best travel buddy sites

The Top 7 Websites to Find a Travel Buddy

If you're heading off on a travelling adventure soon and don't want to go alone, check out these seven websites that can help you find a travel buddy.

Traveling solo can be fun at times, but there are times when you want a travel partner. It's pretty common for family or friends to ditch you at the last moment and ruin your big trip. You don't have to give up on your plans because of that, though.

Luckily, there are websites out there that connect you with travel buddies, so you can have company on your trip. These websites will embellish your journey and make the holiday memorable.

So, let's take a look at seven of the best websites for finding a travel buddy.

GAFFL helps you find a dependable travel partner. It's easy to use, and you get a lot of options to choose from while selecting your partner.

The first step is to search and select your destination . The second step is to find the people who also want to travel to the same place.

You'll find a list of different routes and the locals and people near you who also want to visit that destination. All you have to do is choose the preferred options to carve out a plan for your trip.

You can start talking to the potential travel buddies in the chat to try to know them better. You can initiate the chat by clicking the connect button. This website also shows if their accounts are verified.

If you like the person, you can meet up with them and plan the trip together. Finding a partner is effortless on this website.

2. Flip the Trip

Flip the Trip offers a wide range of services. It lets you find either a local or a nearby partner with whom you can travel with ease. You need to search for the place you want to visit, then select the exact location where you are planning to travel.

The website shows a list of local people. Locals can be excellent guides as they can introduce you to local places and know the best places to get native food. You can also select somebody who lives near you. In this way, both of you can travel together right from the start.

People can ask random questions related to their travel on the website in the Feed section. Other people who have been to those places can answer them.

3. Trip in Touch

Trip in Touch not only finds you a travel buddy, but is also well known for its travel blogs. You can read travel blogs on the website and find great traveling partners.

This site doesn't just provide you with a partner for adventurous traveling–it also helps you find partners for dates and concerts. You can connect with people all over the globe on Trip in Touch.

RELATED: Travel Apps That'll Help You Save Money

The website only connects you with trustworthy people. It also lets you join its massive Facebook community, where people can communicate with each other.

You can share your traveling experience on the blog so that other people get tips from it. Trip in Touch is a content-rich travel website worth checking out.

4. TripGiraffe

TripGiraffe is a straightforward travel website. It helps you save time and money so that you can travel in peace. You can either create a trip or join an existing one.

The first step is to share your details and the destination of your trip. You can also add the date and time of travel.

Secondly, you can specify which type of partner you want for your journey. You can also select the gender of your partner. The site then connects you with a partner to travel with, in up to 100 countries or so.

Moreover, there is an option to select whether you want to split the expenses with your partner or not. You can also predefine your budget.

This is one of the most polished websites on this list. It specifies everything one needs to know and tries not to leave any ambiguities behind. TripGiraffe also has several travel blogs that are pretty helpful for a traveler.

5. Women Welcome Women WorldWide

This website is a space for women travelers to travel with other women. It is a website made by women for women. However, it's worth noting that the website is based in the UK, but anyone can join.

The site takes into account all the needs a woman can have while traveling. If you specifically want to travel in a girl group, you should try this website. It also gives you local members' contacts who can guide you on your trip.

RELATED: The Best Websites to Help You Travel for Free

You need to join the website to get access to people worldwide. You can then choose the people you would like to contact and get in touch with them. Women above the age of 18 are eligible to join this platform–the membership of the website costs around $50.

6. Workaway

You can join Workaway either as a worker or as a host. A worker helps the community by writing their experiences and helping others in their travel plans.

Workers stay at a host's place in return for sharing their skills. The skills can be gardening, charity work, house sitting, teaching, or practicing a language. The workers who help the host in business activities get paid a minimum wage per hour. You can make new friends this way.

You don't have to pay any money for this stay. All you have to do is provide some valuable services. This website is review-based to make it convenient for you to make your choices.

7. JoinMyTrip

JoinMyTrip allows you to travel to more than 6,000 destinations. You can select your desired location and find the people who also want to travel to the same place.

You can also create a trip on your own. In this way, other people will join your trip. Many passionate travelers enjoy making their trips in this space.

RELATED: Apps Every Solo Traveler Should Have

The price of the trip caters to all the expenses of the journey. This website has excellent customer care service as per the reviews.

You also get to know your trip leader before the actual trip. All the leaders are verified. In this way, the site clears all your security concerns.

Find Your Travel Buddy Using These Websites

All these websites will help you arrange or join an organized trip. You can meet honest and dependable travel buddies on these websites.

Chatting and meeting up with people before going on the trip is usually a good idea. Check out these sites to choose the one that looks most reliable and interesting to you.

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12 Sites That Will Help You Find A Travel Buddy

Meeting new people is one of the best parts of traveling.

Hopefully, you found some cool solo travel groups in our blog post, 10 Different Types of Solo Travel Groups . But there are also times when you might want to find a travel buddy, one other person to travel with, on your own trip.

Here are 11 sites that will help you find a travel buddy:

Search a destination, find travel partners, get connected, and trip together! It’s as easy as that. You can rest easy knowing that GAFFL uses a strict verification process so you can feel safe about your travel partner. Start your search here !

2. Utilize Social Media Groups

There are many Facebook groups and pages that you can follow and join to meet people with similar interests as you. Search for things like “travel” or “travel buddy” and you will find groups like Female Travel Buddies, Travel Buddies, and Travel Friends Finder that you can join.

I have been a part of a Facebook group called Women Who Travel , and it has been very helpful to me. Not only do these women post when they need travel companions, but they post tips for each other too. Other sites like Reddit utilize forums and feeds to connect people. All worth a look!

Check out Women Who Travel’s podcast  too!

3. Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is a service that allows you to connect to a worldwide community of travelers. It is a great place to somewhere to stay or to share your home with travelers.

As with any online interaction, you need to make sure you do your due diligence. Using trusted sources for finding couches to key to couch surfing safely .

This website is super cool because it’s simpler than the rest. On Meetup , you can search for events in the area or wherever you will be, and see who is attending. You can even contact those people through Meetup too!

Working with Meetup will be a little different than other sites when looking for a travel companion. You might not meet your travel companion until you go to an event or two. It is more of a free-flowing way to meet people in the area you are in.

5. TripGiraffe

TripGiraffe is really easy to use. It offers the options of finding a travel buddy, exploring all travelers on the site, and looking for meetups. You can search for trips coming up soon as well as create your own.

Each mini-profile is straightforward listing the exact places you will be going, the dates you will be traveling, your gender and age, as well as the type of trip and budget.

Check out some of the profiles before you build your own – you might just want to hop on someone else’s trip!

6.  Trip in Touch

How about a new site called Trip in Touch . “Same place. Same time. Same interests. Trip in Touch – find your next Travel Buddy!”

The app is on its way, for now, you can subscribe and join their Facebook groups to connect with other travelers.

7. Intrepid Travel

If you’ve got the urge to travel but no one to do it with you can stop worrying because Intrepid has got you covered. Join one of their small group tours and find ready-made friends who are itching to explore just like you are.

8. Flexible Guided Travel

If you book daily tours in each place you stay, you are sure to make friends that might be on the same schedule as you! Give it a chance.

In New Zealand, you can pay for guided but flexible travel with the Kiwi Experience . The Kiwi Experience is a bus that travels around New Zealand making stops and bringing you from Point A to Point B. But it’s your choice how often you want to stay on the bus or on the journey! Completely flexible!

This would be a great way to meet people while you’re in the country and possibly grab a travel companion while you’re there.

9.  Travello

Travello is an app designed to make travel social. Known for where travelers connect, Travello asks you what you are interested in and then helps you to connect with other travelers nearby.

This is an excellent way to meet a travel buddy, whether you’re at home before the trip takes place or on the actual trip!

If you meet someone at home with similar interests and who loves to travel, chances are it could be a good match! This also eliminates traveling far to meet up before the trip.

10. Tourlina

Tourlina is specifically for females looking for female travel buddies. Another option to browse other trips, create your own, and speak with other females about their trips too!

The app promises a trusted and secure network of individuals.

11. Join My Trip

Choose the destination, the group size, and the experience that is right for you and Join My Trip will find the trip mates.

Whether you are looking for a simple weekend getaway or the trip of a lifetime, this is a great way to find new friends, share costs, and make memories that will last forever.

12. DePassport

DePassport can be the premier destination for you to find adventure buddies and a perfect travel companion. And for a surprise, this app lets you find not just a partner, but someone whom you will truly vibe with. The platform uses an AI-powered matching algorithm to connect you with people who match your values, and interests. 

You can connect with people from around the world, and plan your travels easily.

44 Responses

You need to add http://www.gogaffl.com to this list!

Thanks for the tip!

Very good information regarding travel

Thanks so much, Prakash!

Hi Erica, Absolutely awesome article. Btw, you are missing two big ones. CouchSurfing and GAFFL. I have always used CS before and recently used GAFFL in Australia. It was awesome. It connects people based on trips. You can start a trip or join trips. I think you can mention them in your list too.

Will do, thanks Ed!

I love Wandure app! They have amazing experiences created by awesome locals.

We love it too Lina!

Finding a perfect travel buddy is always difficult. But, having a travel buddy can make the trip more enjoyable and less lonely. It helps to have someone to split the expenses with, so you can save up for your next trip. A travel partner also minimizes risks associated with traveling alone. GAFFL (www.gogaffl.com) can be a great addition to this list. It matches up travelers with similar travel plans and ensures the safety of travelers through their well-built verification process.

Thanks for the tip, Abrar!

Are you a solo traveller? I am an Indian n Canadian citizen retired 60+ age group in n good shape to travel. Can you suggest some dependable solo travel groups. Pls email your response to [email protected] thanks

Hi Peter, check out Eldertreks, Adventures Abroad, Road Scholar, Walking the World!

Yes! I love it

Thanks Sarah!

Ms.Erika Szumel, Really Thank you for the information. Can you please rank them according to your knowledge and experience? is it possible to know which are all providing paid and which are all free in 2020?

Hi Siva, thanks for reading! Most of these are free or offer free basic memberships. Click on the links to get an idea of which fits best!

Thanks for sharing this info..

Really nice post. Thanks for sharing with us..

Thanks for reading, Suvajit!

Great Blog.It is very useful.Thanks….

Thanks for this lovely info.

Thanks for reading, Pradyut!

Great post!! Thank you very much for sharing.

Glad you enjoyed it, Ujjal!

Hi, maybe you should add https://backpackingtribe.com/ to this list. It’s a platform where you can find not just a buddy, but an entire group to backpack together with! It’s amazing!

Thanks for the tip, Wijnand!

Hey Erika, You should think about adding Share Bus to this list – if you’re travelling in Aus! Its a shared rental of a minibus, trailer and camping equipment. They find the travel mates (other backpackers) for you. It’s totally flexible and self guided – you just join on the trip/date you want to do (i.e. Perth to Broome) and you can make your own adventure.

Hey Jade, thanks for the tip!

This is such a great list! It’s got everything except https://www.fairytrail.app , a dating app for people with a passion for adventure and can work anywhere (one can look for friendships too). You should check it out and review it 😉

The most interesting list is here to find a travel buddy. Travelling with someone is fun. And these days finding a perfect travel partner is tough task, but your list has made it bit easy.

Great post! thank you so much for sharing

Thanks, Shawn!

Great content. You can also add https://cogofly.com to this list. It is a travel social networking site that helps travellers connect with other travellers around the world. As well as with its advanced search filter, anyone can find the perfect travel buddy match.

Thanks for the tip, Sameena!

You need to add http://www.joinmytrip.com to this list for sure!

Thanks for the tip, Prasanna!

great post … full of knowledge ,i am inviting you to India if you think so it will be a great pleasure for me to hosting you

Are there any sites for older people? Most of these sound like they are for younger folks. Thanks for any referrals.

Check out Walking The World, Eldertreks, Adventures Abroad, Intrepid!

Hello, I am 61 yr old female looking to travel solo but would like to join a group to travel to St Martin in the spring 2023. Do you have any recommendations.

Hi Valerie, check out some of the sites listed above! We know there are specific age groups that you can book with.

I think you have missed http://www.connectingtraveller.com as well.

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6 sites to help you find a travel buddy for your next trip

While traveling solo has its benefits, it's nice to have someone with whom to explore a new place. The following apps and platforms help you find the perfect travel buddy — just make sure to ask these 20 important questions before hitting the road, or risk being struck with an awful travel companion .

1. Penroads .  Penroads is a free service that connects travelers before they hit the road. Once you sign up, you'll create a profile, including details about your trip for other travelers to browse. The platform allows you to search by destination, helping you to quickly narrow down pertinent matches.

2. Reddit.  There's a good chance you already use Reddit to find interesting stories; however, Reddit's  Travel Partners message board allows travelers to post trips and ask others to join. If you're traveling alone, the  SoloTravel subreddit is a good place to find potential travel partners and seek advice.

3. HereToMeet.com .  Just launched in March, HereToMeet.com is a social networking site for travelers. After inputting your travel destination, dates and interests, the platform matches like-minded travelers with similar itineraries, also providing event ideas via EventBrite . Before meeting in person, users can exchange messages and media and live chat through website. Because the website is so new,  you may not find a ton of users yet, however, it's worth keeping an eye on, especially with an app set to launch at the end of summer.

4. HelloTel App .  The HelloTel app (iOS & Android, free) is a social network with over 150,000 users connecting travelers at the same hotel or nearby. There's a lot of functionality — the ability to add photos, comments, ask for local recommendations, plan meetups and post questions in your social feed — and it's a good choice for solo travelers who sometimes want to interact with others.

5. Tour groups for solo travelers.  To guarantee you won't be alone on a trip you booked solo, join a tour group. While all will ensure interaction, companies like Solos , Exodus (which has a specified Solo Travellers Holidays ) and Singles in Paradise (geared toward single travelers) ensure you won't be stuck in group of couples and friend cliques.

6. Wingman .  I mentioned Wingman, an app that helps you "meet people at the airport, on your flight, and at your destination" in my article on networking in the sky with a bit of sarcasm; however, the site seems to have changed its wording around. While at first it billed itself, more or less, as the Tinder of the skies, it now seems that not just "attractive people" will find this app useful. I guess we'll see once the app officially launch this summer.

With myriad new travel apps and platforms being launched each week — not to mention a growing traveler desire to connect with others around the world — these are far from your only options. A few others to check out: Globetrooper , TripTogether and Tripstir , launching this month.

Jessica Festa is the founder on the solo and offbeat travel blog, Jessie on a Journey , and the online responsible tourism and culture magazine, Epicure & Culture . She's constantly searching for local experiences beyond the guidebook. You can follow her travels on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .

12 Apps and Sites to Find a Travel Partner

Traveling is always a magical experience, even if you’re going solo. But in case you’d love to arrange an exciting trip with a new friend, this post is for you. I’ll introduce you to the coolest apps and sites to find a travel partner.

You’ll notice how simple it is to browse the web for folks with travel preferences that match yours, as well as fine-tune the results according to age, gender, and other filters if you want.

Let’s do this!

Table of Contents

Top apps to find a travel partner

1. travello.

Available on iOS and Android

Travello tops our list because it’s hands down the most thorough app of its kind, in addition to one of the largest travel communities on Earth.

Despite not being designed specifically as a travel partner search tool, the issue-oriented groups you can take part in are perfect for that. You can interact with fellow solo travelers, photographers, hikers,… or any other interests you may think of.

Chances are you’ll get to meet new friends in your hometown too, as there are millions of users around the globe.

What’s more, Travello offers 30,000+ tours and activities all over the planet that you can book for a discount by collecting points on the app.

The app also features a built-in GPS functionality that locates sweet deals, events, and free Wi-Fi wherever you are. 

