Back and better than ever, travel. After a few difficult years for international travel, the sector has been able to recover with fresh, more efficient methods for getting you from point A to point B.
In 2020, $2.37 trillion was spent on travel worldwide. Trillion, that’s correct. However, there is a 49% decrease from the previous year.
There is a lot of money to be made in the travel industry, so there are many tools and solutions available to travellers to make their journeys simpler and easier.
To ensure you get the most out of your upcoming vacation, we’ve selected the top five online travel agents. We have you covered whether you’re travelling for pleasure or business.
Let’s look at what internet travel firms do first, things first.
Online travel agencies: what are they?
A website that offers travel-related services is known as an online travel agency (OTA). Customers can book hotels and travel on a single platform thanks to it. They are a travel agent’s digital equivalence.
Online travel agencies like Expedia, Booking.com, and Agoda are examples. Some OTAs—like Kiwi.com—concentrate their efforts on a single service. Some do it all, like Skyscanner.
How do booking sites for travel operate?
The general public can utilise online travel agents for pleasure travel, and businesses can use them for business travel. The platforms’ offerings vary, but their underlying goal—to make travel and the expenditures and administrative burdens that go along with it—remains the same.
Online travel agents are compensated by hotels, airlines, and car rental businesses to appear on their websites. The benefit for the service provider, however, is the increased visibility that OTAs can offer.
OTAs function by offering a simplified approach to all aspects of travel. It entails the client accessing a website or other platform where they are presented with a wide range of travel options from a number of other travel and lodging providers.
When it comes to gathering and presenting all the information travellers need to plan a trip, online travel agencies (OTAs) are the shepherds, with airlines and hotels serving as the sheep.
What benefits do reservations made through an online travel agency offer?
The following are some advantages of making travel arrangements through an OTA:
- Availability of comparison tools
- Peer reviews to support your decision-making
- Adaptable cancellation procedures
- Your entire itinerary in one location
- Flights and specials locally
rewards schemes
These advantages explain why OTAs are so well-liked by travellers all around the world, and you should think about choosing the one that best suits your needs. Before choosing the business travel services of an online travel agency, keep the following information in mind:
tools for comparison
The main benefit of using an OTA is that you can easily and rapidly compare the costs of hotels, flights, and other services. For you to focus your search and locate precisely what you’re looking for, the majority offer search filters and comparison options.
peer evaluations
The review system, which allows users to rate and write feedback for potential clients, is another advantage of making a reservation through an online travel agency. They are a trustworthy source of feedback because the option to post a review is typically only offered after a user has booked a service.
Flexible revocation
Hotels, airlines, and other service providers frequently have to abide by the cancellation policy of an online travel agency in order to be featured on the website. After making a reservation, the consumer receives a clear breakdown of all the information in an email or on the website, making it incredibly user-friendly and customer-focused.
Be aware that not all OTAs have their own policies regarding ticket modifications and cancellations; some, like Skyscanner, direct you to the vendor’s website to confirm your reservation. The vendor’s cancellation and change policy, which may not be very flexible, will then apply to you.
For all of your travel needs, open one account.
Also, you may use a single account for all of your travel planning needs to avoid having to repeatedly enter the same information. Keep in mind that a decent OTA should be user-friendly; you should be able to simply access your selections without constantly needing support.
You may once more be directed to a third-party website for booking by some systems, primarily aggregator websites. This implies that any changes will require direct communication with the third party.
local perspective on international travel
OTAs customise features like measures and currencies to enhance the experience of each user. Independent businesses that lack the resources to update their website for worldwide use are therefore unable to compete.
In order to make the booking process as simple as possible, you are presented with the finest offers available in your area in a currency you are familiar with.
Rewards schemes
Numerous online travel providers, like Booking.com and Expedia, provide reward programmes. Similar to rewards programmes you receive from an airline or hotel, these give frequent customers access to exclusive deals and discounts.
The leading ten internet travel companies
Let’s first divide our top 10 online travel agencies into leisure and corporate travel options. There is minimal benefit in combining them because they each provide a separate set of clients with various solutions. Who will we discuss?
OTAs for vacationing:
- Booking.com
- Agoda
- Lastminute.com
- Expedia
- Hotwire
- Bookmundi
- Skyscanner
- Kiwi.com
OTAs for corporate travel
- TravelPerk
- Concur SAP
- MyCWT
Let’s start this show now.
