My Top 5 Travel-Related Sites

I try to keep a pretty comprehensive list of my favorite travel-related websites on the blogroll on the right side of this blog, but I thought it might be helpful to readers to know what I truly think are the most helpful sites for traveling parents.  So, what are the sites that I find myself using or reading nearly daily?  Here’s a list (in no particular order):

1) Hipmunk: There are plenty of search tools that you can use to find flights for your next trip, but Hipmunk is the site I’ve used most this past year.  Hipmunk allows you to search for flights within a +/- 2 day period, which really helps when you are looking for a good fare but have a little flexibility as to when you fly.  The graphical display of results makes it easy to compare flight times and prices in one matrix. If you are like me, the flight times are often as important as the prices since it is generally good to avoid naptime-flights or redeyes if your kid isn’t prone to sleeping on planes.  Unlike websites like Priceline or Expedia, you don’t actually book your ticket on Hipmunk… you will be referred to the airlines website for direct booking (which is always what I recommend anyway).  This is definitely a great tool for the less savvy traveler with little time to spend on search sites.

2) SeatGuru: SeatGuru is the site you should always check before selecting your seats on any flight.  It has a display of the seat map of every plane on every major airline and helps you navigate what are “good” and “bad” seats.  Avoid those lavatories, galleys, and bulkheads with ease.  You may also be able to learn whether your plane has WiFi or in-seat power.

3) MommyPoints: By far the best travel-related blog for family air travel.  So many mommy travel blogs out there are just nothing but advertisements or self-promotion.  This stands out above the rest.  MommyPoints posts at least daily (and sometimes two and three times daily) and this is on my must-read list every morning.  MommyPoints is part of the BoardingArea group of bloggers, so the blog is very focused on earning frequent flier miles and points, but there is a good focus on air travel with small children that is present throughout the blog.

4) FlyerTalk: The site that started it all.  FlyerTalk is a massive collection of message boards for all the major airlines, hotels, and travel-related topics that you could ever imagine.  If you have a detailed question about anything travel-related, you can probably find an answer there.  I spend a lot of my time on the United forum, Marriott forum, and the Travel with Children forum.

5) The Cranky Flier: A fantastic blog from a former airline insider based in Southern California.  He covers important travel news and also does a lot of original analysis of airline stats and trends.  Deeper, more thoughtful, and more thorough commentary than you will see anywhere else.  Bonus points because he just welcomed his first child and is now starting to blog about some of the travel with children issues that we all know and love!