2. Facebook

Facebook isn’t as popular with the younger crowd as it used to be a couple of years back, yet Meta’s flagship social media platform remains unrivaled when it comes to one precious tool: groups.

You probably know the drill. You just have to tap on the Groups icon on Facebook’s homepage and search for keywords or phrases related to your need. In this case, “travel buddies”, “travel partners”, or “travel friends” are the best combinations.

Then, simply join the groups that match your interests and either post your travel plans or scroll down to see what’s up.

A few of the highlights here include I Need a Travel Buddy , with 33,000+ members, and Travel Buddies , with 26,000+.

Women Who Travel , a private group with over 155,000 members, might turn out to be a lot of help to female travelers.

Meetup isn’t exclusively travel-oriented, but it is definitely an amazing place to find a travel partner. 

The platform’s basic premise is to hook you up with people who share similar interests with you, based on the events that the 61 million users organize in 9,000 cities. Meetup’s impressive size is by far one of its greatest assets. 

Like Facebook, the app also offers the possibility of creating and joining groups so you can interact with folks who enjoy the same stuff as you, be it cooking, visiting museums, or cycling.

Though that doesn’t necessarily amount to finding a travel buddy, you’ll be able to meet new friends and hopefully make plans to see the world together.

Plus, you can always attend an event in the city you’re traveling to and meet up a local to show you around.

Gaffl is a reliable resource that connects you to potential friends, which means you never again have to travel all by yourself if you don’t want to.

The first thing you have to do is pick a destination. The app will then show you people near you who have similar travel plans so you can use the chat tool to get to know them better and arrange the details. Alternatively, you can post your itinerary and let other members join in.

 One of Gaffl’s advantages is the fact that you can see which users have a verified account and choose to interact only with trustworthy profiles.

5. Travel Buddy

Whether it’s Japan , Peru , or Italy , Travel Buddy is your go-to guide to explore the must-sees, find the best deals on everything you may need while abroad, and meet new friends on-site. 

Built as a community of travelers that connects over a million locals and visitors around the world, the app also allows users to list services like walking tours and accommodation options in such a way that you’ll hardly need any other travel app.

This is an innovative system to find a travel partner, as you’ll bond with authentic globetrotters and passionate locals. 

6. Tourlina

Women face far larger safety risks than men when traveling by themselves, especially in remote areas or in countries where traditional values are still upheld by the majority of people. Traveling with a male partner, in turn, can end up being just as complicated.

That’s what Tourlina aims to address: letting women make travel plans with other female travelers. It works like a regular dating app, where you swipe left or right on potential matches after setting the outline of your plans (i.e. dates and destination) and your partner preferences, including age range.

The best thing about the app is that only verified users with a Facebook profile are admitted, which makes it extremely reliable. On the other hand, Tourlina is an expanding platform, which means you’ll often struggle to match with someone depending on your travel plans.

7. CouchSurfing

When CouchSurfing was launched in 2004, it was a truly groundbreaking initiative because it was the first-ever website to connect travelers and folks who would host them for free.

While that remains its core business, with its 12 million users, CouchSurfing is also a wonderful forum where you can meet new friends to travel the world with you.

One of the best ways to do that is by taking part in the weekly events members organize in 200,000 cities across the planet. 

In 2020, in order to bear the financial burden brought about by the pandemic, CouchSurfing introduced a membership fee for users registering from a bunch of countries, among which Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, the UK, as well as several EU nations.

Yet that takes nothing away from the app’s status as the no. 1 platform connecting travelers and hosts on a global scale.

8. Workaway

Like Couchsurfing, Workaway is a different sort of app in that it’s not aimed as much at matching you with a travel partner , but rather with a travel host . This is a fantastic alternative for those of you who want to travel on a budget.

Basically, you’ll be given accommodation and food in exchange for pre-agreed services you’ll be performing for your host according to your skills. You can tend their garden, do some house sitting, or teach their kids your native language, for example. Even better, you’ll be paid an actual wage in case your host needs help with business matters. 

The app was launched approximately 20 years ago and is extremely effective, so the fact that it charges a  $49 annual membership isn’t really absurd. Both hosts and volunteers are reviewed by other users, meaning you can trust Workaway to help you take a totally safe trip. 

Best sites to find a travel partner

9. tripgiraffe.

TripGiraffe is one of the most comprehensive websites on our list, as it does its best not to leave room for ambiguities. 

Upon registering, you’ll get to specify your budget, your target destinations, your preferred accommodation type, the languages you speak, and more. You can even let people know how you want to split expenses.

It works as a full-on social network for travelers where you can message users that seem to match your profile. TripGiraffe can do the hooking up for you as well if you want, connecting you to fellow travelers in 100+ countries.

On top of that, you can join an existing trip if finding the ideal travel buddy sounds like too much work. In other news, TripGiraffe maintains a blog with precious travel tips to help you prepare as you should when it’s time to hit the road.

10. JoinMyTrip

JoinMyTrip’s app is only available for Android users, which is why I’m listing it as a website instead.

Upon selecting among 8,000 destinations all over the planet, the platform will introduce you to members who want to discover that exact place too.

As its name suggests, JoinMyTrip also allows you to… well, join other people’s existing trips or create your own itinerary as a tripleader so other users will come along.

You can preset the dates and group size and estimate the total budget per tripmate, then wait for one or a few of the 160,000 members to hop on the boat. 

One of the things that set JoinMyTrip apart from other similar solutions is its excellent customer service. The team advertises itineraries on Instagram daily and is always ready to answer your questions.

11. Women Welcome Women WorldWide

Women Welcome Women WorldWide’s promise is similar to Tourlina’s, as its name suggests. Women who don’t feel safe traveling alone or simply don’t want to do it can interact with other users to organize a trip together.

While the website is UK-based, women from all over the globe can register. You’ll be expected, however, to pay a $50 admission fee to help cover Women Welcome Women WorldWide’s maintenance costs. 

Besides finding a partner to travel with, you can use the website to connect with a local in your next destination so she can show you around and keep you company as you explore her hometown. 

WWWW currently has 1500 members in 40+ nations on all continents; it’s a relatively small but expanding community.

12. YourTravelMates

On YourTravelMates, travel is more of an excuse than the end goal. Founded about 30 years ago as TripTogether, the platform is present in over 40 nations and has as many as a million members worldwide.

Yet the focus here is more on finding a life partner rather than a travel buddy. The website’s purpose is to foster romance on a global scale. Still, tons of users are seeking friendship and companionship instead, just like most of the other entries on our list.

When looking for other users, you can narrow the results down according to gender, age, arrival dates, and destination.

You can then exchange e-letters or video chat with them until you eventually decide to meet up. Though YourTravelMates charges for these services, membership is 100% free.

Final thoughts

As exciting and enlightening as traveling on your own can be, finding a travel partner can be a great way to ensure your trip will be safer, more affordable, and often more fun.

Through top-notch apps like Gaffl and Travello and websites like JoinMyTrip and TripTogether, you can connect with millions of globetrotters from across the planet and find a travel partner to see the world with you.

2 thoughts on “12 Apps and Sites to Find a Travel Partner”

I highly recommend these two couchsurfing communities to find female travel buddies:

Host a Sister – Facebook group where women around the world can find accommodations and travel buddies. Travel Ladies – mobile app connecting women who want to travel with other women

I highly recommend these two women-only communities to find female travel buddies:

Host A Sister: Facebook group Travel Ladies: mobile app

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Home » Budget Travel » How to Find a Travel Buddy: Travelling with a Friend 101

How to Find a Travel Buddy: Travelling with a Friend 101

There’s a certain romanticism in the life of an intrepid solo traveller—solitary and stoic—braving venturing unto new frontiers. But do you want to know the truth?

Some of my warmest, happiest, and most sincere memories from the road are of experiences shared travelling with a friend.

Now, that’s not necessarily to say a friend  from home.  No, rather, a travel buddy that I met on the road. People that, astonishingly quickly, became treasured friends and companions.

Because that’s the underlying magic of finding a travel buddy: it’s a shared experience, and that makes it more real. Suddenly, there’s someone to tell that story with—someone to reminisce with. At the one-year reunion, the two-year reunion, or, hell, maybe (if you’re lucky enough), then when you’re old and grey and still complaining about the price of cigarettes together.

And that’s exactly why I want to teach you how to find a travel buddy! Because remembering and sharing those stories together… that’s more special than the travels themself.

We’ll be covering the basics today, i.e. how to make a friend (in case you missed that 101). But also the peripherals: how to find a travel buddy online AND offline, the (more practical) benefits of travelling with friends, and even the stampeding elephant in the room that is the variable of gender.

Why Travel with a Stranger?

How to find a travel buddy online, how to find a travel buddy offline, the ins-and-outs of travelling with a buddy.

Ok, so ‘stranger’ is a bit rough. Sure, when you first meet a travel buddy they’ll be a stranger, but that’s the beauty of travel relationships: they get real deep real fast.

Imagine a friend that you see every day of your life, be it for 3 days or 3 months. Every decision is shared, resources are shared, stories—new and old—are shared. Rapidly, this person becomes a staple and constant in your life.

It sounds almost like a… real relationship , right?

But it is, essentially, albeit platonically (most of the time).

If the idea that you won’t find a travel partner is holding you back from travelling, that’s daft. There are incredible places to travel alone in the world.

Short of disappearing into the frozen expanses of the Alaskan tundra, you will never be alone. Often, alone time can almost be like black gold for a traveller.

The world is a big place, and no matter how hard you try, you’re never really alone.

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The Benefits of Travelling with a Friend

Outside of all the esoteric mumbo-jumbo about meeting people to travel with and forming lifelong kinships of an almost spiritual substance, there are heaps of logistical reasons to travel with someone!

• Saving money – Duh— budget backpacking 101 ! Someone to split costs with means spending less money overall.
• Taking nicer rooms – Kind of an offshoot of the last point but think about all the private room options that will open up if you’re sharing. You can take swanky Airbnbs at a steal or share grimy single rooms (with one person on the floor) for a pittance!
• Sharing resources – “Hey, dude, got any mozzie spray?”
• Someone to watch your back – Safety in numbers, naturally, but not just that. You’ve got someone to watch your stuff when you wander off for a piss or to talk to on the long train rides. It’s the little things.
• They might not finish their meal – Cha-ching!
• Photo-ops – You’re gonna be featured in way more Insta-basic-beach-poser shots with someone around to take them.

Travelling with a Friend from Home

Personally, I’m not a fan of the ‘bring a friend’ method. You know how sometimes friends choose to live together and then they discover they’re shit housemates and it gets petty and causes schisms within the whole friendship group? (No, you’re a projection!)

I know the dream is to have your mates from home tag along for the adventure, but a dream can quickly turn to a lucid nightmare. Once you’re travelling—solo or with a travel buddy—you’ll discover the glory of freedom. Both the freedom of the road and freedom from home.

Travel is a chance to be free of the perceptions of who you are held by the people closest to you. It’s a chance to grow, develop, and learn about yourself, with yourself, in brand new and unprecedented scenarios. Bringing a friend from home along to that experience is like sneaking a flask into an AA meeting.

I wouldn’t say doggedly avoid travelling with a friend from home. I would, however, suggest to experience travel in its fullest before you bring that home-friend.

A home-friend, or, yes, a partner, is—to be blunt—a ball-and-chain. A travelling friend is someone you meet on the road. You have no unspoken contract to uphold; if it goes south, then so do you (while they go north).

A friend you travel with , however, has all sorts of potential to get messy, and it’s not a good first-time introduction into the backpack-o-sphere. It’s a commitment and one that works counter-intuitively to the freedom of travel.

It can be a real restriction.

Will here again!

While planning an entire backpacking trip with a friend (or friends) can lead to surefire disaster, a short stint through the crazies of Asia or clubs of Europe is a blast!

When it comes to getting my friends to come out and travel with me for a bit, I am absolutely a convincing bastard! What I like to do on longer trips is to make a Facebook group, add my favourite homies, and then post my—extremely rough—itinerary and any general directional updates. That way, people can work out where I’m heading and decide if they’d like to swing by for an interlude.

I tend to much prefer to go my own way during the adventures, but seeing the peeps from back home is always such a heartwarming experience, especially in the reaches of some far-flung land. It may just take some persistence to convince them. 😉

Travel Alone or with Someone: Shoulda Put a Ring on It

While travelling with a friend may be the dream, solo travel is the real journey. If you find a travel buddy, you’re not solo travelling, and that, simply by nature, is restricting.

As a solo traveller, you’re living on a whim. Anywhere you go is entirely in your hands. And experiences come a lot more frequently as a result of your solitude.

• Hitchhiking alone is easier.
• Meeting locals is easier.
• Having someone host you is easier.

That’s not to say that this stuff doesn’t happen when travelling with someone. Only, it’s more restrictive.

A pair of exotic foreigners is a lot more daunting to approach than a single dazed soul. And you haven’t got to hash out decisions with someone either before you do something crazy in the spur of the moment. You do you.

However, you do lose a lot too. Travel isn’t about being alone: it’s about all the people you meet. It’s about all the things that they teach you, and all the things that you learn together. Meeting a travel buddy and earning a travel companion is a natural extension of that.

What I’m trying to say is that sometimes you just wanna smoke a joint by yourself. I get that—we all do. But, at the end of the day…

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It’s the 21st-century. Of course, we’re doing this digitally! Isn’t the main reason to travel to be looking at your phone more?

Ok, so finding a travel buddy online may not be my favourite flavour, but it does work. There are no shortage of travel companion sites and ‘find a travel buddy’ apps fit for the purpose of hooking you up with some loose cannon through cyberspace.

The most obvious is social media and this does work:

• Facebook – Is the no brainer. Check general backpacking groups, backpacking groups for the country you’re in, groups for specific hobbies (hiking, climbing, etc.), or even ride offering/asking groups in the famous road trip countries (Australia/New Zealand/etc.).
• Instagram – Yeah, Insta does have its purposes ; try posting a photo or story showcasing where you’re at now. Chances are someone you met on the road before will hit you up.
• Twitter – I’m not even going to pretend to be an expert on Twitter, but if you’re already an avid tweeter of twits, then I’m sure you know how to utilise it. I have heard success stories!

Your socials are already covering a lot of ground given that so many people—and travellers—are active users. But your also looking at a huge gene pool of many splendid examples of the lowest common denominator. There are no referrals, no rating system, and no barrier of entry.

They definitely have their uses, but there are plenty of much more nuanced travel friend apps and sites to find people to travel with.

Best Travel Buddy Apps and Sites

• GAFFL – On the reverse end of social media’s low threshold to sign up is GAFFL with its 4-step verification process—yikes! There’s a site with a yummy UX and an accompanying travel buddy app, plus you get some extra bonus features for planning the trip itinerary and securely splitting the costs even prior to the trip.
• Travel Buddies – Well the name certainly fits! It’s kinda like a social media platform with the explicit purpose of advertising your upcoming trips and seeing other peoples’. It’s pretty straightforward to contact people and overall a pretty clearcut travel buddy site.
• Meetup – It’s not actually a site for finding a travel companion but rather a site for group meetups and events—hiking, pub drinks, Taco Tuesdays, LGBTQ Taco Tuesdays. You may never meet a travel buddy through meetup, but you’ll definitely meet some friends!
• Tinder – I know, I know. But, using Tinder while travelling does have its uses.
• Backpackr – Just a straight app without a website. You can browse people’s profiles (so, yeah, it’s a bit dating-ish) and a ‘Common Room’ for asking questions, getting tips, and screaming into the void.
• 5W: Women Welcome Women Worldwide – I wanted to throw a ladies-only choice in, and this one is more like a worldwide network than just an app for meeting travellers. 5W is a non-profit that’s been around since 1984. You’ll have to complete an application process first to ensure you meet the prerequisites (i.e. having a vagina), but once you do, you’ll be given the keys to the kingdom: the members list with plenty of opportunities for attending gatherings or organising one-on-one meetings.