Best websites for booking vacation trips
Let’s start by examining online travel companies for leisure travel. These are the websites that regular people use to plan their next major trip or family getaway, whether it be to the Caribbean or New York.
If you’d want to skip this part, our best recommendations for OTAs that focus on flights are included at the bottom.
1.Booking.com
The largest accommodation booking website in the world, Booking.com now gives users the option to reserve a rental car and arrange for travel. It enables passengers to examine various lodging options, locations, and offers. It’s a complete online travel agency for frequent travellers.
Principal services and attributes:
- Website and booking tool that are simple
- Booking flights and hotels allows for simple trip preparation without the use of many travel websites.
- simple taxi services and automobile rental choices
- Offered in more than 40 languages and providing more than 500,000 properties in 207 countries
- To keep you entertained while travelling, you can reserve experiences in your target city.
- Brilliant rewards system
Overall, booking.com is a complete online travel agency including lodging and international travel. Having said that, its UI is often criticised for being too complicated, so you’ll need to pay attention.
2. Agoda
With good reason, Agoda is a rapidly expanding OTA that is particularly well-liked in Asia. The platform, which focuses on lodging, employs Market Managers who are committed to securing the best prices for the markets Agoda services.
Although Agoda doesn’t have many flight booking options, it’s a terrific resource for finding lodging, particularly in the form of private homes and flats.
Principal services and attributes:
- Basic booking tool and interface
- Discounts when booking multiple reservations
- offers a round-the-clock, multilingual customer care service in 38 different languages.
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours after reservation
- Many reviews to aid in decision-making
But, the flight booking tool isn’t as complete as some others, so you might want to look for one with a broader scope.
3. Lastminute.com
In Europe, where cities are close to one another due to geography, Lastminute.com is among the top three travel agencies. Hotel reservations are made through an OTA, while flight reservations are done through an aggregator website, making this OTA a hybrid of what we’ve seen before.
For last-minute travellers, Lastminute.com specialises in locating flight-and-hotel packages and all-inclusive holiday packages at fantastic rates. The golden travel experience can be found on lastminute.com if you’re willing to play the chicken game.
Principal services and attributes:
- Hotel bookings can be filtered based on price, star rating, guest review, board type, and other factors.
- ATOL coverage for airfare + hotel packages
- Flash sales for urgent discounts
- Travel expenses can be spread out via payment schedules.
- Booking additional entertainment for your journeys, such as day tours and theatre plays
- Gift certificates for travel
For tourists who like to wait until the last minute to find the greatest rate, this OTA is fantastic. Together with a wide range of other travel and hotel discounts, you can be sure to find it here.
4. Expedia
Throughout the 1990s, Expedia has given passengers access to flights, hotels, and vehicles; they are still a formidable competitor today. They are the largest travel agency in the entire world. Since Expedia owns Travelocity, Hotels.com, and trivago, you can be sure that you won’t find a better deal anywhere else.
Principal services and attributes:
- Rewards from Expedia for hotels, vehicles, and more
- expert assistance
- Cruise line comparison
- Large savings when booking travel, lodging, and vehicles
- operates in more than 35 languages and around 70 countries.
- Travel alternatives in luxury
Expedia is a particularly fantastic choice for people who wish to pay for their flights, lodging, and rental cars all at once.
5. Hotwire
Another established internet travel agency is Hotwire, which has been operating since 2000. It is well-known for its “hidden offers,” in which vacationers receive a fantastic discount on a trip they are largely unaware of. It involves some flexibility, but for those who like to travel on a tight budget, it’s a terrific option.
Principal services and attributes:
- Book lodging, transportation, and packages.
- 24/7 assistance
- Reduced costs on the app
- Excellent last-minute offers for impulsive travel
- Consider using Hotwire for last-minute reservations.
6. Bookmundi
A rapidly expanding online travel agency, Bookmundi offers trips to more than 130 nations. They provide consumers travel options depending on their preferred lodging, spending limit, preferred length of stay, and the chance to tailor preferred trips.
Customers can thus request changes from the operators and collaborate with them to create an itinerary that best suits their needs. Also, their customer service team serves as a liaison between potential tourists and tour companies.
