphone screenshots, description.

Pinkline app is a taxi online service in Mykonos, Greece and Athens. You can book a taxi online in a few clicks. Pinkline is an app that makes it simple to schedule a transfer ride. Trusted by travel agencies, brokers, hotels and organized groups who appreciate convenient and safety. Why use the Pinkline app to book a ride in Mykonos? 1. We provide the simplest route possible. 2. Easy travel management: view and manage users, bookings and invoices in one place. 3. It's easy and quick to use our app and web service. 4. Always accessible and on time 5. 24/7 support 6. Luxury at affordable prices Pinkline app in Mykonos is a safe and reliable taxi service that makes your transportation a unique experience. How does it work? 1. Download the Pinkline App and sign in 2. Pinkline App automatically finds your location to provide point to point service. 3. The nearest available driver is paired with each request. 4. When you are matched with a driver, you’ll see their name, licence plate number and photo – so you know who of our certified drivers is picking you up ahead of time. 5. Confirm the ride and your driver is on the way 6. You may view your ETA and trip details on your screen as soon as your driver arrives to pick you up. You may immediately view the entire trip cost and track the journey in real time. Support Team Our support team is always ready to respond to any questions you may have and guide you through out the trip A member of our team is available 24/7 to address any urgent concern that may arise. Fleet: We offer luxurious, budget-friendly, and convenient taxi transportation services. - Economy car - SUV - Minivan - Van - Minibus Popular Services: - Airport/Port Pick up - Point to Point - Tours - Chauffeur Services

App Privacy

The developer, N.G.K. SINGLE-MEMBER PRIVATE COMPANY , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

Data Used to Track You

The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:

  • Identifiers
  • Diagnostics

Data Linked to You

The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:

  • Financial Info
  • Contact Info
  • User Content

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Information

English, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Bulgarian, Cambodian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Kinyarwanda, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Mongolian, Norwegian Bokmål, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Simplified Chinese, Singhalese, Slovak, Somali, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese

  • Developer Website
  • App Support
  • Privacy Policy

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  30. ‎Pinkline

    Pinkline app is a taxi online service in Mykonos, Greece and Athens. You can book a taxi online in a few clicks. Pinkline is an app that makes it simple to schedule a transfer ride. Trusted by travel agencies, brokers, hotels and organized groups who appreciate convenient and safety.