Then there are Traveller forums. They’re a dime a dozen for both seeking tips and finding travel buddies. If you’re not a massive fan of apps, these are the major players you should look at:

• Tripadvisor forums – People ask a lot of questions over there too.
• Reddit –  There are endless subreddits divided by different destinations, communities, and hobbies. Check out the Travel Partners and Solo Travel boards particularly.

Couchsurfing – A Broke Backpacker’s Secret Weapon

Heya, Sexylegs.

While the above apps certainly serve the cause, there’s only one platform that I believe takes the true crowning jewel of being the best app to find a travel buddy—Couchsurfing! I have Couchsurfed in all manner of weird and wonderful locales—Iran, Venezuela, and Jordan just to name a few—and I have always found the Couchsurfing community to be absolute gems.

As well as being a fantastic platform for finding free accommodation and meeting locals, Couchsurfing is also a great site and app for making travel friends. I have found numerous people through Couchsurfing’s groups who I have travelled with, and I’ve won some truly treasured friendships as a result.

The best group to look in is either the ‘Backpacker’ group or the ‘Travel Buddies’ group as well as checking out the specific group for whichever country or region you are travelling and Couchsurfing in. Often, people will post in country or city groups asking if other CSers are around for drinks, an adventure, or to see if anybody else is trying to find a travel mate. It’s also definitely worth heading to any local Couchsurfing meetups in your area too!

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Look, I’m old fashioned. I don’t like Tinder. I prefer paying in cash, and I do enjoy popping the odd Werther’s Original. Finding someone to travel with offline is my jam.

You’re going to meet travel companions organically as you travel alone (assuming you’re lovable with a winning smile). It’ll be in any number of differing formats too. They could be a:

• Solo human with an equally unquenchable thirst for the world’s most adventurous places .
• Pair of humans who are either previous friends or also travel buddies.
• Group of any size and connecting factor (though a group of all solo travellers is always madness of the finest calibre).
• Romantic pair of humans. This actually happens more often then you might think and is more-often-than-not excellent fun! Bonus points to the travelling couples who argue in their native tongue for the sake of politeness.

There are probably other formats than this, but that’s the basics. And again, it will happen organically , even if you’re not lovable with a winning smile. (Unless, of course, you’re a total prick, but then you have bigger issues).

Meet Other Travellers (But Never Settle for Second-Best)

Do let it be organic. You’re a solo traveller! Be the badass motherfucking homeless-hero thou most certainly art.

Go and solo travel. Brave new ventures, be lonely sometimes, and make many, many new friends. When the right companion to travel with comes along, you’ll know it. Forcing this issue is just like forcing relationships – it doesn’t work out very well!

Usually, finding a travel buddy (or buddies) is a matter of something shared; it is a core value of The Broke Backpacker Manifesto . A shared desire for the same off-beat adventure. Or it could be a shared matter of convenience— we were both going to the same place, but then we stayed together.

Often, for me, it’s just a shared love for the same simplicities in life: living cheap, travelling without money , eating local, smoking the finest dankeries, and, sometimes, sleeping under the stars. The dirtbag life.

My point is, don’t settle for mediocrity! You’re way too good for that. Wait until you meet travel buddies that truly deserve you.

Just do you, soak up the journey, and let the opportunity come to you. Ultimately, it’s gotta flow.

Places to Find a Travel Buddy Offline

If you’re steering clear of the apps and socials in your travels (or are just terrible at using them), then there are still some classic meeting points to find a travel mate:

• Hostels – Staying in backpacker hostels is the tried-and-true classical method to meet travellers and find someone to travel with. But remember to pick hostels that match your vibe.
• Work Exchange Programs – Absolutely! Things like Workaway, WWOOF, Worldpackers, HelpX, etc… these types of travel jobs are tops places for meeting travellers. Particularly solo and long-term travellers.
• Public Transport – If you’re carving a typical backpacking route for any given place—say the Banana Pancake Trail in Southeast Asia —then you’ll always encounter travellers en route between the major destinations.
• On the Plane – You can find a travel buddy before you even leave the airport! Scout the plane and passengers (at the baggage claim is also a smart spot) for any smelly backpacker vagrant types, and ask them if they’d like to share a taxi to the nearest backpacker hub of whatever city you’ve landed in. A general rule: the cheaper the flight , the more likely you’ll walk into some fellow broke backpackers!
• Declaring a Grand Adventure – It’s happened to me no short number of times. You declare with great intention (no bluffing allowed) about some grand adventure you’re planning—say, hitchhiking across India or finding some legendary hidden mountain village. If the chances of death are still low enough, people are always gonna want to tag along.

Often, if the flow is right, someone that you met as a short-term travel buddy (say, on the bus) can end up being someone you travel with for a while. Sometimes, it can be a long while.

Seriously, work exchange programs are a brilliant method to meet other travellers. Given that the people you meet—not even counting the local friends that you’ll make—are more than likely going to be dedicated to the slow travel life (and to exploring a country away from the tourist bubbles), forming substantial friendships is just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

It also helps to know your way around the voluntourism sector, and how to choose worthwhile programs (ideally, with a steady influx of travellers). Worldpackers and Workaway —two esteemed platforms for volunteering abroad—are good places to look too.

Worldpackers: connecting travellers with  meaningful travel experiences.

Nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be this hard.

Yes, indeed, the man known as ‘Coldplay’ was correct. While sometimes it flows effortlessly, sometimes it is hard.

They’re not a true friend until you’ve seen them at their worst. They’re not a true friend until you’ve considered throwing them out of a 6-storey window.

If you’re going to choose to travel with a stranger, you’ve got to be prepared for some strangeness. Sometimes it gets tense. Sometimes it gets uneasy.

Finding a travel partner is only half the journey.

Oh Boy, We’re Discussing Genders

Yay for minefields! I really wanted to avoid this topic because finding a travel buddy should never be about the potential to get inside another traveller’s Thailand Elephant Pants. However, we can’t honestly pretend that gender isn’t an influencing factor and so… it’s into the abyss we go!

Yes, finding travel companions for singles, as a single, is definitely a thing. Finding love and sex while backpacking is a potential natural conclusion of this. Fairly often, it ends poorly once the honeymoon bubble of travelling together wears off; but it does work out too… sometimes.

BUT, it’s more important to shift your thinking away from that and to more consider the variable of gender , i.e. how gender affects travel.

I remember travelling with a friend—female and very much treasured—in Sri Lanka. She cracked the shits at me one night after dinner because I failed to see the host was ignoring her and taking executive decisions on the meal order from me: the man. Truthfully, I was completely oblivious; I was just pumped for dinner.

However, having a female travel companion does help create insight. Many parts of the world are substantially more difficult for a girl to travel in solo or otherwise (though certainly not impossible)…

The Arab World is tricky. South Asia is not the best either? South America is… mmm .

Being a female looking for a male travel partner in these parts of the world—while not a necessity—is smart. It does mitigate the intensity. With a couple of fake wedding rings thrown in, you’ll be coastin’.

If you do end up travelling with someone of the preferred gender and orientation you most enjoy diddling, again, you guys do you. Just remember the variable.

Dudes, stay aware of your female travel companions. Just stand a bit tighter in the surge of a crowded bazaar, or keep an eye on her drinks during a psy-banger in Goa. Remember that her experience will always be different.

As for the Mademoiselles travelling with a guy friend, just keep communicating: be chill, girl-bros. If you’re gonna crack the shits, do so gently. Sometimes, we’re just not paying attention.

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How to Travel with a Friend: On Fights

Yeah, arguments do happen on the road. Travel with a friend long enough, and, eventually, it’ll happen.

The first time I had an argument with a travel buddy, it got ferocious. Imagine two colourfully dressed hippies shoeless on the side of a New Zealand road screaming and cussing each other out—one in broad Australian, one in angry Japanese. That wasn’t our last argument either.

The next time I hitched long distance with someone, I warned him:

“Alright, dude. At some point, we’re gonna fight. We need to decide now, what we’ll do then.”

He thought I was joking.

“Oh, yeah, well how about we roll a joint on it.”

Several days later while being held semi-captive in a buttfuck-nowhere Indian village, we had our first fight, and that’s exactly what we did.

Assume it’ll happen, make the necessary plans in your head, and communicate well. When you find a travel companion, you’re gonna see that person every day. Often, for every meal.

Travelling relationships can be every bit as intense as romantic ones. The only difference is you don’t get the catharsis of a make-up bang afterwards.

How to Travel with Someone – Tips and Pointers

• Talk – And communicate; if you’re having an off-day—a case of the traveller blues—mention it. Talking is important, especially if it’s about something that affects the team.
• Share – If you’re both giving and taking fairly, you’ll end up a stronger team for it. Pool your resources!
• Don’t be an accountant –  For big sums of money, sure, but keeping track of the little things is going to wear very thin. Often, it’s easier just to go 1:1 on buying each other chai, meals, bus fares, and whatever else.
• Take Space – When you feel you need it, and sometimes when you don’t too. Timeout is rarely the wrong choice.
• Compromise – You ain’t solo travelling anymore which means sometimes you’ll need to make concessions! Somedays, you’re just not going want to do the same thing.

And remember that word— team.  Because that’s what you are. You’re a team working together towards a shared goal.

You gotta function as a unit.

Travel Alone or with Someone, but Get Insurance!

I once had a friend spot his travel buddy several grand when she got herself into a medical mess in Nepal (which is yet to be returned, to the best of my knowledge). Now, granted, he’s self-sacrificing to a fault, however, it’s a picture-perfect example of exactly why you should have travel insurance.

Because it ain’t you who’ll be cleaning up your mess.

All kinds of things can happen when you travel, and they do happen. Be sure to consider some quality travel insurance sorted before you head off on an adventure!

ALWAYS sort out your backpacker insurance before your trip. There’s plenty to choose from in that department, but a good place to start is Safety Wing .

They offer month-to-month payments, no lock-in contracts, and require absolutely no itineraries: that’s the exact kind of insurance long-term travellers and digital nomads need.

SafetyWing is cheap, easy, and admin-free: just sign up lickety-split so you can get back to it!

Click the button below to learn more about SafetyWing’s setup or read our insider review for the full tasty scoop.

And Now You Know How to Find a Travel Buddy!

And how to travel with them. It’s kinda cool, right?

Ding-dong—I’m a solo traveler!

For me, one of the greatest thrills of backpacking is to rock up somewhere completely new and meet a whole new crowd of people, travellers and locals alike. I have done a huge amount of solo, partnered, and group travel, and I highly recommend you have a crack at all of them.

Moreso, I can’t stress enough that if the fear of being alone is holding you back from travelling, it shouldn’t. One of the main reasons some would-be vagabonds never leave home is because they’re worried they won’t meet anyone and will be lonely. One of the lessons you’ll learn travelling is that that’s simply never going to happen.

The backpacker community is awesome; everybody is extremely friendly and, in general, people just want to meet-and-greet (the same as you). It’s really quite easy to find people to travel with. And the times that you are, you’ll still be having a damn good time!

It’s something someone said to me a long time ago: some things you can only learn in a relationship, and some things you can only learn on your own. I think the same is true of travel.

Travelling solo is only one part of travel as is travelling with a friend , buddy, stranger, partner, or even in a group. Don’t find a travel buddy because you’re scared. Be scared and be awesome, because the two aren’t mutually exclusive.

Travel in all ways, experience it in all forms, and when you do find travel buddies, experience that too. Because many of those shared stories—and those shared photos—will be the ones that inspire your kids to travel.

1+1=3… which is to say that a unit is greater than the sum of its parts. A team, a friendship, and travel buddies—when it’s right—are stronger together than they are apart. And the end results?

They’re worth all the stupid fights.

And for transparency’s sake, please know that some of the links in our content are affiliate links . That means that if you book your accommodation, buy your gear, or sort your insurance through our link, we earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). That said, we only link to the gear we trust and never recommend services we don’t believe are up to scratch. Again, thank you!

Ziggy Samuels

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17 Comments

Too cool of a website. Thumbed the NA Continent, tried in SE Asia {didnt know what thumbing was} and met fine people. There are great people wherever one goes and ones that will go out of their way to help another. Canada is super, picturesque as is the Alcan, North of 60 {Phillip smith mts}. Stayed mostly northern areas. The south has a different atmosphere but good folks. Want to try Hitching Trains. Valuable info to share with others re the site

This helps. I need a travel companion if nothing else someone to talk to but, I would like to find someone that can do some of the driving. Money is not my problem it’s time. I once said we have 3 things. MONEY, SEX, TIME. SOMEONE INTERESTED IN TRAVELING THE USA STARTING IN MARCH OR APRIL CONTACT ME. [email protected] .

I’ve been trying to FIND Someone Anyone!! to go with me from: TX. To and Through: OK./MO./KS. with NO LUCK!!! LOCAL TRAVEL(S) NOT FOREIGN TRAVELS!! Because I LIVE LOCALLY In The USA DUH,……For TWO YEARS Now,…..SO NOT GETTING ANYWHERE OR ANYPLACE, With DIALING The: CHARTER BUSES, The RIDE SHARES, And Even Other HIKING AND BIKING BUDDIES, Especially LONG Distance, Because I Don’t Drive A Car As A Grown Up ok??? VERY FRUSTRATING!!!! What HAPPENED To Just Getting A SIMPLE RIDE Safely Of Course (That Word SAFE AGAIN Grrrr!!!) (SAFE THIS AND SAFE THAT, Or: Safe That And Safe This, For TWO FREAKING YEARS NOW!!!) (SHUT UP ABOUT SAFE!!!) (And Oh Yeah Also: WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER BULLCRAP For TWO FREAKING YEARS!!! ENOUGH ALREADY!!!) Basically AND Generally??? I N E E D A R I D E From A D R I V E R Or D R I V E R S And/Or A Bike AND Hike Group A LONG A DISTANCE Soon For The REST Of This fall And winter DUH!!! And SOMEONE AND SOMEBODY WHO KNOWS THE AREA And/Or AREAS WE ARE GOING THROUGH Soon!!!!! I JUST WISH!!!!!! I’LL EVEN LEAD THE GROUP OR A GROUP, IF NEED BE, THOUGH I’VE NEVER ACTUALLY HAVE LED A GROUP OF OTHER PEDESTRIANS EVER!!! UHG!!! GETTING MORE AND MORE FRUSTRATED DAILY HERE IN GREENVILLE, TX./Texas AND SOON I’M JUST GOING To Go FIND SOME ABANDONED CAR, AND HOTWIRE IT EVEN IF IT’S A NEW WORLD ORDER AI SCARY BOT CAR!!! TIRED OF WAITING FOR A FEW YEARS TO RETURN There WHEREVER!! And A FRUSTRATED TRAVELER(S), BECOMES A HOSTILE CRANKY TRAVELER(S)!!!

Sad to not see more comments since Covid… It’s like a message in a bottle thrown into the sea. I’m French, 35 yo, fit, gentleman, I don’t smoke, marketing manager teleworking, looking for a travel buddy, a woman, I’m not vaccinated, I already moved to different places with my car in France but I also plan to travel in EU, I usually stay a month or more in the same place. I like to explore around, to try the local food, organic mostly, monuments, history, nature… The week I stay around the place to work and do multimedia art, music, etc. on my laptop… I don’t need someone but when I see that most places I rent are for 2 minimum, well… It’s a shame not to share this experience, right?

TravBuddy & Thorntree shut down their service.

GAFFL is a similar site which matches up travelers with similar travel plans and ensures the safety of travelers through their well-built verification process. Currently, it has users from over 170 countries.

