Budget Travel

Rick Steves is perhaps the foremost expert on budget travel in the United States, particularly for travel within Europe. Author of more than 30 books, and seemingly everywhere in the media promoting his responsible and practical form of budget travel, Rick was Transitions Abroad magazine's first columnist and has his own "Back Door Travel" philosophy.

The Budget Travel magazine site is a good one, with great coverage of the entire world of travel. Find a daily newsletter, archives of the printed magazine, tips, Q&As and editorials, message boards, live talks, and priceless, time-sensitive tips on bargain trips for the months ahead. And it's free!

The New York Times

Travelzoo gathers Internet deals on flights, car rentals, vacation packages, cruises, and hotels from their respective sites, plus travel agents and individual airlines. 

SmarterTravel.com is another great site that allows you to compare prices, scout for new bargains, and read articles about saving money while traveling. 

SideStep searches over 600 airlines for you at the click of a button. You can also look for deals on hotels, cars, and vacation packages. It doesn't allow you to choose flexible dates like some other travel search engines, but it comes up with consistently reliable fares. And there are no booking fees-you go to the site the fares came from.

Kayak gets great reviews because it throws a wide net; it searches at least 120 different travel sites to come up with the best fares and hotel deals, so you'll be sure not to miss a potential bargain. And no booking fees!

Expedia is a powerful search engine that allows you to search for airfare, hotels, cars, and package deals. Download their "Fare Alert" tool to learn about the latest low fares, instantly. 

Orbitz is a leading search engine for airfare and hotel deals. You can search for cruises and rail as well. Last-minute sales save you 30 percent or more. 

Travelocity lets you search for airfare, hotels, cars, and vacation packages. It also allows you to put in flexible dates of travel when searching for flights so you can easily see the cheapest time to travel. 

Hotels.com , despite its name, is not just for hotels. Flights, condos, and vacation packages are also available, not to mention great deals on hotels at more than 50 percent off the hotel Web site prices. Combine hotel and air in your search for extra savings.

CheapTickets covers hotels, airfare, and package deals. You can search for cruises and rail as well. Visit the "Cheap of the Week" tab for special hotel, flight, car, and cruise deals.

Farecast.com predicts whether fares on most domestic routes will go up or down. Enter your itinerary and the site will say if you should buy your ticket now, or if an even better fare might be on the way. The site updates its fares shortly after 10 AM, 12:30 PM and 3 PM Eastern Standard Time.

Airfarewatchdog.com posts incredible airfare bargains faster than most other sites. Every once in awhile, airlines will offer unbelievably low fares on selected flights or itineraries. These amazing fares (like $400 roundtrip airfare from Los Angeles to New Zealand) are very unpredictable, and you need to book them right away or they will be gone in a flash!  

Mobissimo is one of the top search engines for international travel, and it's an especially good place to begin if you're looking for flights that don't originate in the United States. You can also find airfare and hotel deals, as well as travel tips.

EuroCheapo 's savvy correspondents personally check out a huge number of budget properties like hostels, pensions, and cheap hotels, and report back on those that go beyond the bare minimum. The properties included here have more than simply a bed, with an emphasis on local color, a welcoming atmosphere, and cleanliness. You'll also find cool photo galleries, property comparisons by rates and neighborhoods, online booking, city guides, and maps. 

ebookers is Europe's largest online seller of cheap flights and vacations. Search for great deals on vacation packages any time of the year. 

Lupus Travel is a 20-year-old compendium of Britain's cheapest airfare consolidators. The site offers great fares if you use London as a stopover point; you will probably pay less than flying directly from home.

Cheapflights is Lupus Travel's rival, and goes even further by providing examples of sample fares.

Priceline is known for getting customers fabulous deals on luxury hotels, and it lives up to the reputation. The catch is that when you bid, you don't know the actual hotel you're bidding on until after you've booked. You know the location, prices, hotel class, and dates, but that's it. It works, though: most reviews say that $100 can get you a four-star hotel. But be careful-you can't get your money back if you cancel, and you might be in a hotel a little farther away from the main attractions. But if you want to save a lot of money, definitely give it a shot.

BiddingForTravel has message boards you can check that allow you to see what Priceline bidders recently paid for their hotels. You can also see which bids didn't get a bite. The site really helps you get the lowest possible bid on Priceline, so visit this site before you head over to Priceline.  

BedandBreakfast.com allows you to search for bed and breakfast accommodations at deeply discounted rates. If you sign up for the newsletter, every Wednesday you'll receive a list of B&Bs offering discounts of typically 20 percent or more off regular rates for the upcoming weekend in the city, state, or region you want to visit.

