Top 10 online travel agencies

A recent survey made by JD Power made a ranking of the best travel booking websites.

On a scale of 1000, the following are the most preferred online hotel reservation sites:

1. Booking.com, with 816 points

2. Hotwire.com, with 813 points

3. Priceline.com, with 808 points

4. Orbitz.com, with 799 points

5. Hotels.com, with 798 points

6. Expedia, with 795 points

7. Travelocity / lastminute.com, with 793 points

8. CheapOair.com, with 785 points

9. CheapTickets.com, with 785 points

10. Travel.yahoo.com, with 777 points.

More details are available in an article from the USA Today magazine.

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Hotel review - Gold Inn Hotel Dresdner Heide, Dresden, Saxony, Germany

A very good quality / price ratio for staying in Dresden.

Comfortable, clean room, plenty of parking places, good breakfast, free Wi-Fi.

It's about 7 km from the city center, but there is a tram stop nearby that goes straight to the center.

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10£ hotel discount with voucher code from TopRooms until 7 December 2012

A 10 GBP hotel promo code is available at TopRooms, an online travel agency specialised in the British hotel market, with over 5 000 properties in the UK.

This pre-holiday hotel sale is valid for purchases of minimum 160£ made until 7 December 2012 (that means around 6% discount).

Simply follow this link to their website to obtain the code and open the reservations website.

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Christmas packages from Radisson Blu

Radisson Blu has prepared several great Christmas holiday offers. To see more details, follow the link on the banner below.

Several examples:

-> 5 night accomodation in Radisson Blu Resort Schloss Fleesensee, Germany including:
     * buffet breakfast
     * buffet dinner on 23 December
     * festive dinner on Christmas Eve
     * exclusive dinner on the first Christmas Day
     * traditional Christmas programs

-> Radisson Blu Polar Hotel Spitsbergen, Norway including:

     * buffet breakfast
     * three course dinner in the night of arrival
     * champagne and fresh fruit in the room, as a welcome gift
     * upgrade to Superior Room


Other deals for the holiday period available on their specific offers page (see banner above).

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Expedia 72 hour sale in Paris, London, Milan and New York

The 72 hours sale from Expedia is really appealing this week: great hotel deals in major cities.

To take advantage of the sale, follow the link to the dedicated Expedia page.

An additional 10% discount is applied to the hotels where it is written "Hotel promotion": in the payment window, just above the credit card information, type in the hotel voucher code UK48SAVE10 in the field "Enter a coupon or promotion code".

We took some examples:

- in Paris, two nights over the week-end 21-23 December at the Best Western Anjou Lafayette*** have a total price of 123 GBP (152 euro), while on booking the same room costs 232 euro (50% more);

- the Radisson Blu Hotel at Disneyland Paris**** for 3 nights over the Christmas period, for a family room (2 adults and 2 children) has a total price of 575 euro (breakfast included), while on booking the price is 656 euro (about 15% more). Even better, Expedia also offers a free dinner for the happy family;

- Starhotels Ritz**** in Milan, Italy costs 175 euro (breakfast included) for 2 nights over the week-end 21-23 December. The same room is priced at 202 euro by booking (15% more);

- Lancaster London**** costs 163 euro for 2 nights over the same week-end, while booking sells the same room at a total of 297 euro (80% more);

-The New Yorker Hotel**** costs 384 euro for the same period, while booking shows it at 426 euro (10% more).

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8% hotel voucher code from TripAlertz until 30 November

Tripalertz is an American based company offering a mix between the hotel "private sales" and the Groupon type of deals. More info can be found in an USA Today article.

For a brief period until 30 November 2012, in addition to their already discounted rates, they offer a 8% hotel discount code.

Follow the link to their website from the banner below:

Choose the hotel / resort and the period of you choice and, in the payment window, below the credit card in formation, type in the code 8OFFNOV2012 and push the button Apply (see print-screen below):

We tested this hotel coupon code for a 3 night stay over the first week-end in January 2013, at the Executive Inn Whistler. TripAlertz shows a final price of 586$ (after a 45$ discount - see the print-screen above), while booking shows a final price of 773$ - so there's almost a 200$ saving.