This can be a great addition to this list.

Hi my name is LUIS I live in Houston to and I’m ready for new adventures

Teacher: Looking for travel buddy know knows how to budget. Currently in Mexico and looking to head to Asia. Any takers? My goal is to travel with Will one day!

Yes i too would like to travel to Asia! You still down for it?

Hi Guy !!! I am an asian guy,living in the Netherlands now.I will be travelling to Viet Nam ( from 12th/Jan/2019 till 28/febr/2018. I wanna look for a travelbuddy to join me .You dont need to travel as long as i do if you cant.You dont need to travel with me all the time either,if you dont want it.You can catch me up during imy holiday in Viet Nam.Travelling with me together wont be only a great fun, but it will also be a great advantage for you,because i have known the beaufitul cities and countrysides in Viet nam,i do know where we can get cheap accomodation ,, cheap and delicious local food..and wonderful highlights in Viet nam too.Ofcourse you can afford in travelling with me with your low budget . I can speak Vietnamese ,English and Dutch.Any guys are interested in being on vacation with me together in Viet Nam.Be welcome to contact me : [email protected] Greeting. Khale

Hi I’m isaac 28 yr old currently homeless having lost both my parents rest of family have turn there back on me looking for a buddy to travel with I’ve haven’t got much but a good Hart and great company.

I am nearing 60 , but my heart is still of 25 . Passionate about Travel ( Nature) , Sports Music . I have traveled 59 countries so far , partially due to my official requirement and remaining pleasure- trip . I have now enough free time to explore the World with some like minded travelers at economical way . South America , Australia-New Zealand, Japan , Scandinavian Countries are in my bucket list. I am of very flexible and adjusting nature . I am now looking for a like minded travel buddy. Anyone interested ? [email protected]

I would like to add https://travelmate.world to your list as well 🙂 It’s more than just a platform to meet travel buddies. You can also write a free travel blog and ask others for help.

Nice one! It is really nice to watch people going back to good old fashioned hobby – travelling. I love those new travel platforms and apps, allowing people to find ideal companion from a different country so quickly and easily. I do not have many experiences with a “travel buddy” system, but many times I heared about https://tripgiraffe.com/

Another good article for finding travel partners.. Also, Babak I really liked your network you’ve created too! I started my own travel network a while back for finding like-minded travel partners also – http://www.travelchum.net

Great roundup. I’d add another free resource: https://www.tripolette.com/ I started Tripolette to help you find other travelers with similar plans and share trips together. The benefit of this over other forums is the powerful search and discovery, and social aspect. Give me a shout if you like it!

I’ve taken a lot from this post. Firstly – awesome idea about making the facebook group for your itinerary, I always struggle so much remembering who to tell.

BUT, mostly I’ve decided that if you’re ever short of cash, you should contact Colegate and offer to promote them while you travel. They sponsor you to smile next to a famous landmark and boom, you’re rolling in dollar. While giving 60% to your manager in commission for coming up with such a great idea of course.

Oh, I’ll be your Colegate manager by the way.

This looks crazy fun. This is one of the best things in travelling with family and friends. You get to do all things that can give you the fun that you need.

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What is Wander?

With the Wander app, you'll be able to instantly connect with other people who plan to travel to the same destination(s) as you over the same dates. Whether you’re backpacking solo, going on a short vacation with friends, or simply exploring your own city, anyone can use Wander to find others to join them! Users are able to create their own trips for others to join, or to search for other people’s existing trips and request to join those themselves.

Create your traveler profile

Build your traveler profile and stand out by posting your best travel pictures!

Join individual and group trips, or create your own

It’s entirely up to you. You can request to join individual travelers on their trips, larger groups that have already been formed through the app, or you can choose to create and post your own trip for others to join!

Easily plan your trip

Easily get in touch with those you match with and plan the remaining details of your upcoming trip together.

Manage your past and upcoming trips

Monitor and modify your upcoming trips in an organized location, with the ability to remove yourself from someone else's trips where necessary.

Share your trip with like-minded people

Search worldwide travelers.

Use the global Wander map to search for other people heading to the same place that you're planning to visit over the same dates, and join them through the app.

Join others' trips or create your own

Decide whether to create your own trip and let other people request to join you, or find existing trips and request to join those yourself.

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Our mission is to connect world travelers and tourists alike, making wander a worldwide marketplace and community. we are keen to make the process of finding people to travel with a simpler one, through the building of an international community. we believe that traveling (be it a backpacking trek or a week-long beach vacation) is the ultimate way to connect people from around the world and their cultures - and that's why we want to have you join us., by joining wander, you'll have access to a worldwide community of people sharing the same love for travel. making friends and connections whilst on the road can be both a challenging and time-consuming experience; a lot of the time, we rely on pure luck to cross paths with other like-minded travelers. here at wander, we believe that finding someone to travel with should be an easy, fast and enjoyable activity. whether you're a solo traveler, part of a larger group, traveling domestically, or traveling internationally, you can use wander to get in touch with new friends and share your future adventures with them. you don’t even need to be traveling in order to use wander; perhaps you have a free weekend and want to hang out with tourists to show them around your city join wander’s travel community and be ready to find others to make new memories with, all around the world., "heard about an app which provides opportunities for travelers to explore and meet people around them that can usually strengthen friendships. wander looks handy and easy to use. the app to be launched could become a must-have for my journeys. can't wait to use it", hiedie dumagay, "this is literally what i was looking for. nowadays it is way too easy to get in touch with someone to date or meet on apps and web platforms, but relatively hard to find the right travel buddy for my trips. i'm quite confident this app will successfully connect travelers around the world.", rick schroeder, "i subscribed immediately to the wander waitlist. awesome my heart beats for this already, even i haven‘t seen it yet. there is so much sense and huge value within. hope wander will launch very soon, can't wait to share my traveling journeys with new exciting travel buddies around the world", hannah amstad, "the wander app is a great idea. i travel frequently and finally i'll be able to immerse myself into a real traveling experience by joining other people. my next travel mates will be met on wander", dakota verrico, "as a solo traveller i have been often in situations where finding someone to travel with was kind of nightmare. there is  some magic in the wander concept of connecting with other people. in my 20's i was doing lot of wwoof and backpacking and is really similar to the user experience that wander is describing in its app.", erik deslin, bringing world travelers closer., subscribe and get notified of news and exciting posts about wander..

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Home » Travel Tips

How to Find a Travel Buddy: Your Guide to Finding the Perfect Partner for Your Next Vacay

The term buddy system has been used for years, first by soldiers on the battlefield and then by parents in the suburbs. And while we may have rolled our eyes or grumbled under our breath as children, with age comes wisdom and the truth that, sometimes, it’s nice to have a buddy, especially as you travel the world. But then comes the hard part. How do you find this elusive travel buddy to share in your adventures?

Fear not. It doesn’t matter if you’re a shy solo traveler or an outgoing adventure travel connoisseur; you can find travel buddies anywhere. 

Discover our tips for finding your perfect travel partner and where to get started!

Table of Contents

1. don’t be hasty, 2. know that you’ll never find the perfect travel partner, 3. find someone with a sense of humor, 4. know when to call it quits, 3. travello, 4. couchers.org, 5. tourlina, 6. women welcome women worldwide, 7. tripgiraffe, 8. backpackr, 9. intrepid group tours, 10. stroll buddy, 11. social media, looking for the perfect travel partner next vacay has your back, 4 tips for finding a travel companion.

Finding the perfect travel partner isn’t so much about finding the perfect person to travel with. Instead, it’s about finding someone who can enrich your experience and make it better than if you had opted for solo travel. 

With that in mind, here are four tips to ensure you’re not just choosing a travel companion who looks good on paper but one who takes your travels to new heights.

Patience is a virtue, especially when choosing a travel buddy with whom you’ll spend significant time as you trot the globe together. The last thing you want to do is rush the process and pick someone who doesn’t share the same interests or enjoy traveling the way you do. 

Some travelers love trekking through the wild outdoors, while others prefer their most strenuous activities to be picking their way over rain puddles on a cobblestone street. 

Having different travel interests is fine and expected, but if you and your travel partner don’t see eye to eye on anything in the trip itinerary, you may as well elect to travel solo at that point . Trying to navigate different travel styles and compromise on what you’re doing won’t be fun for you or your potential travel partner.

You want to find a travel buddy that complements your personality and travel style. So, think of your search like a jigsaw puzzle. You wouldn’t steal a piece from another jigsaw and ram it into the one you’re trying to complete just to say you did it. As you search for your travel companion, keep in mind you want to find a piece that matches the rest of your jigsaw, i.e., someone who fits near seamlessly into your travels.

Unrealistic expectations can derail the best-laid plans.

Wanting a “perfect” travel buddy is setting yourself up for disappointment. Unless you somehow rope Keanu Reeves into traveling with you—we’re pretty sure he’s one of the nicest/coolest people on the planet—you can expect some bumpy patches during your travels. 

The bright side, or downside, or maybe it’s just a fact of life, is that you’d run into this problem with anybody. We’d like to know one couple, pair of friends, or sibling duo that hasn’t fought, especially when traveling together. 

Sharing your life with someone else can get messy. The same is true for traveling with someone else. And expecting perfection from them is a double-edged sword that will certainly nick you at some point as well. 

No one is perfect. 

So, look for a travel buddy with whom you mesh well. If you can help fill in each other’s gaps, even better. Maybe you have an impeccable sense of direction while they have an outgoing and approachable demeanor. Don’t get hung up on perfection. Instead, look for ways you and your partner complement one another and can help each other grow.

You’ll find your search a lot easier in the long run and connect with more potential travel partners.

We think this one pretty much speaks for itself. Trips seldom go as planned. Unexpected situations can pop up in the blink of an eye, and plans get rearranged or canceled entirely. 

Having an easy-going travel companion ready to take the day in stride and crack a joke or two is the exact kind of person you’ll want by your side when everything goes south—your plans, not your travels. 

After all, rainy days look a lot less grim when greeted with a smile.

You’re bound to meet a lot of interesting people in your search for a travel companion. As you scope out the best websites for the right person, pay attention to how you feel while chatting. Take note of anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or uncertain, and if things don’t feel right, don’t be afraid to move on. 

Traveling solo will be a better bet than spending your trip with someone who doesn’t make you feel comfortable. 

Of course, once you’ve found someone to travel with, you may find that you don’t mesh as well as you thought you did after you’ve gotten out on the road. Maybe they travel a lot more than you or spend the whole trip talking about their ex—we’ve all heard the horror stories. You may find yourself wanting to call it quits halfway through the journey.

This is another reason why an easy-going travel friend is a good call.

Simply put, it’s easier to break things off with someone who won’t throw a fit. Be comfortable and confident with setting boundaries, and don’t be afraid to bail if necessary. 

Provided you aren’t stuck together in a car on an epic road trip around South America, there’s no rule saying you have to stick it out with your travel buddy to the bitter end.

How to Find a Travel Buddy Online: Top 12 Sites

Now that you’re well-equipped with helpful tips on how to find your future travel partner, check out these top sites and travel apps to find a travel buddy. 

Whether you’re looking for someone to plan a whole trip with or just someone to spend a day with, you’re bound to meet people and find the perfect travel buddy for your next trip!

1. GAFFL  

GAFFL stands for Get a Friend for Life. While we can’t attest to that claim, GAFFL does offer the opportunity to find your perfect travel buddy, whether you’re looking for a forever friend or just a friendly face to split the costs of your travel. Simply search your destination, then browse through trips or create your own to find like-minded travelers with similar travel dates who can share your experience—and the bill.

A three-step verification process for users includes a valid government ID so that you can feel safer about your potential travel buddy. Just sign up, connect, and start chatting to find your perfect travel companion.

While the platform is extremely helpful, it’s not exactly free. Arguably, the biggest drawback to the site is that GAFFL users have to pay to access trips, with prices ranging from $9.99 for one month to $39.99 for 12 months. On the upside, these are one-time payments with no recurring fees. The downside is that even if you want to check out the site before using it, you have to pay the one-month fee for access.

Reddit isn’t just for getting news updates and reading incredible—and cringe-worthy—stories. It’s also a great resource for finding all kinds of travel-related content. And, yes, that includes finding travel companions!

The TravelPartners subreddit helps people find a travel buddy or simply new friends to meet up with as they solo travel the world. 

Check out previous posts to see if anything aligns with your travel plans. If you’re new to Reddit, your account must be a week old before you can post your own trip details. 

And if you’re more interested in solo travel with some companionship sprinkled in, the SoloTravel subreddit is perfect for getting advice on just that. You’ll find recommendations for finding people to meet up with for group tours, social events, and more.

Travello bills itself as the “complete social travel app” and is probably one of the best apps for finding travel partners. You can meet friends, book experiences, and share your travel stories with posts and pictures. 

Whether you’re a digital nomad or solo traveler, users can create their perfect travel community within the app, discovering new friends nearby and at their destination. Adding your travel plans to your Trips immediately opens the door to possible connections, as Travello will tell you who else has similar itineraries. 

You can also join special interest groups to find travelers with similar passions, like backpacking, photography, etc. 

Being a solo traveler can be tough, but Travello makes it easier by connecting you with other travelers. You can find travel companions and even hunt down free Wi-Fi spots through the app. Talk about the complete package.

Couchers.org bills itself as a new and improved alternative to Couchsurfing. Though Couchsurfing has been a big name in the travel industry for years, it was hit hard by COVID and has been plagued by issues stemming from its for-profit structure, unsavory users, and buggy tech. 

Couchers.org aims to address those issues and remain non-profit by returning to the original essence that existed at Couchsurfing’s core years ago. 

While still in its beta stages, the community is growing rapidly. Users can find many useful features, including a map to help locate potential hosts. Aside from finding a place to stay, Couchers.org is an excellent place for solo travelers to find new friends, chat, and plan meetups.

Tourlina is all about the female travel buddy experience: only women are allowed to use the app. This makes it perfect for women who don’t feel comfortable finding travel companions of the opposite sex. All new members are manually verified, so female travelers can feel a bit safer knowing their potential travel buddy has already been vetted. 

Once you sign up, you can enter your trip destination and dates and find other solo travelers with similar interests. You can also find local people in the area to chat and meet up with once you arrive.

Women Welcome Women Worldwide, more commonly known as 5W, is an organization focused on helping women travel internationally and connect with women all over the globe. Though based in the UK, as the name suggests, women from all over can join. 

Created by women for women, 5W offers a safe space for solo travelers to chat, find travel friends, and engage in a global network of like-minded souls. Travelers can do everything from connecting with a local for lunch to arranging meetups with larger groups.

5W allows women to solo travel without being one hundred percent alone. New members can join with a donation of just under $50 USD. 

TripGiraffe provides a straightforward, easy-to-use website to find a partner for your global travels. Finding a travel buddy is as simple as filling out a trip form. 

Though you can browse available trips, creating a new trip is one of the best ways to connect with people on the site, and TripGiraffe allows you to fill out more specific details. Of course, you’ll enter the broad destination and travel dates, but then users can fill out info like preferred type of vacation, budget, how they like to travel, and even what they’re interested in doing while there. 

This helps you truly hone in on the best travel buddies for your vacation. 

The site then directs users to a suggestions page, where they can find other travelers going to the same place and even invite travelers they think might like to travel together.  

Backpackers who want to embark on a new adventure and meet up with fellow travelers can check out Backpackr. 

Everything about this app caters to the backpacker experience. Making friends is made easy with the ability to find travel buddies with the same passions and plans to go to the same destinations. 

In the Common Room, you can ask other travelers for advice on places to see and things to do and arrange to meet up before your actual trip. 

The app also provides exclusive offers on local tours, hostels, pub crawls, and more, enhancing the social aspect of backpacking.

