Booking your dream vacation shouldn’t break the bank. The allure of package deals – combining flights, hotels, and car rentals – is undeniable, promising both convenience and cost savings. But with a plethora of travel websites vying for your attention, finding the Best Travel Site For Package Deals can feel overwhelming. This comprehensive guide dives deep into the top platforms, rigorously tested to uncover those that truly offer the most value and user-friendly experiences for your bundled travel needs.
We’ve meticulously examined a range of vacation package sites, comparing prices, ease of use, and the overall booking process. Our goal is to equip you with the knowledge to confidently navigate the online travel landscape and secure the best possible deals for your next getaway. While bundling components can often lead to savings, it’s crucial to understand which sites consistently deliver on this promise and which features truly enhance your travel planning. Let’s explore the leading contenders in the realm of vacation package websites.
Top Vacation Package Websites Unveiled
Our in-depth testing and analysis have identified the following as the best websites to book vacations, each with its own strengths and unique offerings. They are presented in no particular order, as the “best” site often depends on individual travel preferences and priorities.
Expedia: The All-Around Best for Breadth and Reliability
Illustration of a laptop computer screen showing the vacation packages search page for Expedia
Expedia Vacation Package Search Page Displayed on Laptop Screen, Image by guteksk7 | Adobe Stock & Expedia
Expedia consistently ranks as a top choice, and for good reason. This established platform provides a vast selection of package options, encompassing flights, hotels, and car rentals, allowing you to bundle in virtually any combination imaginable. Whether you’re seeking a flight and hotel deal, a flight and car package, a hotel and car bundle, or the full trifecta of flight, hotel, and car, Expedia has you covered. Its global reach extends to nearly every corner of the world, making it a versatile option for diverse travel aspirations.
Price reliability is another hallmark of Expedia. In our extensive testing, Expedia frequently presented the lowest prices, securing the top spot in two out of five test scenarios and consistently offering prices that were better than average across the board. This price consistency provides peace of mind, knowing you’re likely to find competitive rates.
However, it’s wise to approach advertised package savings with a degree of scrutiny. While Expedia highlights potential savings through bundling, our analysis revealed that these figures don’t always accurately reflect the true price difference compared to booking each element separately. In one instance, we actually found it cheaper to book flights, hotels, and car rentals individually rather than as a package. Therefore, a prudent approach involves verifying claimed savings by independently pricing out the components to ensure you’re truly getting the best possible deal.
Expedia excels in user experience, offering a comprehensive suite of filters to refine your search. Hotel options can be sorted by price, distance from city centers, guest ratings, package discounts, and hotel class. Flight filters are equally robust, enabling you to narrow down choices by departure and arrival times (morning, evening, etc.), airline, baggage inclusion, and more. Flight results can also be sorted by duration, price, and departure/arrival times. The inclusion of a map view is invaluable for visualizing hotel locations and proximity to points of interest.
Best Feature: Expedia’s extensive inventory and dependable pricing establish it as a leading travel site for package deals. While it may not always guarantee the absolute rock-bottom price, its consistent fair rates and abundant choices make it a highly recommended starting point for your vacation planning.
Expedia’s Extended Family: Travelocity, Orbitz, and CheapTickets
Travelocity Vacation Packages Search Page on a Computer Screen
Travelocity Vacation Package Booking Interface Displayed on Computer, Image by guteksk7 | Adobe Stock & Travelocity
Many travelers are unaware that Travelocity, Orbitz, and CheapTickets are all siblings under the Expedia Group umbrella. This shared ownership translates to remarkably similar inventory and pricing across these platforms, often mirroring Expedia’s offerings closely. The website layouts and filter options are also strikingly consistent, providing a familiar user experience. Like Expedia, these sister sites support all combinations of flight, hotel, and car rental packages.
In our price comparisons, Travelocity, Orbitz, and CheapTickets rarely outperformed Expedia. In most cases, prices were virtually identical, particularly with Travelocity, where we observed no price variations from Expedia. Occasionally, Orbitz and CheapTickets presented slightly more competitive package rates for specific flight and car itineraries.
Given the strong price parity, searching all three sister sites in addition to Expedia might only be worthwhile if minor price differences are critical to your budget. For most travelers, focusing primarily on Expedia will likely yield comparable results.