The booking platform for Bookmundi is independently owned and administered by a committed group of computer experts who make sure the system is available all the time.
Most reliable online travel companies for flights
1. Skyscanner
Skyscanner is an aggregator website that compares costs from all OTAs, airlines, hotels, and car rental firms using a metasearch engine.
Once you’ve made your choice, Skyscanner will transfer you to the third party’s booking page so you can finalise your reservation and book your flight.
Principal services and attributes:
- extremely versatile booking filters
- cheaper accommodation and flights compared to other OTAs
- price notifications for desirable routes to take
- Useful booking tool and UI
- Many options for location and currency
- alternatives for one-way, round-trip, and multiple-city travel
Millions of travellers rely on Skyscanner to get the best offers with the most flexibility. To provide users with the greatest offers, it essentially compiles all the offers from all OTAs.
2. Kiwi.com
The newest OTA on the street, Kiwi.com, is doing things differently. An aggregator website called Kiwi.com finds the greatest multi-city airfares available and protects you in the event that you miss your connecting flight.
For multi-city trips, it provides consistently inexpensive costs as well as travel insurance.
Principal services and attributes:
- simple tool for booking flights
- partnerships with Rentalcars.com and Booking.com
- Find bargains wherever you are by expanding your search.
- Simple to use app
Most reliable internet travel companies for business trips
Let’s now examine the best online travel companies for business travel. There are many options, but we’ve selected the top three.
1. Travel rewards
A contemporary option for contemporary corporate travel is TravelPerk. Its user-friendly OTA is a welcome difference from the cumbersome UI frequently connected to business travel. You may make flexible employee reservations with TravelPerk, and you even have the choice to offset your carbon footprint.
This software enables your team plan, coordinate, and report on business travel. It is more than just an online travel agency (OTA). Employees who use TravelPerk can travel without worry on the most affordable flights without giving up any of the experience.
Principal services and attributes:
- most extensive selection of travel services
- Booking flexibility with FlexPerk
- Security warnings from TravelCare
- Integrated travel authorisation and policy flows
- centralising billing
- Simple and immediate expenditure reports
- Carbon neutrality through GreenPerk
- 24/7 quick customer service takes, on average, 15s
- Reclaiming VAT
- Integration with external solutions, such as HR or expenditure management programmes like Expensify and BambooHR
Employees who use TravelPerk have access to the security and information they need to travel worry-free. It enables businesses and travel managers access to the most competitive corporate travel rates available.
2. SAP Concur
Several companies rely on SAP Concur, which has been operating since 1993, to offer complete corporate travel solutions. As it self-owns and manages its technology, there is no back and forth with outside parties for upgrades or adjustments.
Principal services and attributes:
- Utilizes some of the most well-known brands
- Simple expense reporting and tracking for expense reports
- Numerous connected applications, like Uber and Airbnb for rooms and automobiles
- One remedy for various business travel expenses
For businesses seeking for a traditional approach to business travel, SAP Concur is a terrific tool. To fully utilise the platform, however, requires patience because implementation and user onboarding take 6 to 8 weeks. Also, some customers claim that the UI is antiquated, which makes it less engaging for business travellers.
3. MyCWT
The CWT corporate travel management system is called MyCWT. Your staff will be well taken care of no matter where they are thanks to its devoted industry and country expertise.
Even though CWT has been in the travel business for more than 150 years, MyCWT is a seasoned travel management option for business travellers worldwide.
Principal services and attributes:
- extensive integrations
- winning mobile application
- employee-focused travel administration
MyCWT is a fantastic option for businesses with larger budgets and significant corporate travel requirements. To give bargains to business travellers and organisations, they do, however, use third-party software, thus upgrades and modifications to the programme can take some time. There is a lot of back and forth, which slows down development of the platform.
A Conclusion
The top 10 travel agencies to assist you in making the greatest online reservations are now complete. Please go to the nearest exit and make sure to take full use of the remainder of your journey.
We hope that these tools will assist you in finding the greatest bargain, whether you’re going for work or pleasure, from Hawaii to Peru or wherever your interests or your company lead you. OTAs offer unparalleled convenience; it’s up to you to take use of all of your possibilities.