They say that a good friend is the best thing you can bring on your travels. But, if you can’t bring a friend, you can still share your experiences with others! Intrepid offers small group tours perfect for solo travelers interested in meeting up with fellow adventurers. 

With over half of Intrepid’s community being solo travelers, you’re bound to run into a travel buddy who shares similar interests. 

Even if you’re not looking for a forever travel mate, sometimes it’s nice just to have company. Intrepid’s group travel offers the comfort of numbers and some free time to get out and do your own thing. 

Between your fellow travelers and the local leaders who know the area, you’ll be in good hands during your trip.

Formerly the Global Greeter Network, Stroll Buddy is a non-profit organization with volunteers offering visitors a personalized peek into their city. 

For solo travelers just looking for a short-term travel companion, Stroll Buddy may be the perfect fit. You can connect with a friendly face at your destination and get an insider tour without the commitment of a long-term travel buddy, leaving you to solo travel through the rest of your trip in peace.

Once you select your destination, you can request a stroll buddy through the online form. From there, it’s a simple matter of strapping on a pair of comfy shoes and linking up with your stroll buddy.

Social media was built to connect people, so it’s no surprise that it does a good job connecting travelers, too. Facebook is an excellent source for travelers from around the globe, making it easier to chat, share advice, and find travel buddies!

Possibly its greatest advantage is Facebook groups, which allow people to join a community of individuals who share common experiences and interests. 

Women traveling solo can join GirlsLOVETravel to plan meetups with other females, while LGBTQ travelers can get travel tips from others in their community. You’re bound to find a Facebook group for whatever you can dream up.

Meetup is a familiar name in the online social network sphere that has also been helping people build connections for years. 

Whether you want to attend an event for tips on how to find travel buddies or take your search out into the world by joining a group, Meetup is a great place to get started finding events in your area. 

With regular events and members, you’ll be able to spend time with people and experience how well you get along in person before possibly embarking on a trip together.

Traveling the world without a partner isn’t just intimidating, it can be costly too. With expenses racking up every way you look, you may think your dreams of travel are over before they’ve even begun.

Enter your new travel buddy. 

Next Vacay takes the weight off your shoulders with a dedicated team of savvy deal hunters finding you all the best flights to global destinations. Deals are customized to your airport and delivered to your inbox, so all you have to do is click and book. No more going it solo; you’ve found the perfect travel partner. Plan your next trip with Next Vacay !

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How to find your next Travel Buddies

by Kira | Mar 23, 2023 | Travel Buddies , Travel Tips

Find Travel Buddies and never travel alone again!

Are you a solo traveler but hate feeling alone when traveling? Find Travel Buddies and travel solo without feeling alone. In this post, you can find out what precisely a Travel Buddy is, why traveling with a travel partner is a great idea, and where to find the best Travel Buddies worldwide.

What is a Travel Buddy?

A travel buddy joins you on one or many of your travel adventures. A travel buddy can be a friend you already know or a like-minded traveler you can find on different platforms and apps. Traveling together is one of the best ways to bond and find new friends.

Are you worried about traveling with strangers? Understandable, but websites will often verify their travelers and support you every step of the way. So, no need to worry!

Why should I look for travel partners when traveling solo?

Don’t get us wrong; solo travel is amazing when traveling the world. You’ll get to discover everything your way and at your pace. With travel companions, you’ll be able to do just that, but you’ll ditch the travel loneliness and meet new people with similar interests. With small group tours by JoinMyTrip, you’ll get to travel your way and will be able to get the perfect mix of group adventures and me-time.

Travel your way with JoinMyTrip

How to find a good travel buddy.

Finding a travel partner can be a challenge, but not to worry! We’re here to help, so your travel plans will be the best ever! Here are some tips and tricks for finding the perfect travel friends!

• Know what you want This is important! You should know what you want and how you want it. Are you an active traveler, or do you want to spend your days on the beach? Decide what you want , and you’ll find the best trip for yourself.
• Know your budget Most small-group tours only include certain costs, like transportation at the destination, accommodation, and some activities. Be aware of the possible costs of food, your flight, and activities you would want to do by yourself.
• Where do you want to travel? Which destination has been on your list? Where do you want to go? The world is just waiting to be explored, so choose your next destination now!
• How do you want to travel? There are many different ways to travel. You can choose the Contiki way with big groups and quick itineraries where you’ll see everything in a short period of time! Or you can decide on smaller group trips hosted by locals or experienced travelers, for example, on JoinMyTrip !

How do I find a travel buddy online?

At this point, we all know how amazing the internet can be, and by now, it’s even possible to find the perfect travel buddy on social networks, sites for travelers, and amazing apps! Here are the top picks for finding travel buddies online.

Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups are a good way of connecting with other people sharing your interest. There are a lot of groups connecting travelers from all over the world. Here are some top picks for you

• Reisepartner gesucht A group that initially connected Germans who wanted to travel together but now has more and more international members. 42.300 Group Members (March 2023)
• TravelBuddies by JMT An international travel group that connects travelers from around the world. Here you’ll find an international audience. 3.300 Group Members (March 2023)
• Als Frau alleine Reisen Another popular German travel group that connects female travel buddies and solo female travelers . If you want to find more Facebook Groups where women welcome women, check out our guide to the best groups out there. 22.800 Group Members (March 2023)

Another great way to meet travel buddies is through Meet up Groups and Events. Worldwide you’ll find more than 35 Million users on the platform. Let us share our best Meet Up Groups with you or check out local meet-up groups worldwide.

• JoinMyTrip – London Travel Club with more than 2.500 members sharing your love for travel
• JoinMyTrip – Amsterdam Travel Club with more than 2.000 members
• JoinMyTrip – Lisbon Travel Club with nearly 2.500 members

Of course, there are even more websites out there which will help you find travel buddies around the globe. Here are some of our top picks:

• Solo Female Travelers
• Intrepid Travel

To find the perfect small group tour company for you, check out our favorites list .

Find your next adventure buddy with JoinMyTrip and discover a new way of travel!

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Guide to finding the best travel buddy online

Traveling solo is a choice of many, but if you are dreading the thought of it, then are ways to find an agreeable travel companion. You can choose to travel with someone for the entire journey or for some part of the journey, or only join someone for a day or two. Or if you are a woman traveler, and apprehensive to travel solo, you need not sit at home and dream of places, but go there with a lady friend who you can trust. You can find the perfect travel buddy online through various sites and apps, and travel forums. With a travel buddy you can cut costs of accommodation and transport, and have someone on hand in case of medical emergencies.

Guide to finding best travel buddy online

You can leave things to fate and decide to make friends with someone or some people during your travels, which is one way of finding a travel friend/s. Most people these days take the help of sites online and social media, and come across like-minded people traveling to the same place.

Use social media

You must already be on some social media or the other. Use your friends on Twitter or Facebook to meet other people who want to visit the same places as you.

Some cities have TweetUps, where people meet their Twitter friends. It could turn out to be an incredible experience and helpful as well, when you pick up the travel intel of that place.

Facebook groups

Apps to find travel buddies

There are some cool smartphone apps to find a travel buddy online.

There are specialized groups on the app too, such as photographers, female travelers, solo travelers, and more. In addition, the ‘explore’ tab gives you much needed information about travel deals, meetups near you and Wi-Fi spots you can use for free.

This smartphone app helps to find your travel buddy online, not only in the destinations, but in airports or in flights. You never have to feel bored waiting for hours for your flight when traveling solo, if you can meet with someone who is also alone and on Wingman in the same airport or flight.

Trip Together

We have classified this as an app, but it is an app and website both. The database is huge – more than a million travelers are registered on this site. You can opt to find travel friends throughout the journey, or just meet a travel partner at just the destination. Create your profile, sign up and search. Once you find a potential buddy, send them a message through the app.

Hello Tel App

It’s an app for both Android and iOS which has a network of 150,000 users. It connects travelers staying at same place or hotel. The app is quite flexible as it allows posting photos, post comments and questions, planning meetups and asking for recommendations. It sounds like a good app for connecting solo travelers who want to meet other people.

Best websites to find your travel buddy

Via the discover feature, you can find locals and travelers at particular locations, and send messages to connect in an instant. The site offers a good safety check, asking for 4 step verification of IDs. You can read the reviews of people written by others stating whether they are good travel companions or not. You can write reviews also, and others would also write about you. This makes it easier to know the personality of people, and whether they would be compatible with you.

The website has an app which allows travelling buddies to split the cost before, after or during the trip, allowing people to post bills and pay into its system. Money is remitted after the trip starts. You will have to sign up to see the trip descriptions, and the ‘Help’ link is actually quite helpful to understands how their system works.

Couchsurfing/CS

Couchsurfing or CS as it is better known is one of the websites for finding travel buddy online, as well as a site where you can find free accommodation. Many travelers have found travel friends through this site’s forums. Check the ‘Travel Buddies’ and ‘Backpacker’ groups as well as the groups for the country or region you’re planning to visit. You might find a CSer in that country itself, if the solitude has got to you, and you want some company to enjoy a hot coffee with.

Challenge Chum

It’s a new initiative which connects die-hard adventurers with other intrepid adventurers, to go on some epic adventures. If your idea of vacationing is to experience out of the way adventures in an unknown land, then go on this website to find a friend who thinks just like you.

Trip Giraffe

On this site, you can join on somebody else’s trip or post a trip of your own which others can join in. It offers the flexibility to connect with fellow travelers abroad or at home. Typically, people list the name of the destination, dates of journey, travelling style (city break, beach, backpacking or any other), gender of the companion, budget and whether you want to share the room and more. Photos of travel buddies are also posted. There’s a useful blog section where the travelers post loads of tips and stories.

Travelfish may be new, but it is considered to be a good way to connect with people who want to visit South East Asia. And they have a section devoted completely to finding a companion – the Companions board.

TravellersPoint

Meetup is really good to find activity groups, anywhere in the world. There are photography, wine tasting and cinema groups, for example and these activity groups are great to meet local people and get to know them.

Word of caution – always ‘meetup’ in a safe place, preferably public, well-knit places where there are lots of people around. Take the same precautions you would when you go out on blind dates. Be on your guard, and if you feel something is off, gracefully make your excuses and get out of there. This rule actually applies to all potential travel buddies, as you would have never met earlier.

But don’t let this deter you on your quest to find travel buddies online – you may have a wonderful, memorable experience and tons of fun with your new friend, just like other people have!

Travel forums

Lonely planet thorn tree travel forum.

Image Source : thelongestwayhome.com

Almost every traveler on the planet has visited this website at some time or other, even you might have done so! This website is a great way to find travel buddies online, as thousands of travelers or would be travelers visit it daily. Raise your profile on the Thorn Tree forum to increase the chances of getting the right friend for your travels.

In Thorn Tree, you can get responses within hours of posting a query. The Interests category has forums which senior/elderly travelers may be interested in, such as Older Travelers and there is a forum for Travelers with Disabilities. So whoever you are, and whatever your age, gender or condition, Lonely Planet’s Thorn tree would be a good place to find your travel buddy online.

CSTN Google Group

Connecting Solo Travel Network Google or CSTN Google group is a group solely for single travelers. There are travel deals, advice sharing, travel companion ads as well as hospitality exchanges. It has 1900 members, mostly older people. Usually people post to find people to share rooms, which might be too expensive to pay for a single person on cruises, cabins or on tours.

Women Welcome Women WorldWide – 5W

Incredibly, this website has been there since 1984. Started in the United Kingdom, it attracts older women, but of course, women of all ages are members on this site too. It’s a non-profit whose goal is to establish fraternity amongst women, helping each other , offer companionship, foster friendship amd understanding worldwide.

To become a member, the application form has to be filled. Then you can contact the members in countries and/or cities which you find interesting. There are formal ‘gatherings’, one-to-one meetings and informal get togethers also.

TravelSisters

As the name implies, the site is all about female travelers looking for only female travel buddies. It’s a web application’s mission is empowering women worldwide to travel and explore the planet safely. It has a noble aim too – to give back to the places which have been damaged by too much pollution, and they give some part of their profits to charities.

You will have to post your profile which has to include your traveling style and interests. If you choose, you can be verified for safety purposes. The app matches you other profiles, and you can ‘friend’ them. If the person responds, then you can communicate. You can search a travel companion on the site on your own too, join events, ask other women to join your events, meetups and so on.

Global Greeter Network

There are many things you learn when you travel and perhaps learn about who you are too. You can do that alone or with a travel friend, who shares the same interests (and budget!) with you, making your travel a memorable journey.

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10 Best Sites To Find Travel Friends

• February 10, 2022
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Traveling the world is something that many of us want to do at some point in our lives.

We all want to get away from the daily grind, but the thought of traveling solo can be daunting for some.

That’s why it’s great to have travel friends who love to explore new places as much as you do!

But if your friends aren’t up for an adventure, you might find yourself with no one to go on vacation with.

Don’t worry!

This isn’t the end of the world, and there are plenty of ways to find travel friends who want to check out a new city, country, or continent.

Today we’ll look at some tips for finding friends who you can share your love for traveling.

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Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will make a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Table of Contents

Why do you Need Travel Friends?

Having friends who love to go on adventures is a huge benefit.

First of all, it’s easier to feel comfortable exploring a new city or country with someone you know and trust at your side.

Another great benefit of having travel friends is that you’re able to split costs.

You don’t have to worry too much about paying for transportation or your accommodations because you can split the costs with your friends, saving yourself some money.

Having a buddy also makes it easier to explore a new place.

For example, if you’re in Rome and want to go on a day trip to the nearby city of Pompeii, having at least one friend who wants to come makes it easier for you to find transportation and pay for entrance fees.

And don’t forget about fun!

Traveling is more fun when you have someone to share your experiences with.

Disadvantages of Having Travel Buddies

There are plenty of benefits to having travel friends, but there are also some challenges you might face.

The biggest challenge is not getting along with your travel companion.

It’s important to choose your friends carefully and make sure you and your potential travel pals share similar interests in terms of exploring new places and activities in general.

Another challenge is that you might run into problems finding people who want to go on an adventure at the same time as you.

It’s easy enough to find friends who are free during the month of September.

But it might be harder to find someone who can afford to travel in December when the holidays are approaching.

Of course, it’s also beneficial to have time alone when you’re traveling.  

That way you can enjoy your surroundings without having to worry about what your friends are doing or saying.

10 Best Sites to find Travel Friends

Now that you know why it’s so beneficial to have travel friends, let’s look at some of the best websites you can use to find people who are interested in joining your next adventure.

Below are 10 sites where you can find reliable and like-minded travel buddies for your next trip:

Meetup is one of the best ways to find a travel partner.

You can find meetups based on your interests, whether you like exploring new cultures or visiting local breweries.  

Not only does Meetup make it easy to meet like-minded people who share your interest in traveling.

But you’ll also be able to meet people in your city who love to go on adventures.

To check out what Meetups are happening in your area, click here .

Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is a website that connects travelers and locals.

You’ll find hosts all over the world eager to welcome you into their home and show you around their city or country.

Another great thing about Couchsurfing is that not only will you get to meet your potential travel buddies, but once you’re in their city, you can ask for tips on the best places to go.

Click here to check out Couchsurfing and create a profile.

Airbnb is another website where hosts are eager to welcome travelers into their homes or apartment.

Since there are hosts all over the world on this site, you’ll have a lot of potential destinations.

And you can make friends with your hosts and even see if they would show you around the area.

Another great option on the app is Airbnb Experiences.

Airbnb offers a variety of activities you can sign up for, from surfing lessons to cooking classes.

This is another great way to explore a new place by making travel friends and doing something fun together.

To find your new travel buddies on Airbnb, click here .

Girls Love Travel

Girls Love Travel is a Facebook group that was created to help female travelers connect with each other.