Best Feature: Travelocity, Orbitz, and CheapTickets offer a unique and convenient checkbox on their main search page labeled “I only need accommodations for part of my trip.” This feature allows users to specify a subset of their total trip dates and search for package deals within that limited timeframe. This functionality is also available on Expedia’s search interface.
Note: The Expedia Group also includes Hotwire in its portfolio. However, our testing indicated that Hotwire’s package offerings were not as consistently reliable as its sister sites. For one test itinerary, a nonstop flight option available on other Expedia Group sites was absent when booking a Hotwire package (though it was available when booking a flight separately on Hotwire). Furthermore, pricing on some Hotwire package searches was marginally higher than on Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and CheapTickets.
Explore Expedia’s Sister Sites:
Priceline: A Solid Contender with Unique Features
Priceline Vacation Packages Search Interface on a Computer Screen
Priceline Vacation Package Booking Platform Displayed on a Computer, Image by guteksk7 | Adobe Stock & Priceline
Like Expedia and its associated sites, Priceline supports all possible combinations of flight, hotel, and car rental packages. Its search results pages are intuitively designed and easy to navigate, featuring ample filtering and sorting options, along with a map view for visualizing hotel locations. Priceline boasts a wide array of hotel choices in popular vacation destinations, catering to every budget level.
A distinctive aspect of Priceline’s flight search is its presentation of departure and return flights as pre-selected pairs, rather than allowing individual selection. While this streamlines the booking process by reducing the number of clicks, it may necessitate more scrolling to pinpoint your preferred flight combination. It’s also worth noting that not all flights available when booking airfare separately on Priceline appear to be accessible when booking a package. Therefore, cross-referencing package and standalone flight options is advisable.
Priceline’s pricing performance placed it in the mid-range of our tests. It secured the lowest price in one test scenario but emerged as the most expensive option in two others. Overall, Priceline offered cheaper-than-average prices in 60% of our tests. To enhance savings, Priceline features “Express Deals” for rental cars, an opaque booking option where the specific rental car company is revealed only after booking. For those who prefer to select their rental provider, standard car rentals are also readily available.
Best Feature: Priceline’s user-friendly interface retains your flight and rental car preferences as you explore different hotel options. This eliminates the repetitive task of re-selecting these preferences each time you browse alternative accommodations, significantly streamlining the hotel selection process.
CheapCaribbean.com: Your Go-To for Caribbean Getaways
CheapCaribbean.com Website Displayed on a Computer Screen
CheapCaribbean.com Website Interface on Computer, Image by guteksk7 | Adobe Stock & CheapCaribbean.com
As its name implies, CheapCaribbean.com specializes in travel to the Caribbean region. While its scope is narrower than broader platforms, it’s an invaluable resource if you’re planning a Caribbean vacation, especially for popular package trips like honeymoons. In our Caribbean-focused tests, CheapCaribbean.com consistently delivered cheaper-than-average prices.
CheapCaribbean.com stands out as one of the best travel sites for package deals specifically for all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean. Once you input your trip details, you can further refine your search using filters such as “adults only,” “children’s amenities,” and “luxury.” Each hotel’s dedicated page provides a comprehensive overview, including active promotions, on-site activities, and the property’s Tripadvisor Traveler Rating.
However, CheapCaribbean.com exhibits some limitations compared to more versatile travel package sites. It lacks a map view for comparing hotel locations. Additionally, searching for flights from Houston airports is less streamlined, as it doesn’t allow grouping Houston’s two airports into a single search, unlike the “all airports” option available for major cities like New York City and Washington, D.C. Despite these minor drawbacks, the attractive deals, particularly for flight and hotel packages, make it a worthwhile option. Note that car rentals are not offered as part of packages, although travel insurance and airport transfers can be added for select destinations.
Best Feature: CheapCaribbean.com’s “Deals of Fortune” offer significant value for adventurous travelers. These bookings reveal the destination but keep the specific resort a secret until approximately a week before departure. This adds an element of surprise and can lead to substantial savings for flexible travelers who are not fixated on a particular island or property.