However, pay attention when you look for hotels on Tripalertz: while they show good hotel deals on some hotels, for others you may find better rates at your usual booking websites.

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Hotel review - Hotel Udvarhaz, Kecskemet, Hungary

The room was clean, but it could use a referesh.

The breakfast was good.

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10% hotel discount code from lastminute.com for hotel reservations made today, 24 November

A 10% promo code is available at lastminute for all hotel bookings made today, 24 November 2012.

Simply go to their website, proceed to the reservation as usual, and in the payment window simply type in the code SATURDAY10 in the field "Promo code?" (see print screen below):

This coupon should be a good post-Black Friday deal, considering that the offers from the online travel agencies were really scarce this year.

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10% hotel discount code from Expedia valid until 29 November 2012

A 10% hotel voucher code is available at Expedia for all reservations made until November 29, 2012, with hotel stays until May 22, 2013.

The discount is applicable to the Expedia rates ("Offre Expedia" in the French version), excluding taxes and fees.

To take advantage of the deal, follow this link to their website, proceed to the reservation as usual, and in the payment window simply type in the code HIVER12 the field for promotion code (see print screen below):

The discount is applicable only on the French version of Expedia, so it is important to follow this link to benefit from the discount (do not go to Expedia.com, because it will not work). If you do not understand French, either use an automatic translator (like Google Chrome has, or open the English and French versions at the same time and make the reservation in parallel, but make the final selection and payment in the French version, to be able to use the hotel promo code).

Full terms and conditions are available here.

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2012 Black Friday hotel sale from BookIt.com

From now until Friday at mid-night, take advantage of great travel deals in North America from BookIt part of the the Black Friday travel promotion.

Simply follow the link from the banner below to go to the offer page:

There are many hotels where you get rates approximately 20% lower than at booking.com. Several examples for 2 nights over the week-end 21-23 December:

- W New York has a total price of 365$ from BookIt and 526$ from booking; (more than 30% saving)

- Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel has a total price of 443$ from BookIt, as compared to 579$ from booking (almost 25% saving);

- Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta has a total price of 200$ from BookIt as opposed to 252$ from booking (20% saving);

- Stratosphere Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas has a total price of 90$ from BookIt and 108$ from booking.com (more than 20% saving).

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10% hotel discount codes from HotelPronto until 31 December 2012

HotelPronto offers the two promo codes for 10% discount on all reservations made until 31 December 2012 (valid for stays until the end of 2013).


Proceed to the reservation as usual, then, on top of the payment window, look for the "Promotion code" section and type in the promo code (see print-screen below):

We tested the validity of the hotel coupon code with an example (see print-screen above): the Best Western Palm Hotel London is priced at 142 euro for 2 nights over the week-end 21 - 23 December 2012. Then, with the 10% hotel voucher you save 14 euro with HotelPronto and the final price is 128 euro.The same room over the same period is shown at 155 euro on booking.

To obtain the codes follow this link to open their website and see the codes.

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15% hotel discount codes from CheapTickets (part of Orbitz group)

A 15% hotel promo code is available at CheapTickets for all hotel reservations made until November 26, 2012 (stays until January 5, 2013).

Follow the link on the banner below to take advantage of the deal and obtain the voucher code:

To obtain the discount, you can either type in the code in the initial search page, in the field "I have a promotion code" and the code will be automatically applied in the payment page, or type in the code in the payment page, in the field "Promotion code", just above the credit card information.

We tested the deal with the Rica Hotel Gamla Stan Stockholm in Sweden, where the hotel promo code gives a discount of 30 USD to arrive at a final price of 194 USD for a 2 night stay over the week-end 21-23 December (breakfast included). The same room costs 440 USD on booking.

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Hotel review - NH Hotel, Bucharest, Romania

Nice room and bathroom.

Good breakfast.

Free parking and free wireless internet.

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Thanksgiving sale from EasyClickTravel - 30$ hotel voucher code

A 30$ hotel discount code is available at EasyClickTravel, one of our preferred online travel agencies .

This Thanksgiving hotel sale is valid for purchases of minimum 300 USD made until 26 November 2012 (that means a 10% discount).