It has over 1 million members from all around the world, making it one of the easiest ways to find a new travel partner.

If you are looking for travel friends, this is one of the best and safest places to find them.

And the founder also hosts new travel destination getaways that you can join.

Click here to join the Girls Love Travel community!

Workaway is another great website to find a travel partner but also earn some money when exploring a new place.

It’s a site where you can find different work opportunities with hosts all over the world.

They even have a dedicated section on their site where you can find a travel buddy to join you on your journey.

To find a travel buddy and new destinations on Workaway, click here .

Reddit is a great discussion forum where you can find topics that might interest you.

You can join different subreddits and find travel buddies through them.

One message board where you can post queries to find the perfect partner for travel is the Travel Partners subreddit.

Here you can find people who share your interests and are looking for travel friends.

International Greeter Association

If you want to visit a new city all by yourself but would love some local guidance, there is no better way than to join the International Greeter Association.

They have volunteer locals who greet visitors and give them insider information on the best places to go in their area.

So whether you are interested in exploring New York or Melbourne, you’ll find a local that will welcome you.

Click here to join the International Greeter Association.

Intrepid has been leading small group adventure tours for over 30 years.

They have a dedicated section on their website where you can apply to join a tour with them and other travelers.

If you want to explore a new destination with an experienced leader, this is one of the best ways to do it.

Click here to search for Intrepid Group tours across the world.

Go GAFFL is a website that was created to connect people who want to travel together.

You can find your ideal travel partner by specifying what type of traveler you are and where you want to go.

This way, you’ll know within seconds whether or not there’s someone out there who shares the same interests as you.

Click here to find the perfect travel buddy on Go GAFFL.

Fairy Trail Dating

If you’ve always dreamed of meeting your other half while traveling, Fairy Trail Dating is the website for you.

It’s a site where solo travelers can find their perfect travel companion.

With over 30,000 members worldwide, you’ll have no problem finding your ideal travel buddies.

Click here to join Fairy Trail Dating now!

So there you have it, the 10 best websites where you can meet travel a partner who can join you on your next trip.

Other Ways to find Travel Friends Online

There are tons of other ways to make new friends and experience a destination from a local’s perspective.

Here are just a few of them:

Ask friends and family to recommend a good travel buddy.

One of the easiest ways to find new travel buddies is by asking the people who know you best.

If you have friends or family that love to travel, just ask for their advice and recommendations on where they’ve found the best travel companions.

Or if they know someone who would be interested in joining you, chances are that they’ll be able to connect you both.

Join Facebook groups.

There are tons of Facebook groups dedicated to people who share your interests.

Whether it’s cooking or traveling, there is sure to be a group for you.

Just search for a topic that interests you on Facebook and join a group of like-minded people.

You can then post a query about your travel plans and see if anyone can join you on your adventure.

But make sure not to share any personal information until you get to know people better.

Go on an organized tour.

If you are not the type of person to travel alone, there are plenty of tour operators where you can join with other travelers.

This way, you’ll always have companions on your journey and there won’t be any risk of getting lost along the way.

Tips for Finding the Best Travel Friends

Now that you know where to look for the best travel buddies, here are some of the basics you should consider when trying to find companions for your next adventure.

Make sure you’re compatible.

Just because someone is your travel friend, that doesn’t mean you should trust them blindly.

Make sure they share the same interests as you and if possible, find out how well you work together before heading out on a long trip.

Trust your gut instinct.

If something seems off or weird, it probably isn’t the best idea to stick around with that person.

Make sure they are genuine and you won’t have any problems on your trip together.

Be clear about what you want.

Don’t go into a traveling friendship with unrealistic expectations.

So make sure to set guidelines on how often you’re willing to travel together and agree on what the expectations are.

Share responsibilities.

It’s always a good idea to share the cost of your trip so that everything is fair and there won’t be any issues later down the road.

So before embarking on your adventure, make sure you agree on how much you’ll be spending and on what.

Because it is better to be safe than sorry, so make sure there are no financial misunderstandings that may arise later on.

Be flexible and have fun!

Even if you don’t click with someone as a travel friend, make sure you still enjoy your time together.

Don’t take everything too seriously and keep an open mind when traveling with other people.

By following these tips, you’ll be able to find travel buddies that will share the same interests as you with little to no problems along the way.

Now that you know where and how to look for travel partners, it’s time to get out there and explore!

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re traveling alone or in a group, there are plenty of people out there who can make your trip even better.  

All you have to do is find them!

Even if you consider yourself an introvert and having friends while traveling isn’t that important to you, it’s still nice to share an adventure with someone who understands the ins and outs of the country you’re visiting.

Because there’s always something to learn from other people, whether it’s where to eat or what not to do.

So go out there and make your next adventure even better by finding travel friends who can join you on your journey!

And try one or more of the websites listed above.

Who knows, you might make a new friend for life!

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Use The GAFFL App To Find A Travel Buddy, Share Costs & Experiences

Tired of traveling alone? Use the world's best travel buddy app to meet travelers & locals from over 190 countries, plan trips, and go on adventures together.

Our Key Features.

Find A Travel Buddy Around The World

The best way to find a travel buddy on the GAFFL app is to search for your desired destination and browse through thousands of user generated trips created by solo travelers around the world.

Connect With Travelers Instantly

If you like a trip on GAFFL, simply click 'Connect,' and you'll be able to chat in-app with your travel partner right away.

Use In-App Messaging To Plan A Trip

Finding travel companions on the app is very simple. Use our world-class real-time messaging system to get to know your potential travel partner. Chat with them to see if they'd be a good travel companion for you, and then plan a trip, meet up with them, and start exploring together.

Why GAFFL Is The Best App To Find Travel Companions

GAFFL is the best app for solo travelers looking for travel companions online because we take pride in instilling trust and safety in our users. Our multi-step verification process includes social media, phone number, and a valid government ID, so you can be confident in your potential travel partner.

What GAFFL Users Are Saying

"It’s really nice to have a platform like GAFFL with lots of travelers wanting to do the same as you, a real beautiful cultural exchange. You can meet people so easily and in a trustful way. We were four girls, from French, German and American backgrounds, without knowing each other from before. We spent an amazing week together, 2000km driving, camping on the way. We saw kangaroos, koalas, penguins and pelicans"

“I have found GAFFL to be an amazing tool for finding similar minded travel partners to embark on an adventure. Through GAFFL, I had organized a trip to Mexico City last month and Quazi joined the trip from Victoria, BC. We spent 14 days of straight exploring, hiking, eating and drinking. Quite an amazing experience - all thanks to GAFFL!”

"I accidentally scrolled across GAFFL and I'm so pleased I did. I met Amaia and immediately decided to road-trip together. We're spending 10 days together and it's great because we have so much in common. Couldn't have done it without GAFFL helping us find one another! It has honestly made NZ so much cheaper to explore as I get to split the costs with someone too​"

One of the things that hold people back is that they don’t have a partner or a best friend to travel with and they feel scared and uncertain to travel alone, especially long-term. GAFFL helps with that!

Another thing that holds people back is the perceived cost of travel. While travel doesn’t have to be expensive, it’s always more affordable when you can share the cost of accommodation and groceries with someone else. Again, GAFFL provides a solution for that!

I think this is a fabulous idea because the things that can get expensive while solo traveling can usually also be easily split between people. If you aren’t a hostel fan, it would be awesome to have people to split hotels and Airbnb with.

If car rental is the cheapest way to get around a destination, it would be ideal to have others to split the costs with. But most importantly it always makes the experience that much more memorable when you have new friends to share it with.

We truly believe that the best memories and experiences are the ones that are shared with others. It doesn’t matter if you’ve known someone for an hour or your whole life, when you do something badass together it’s sure to be a time you won’t forget.

Making connections and becoming friends with people all over the world is such a powerful tool to have when traveling. One day maybe you’ll visit your new friend in their homeland. Some of the best trips happen when you have a friend playing tour guide in their country.

GAFFL is a really cool opportunity to enrich your travels with like-minded people who will push you to get out of your comfort zone. No matter what type of personality you have, making new friends on the road is easier than ever.

I think GAFFL plays a role by allowing solo travelers to find travel buddies when needed. Though solo travel is a great way to travel, there are some experiences that are better enjoyed with more people (some don’t even allow for solo).

Friends and families are not always available to travel with, and sometimes the interests do not align for travel. Or sometimes you just want to socialize while still being solo most of the time. I think GAFFL helps solve these problems.

Solo travel is great. But there are some times that I do not recommend someone travel solo and where I personally try my hardest not to travel solo. Some examples of this relate to safety, like hiking a trail that doesn’t have many people walking it each day, or being in certain destinations where I’ve heard from others that it’s difficult as a solo female.

Other examples relate to expenses, like taking a road trip and renting a car. Situations like these are where I think something like GAFFL is a great idea. With GAFFL, you can find a group to go on that hike with or split that car rental with!

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What should you do first while looking for a travel buddy?

Many people who desire to travel around the world and see breathtaking places don’t have a suitable travel companion. And not everyone can make an announcement “travel buddy wanted” via social networks.

Most likely your perfect travel buddy and even destiny are not among your old internet friends. And this is the main reason to start looking for a travel buddy on the special project. At first pick and post your best photos, decide where you want to go and what do you plan to visit, write all hobbies, interests and plans in your personal profile and start an exciting race of making new friends all around our planet.

There are several secrets that help while choosing a travel buddy

Pay attention to people’s plans and habits. For example, if a person writes in a profile that he prefers energetic lifestyle with tons of activities and you enjoy calm and quite sightseeing – probably you won’t make a good match even if other interests are similar. If you two are early birds – that’s great, if not it could do you wrong. Imagine the situation when your buddy is a night owl and doesn’t give you a chance to rest.

So try to write a list of what you prefer while traveling. Do you like organized or spontaneous trips? Riding a car or hiking miles? Dining at home or tasting foreign cuisine? And you can also mention on what side of the bed you sleep. Make a funny note - travel buddy with left bedside preference wanted. Fortunately, your perfect travel buddy will appreciate this tiny joke. And don’t forget that sense of humor is one of the most important things in any relationship.

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By using this app, I made a lot of friends with people around the whole world. Good app, definitely recommend

As a huge traveler myself, I found this app helpful and engaging. Talking to a few people on there was really an eye opening experience.

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I love the face that this app invites everyone who is interested in traveling to join and help build the greatest travel community. I found it amazing to plan a tour with people having same interests, very nice

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8 Websites That Will Change the Way You Book Travel

These tools are what the pros use to stretch their miles, find flight deals, and have the best air travel experiences possible..

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Websites and mobile apps help travelers compare deals, find cheap flights, book hotel rooms, and maximize miles.

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For many travelers, planning a journey is a simple matter of point and click—but there are some amazing booking sites and online tools you may not know about that belong in your travel arsenal. These eight websites can change the way you find price drops, reserve hotel rooms, and book flights at the lowest fares .

1. ITA Matrix

When booking air travel, there are lots of websites that scour the interwebs to find the lowest fares. Many, however, have extremely limited search results, which is why the comprehensive ITA Matrix airfare search comes in handy. The software pairs a wide variety of airlines, classes of service, and even neighboring airports together to show you the lowest fares within the date ranges you’ve entered. Similar to a Kayak.com search, you cannot book travel directly from the site. But ITA Matrix 3.0 is now powered entirely by Google technology, so once you’ve determined the best flight deal, the website directs you to Google Flights when it’s time to book.

2. Lounge Buddy

Lounge Buddy and its corresponding mobile app helps travelers find lounges in airports around the world. The app has a full selection of more than 420 airport clubs and lounges. Each listing includes information about the lounge’s amenities, operating hours, and location, plus user photos and reviews. If you don’t have elite status or lounge membership, don’t fret: The app lets you purchase select airport lounge passes directly through its network on the day of travel or up to two months in advance. The best part of the app is that it is fully functional even when your phone is in airplane mode, giving you lounge options to choose from before you land.

3. Where to Credit

Many domestic airlines have altered frequent flier programs to award miles based on ticket cost rather than distance flown. If you are not interested in elite status (plus the free upgrades and fee waivers that come with it), Where to Credit allows you to maximize your miles through an airline partner’s rewards program rather than with the airline you’re flying. It does this by comparing how many award miles you’ll get with each airline rewards program in an alliance and directing you toward the airline partner with which you’ll maximize the most miles. It’s important to review other airlines’ redemption charts to make sure they don’t impose too many surcharges when making a reservation, but crediting to a foreign program could be the ticket to faster free flights in a world of less-generous North American programs.

4. Expert Flyer

A treasure trove of information, Expert Flyer is a huge resource for frequent fliers, but it is not for novice users. For those schooled in fare codes, this is a great way to see which flights have award availability for free flights or upgrades. Fancy that exit row window? The site, which charges a $5 monthly subscription fee to access most of its basic capabilities, shows full seat map availability and allows you to set alerts for specific seats or even award space so that you’re the first to know when it becomes available. Not all airlines are included, but this one site can take the sting out of booking award tickets.

5. Evreward

If you’re a smart online shopper who also likes to earn miles and points, Evreward is your new best friend. Buyers type in the name of the online store they are interested in, and the site provides names of all the airline, hotel, credit card, and cash back portals that participate in perks and rewards programs—plus how much they will award you when you shop. This website will help beef up your mileage balances so that when it comes time to book your next award flight, you will have more than enough miles to do so.

6. Award Maximizer

With a simple interface, this Travel Codex search engine essentially allows you to search multiple airline award offerings at once. First, you enter the airport codes for the origin and destination of your upcoming journey. The website then pulls up award prices from 14 different airlines to match your trip and shares any booking or fuel surcharges so that you can choose the cheapest flight option. The results page also displays icons next to loyalty programs that represent transfer partners—such as Starwood Preferred Guest, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Amex Membership Rewards—and provides links that help you book a ticket.

7. Flight Aware

Among the many airline websites out there, Flight Aware does a great job of allowing you to track flights around the world in real time by simply inputting information about an operator, airport, or even specific aircraft type. This website, which can also be used via a mobile tracker app , is particularly valuable if you want to see where your aircraft is coming from or learn about an anticipated delay.

8. The Flight Deal

Want to find the greatest airfare deals—and sometimes even mistake fares—before all of the other travelers planning upcoming adventures? Try The Flight Deal , which posts multiple travel deals daily, including details on how to book the cheapest flights within the United States. The site tells you how many miles you would earn in a given airline’s mileage program and includes sample dates of travel, plus any restrictions that come with the fare deal. It also outlines hotel rooms and car rental services and allows you to compare prices so you can save money.

This article originally appeared online in 2016; it was updated in October 2018 to include current information.

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The 14 Best Flight Search Sites for Booking Cheap Airfare

Contributing Editor Carl Unger believes that every trip is worth taking. He loves an extended trip to Europe as much as he enjoys exploring the towns and landscape near home. Basically, you'll find him wherever there is good food, fresh air, and plenty of stories to bring home.

Carl has been writing for SmarterTravel since 2005. His travel writing has also appeared on USA Today and the About.com Boston travel guide.

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Wondering which website you should be booking your airfare with to get the best deal? You’re not alone. There are seemingly endless options when it comes to choosing the best flight booking site these days.

In addition to the option of booking directly with your airline, there are dozens of flight booking websites, also known as online travel agencies (OTAs), to choose from. The uncomfortable truth is that no one flight search engine can guarantee the best price 100 percent of the time, but using a mix of the right resources can help ensure you’re not overpaying.

The Best Flight Booking Sites

One important thing to remember about booking sites/OTAs is that Southwest fares are not sold on them. Some other airlines have also pulled their fares from some booking sites , but most airlines do make their fares available.

