Flight Search Engines
SKYSCANNER
The UK’s number 1 comparison search engine for flights. Includes authorised direct links to easyJet and Ryanair.
The lowest British Airways fares are here. No transaction fees. Credit card charge £5.00 (economy flights only)
BRITISH AIRWAYS LOW PRICE FINDER
If your travel dates are flexible and you’re simply looking for cheap deals, save time by searching here
BRITISH AIRWAYS – AVIOS AVAILABILITY FINDER
Find Avios (British Airways Air-Miles) seats in seconds. No log-in required. This is provided by a third party developer and we recommend it for quick search
BRITISH AIRWAYS – AVIOS SEARCH PAGE
The Avios search page can be difficult to find when logged in to the BA executive club. Go direct to the BA search page here. (Log-in with membership and password required)
The leading flight pricing engine for complex itineraries. Bought by Google for $700M! For research only. No booking facility.
Search for travel to/from all European cities by copy and paste this list of city codes:
AMS,ATH,BCN,BUD,BUH,BEY,BOD,BER,BRU,DUB,DBV,DUS,CAI,CPH,DUS,FLR,FRA,GVA,GIB,HEL,IST,KEF,LCA,
LIS,MAD,MLA,NAP,NCE,PRG,RAK,ROM,OPO,OSL,STO,TLV,VCE,VIE,WAW
Round-The-World Airfares
Instead of attempting to add each flight ticket separately, it should be cheaper to use the through fares offered by
these two airline groups. Fares available in economy and business class:
ONE WORLD AIRLINES RTW WEBSITE
British Airways, American, Air Berlin, Cathay, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, TAM, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar, Royal Jordanian, S7, Sri Lankan, Mexicana
NOTE: Minimum 3 continents required, Book at least 8 days in advance, Trip duration must be at least 10 days between first and last international flights
STAR ALLIANCE AIRLINES RTW WEBSITE
Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Egypt Air, Ethiopian, EVA, Polish, Lufthansa, Scandinavian, Shenzhen, Singapore Airlines, South African, Swiss, TAP Air Portugal, Thai, Turkish, United.
Plus Adria, Agean,
Hotel Search & Compare
HOTEL PRICE COMPARISON
Compare all the rates and research thousands of hotels in once click. And you may find availability when hotels say they are fully booked!
Booking.com usually offers the choice to guarantee reservations with a credit card and to pay at check-out OR to pay in advance in pounds sterling and they apply a very fair rate of exchange. Avoid waiting for credit card exchange rate and additional fees. Be aware that this option may not be as flexible as pay-at-checkout
An Expedia company with a good reputation. Very generous reward scheme – collect “nights ” after your stay and for every 10 nights collected, Hotels.com will give you 1 free night to redeem on future bookings. And as a member, look out for ‘Your Secret Price’ reductions for members only.
If you require pre-payment in sterling via a dependable agent, rather than payment at checkout in local currency. Earn Nectar points too!
“Pay Now” Option will not itemise VAT so you will not be able to reclaim UK VAT
Best site for private rentals – Country Homes, Estates, Castles and Apartments. VRBO is part of Expedia Group and is a secure way to book and pay for private rentals
Hotel Chains – Book Direct
By booking direct you will be sure of the room type you’re requesting. And the hotel will immediately have the guest name
MARRIOTT HOTELS
We compared Marriott direct prices with all hotel brokers and booking direct, here, was always cheaper. Additional advantages; You’ll be offered all room types, with/without breakfast and optional transfers.
Booking Tip: Need a specific room type? One double bed, or twin bedded? You can choose after selecting the price you want after choosing to “Book Now”
(If no room-choice is offered, then that room-rate is ROH “Run of the House” i.e. allocated at check-in) If you need a guarantee of bed-type, go back, select a different rate, repeat the process
Booking Tip: Register during the booking process for a exclusive 10% members-rate discount
Small, Boutique & Luxury Hotels
BEST LUXURY HOTELS OF THE WORLD
Book here to receive a combination of some or all of these benefits:
Free breakfast for two,
Free room upgrades subject to availability at check-in
Early check-in or late check-out subject to availability
A credit of up to US$100 towards food and beverage, or spa treatments
SMALL LUXURY HOTELS OF THE WORLD
Represents some of the world’s best (and most expensive!) small hotels
Represents the worlds best hotels in most major cities. Become members of the LHW Leaders Club at a cost of US$150 per annum and earn one complimentary night at a Leading Hotel for every five stays, plus complimentary continental breakfast for two, each day.
Browse by list and destination if you don’t want to search by date
This hotel brand consists of ultra-luxury hotels that may not always feature in comparison sites
Good for modern and design-conscious hotels
For inspiration, search Mr & Mrs Smith for a selection of boutique hotels
Last-minute Hotel Reservations
Only available as a mobile app, uses your location and is best for same day check-in
This company, often has availability when neither the hotel direct or the other sites featured here.