Simply follow the link to their website from the banner below to obtain the link and start the search:

Then at the bottom of the Traveler information page, in the field Promo Code, type in the code you obtain above:

As shown in the print-screen above: the Swissotel Zurich, Switzerland, for a 2-night stay in a double room, breakfast included, over the week-end 7-9 December 2012, has a total price of 343 USD, which after the 30$ discount, results in a total price to pay of 313 USD. For comparison, the same room is shown at 416 USD by booking.com.

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Discover Turkey with special offer from Hilton

Hilton has a special offer until 31 December 2012: Colors of Turkey, by which you get a bunch of advantages:
- free breakfast;
- half-a-day city tour;
- late checkout during week-end;
- kids stay and eat for free.

A minimum of a 2 night stay is required.

There are 19 properties all around Turkey (Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa, Cappadocia, etc.) which participate in the offer - see full list on their on their website.

For full terms and conditions, follow this link to the offer on Hilton.com.

We tested the deal for the week-end 7-9 December 2012, at Hilton Istanbul, where the total rate is 575 euro ( 1 317 Turkish Lira) - see print-screen below:

The room with breakfast only (without the other deals included in the package) is 640 euro (1 460 Turkish Lira) on booking.com.

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Hotel voucher code for 15% discount from Orbitz until 31 December

A 15% hotel promo code is available at Orbitz for all hotel reservations made until December 31, 2012 (stays until April 15, 2013).

Follow the link on the banner below to take advantage of the deal and obtain the discount code:

To obtain the discount, you can either type in the code in the initial search page, in the field "I have a promotion code" and the code will be automatically applied in the payment page, or type in the code in the payment page, in the field "Promotion code", just above the credit card information.

We tested the deal with the NH Luxembourg, where the code gives a discount of 24 USD to arrive at a final price of 140 USD for a 2 night stay over the week-end 23-25 November. The same room costs 164 USD on booking (exactly 15% more, being the discount offered by Orbitz).

That's one of the highest discounts we've seen lately, so make sure you take advantage of it.

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10% promo code from Hotels.com (Expedia sister website) for hotel bookings until 22 November 2012

A hotel discount code for 10% is available for all hotel reservations made through the international website of Hotels.com until November 22, 2012 (stays until April 30, 2013).

Follow the link on the banner below to take advantage of the deal:

Once the website opened, make sure you select the United States version (the stars and stripes flag from the top drop-down list, see print-screen below):

Proceed to the reservation as usual, then, in the payment window, look for the "Apply a discount code" caption, below the total price, on the right side of the screen and type in the code OCTOBERUS10 and push the button "Apply" (see print-screen below):

We tested the validity of the coupon with an example: the 55 Montparnasse Hotel in Paris, France is priced at 176 euro for 2 nights over the week-end 12 - 14 January 2013. Then, with the 10% hotel voucher you save 18 euro with Hotels.com and the final price is 158 euro (see print-screen below):

The same room over the same period is shown at 176 euro on ebookers.

You still have one week to take advantage of this hotel offer.

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New hotel deals from HRS in Brussels, Hamburg and Basel

The hotel daily deals from HRS show again hotels with an attractive discount (at least 50%) for a limited time only.

The UK, the French, Italian and the German website show these great hotel deals in Europe.

The link to the German website takes you directly to the deals page. For the French, Italian and UK versions, go to their homepages (see links above) and on top of the pages you will see the "Deal of the day" / "Deal du jour" / "HRS Deals" messages - just click there and you will be taken to the deals page.

- NH Hotel du Grand Sablon**** in Brussles, Belgium, at a rate of 44 euro per night for a double room. As an example, 2 nights over the week-end 21 - 23 December cost 88 euro at HRS, while booking shows a price of 196 euro for the same room (more than double). You have until 17 November to book stays until 27 January 2013;

- Hotel Victoria**** in Basel, Switzerland, at a rate of 64 euro per night for a double room. We took as an example 3 nights over the passsage between years (30 December - 2 January), for a total price of 192 euro from HRS, while booking shows a price of 386 euro for the same room (a double price). You have until 19 November to book stays until 31 January 2013;

- NH Hotel Norge**** in Hamburg, Germany, at a rate of 57 euro per night for a double room (breakfast included). As an example, 2 nights over the week-end 21 - 23 December cost 115 euro from HRS, while booking shows a price of 172 euro for the same room (50% more). You have until 18 November to book stays until 28 January 2013.