Here’s why these 14 are the best flight booking sites and metasearch options out there, and the best defining feature of each. Since it’s impossible to know which site will provide the best price for your particular trip, you should always compare fares from a few sources before you book.

Best Flight Search Site for Comparing Flight Types: Travelocity

It should be noted that Expedia owns Travelocity , so this flight booking site basically gives you Expedia price results with a different color scheme and organizational preferences. Travelocity’s homepage is streamlined but doesn’t offer a flexible-dates search. On the results page, bag fees are revealed by a pop-up screen that activates when clicking each fare, which makes it a little difficult to compare fees (you will likely have to scroll a bit). Travelocity charges booking fees for some but not all flights.

Best Feature: Travelocity displays all fares for a selected flight in a convenient pop-out window, allowing you to compare fares on a given itinerary while still scrolling through options from the search results on the same screen.

Why You Should Always Pack a Second Bag in Your Carry-On?

Best Flight Search Site for Comparison Shopping: BookingBuddy

Editor’s note: BookingBuddy is owned by SmarterTravel Media, SmarterTravel.com’s parent company.

Compare multiple airfare sites with one click to find the best flight deals on BookingBuddy . This metasearch site lets you easily compare prices from other sites (like Priceline) without having to do a bunch of different searches. You can choose which flight search sites you want to compare, and BookingBuddy opens up a new tab with your selected flight dates and destinations already filled in.

Looking for a flight and hotel? BookingBuddy offers a combination flight and hotel search that can save you some decent money by bundling.

Best Feature: Sign up for a price drop alert, and BookingBuddy will email you when costs drop on your route.

Best Flight Search Site for Transparency: Expedia

As previously mentioned, Expedia is nearly identical to Travelocity, but fares did vary between the two sites on some of my searches. As with Travelocity (and to be fair, a number of other OTAs), Expedia will try to up-sell you on adding a hotel to your itinerary. This can save you money, but be sure to compare prices before you book. Expedia charges variable booking fees (and they are not always the same fees that Travelocity charges). When you select your fare from the list of options, there’s an interstitial step that displays what is and isn’t covered in the fare, including seat selection, cancellations, changes, and baggage rules.

Best Feature: Like its subsidiary Travelocity, Expedia basically double-checks that you understand what sort of fare you’re choosing before you click “select” again. It’s a helpful bit of transparency in today’s cluttered airfare landscape.

Best Flight Search Site for Nonstop Flights: CheapOair

Much like Travelocity and Expedia, flight search sites CheapOair and OneTravel (discussed later in this article) are versions of the same product, owned by Fareportal Inc. Though the sites are owned by the same company, the fare results are not always identical, so it’s worth checking both. CheapOair shows some “Super Saver Fares” for which you don’t find out the airline you’ll be flying until after you book—which means you also don’t find out what baggage fees apply until after you book. However, the savings might be worth it. CheapOair charges a service fee on air travel transactions, from $0 to $35 per ticket.

Best Feature: CheapOair prioritizes nonstop prices over itineraries with stops, organized in an easy-to-read chart that’s organized by airline.

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Best Flight Search Site with Flight Reviews: Tripadvisor Flights

Tripadvisor is known for its hotel reviews, and now travelers can apply their ratings to airlines, plus search for airfare on Tripadvisor Flights . On testing this flight booking site it’s clear that Tripadvisor doesn’t always serve up the cheapest fares, but sometimes it did. It always, however, gives you the option to surface Expedia, Travelocity, and other flight booking sites’ results, so you can compare right away with one click. Tripadvisor Flights also has some helpful search options up front, like a checkbox for prioritizing nonstop flights.

Best Feature: Tripadvisor’s flight search tool is unique from others in that it offers review-based FlyScores of airlines alongside their fares, so you’re less likely to book with an obscure, poorly rated airline without realizing it.

Best Flight Booking Site for Environmentally-Conscious Flyers: Skyscanner

Skyscanner is a popular metasearch site that works with hundreds of other travel providers to find the best fares. You can specify nonstop-flights-only right from the homepage, and there’s also a handy “everywhere” option if you don’t have a particular destination in mind and want to see what’s available. Search results show the “best” option (based on a combination of price and speed) as well as the fastest and cheapest, and you can filter by airline, alliance, number of stops, and flight times. When you select a result, you’ll see a variety of places to book that particular flight. Skyscanner casts a wide net, so you’ll often see very cheap fares from booking sites you’ve never heard of; to help you figure out how trustworthy they are, Skyscanner shows user star ratings for each.

Best Feature: For flyers concerned about the environmental impact of their travel, Skyscanner has a unique “Greener flights” filter, which shows only itineraries with lower-than-average CO2 emissions based on your search. The site also highlights certain itineraries in your results as a “greener choice.”

Best Flight Booking Site for Flexible Travel: OneTravel

OneTravel has a similar interface to CheapOAir, with a convenient chart prioritizing the best nonstop flight options at the top of the results page. The search results automatically populate similar but cheaper flights on alternate dates close to the user’s original search date, which is great if there is flexibility in your plans. If you are committed to your arrival and departure dates, however, you can toggle off alternate dates in the filters section. One major drawback: OneTravel charges a steep service fee of up to $50 per ticket.

Best Feature: The search results page is subdivided into Recommended, Cheapest, Shortest, and Alternate Date tabs, making it easy to find exactly what you’re looking for at a high-level and continue to filter down from there.

Best Flight Booking Site for People on a Budget: Travelzoo

Travelzoo is quite different from the other sites listed here. Instead of booking specific itineraries, you can search broad timelines (this week, next month, this summer, etc.) for deals in your desired destination by either month or season. This makes Travelzoo a good fit for people with a budget and time frame, but no firm idea of when or even where they want to go. The downside is that if you do have specific plans in mind—for example, you need a flight to Omaha in March—Travelzoo is not likely to be helpful.

Best Feature: Travelzoo’s flexibility requirement can afford some great deals you won’t find elsewhere, like cheap business-class flights and multi-city itineraries that will make a dream trip a lot more affordable than you’d think.

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Best For Where You Don’t Care Where You Go, You Just Want a Good Price: Google Flights

Google Flights is a powerful, simple metasearch site that comes free of ads and distractions. After you enter your departure and arrival airports, the calendar pre-populates with prices so you can target dates with lower fares. Once you have your results, you can track fares on your selected dates and receive updates by email. You can also view fares over various dates using the “Price Graph,” which shows you a bar graph that makes it easy to see when the lowest fares are available.

Best Feature: Instead of putting in a certain city as a destination, you can put in a larger region such as Europe or South Africa. You’ll then see fares to various cities within that region displayed all at once on a map. This can be helpful if you want to go to Europe in April, for example, but don’t have a particular destination in mind.

Best Flight Booking Site for Filtering: Kayak

Often imitated and frequently duplicated, Kayak was a game-changer when it launched back in the mid-2000s. And it’s still one of the most powerful metasearch tools available. You can also set up fares alerts to track prices over time. The interface is noisier than Google Flights thanks to a preponderance of ads, but still easy to use. Like Google, it has a flexible search feature that lets you search for good deals to a region like Europe or even simply put in “anywhere.” Another handy feature available on many itineraries: an “Our Advice” box that lets you know whether you should buy now or wait, depending on whether Kayak thinks fares will go up or down over the next seven days.

Best Feature: Its Hacker Fares claim to piece together separate one-way tickets, potentially saving you money compared to similar itineraries, and its wide range of filters, sorting options, and predictive technologies put a lot of tools at travelers’ disposal.

Best Flight Booking Site That Included Southwest: Momondo

Like Kayak, Momondo is a metasearch site that takes you to other sites to make your purchase. One plus: Momondo surfaces results from Southwest, including flight times and other details from the carrier … but no prices. Only by clicking through to Southwest could I see the fare. Still, it’s nice to have a reminder that Southwest is an unlisted option. Another plus: Momondo searches for fares from a ton of smaller OTAs, which could lead to a deal that other metasearch tools miss.

Best Feature: The mention of Southwest is unique to Momondo.

Best Flight Booking Site for Multi-Stop Itineraries: Nomad from Kiwi.com

Kiwi.com is an OTA like many others; you book directly on the site (as you would on Expedia) rather than being linked off to a different site (as you would on Kayak or Momondo). But what sets it apart is its Nomad search engine, which lets you find cheap itineraries for multi-destination trips. You enter the starting and ending places of your journey as well as the cities where you want to stop along the way, including how many nights you want to spend in each place. Hit “find routes,” and the site will put together an itinerary that mixes and matches airlines and routes for the lowest possible price. (For example, I was quoted a route involving four flights—New York City to Rome to Moscow to Tokyo and back to New York—for a measly $1,031 round-trip.) You can filter your results to weed out routes with multiple layovers or flights that don’t include checked baggage.

Best Feature: This is by far the easiest tool I’ve used to research around-the-world and multi-stop itineraries.

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Best Flight Booking Site for Fare Alerts: Airfarewatchdog

Full disclosure, airfarewatchdog is a sister site to SmarterTravel, so we are slightly biased with this one, but promise it is worth your while. Airfarewatchdog is the best for flexible travelers who are just looking for a great deal on airfare. Search fares from a city, to a city, or you can “ choose an adventure ,” which will show you fares from your city to various hotspots depending on what you are looking for – castles, caves, coffee, you name it, airfarewatchdog will point you in the right direction. Their blog features great travel tips, and one of the best features is the fare alerts you can sign up for. If you know you want to travel somewhere, but all you want is a cheap price, sign up for an alert, and you’ll find out as soon as the price dips so you can book it right away.

Best Feature: The fare alert—it allows you to stop searching daily for that perfect price! Let airfarewatchdog do the work for you.

Best Mobile-Friendly Flight Booking Site: Hopper

Hopper is primarily an app for your phone (although it can be used as a website ) but it is worth putting on here just the same. Have you ever been scared to book a flight because it might go down, or afraid to not book it in case it goes up? One of the features of Hopper that makes it shine is its price predictor, which means you never have to worry about making the wrong booking decision. Another bonus is it shows you the price with all of the fees and taxes included, so there is no sticker shock when you finally go to book. After you search, if you aren’t ready to book, you can set up an alert to watch that trip, dates and all. 

Best Feature: Hands down the price predictor. 

Which Flight Booking Site is Best for Me?

In determining which of these sites are the best ones for you to compare prices with, it’s helpful to determine which sites meet your trip-booking needs. Do you want to clearly see bag fees up front? Do you want an easy “flexible dates” function, or are your dates firm? If your travel plans are loose, do you want to see prices for multiple destinations? Different flight booking sites have different capabilities.

Once you determine which site is worth your time depending on the trip, compare prices with a few to make sure you’re getting the best deal. And always check the airline’s own site: OTAs are good at displaying fees associated with an individual flight, but it’s trickier to compare fare options (classes like basic economy vs. economy) on that flight.

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Lastly, it’s important to remember that this list can be separated into two main types: booking sites (also called OTAs) that you book directly with as a third party, and aggregators otherwise known as metasearch sites that’ll send you to a booking site to make your transaction. The latter are better if you want to use any frequent flyer programs you might belong to and acquire points.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2019. It has been updated to reflect the most current information. Sarah Schlichter and Megan Johnson  contributed to this story. Some of the links featured in this story are affiliate links, and SmarterTravel may collect a commission (at no cost to you) if you shop through them. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

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We hand-pick everything we recommend and select items through testing and reviews. Some products are sent to us free of charge with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions and do not accept compensation to review products. All items are in stock and prices are accurate at the time of publication. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.

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New York Flights

• Flight Chicago - New York (ORD - LGA) $52+
• Flight Miami - Newark (MIA - EWR) $55+
• Flight Fort Lauderdale - Newark (FLL - EWR) $56+
• Flight Dallas - New York (DFW - LGA) $71+
• Flight Atlanta - Newark (ATL - EWR) $75+
• Flight Fort Lauderdale - New York (FLL - LGA) $75+
• Flight Orlando - New York (MCO - LGA) $76+
• Flight Miami - New York (MIA - LGA) $78+
• Flight Orlando - Newark (MCO - EWR) $83+
• Flight Chicago - Newark (ORD - EWR) $92+
• Flight Dallas - Newark (DFW - EWR) $95+
• Flight Los Angeles - New York (LAX - LGA) $111+
• Flight Chicago - New York (ORD - JFK) $127+
• Flight Los Angeles - Newark (LAX - EWR) $135+
• Flight San Francisco - Newark (SFO - EWR) $156+
• Flight San Francisco - New York (SFO - LGA) $165+
• Flight Miami - New York (MIA - JFK) $171+
• Flight Fort Lauderdale - New York (FLL - JFK) $191+
• Flight Dallas - New York (DFW - JFK) $199+
• Flight Burbank - Newark (BUR - EWR) $212+
• Flight Seattle - Newark (SEA - EWR) $239+
• Flight Los Angeles - New York (LAX - JFK) $267+
• Flight Ontario - New York (ONT - JFK) $276+
• Flight San Francisco - New York (SFO - JFK) $307+

Orlando Flights

• Flight Atlanta - Orlando (ATL - MCO) $37+
• Flight Cleveland - Orlando (CLE - MCO) $50+
• Flight Philadelphia - Orlando (PHL - MCO) $53+
• Flight Houston - Orlando (IAH - MCO) $62+
• Flight Baltimore - Orlando (BWI - MCO) $67+
• Flight Detroit - Orlando (DTW - MCO) $69+
• Flight Chicago - Orlando (ORD - MCO) $72+

London Flights

• Flight New York - London (JFK - LGW) $381+
• Flight New Windsor - London (SWF - STN) $387+
• Flight Boston - London (BOS - LHR) $390+
• Flight Boston - London (BOS - LGW) $426+
• Flight Los Angeles - London (LAX - LGW) $431+
• Flight New York - London (JFK - LHR) $450+
• Flight Miami - London (MIA - LHR) $474+
• Flight Newark - London (EWR - LGW) $482+
• Flight Newark - London (EWR - LHR) $487+

Fort Lauderdale Flights

• Flight Atlanta - Fort Lauderdale (ATL - FLL) $43+
• Flight Raleigh - Fort Lauderdale (RDU - FLL) $44+
• Flight Philadelphia - Fort Lauderdale (PHL - FLL) $46+
• Flight Newark - Fort Lauderdale (EWR - FLL) $51+
• Flight Chicago - Fort Lauderdale (ORD - FLL) $53+
• Flight Baltimore - Fort Lauderdale (BWI - FLL) $60+
• Flight Cleveland - Fort Lauderdale (CLE - FLL) $60+

Boston Flights

• Flight Baltimore - Boston (BWI - BOS) $52+
• Flight Philadelphia - Boston (PHL - BOS) $58+
• Flight Miami - Boston (MIA - BOS) $68+
• Flight Charlotte - Boston (CLT - BOS) $76+
• Flight Atlanta - Boston (ATL - BOS) $79+
• Flight Orlando - Boston (MCO - BOS) $83+
• Flight Fort Lauderdale - Boston (FLL - BOS) $87+

India Flights

• Flight New York - Mumbai (JFK - BOM) $486+
• Flight New York - New Delhi (JFK - DEL) $518+
• Flight New York - Ahmedabad (JFK - AMD) $567+
• Flight New York - Bengaluru (JFK - BLR) $583+
• Flight San Francisco - New Delhi (SFO - DEL) $652+
• Flight Chicago - Hyderabad (ORD - HYD) $653+
• Flight New York - Hyderabad (JFK - HYD) $671+

Japan Flights

• Flight Los Angeles - Tokyo (LAX - NRT) $448+
• Flight San Francisco - Tokyo (SFO - NRT) $516+
• Flight Ontario - Tokyo (ONT - NRT) $603+
• Flight Dallas - Tokyo (DFW - NRT) $626+
• Flight Seattle - Tokyo (SEA - NRT) $645+
• Flight Chicago - Tokyo (ORD - NRT) $674+
• Flight Baltimore - Tokyo (BWI - NRT) $707+