Based in Switzerland but with very hands-on support for example they telephoned me immediately after I failed to
complete a reservation. Their booking conditions are sometimes quite strictly non-refundable so should only be used for definite bookings!
Amoma.com also undercuts prices in the marketplace. See this hotel-industry report, “How do you solve a problem like Amoma”!
Hotel Search – and earn Avios
Earn up to 10,000 Avios per night at your choice of hotels. Earn a bonus of 1,000 Avios if you book using our link, above.
Similar to Kaligo, rates may not be as competitive but worth checking. Kaligo offer more hotels in
more cities.
Hotel Meeting Space Search
Search for meeting rooms quickly and easily and a whole lot more features too
European Rail Sites
EUROSTAR DIRECT
Best for mainline stations: Paris, Brussels, Lille. Specific seat requests offered.
RAIL EUROPE – Voyages sncf
Best for Eurostar with connections to Europe: Holland, Germany, France.
Also good for separate French and Spanish rail tickets
GERMAN RAIL
The official Deutsche Bahn booking site. Good for German, Swiss Austrian and some International travel.
HOLLAND, NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM RAIL
Domestic tickets for Holland can only be booked via this Belgium Rail site. The official Dutch site does not
accept international credit or debit card payment! The price is identical. No fees.
UK Rail Sites
NATIONAL RAIL ENQUIRIES
Avoid all booking fees and credit card charges by booking direct with train companies
Click through to the company above. Click on their Heathrow Express Link and save 12.5%
STANSTED EXPRESS
Save up to £10.90 by booking direct but using our (easyJet) referral link
Airport Parking
HEATHROW AIRPORT
Official Site. Book direct for the best rates
GATWICK PARKING
Official Site. Book direct for the best rates
Car Hire
Within 72 hours of picking up a vehicle, you must now register your driving licence number and National Insurance number together with your postcode here.
The resulting code will be used by the car-hire company to ensure that you have no disqualifying driving convictions.
Good for business in addition to holiday rental. Powered by the industry leading Car Trawler comparison engine with results from all major car hire companies, Avis, Hertz, National, Budget, Alamo, to name just a few.
NB Payment required at the time of booking. For payment locally (and more flexible conditions) you need to book direct
Foreign Exchange
TRAVELEX
Commission Free Currency. Order and pick-up from most airport and downtown locations. NB No location at St Pancras International (Eurostar)
Visas, Passenger Safety and Travel Advice
VISA REQUIREMENT CHECK, CUSTOMS & CURRENCY REGULATIONS
We guarantee that this is the most reliable source of visa requirement information as it is based on the “Timatic” database from IATA (International Air Transport Association). It is used by nearly every airline in the world to check passengers’ eligibility to travel.
The site also provides accurate customs, currency regulations and airport information
This is the only official site. Don’t pay unnecessary extra fees elsewhere.
You can check if your traveller has a valid visa if you have passport number and date of birth.
When retrieving an application, in the “First (Given) Name” box you must add the middle name too
FOREIGN OFFICE TRAVEL ADVICE
Country by Country Advice. Undertaking travel contrary to travel advice invalidates normal travel insurance cover.
NHS HEALTH ADVICE AND IMMUNISATION RECOMMENDATIONS
More detailed heath advice – and “recent disease outbreaks”
Find a local GP by postcode; authorised to vaccinate against Yellow Fever etc
Help with Geography
ROME2RIO – DISCOVER HOW TO GET ANYWHERE
Need options from small towns with no airports? This site is very helpful. Provides door-to-door solutions including trains – and routes you may not have considered.
NEAREST AIRPORT FINDER
Find the 8 nearest airports if you type in the town or city name
(Includes small airports which are suitable for private jet only)
AIRPORT AND ROUTE FINDER
A simple visual perspective of who-flies-where and airport options
A little off-topic, but a useful site if business travellers have a few hours to spend and require a local guide
Organise Itineraries Online
Free, and easy to use, forward emails to trips@ tripcase.com and they will store the itinerary. Also with free alerts, ideal for delay notifications. Access your trips on-the-move with the Tripcase App
Flight Status Check
Check specific flights for accurate departure or arrival times.
More accurate than airport departure screens!
Fee email flight-alerts set-up if you wish to monitor a flight
A new improved beta site has been released and is available via the link above
Airline Seat Maps
You can search by specific flight number. Seat guru is part of tripadvisor.
Editorial style which is good for general comment and photos but not as good as Seat Guru
Delayed Flight Compensation
BOTTONLINE FLIGHT COMPENSATION
This law firm specialises in compensation claims No Win No Fee basis. Success fee for winning your claim is 27% of the compensation awarded plus a 25 Euro administration fee.
Simply enter the delayed flight number and the date of travel to see if you’re eligible for compensation. The site will also specify the amount to which you’re entitled!