Kayak: The Meta-Search Master for Efficient Comparison
Kayak Website Interface on a Computer Screen
Kayak Website Displayed on Computer, Image by guteksk7 | Adobe Stock & Kayak
Kayak, a popular meta-search engine, excels at saving travelers time by simultaneously searching numerous best travel package sites. However, package customization is limited; Kayak defaults to searching flight + hotel packages. While car rentals can sometimes be added through partner sites, those seeking flight/car packages or more complex bundles will need to explore alternative platforms.
Kayak aggregates package deals from various sources, including Priceline (its parent company), Expedia, and CheapCaribbean.com. Search results are presented with a map view and comprehensive air and hotel filters, facilitating easy filtering for nonstop flights, complimentary breakfast, or specific hotels.
It’s important to be aware that prices displayed on Kayak may not always precisely match the final price on the source site upon clicking through. This is a common characteristic of meta-search engines. Interestingly, we occasionally observed price discrepancies after clicking from Kayak, with prices sometimes differing from those found when searching the same itinerary directly on the booking site’s homepage. For example, a Las Vegas package quoted at $819 per person on Priceline via Kayak was priced at $783 when booked directly through Priceline. Conversely, another test yielded the opposite result, with a cheaper price after clicking from Kayak. The key takeaway is to double-check prices on both Kayak and the source site to ensure you secure the most favorable deal.
Best Feature: Kayak’s ability to search multiple vacation package booking sites in a single query is a significant time-saving advantage. While it may not consistently unearth the absolute lowest price, it serves as an excellent starting point for your search, providing a broad overview of available options and price ranges.
Funjet Vacations: Promo Codes and Package Deals
Funjet Vacations Website Interface on a Computer Screen
Funjet Vacations Booking Website on Computer, Image by guteksk7 | Adobe Stock & Funjet Vacations
The Funjet homepage primarily focuses on flight and hotel packages. However, it offers flexibility by allowing you to add rental cars to flight/hotel packages or individual flight bookings subsequently. Results can be sorted using various criteria, including price, hotel name, rating, points of interest, and location.
Similar to CheapCaribbean.com, Funjet lacks the “all airports” search option for certain cities like Houston and Chicago, which can be slightly inconvenient. Funjet’s pricing consistency is also variable, ranking as the cheapest in one test but the most expensive in another. Nevertheless, it remains a relevant site to include in your vacation package price comparisons.
Best Feature: Funjet streamlines the savings process by automatically applying any applicable promotional codes to your search, eliminating the need to manually scour the web for coupons.
Note: If your travel plans involve the Caribbean, Central or South America, Hawaii, or Mexico, consider exploring Funjet’s sister site, Apple Vacations. While Apple Vacations has a more geographically limited focus, our findings suggest that prices are often slightly more competitive compared to Funjet for these destinations. CheapCaribbean.com also shares parent company Apple Leisure Group with Funjet and Apple Vacations.
Book Your Hotel Separately with SmarterTravel Hotels
If you’re seeking flexibility and prefer to build your vacation piece by piece rather than committing to a pre-defined package, SmarterTravel Hotels provides a valuable resource for securing great deals on accommodations.
SmarterTravel Logo for Hotel Booking
Book Now with SmarterTravel Hotels
Choosing the Best Travel Site for Your Package Deal
Selecting the best travel site for package deals ultimately depends on your individual needs and priorities. Consider these factors when making your decision:
- Destination: For Caribbean travel, CheapCaribbean.com is a strong contender. For broader destinations, Expedia, Priceline, and Kayak offer extensive options.
- Package Flexibility: If you require highly customizable packages beyond flight + hotel, Expedia and Priceline offer the widest range of combinations. Kayak is best for initial searches and comparisons but less flexible in package customization.
- Price Sensitivity: While Expedia is consistently reliable, Kayak helps compare prices across multiple sites. Don’t solely rely on advertised savings; always compare package prices to a la carte bookings.
- User Experience: Expedia, Priceline, and their sister sites offer user-friendly interfaces with robust filtering and sorting options.
- Specific Needs: Consider unique features like Priceline’s preference persistence or Funjet’s automatic promo code application based on your personal booking style.
By carefully evaluating these factors and exploring the recommended best travel sites for package deals, you can confidently plan your next vacation and maximize your travel budget. Happy travels!
