I’ve listed my top six, in no particular order. The important thing is to know what you’re looking for. Some of the more well-known or better advertised sites like travelocity or expedia are good if you’re looking for package deals and name brand places. But, if you’re looking for good deals and exotic place try these sites.
Skyscanner ( Skyscanner.com)
This is my go to site. It is really easy to use and checks discount airlines (like ryanair) which other site often don’t. It also make flexible suggestions, for instance if you can leave from a different airport or on a different day there may be a discount. It also offers standard features like searching by time or airline. Most importantly its easy to read so you wont be confused by ads or the wrong information. Something to keep in mind, skyscanner like many sites, doesn’t book the trip for but redirects you to another site where the deal is listed but, it doesn’t charge a fee to do this.
Momondo (Momondo.com)
This site is really easy to use and has a great lay out! The flights you’ve searched for appear on top. Scroll down and the first thing it displays is a calendar of the cheapest days to travel, ideal for flexible travellers looking for the best deal. Under that it will show the flight options you searched for which can be sorted by website, where you can buy the best ticket details which will show you all options for buying that ticket at a certain price and not website they come from and timetable which can allow you be more specific about when you want to leave. Detail and website can also be sorted by price, departure or return time allowing you to look at the most precise search results
Rail Europe (raileurop.com)
An essential site for those inter-railing around Europe. There are so many national railway companies it can be difficult to plan trips between countries and especially when you need to cross a country. This site looks at all the different rail companies and gives you the option to look at prices and times
Bravo fly (bravofly.com)
With simple colour coding Bravo fly tells you which days are cheapest to fly on. The website also offers convenient filters of the side of the page, for the amount up to which you wish to pay, the amount of flights you will be taking (one or return), flight time and airline. Another useful feature of this website is that when you can connect one outgoing flight to a different return flight. The website will suggest a cheapest option but unlike other websites which allow you only to book flights in the pairs they suggest Bravo Fly allows you to mix and match outgoing and incoming flights to find the ones which best suit your trip.
Yapta (yapta.com)
If you’re determined to find the best deal than website is a great go to. It is not a booking agent but Yapta allows you track flight prices. If you know well before hand when and where you want to travel to you can follow ticket prices sent to your email. After you’ve booked a flight Yapta allows you to track that flight to find out if the prices drop and then helps you to claim a refund if it is available.
Make my trip (makemytrip.com)
Best if you’re in India. What is really great about this site is you can search more the just flights, also trains and buses and book them directly from the site. It also has a reasonable hotel search which many airline search engines lack. If you’re in the US when you use the site stick to using it to find flights to India. But I certainly hope more travel search engines become more multi-faceted so all your travel requirements can be found in one place.