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8% hotel discount code from Hotelopia (part of TUI group) until 31 December 2012

An voucher for a 8% discount on hotel bookings made through Hotelopia until December 31, 2012. Hotelopia is a worldwide online travel agency part of the TUI Group.

Go to Hotelopia, proceed to the reservation as usual, and in the payment window type in the promo code in the field "Discount code":

We tested the validity of the coupon with an example: the Novotel Paris Orly Rungis is priced at 163 euro for 2 nights over the week-end 21 - 23 December, breakfast included. Then, with the 8% discount code you save 13 euro with Hotelopia and the final price is 150 euro:

The  same room over the same period is shown at 190 euro (breakfast included) on booking.

Follow this link to obtain the code and go to their website.

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5% voucher code from Zuji (part of Travelocity / Lastminute group)

A 5% discount code is available at Zuji for all hotel bookings made until 30 November 2012.

Just follow the link to their website on the banner below to get the code and see full terms and conditions:

The code is valid only on the Hong Kong website which is linked with the banner above (however, there's no issue, as the site in in English and the currency can be easily converted to USD or EUR with tools such as oanda.com)

Do not forget to type in the code HKEarlybirdNOV12 in the "Promo code" field on the last page of the booking process.

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5% discount code from Expedia for all hotel bookings made until 21 November

A 5% voucher is available from Expedia for hotel stays until 30 April 2013 (reservations made until 21 November 2012).

The code is available only at a special website created by Expedia for the AARP organisation (http://www.aarp.org/). Full terms and conditions for using the code are available on the Expedia website.

Thus, simply go to http://www.expedia-aarp.com/ and proceed to the reservation as you do usually on the regular Expedia website.

Then, in the "Rate details" window, look for the "Coupons" field and type in the code HOTEL5. The discount will be immediately applied (see print-screen below):

You still have one week to take advantage of the deal.

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20 USD hotel voucher from Zuji (part of Travelocity / Lastminute.com group)

Zuji has a good offer valid until 31 March 2013: book a flight with MasterCard and receive a 25 Singapore Dollar voucher for hotel bookings (that should be approximate 20 USD or 16 EUR).

Click on the banner below to see more details on their website:

Considering the upcoming winter holidays, that should be a good travel deal to take advantage of.

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5% discount code from DHR for all hotel reservations made until 19 November

A 5% voucher code is available at DHR for all hotel bookings made until 19 November 2012, with stays until 31 December 2012 and a minimum purchase of 400 USD.


Simply go to their website, proceed to the reservation as usual, and in the payment window type in the code SNPNSJ60 in the field "Promotion code", above the total price information (see print screen below):

We tested the validity of the coupon with an example: La Perouse Hotel in Nice, France is priced at 433 USD for 3 nights from 6 December to 9 December 2012, breakfast included. Then, with the 5% discount code you save 22 USD with DHR, and the final price is 411 USD. The  same room over the same period is shown at 615 USD (when you add breakfast) on booking.

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Hotel deals for the Bon Jovi concert in Vienna, Austria, 17 May 2013

The 2013 "Because We Can" tour of Bon Jovi, will stop also in Austria, in Vienna, at Trabrennbahn Krieau, on Friday, 17 May 2013.

We searched for the best hotel deals in Wien, for that night, for a double room, breakfast included (to recover after an intense show the previous night). We looked for comfortable hotels close to the venue, so that you can return to the hotel without much headache:

- Hotel Praterstern*, at 76 euro from LateRooms;

- Hotel Cristall***, at 85 euro from Booking;

- Park Inn by Radisson Uno City Vienna****, at 89 euro from Booking;

- Hotel Urania**, at 90 euro from HRS;

- Gartenhotel Gabriel City***, at 95 euro from Booking;

- Ibis Wien Messe***, at 101 euro from Booking;

- Austria Trend Hotel Doppio****, at 102 euro from HotelClub;

