Here you’ll find our favourite booking sites, apps, and gear for planning budget trips. We only include things that save you money or make travel easier, and we’d recommend each one to a friend. Each section has a few top picks and a short note on why we use them.
Just so you know, some links on this page are affiliate links. If you book or buy through them, we may earn a small commission, but it won’t cost you anything extra. This helps support Thrifty Nomads, but it never affects which picks we include. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Travel essentials
Small, affordable gear saves us money and stress on nearly every trip. These are the essentials we always pack, and you can find them all on Amazon.
We found out the hard way when we went over our luggage limit and had to leave half our things at the airport. Now we always weigh our bags before leaving home, so we know we’re within the limit before we get to the airport.
Each of us carries a PackTowl, which is a compact, quick-dry towel. It folds up small and dries quickly, so we can pack up and move on without worrying about a wet bag.
When you’re packing light, every bit of space matters. Our Platypus bottle works like any regular bottle, but it folds up flat when empty. If you’re heading somewhere with unsafe tap water, a portable water steriliser costs more at first but saves you from buying bottled water every day.
For everything else that goes in our bags, see our packing light guides for women and for men.
Accommodation
Booking.com is one of the biggest booking sites we’ve found for good prices. It lists hotels, hostels, guesthouses, and apartments all in one place. Many rooms offer free cancellation, so you can lock in a good price early and still change your plans. If you sign in, the Genius loyalty programme can unlock extra discounts at some places.
Agoda is a booking site for hostels and hotels, and it’s especially handy in Asia. It’s worth checking prices here when you travel in that region. Like Booking.com, you’ll see members-only prices once you sign in, and signing up is quick.
Here’s our usual approach: compare a few sites, sign in for member prices, and then book a free-cancellation rate. Our guide on how to book the cheapest hotel possible explains every step.
Tours and experiences
With GetYourGuide, you can book tours, attraction tickets, and day trips ahead of time, and read traveller reviews before deciding. Many activities offer free cancellation, so you can book early without worrying.
Viator, which is part of Tripadvisor, is another site we use for tours and attraction tickets. You can browse, pay online, and get your voucher on your phone right away. Viator and GetYourGuide often have different tours and prices, so we always compare both before booking.
Flights
Skyscanner is our favourite flight search tool. It compares fares across airlines and booking sites, and its “Whole month” view makes it easy to spot the cheapest days to fly. If you’re flexible, the “Everywhere” search shows the cheapest destinations from your airport.
Going sends you emails when fares from your home airport drop, so you don’t have to check prices every day. We’ve used it since it started, and its alerts saved us hundreds of dollars on two trips from Sydney, including a flight to Vietnam. At the moment, Going only covers US airports, so it’s best for readers in the United States. Here’s how flight deal subscriptions work.
If you’re in the UK or Ireland, Jack’s Flight Club does the same thing. It emails you cheap fares and mistake fares from your nearest airports, so you get the deals straight to your inbox.
Low-cost airlines can be great value, but extras can add up quickly. Check out our seven must-know facts about budget airlines and our guide on booking the cheapest flight possible before you book.
Travel insurance and eSIMs
We never skip travel insurance. In our post Should you get travel insurance?, former emergency room nurse Jen shares how a kidney infection put her in hospital abroad, and why we always travel with cover.
Heading to Europe? Most visitors can stay in the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, and entry and exit days both count. Check your dates with the European Commission’s free short-stay calculator before you book.
Heymondo offers single-trip, annual multi-trip, and long-stay travel insurance, so you can find a plan for a short holiday or a longer trip. Its app gives you 24/7 medical chat and video calls with a doctor, and you can open a claim and upload documents from your phone. As with any policy, check what is and isn’t covered before you buy.
Airalo sells eSIMs for over 200 countries and regions, so you can set up mobile data before you land instead of searching for a SIM shop at the airport. You can install it on your phone in minutes and choose from local, regional, or global data packages. Just make sure your phone supports eSIM and is unlocked.
Gear
The bag we bring depends on how long we’re travelling and how we’ll be getting around.
On our first six-month trip around the world, we only used a small 28-litre Deuter backpack. You’ll need to pack lighter than ever, but it’s perfect for hiking, long bus rides, and carry-on-only flights.
Now we prefer a bit more space for clothes and anything we pick up along the way, so we usually travel with the Deuter ACT Lite 40+10. It opens at the top and bottom and has lots of pockets, making it easy to stay organised and still travel light.
We always bring a day bag for our camera, water bottles, and jackets, and we use a Nike backpack. We’ve tried cheaper ones before and saw them break when overloaded, so it’s worth spending a bit more on a sturdy bag.
The Thrifty Gist
- Compare places to stay on Booking.com (and Agoda if you’re in Asia), then book a free-cancellation rate.
- Use Skyscanner’s whole month search, and let Going (US) or Jack’s Flight Club (UK and Ireland) email you cheap fares.
- Book tours in advance on GetYourGuide or Viator, and compare prices between them.
- Always get travel insurance, and set up your mobile data with an eSIM before you fly.
- Pack light and weigh your bag before you leave home.
Happy travels and happy saving!