Luxury Link offers discounted package stays using online auctions. However, you must be flexible about your travel dates: you pick the dates from a limited range only after you pay.

Southwest allows you to check for cheap flights on both Southwest and its partner line, ATA. Tickets on Southwest are purchased one leg at a time, and there are no seat assignments. You are assigned to a boarding group (A, B, or C) based on when you check in. 

AirTran Airways is basically the Southwest of the Southeast. Business class is incredibly cheap, and you can upgrade to Business class for $40-$80 when you check in if seats are available.

JetBlue has great deals all over the United States on one-way or roundtrip flights.  As an added bonus, all of their planes have personal television screens behind every seat. 

Ryanair is Europe's airline for crazy-cheap deals (example: London to Hungary for $20). You can also book hotels and hostels and rent cars on the site.

Virgin Blue is Australia's answer to cheap airfare. For ultra-low fares and great customer service, it's hard to beat fares like US$49 Sydney to Melbourne.

easyJet is one of Europe's best no-frills airlines. Book flights from London to key cities in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Switzerland, Holland, and Greece. The site also has a good selection of flights to Italy, Copenhagen, and Prague.

Brussels Airlines was born of Virgin Express and SN Brussels Airlines. The no-frills airline flies from its Brussels hub to major European destinations like Athens, Rome, and Stockholm. One-way fares start around $60 (sales can drop prices to as low as $38).

Icelandair has been a favorite of budget travelers since 1953. Sign up for its "Lucky Fares" and reach London from the East Coast for $320 in spring or fall-with a free stop in Reykjavík.

SeatGuru allows you to pick the best seat on the plane. You can actually read reviews of each seat on every flight to find out if your seat has reduced legroom or is near the bathroom.

Contiki is one of the most well-known budget tour operators in the industry. They market their tours for 18- to 35-year-olds, and offer them in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.

Haggis Adventures is a popular tour company that has been around since 1993. It specializes in tours of England, Scotland, and Wales, with tours marketed toward the younger set. 

Topdeck offers tours to Europe, Egypt, and Africa. There's a forum on the Web site where you can make new traveling friends and read advice and suggestions. 

EF College Break is denitely aimed toward college kids. This company offers tours all over Europe, Asia, Central and South America, Australia, and New Zealand, and even has a "Round the World" in 30 days option.

Friendly Planet is a small, wholesale tour company that's been around since 1981. They offer tours everywhere in the world except the United States, and often stay in top-rated hotels at budget prices. Tours include round-trip airfare, accommodations in superior to deluxe hotels, breakfast and some dinners, attraction admissions, transportation during the tour, and guide services.

Collette Vacations has been around since 1918, and offers affordable tours, learning vacations, and cruises to all seven continents. Check out their "Travel Deal of the Week" to find great discounts on desirable locations.

Adventure Center offers more than 2,000 adventure tours at delightfully low prices. Choose from African safaris, biking trips, hiking adventures, or Antarctic expeditions. Check out "Adventure Travel Deals" for extra savings on select adventures all over the world.

Busabout is a great European-based company that offers "Hop on, Hop off" style transportation. You get on the bus in your city of choice, usually at a hostel, and you get taken to the next hostel on the loop. The tour guides can book your accommodation for you right on the bus, and they'll give you an introduction to the city and tell you what you can see and do. It's kind of a hybrid between a tour operator and backpacking guide.

Backpack Europe has great backpacking and hostelling information, as well as tips and links for student and budget travel in Europe.

The Backpacker is a very user-friendly budget travel guide with travelogues, travel stories, travel information, and reviews of budget hotels and hostels.

Let's Go is a leading publisher of budget travel guidebooks for young travelers, and offers a lot of budget travel tips, information, and forums on its Web site.

BUG (short for "The Backpackers' Ultimate Guide") is a great site completely focused on all things budget travel. Read hostel reviews or other travelers' journals for the inside scoop on a destination.

Amtrak is your one-stop source for rail information and tickets in the United States. Yes, America does have a working train system! Check out the "Hot Deals" section for sales. Students can save 15 percent.

Rail Europe is the quickest source for rail passes and train-related travel savings throughout Europe. Find great deals on items like the London Travel Card or the Swiss Pass.

The European Railway Server is mainly focused on the history of Europe's national rail companies, but if you click on "Links" near the top of the page you'll find links to timetables and maps for rail systems in more than a dozen countries. The trick is, most of the information is in each country's native language, but most of it is intuitive.