- Suite Novotel Wien Messe***, at 104 euro from GetARoom;

- Hotel Adlon***, at 105 euro from Booking;

- Hotel Kunsthof***, at 107 euro from Booking;

- Austria Trend Hotel Messe***, at 109 euro from Olotels;

- Hotel Vienna****, at 114 euro from LateRooms;

- Austria Trend Hotel Lassalle****, at 114 euro from Olotels;

- Amedia Hotel Wien****, at 114 euro from Reiseexperten;

- Hotel Wilhelmshof****, at 115 euro from Booking;

- Austria Classic Hotel Wien***, at 115 euro from Olotels; 

- NH Danube City****, at 115 euro from Booking;

- Hotel Capri Wien***, at 117 euro from LogiTravel; 

- Mercure Grand Hotel Biedermeier Wien****, at 124 euro from Booking;

- Adagio Wien Zentrum***, at 125 euro from Booking;

- Novotel Wien City****, at 126 euro from Booking;

- Hotel Mercure Wien City****, at 130 euro from HotelClub;

- Imperial Riding School Renaissance Vienna Hotel****, at 133 euro from Hotels;

- Best Western Hotel Pension Arenberg****, at 133 euro from Booking;

- Hotel Nestroy Wien****, at 136 euro from Reiseexperten; 

- Vienna Sporthotel****, at 139 euro from Booking;

- Hilton Vienna Danube****, at 139 euro from LateRooms;

- Hotel Imlauer Wien****, at 142 euro from Reiseexperten; 

- Hotel City Central****, at 149 euro from Booking;

- Courtyard by Marriott Wien Messe****, at 155 euro from Reiseexperten;

- Hotel Eurostars Embassy****, at 178 euro from Booking;

- Hilton Vienna Am Stadtpark*****, at 179 euro from Hotels;

- InterContinental Wien*****, at 211 euro from Booking;

- Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom*****, at 279 euro from Olotels; 


You may purchase the tickets at viagogo.

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Hotel review - Hotel Catalonia, Brussels, Belgium

The room was basic.

Free wirelesses internet.

The late check-out service costs.

Decent breakfast.

Overall,it could be a choice given its quality / price ratio.

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30$ discount with voucher code from Last Minute Travel until 26 November 2012

A 30$ discount with promo code is available at LastMinuteTravel, one of the online travel agencies with the best rates worldwide.

This Thanksgiving hotel sale is valid for purchases of minimum 300 USD made until 26 November 2012 (that means a 10% discount).

Simply go to their website, proceed to the reservation and, at the bottom of the Traveler information page, in the field Promo Code, type in the code THANKS30:

As shown in the print-screen above: the Best Western Hotel Ambra Palace, in Rome, Italy, for a 3-night stay in a double room from 29 Nov to 2 Dec 2012, breakfast included, has a total price of 333 USD, which after the 30$ discount, results in a total price to pay of 303 USD (that is 101 USD per night). For comparison, the same room is shown at 378 USD by booking.com (25% more expensive).

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5% promo code for all hotel bookings from Hotelopia

A 5% discount code is available for all hotel bookings made through Hotelopia until December 31, 2012. Hotelopia is a worldwide online travel agency part of the TUI Group.

The code is valid only on the Spanish version of Hotelopia, but you can easily select the English language on the top right side of their webpage. Proceed to the reservation as usual, and in the payment window type in the code hotelop5 in the field "Discount code" (see print screen below):

 

We tested the validity of the coupon with an example: the Howard Johnson Grand Plaza, Bucharest is priced at 156 euro for 2 nights over the first week-end in December, breakfast included. Then, with the 5% discount code you save 7,8 euro with Hotelopia, and the final price is 148 euro:

 

 

 The  same room over the same period is shown at 232 euro (breakfast included) on booking.

 

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Hotel review - Ibis Styles (All Seasons) Fontenay, Paris France

The room was of a good size and it was clean.

Free public parking places on the side of a street behind the hotel. It takes about 1 hour drive to reach the center of Paris (it´s just 15 km, but there are always traffic jams). However, there is a train station 50m from the hotel, which goes directly into the city.

The breakfast was disappointing (all the could be eaten was bread with butter and jam).

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