Phoenix Flights

• Flight Ontario - Phoenix (ONT - PHX) $38+
• Flight Salt Lake City - Phoenix (SLC - PHX) $48+
• Flight Los Angeles - Phoenix (LAX - PHX) $57+
• Flight San Francisco - Phoenix (SFO - PHX) $59+
• Flight Dallas - Phoenix (DFW - PHX) $62+
• Flight Chicago - Phoenix (MDW - PHX) $73+
• Flight Houston - Phoenix (HOU - PHX) $73+

Honolulu Flights

• Flight Los Angeles - Honolulu (LAX - HNL) $217+
• Flight Oakland - Honolulu (OAK - HNL) $226+
• Flight San Francisco - Honolulu (SFO - HNL) $256+
• Flight San Jose - Honolulu (SJC - HNL) $277+
• Flight Ontario - Honolulu (ONT - HNL) $279+
• Flight Las Vegas - Honolulu (LAS - HNL) $303+
• Flight Salt Lake City - Honolulu (SLC - HNL) $311+

Los Angeles Flights

• Flight Oakland - Los Angeles (OAK - LAX) $55+
• Flight San Francisco - Los Angeles (SFO - LAX) $58+
• Flight Dallas - Los Angeles (DFW - LAX) $66+
• Flight Chicago - Los Angeles (ORD - LAX) $74+
• Flight Denver - Los Angeles (DEN - LAX) $79+
• Flight Houston - Los Angeles (HOU - LAX) $82+
• Flight Houston - Los Angeles (IAH - LAX) $82+
• Flight Atlanta - Los Angeles (ATL - LAX) $92+
• Flight Fort Lauderdale - Los Angeles (FLL - LAX) $98+

Chicago Flights

• Flight Atlanta - Chicago (ATL - ORD) $33+
• Flight Atlanta - Chicago (ATL - MDW) $37+
• Flight Dallas - Chicago (DFW - ORD) $51+
• Flight New York - Chicago (LGA - ORD) $55+
• Flight Philadelphia - Chicago (PHL - ORD) $67+
• Flight Houston - Chicago (HOU - ORD) $70+
• Flight Dallas - Chicago (DFW - MDW) $74+

Denver Flights

• Flight Minneapolis - Denver (MSP - DEN) $38+
• Flight Detroit - Denver (DTW - DEN) $63+
• Flight Chicago - Denver (ORD - DEN) $68+
• Flight Houston - Denver (IAH - DEN) $68+
• Flight Atlanta - Denver (ATL - DEN) $69+
• Flight Ontario - Denver (ONT - DEN) $69+
• Flight Orlando - Denver (MCO - DEN) $75+

Washington, D.C. Flights

• Flight Atlanta - Baltimore (ATL - BWI) $37+
• Flight Boston - Baltimore (BOS - BWI) $56+
• Flight Orlando - Baltimore (MCO - BWI) $60+
• Flight Dallas - Baltimore (DFW - BWI) $73+
• Flight Los Angeles - Baltimore (LAX - BWI) $77+
• Flight Chicago - Baltimore (ORD - BWI) $85+
• Flight Dallas - Washington, D.C. (DFW - DCA) $90+
• Flight Chicago - Washington, D.C. (ORD - DCA) $107+
• Flight Minneapolis - Washington, D.C. (MSP - DCA) $109+
• Flight Minneapolis - Baltimore (MSP - BWI) $113+
• Flight Boston - Washington, D.C. (BOS - DCA) $123+
• Flight San Francisco - Washington, D.C. (SFO - DCA) $123+
• Flight Boston - Washington, D.C. (BOS - IAD) $129+
• Flight San Francisco - Baltimore (SFO - BWI) $129+
• Flight Seattle - Washington, D.C. (SEA - DCA) $145+
• Flight Burbank - Baltimore (BUR - BWI) $152+
• Flight Atlanta - Washington, D.C. (ATL - DCA) $166+
• Flight Los Angeles - Washington, D.C. (LAX - DCA) $169+
• Flight Atlanta - Washington, D.C. (ATL - IAD) $174+
• Flight Santa Ana - Baltimore (SNA - BWI) $197+
• Flight Dallas - Washington, D.C. (DFW - IAD) $209+
• Flight Los Angeles - Washington, D.C. (LAX - IAD) $231+
• Flight Seattle - Washington, D.C. (SEA - IAD) $267+
• Flight San Francisco - Washington, D.C. (SFO - IAD) $275+

Atlanta Flights

• Flight Houston - Atlanta (HOU - ATL) $28+
• Flight Houston - Atlanta (IAH - ATL) $28+
• Flight Miami - Atlanta (MIA - ATL) $33+
• Flight Baltimore - Atlanta (BWI - ATL) $35+
• Flight Detroit - Atlanta (DTW - ATL) $36+
• Flight Chicago - Atlanta (MDW - ATL) $37+
• Flight Orlando - Atlanta (MCO - ATL) $37+

United States Flights

• Flight Newark - Miami (EWR - MIA) $55+
• Flight San Francisco - Las Vegas (SFO - LAS) $61+
• Flight Dallas - Las Vegas (DFW - LAS) $64+
• Flight Newark - Orlando (EWR - MCO) $74+
• Flight New York - Fort Lauderdale (LGA - FLL) $75+

Hawaii Flights

• Flight Los Angeles - Hawaii (LAX - USHI) $192+
• Flight San Francisco - Hawaii (SFO - USHI) $249+
• Flight Seattle - Hawaii (SEA - USHI) $275+
• Flight San Jose - Hawaii (SJC - USHI) $277+
• Flight Ontario - Hawaii (ONT - USHI) $279+
• Flight Salt Lake City - Hawaii (SLC - USHI) $311+
• Flight San Diego - Hawaii (SAN - USHI) $317+

Tampa Flights

• Flight Atlanta - Tampa (ATL - TPA) $45+
• Flight Raleigh - Tampa (RDU - TPA) $47+
• Flight Cincinnati - Tampa (CVG - TPA) $48+
• Flight Philadelphia - Tampa (PHL - TPA) $56+
• Flight Chicago - Tampa (MDW - TPA) $61+
• Flight Richmond - Tampa (RIC - TPA) $74+
• Flight Detroit - Tampa (DTW - TPA) $75+

Houston Flights

• Flight Atlanta - Houston (ATL - IAH) $37+
• Flight Dallas - Houston (DFW - IAH) $58+
• Flight Denver - Houston (DEN - IAH) $58+
• Flight Orlando - Houston (MCO - IAH) $58+
• Flight Chicago - Houston (ORD - IAH) $65+
• Flight Fort Lauderdale - Houston (FLL - IAH) $75+
• Flight Los Angeles - Houston (LAX - IAH) $76+

Las Vegas Flights

• Flight Los Angeles - Las Vegas (LAX - LAS) $31+
• Flight Burbank - Las Vegas (BUR - LAS) $33+
• Flight Denver - Las Vegas (DEN - LAS) $43+
• Flight Oakland - Las Vegas (OAK - LAS) $47+
• Flight Houston - Las Vegas (HOU - LAS) $63+
• Flight Houston - Las Vegas (IAH - LAS) $63+
• Flight San Francisco - Las Vegas (SFO - LAS) $64+
• Flight Santa Ana - Las Vegas (SNA - LAS) $68+
• Flight Portland - Las Vegas (PDX - LAS) $70+
• Flight Atlanta - Las Vegas (ATL - LAS) $73+
• Flight Chicago - Las Vegas (ORD - LAS) $76+
• Flight Minneapolis - Las Vegas (MSP - LAS) $76+
• Flight Seattle - Las Vegas (SEA - LAS) $79+

Miami Flights

• Flight Atlanta - Miami (ATL - MIA) $42+
• Flight Philadelphia - Miami (PHL - MIA) $47+
• Flight Chicago - Miami (ORD - MIA) $52+
• Flight Chicago - Miami (MDW - MIA) $55+
• Flight Baltimore - Miami (BWI - MIA) $60+
• Flight Raleigh - Miami (RDU - MIA) $63+
• Flight Boston - Miami (BOS - MIA) $68+
• Flight Charlotte - Miami (CLT - MIA) $75+
• Flight Detroit - Miami (DTW - MIA) $76+
• Flight Houston - Miami (HOU - MIA) $77+
• Flight Houston - Miami (IAH - MIA) $77+
• Flight Dallas - Miami (DFW - MIA) $83+
• Flight New York - Miami (LGA - MIA) $87+
• Flight Denver - Miami (DEN - MIA) $108+
• Flight Minneapolis - Miami (MSP - MIA) $121+
• Flight Los Angeles - Miami (LAX - MIA) $133+
• Flight Washington, D.C. - Miami (DCA - MIA) $139+
• Flight Ontario - Miami (ONT - MIA) $149+
• Flight San Francisco - Miami (SFO - MIA) $162+
• Flight New York - Miami (JFK - MIA) $176+
• Flight Seattle - Miami (SEA - MIA) $195+

San Francisco Flights

• Flight Ontario - San Francisco (ONT - SFO) $38+
• Flight San Diego - San Francisco (SAN - SFO) $58+
• Flight Los Angeles - San Francisco (LAX - SFO) $63+
• Flight Denver - San Francisco (DEN - SFO) $89+
• Flight Chicago - San Francisco (MDW - SFO) $90+
• Flight Washington, D.C. - San Francisco (DCA - SFO) $95+
• Flight Baltimore - San Francisco (BWI - SFO) $99+
• Flight Dallas - San Francisco (DFW - SFO) $100+
• Flight Santa Ana - San Francisco (SNA - SFO) $110+
• Flight Austin - San Francisco (AUS - SFO) $123+
• Flight Minneapolis - San Francisco (MSP - SFO) $124+
• Flight Houston - San Francisco (HOU - SFO) $127+
• Flight Houston - San Francisco (IAH - SFO) $127+
• Flight Chicago - San Francisco (ORD - SFO) $128+

Seattle Flights

• Flight Denver - Seattle (DEN - SEA) $78+
• Flight Ontario - Seattle (ONT - SEA) $89+
• Flight San Diego - Seattle (SAN - SEA) $91+
• Flight Phoenix - Seattle (PHX - SEA) $96+
• Flight San Francisco - Seattle (SFO - SEA) $99+
• Flight Minneapolis - Seattle (MSP - SEA) $109+
• Flight Los Angeles - Seattle (LAX - SEA) $110+

Paris Flights

• Flight Boston - Paris (BOS - CDG) $304+
• Flight Los Angeles - Paris (LAX - ORY) $318+
• Flight Baltimore - Paris (BWI - CDG) $327+
• Flight New Windsor - Paris (SWF - CDG) $331+
• Flight Washington, D.C. - Paris (IAD - CDG) $332+
• Flight Los Angeles - Paris (LAX - CDG) $390+
• Flight Newark - Paris (EWR - ORY) $402+

Europe Flights

• Flight New York - Madrid (JFK - MAD) $367+
• Flight Newark - Barcelona (EWR - BCN) $415+
• Flight New York - Athens (JFK - ATH) $425+

Florida Flights

• Flight Philadelphia - Florida (PHL - USFL) $46+
• Flight Newark - Florida (EWR - USFL) $51+
• Flight Chicago - Florida (ORD - USFL) $52+
• Flight Boston - Florida (BOS - USFL) $68+
• Flight New York - Florida (LGA - USFL) $75+
• Flight Dallas - Florida (DFW - USFL) $78+
• Flight Los Angeles - Florida (LAX - USFL) $130+

Dallas Flights

• Flight Atlanta - Dallas (ATL - DFW) $50+
• Flight Chicago - Dallas (ORD - DFW) $50+
• Flight Chicago - Dallas (MDW - DFW) $51+
• Flight Minneapolis - Dallas (MSP - DFW) $51+
• Flight Denver - Dallas (DEN - DFW) $56+
• Flight Los Angeles - Dallas (LAX - DFW) $70+
• Flight Philadelphia - Dallas (PHL - DFW) $71+

San Diego Flights

• Flight Phoenix - San Diego (PHX - SAN) $48+
• Flight Denver - San Diego (DEN - SAN) $57+
• Flight San Jose - San Diego (SJC - SAN) $57+
• Flight Chicago - San Diego (ORD - SAN) $64+
• Flight Sacramento - San Diego (SMF - SAN) $65+
• Flight Oakland - San Diego (OAK - SAN) $67+
• Flight San Francisco - San Diego (SFO - SAN) $68+

Frequently asked questions

What do i need to know before booking a flight.

There are various factors to consider when booking a flight including cost, fare classes, baggage policies, the complications of flying long haul, and complying with airport regulations. To make your booking journey smoother KAYAK has developed a comprehensive flight guide including insights on finding affordable flights, packing efficiently, and utilizing the best travel tools.

Which month of the year are flight prices lowest?

It’s well established that flights in the low season are generally cheaper than ticket prices during the high season. That means that knowing which month to find the lowest priced plane tickets will depend heavily on seasonality and your destination. While avoiding peak travel times can help you keep costs down, our data shows that the month with the lowest priced plane tickets for domestic flights based on all searches made on KAYAK in the last 12 months was January, while the most expensive was March. If you’re booking an international flight, then January is the cheapest month to fly and June the most expensive.

Can flying international flights with a layover save money on airfare?

For many long-haul international flights, flying non-stop is not possible and you will have to fly with a layover. Some routes will offer both and you could consider flying with a layover for a number of reasons. Firstly, breaking up what would otherwise be a long-haul flight, taking a rest and then completing the journey might make the flight more manageable. Secondly, prices can also be lower than non-stop flights, so while it might take longer for you to reach your destination, you could save money. We’ve looked at prices over the last 12 months for the 100 most popular international destinations for KAYAK users and on average, prices for non-stop flights were cheaper than flights with a layover.

How do I find the best flight deals on KAYAK?

A simple flight search at https://www.kayak.com/flights scans for prices on hundreds of travel sites in seconds. We gather flight deals from across the web and put them in one place. Then on the search results page you can use various filters to compare options for the same flight and easily choose the best flight deal from all of the deals coming straight from the travel sites to your screen, with no extra fee from KAYAK.

Does KAYAK query more flight providers than competitors?

Yes, KAYAK has access to more data and information than online travel agencies and consistently outperforms the competition in accuracy, globally.

What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care?

Sometimes travel dates aren't set in stone. If your preferred travel dates have some wiggle room, flexible dates will show you flights up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. That way, you can see if leaving a day or two earlier will find you a better deal. You can also select the flexible "weekend" or "month" search options to widen your search range and find the cheapest price that works for you.

What is the cheapest day of the week to book a flight?

The best day to book your flight depends on a number of factors, but there are general trends that you can follow to increase your chances of cheaper plane tickets. Based on an analysis of KAYAK data for all flights departing from inside United States over the last 12 months, the cheapest day to fly for domestic flights is Wednesday. For international flights, Tuesday had the cheapest tickets on average.

When is the best time to buy plane tickets - Last minute or in advance?

Last minute flight deals are definitely up for grabs but when exactly to purchase your plane tickets will depend on where you’re traveling to and from. Based on all data for flight searches made on KAYAK over the last 12 months, prices for domestic flights remained below the average price up to 1 weeks before departure. For international flights, deals could still be had up to 1 weeks prior to the departure date, with prices remaining below average. If you’re flexible, KAYAK brings you both advance and last minute one-way and round-trip flight deals.

How does KAYAK find such low flight prices?

KAYAK processes over 2 billion flight queries annually and displays results from hundreds of airlines and third party sites, allowing it to find a variety of flight prices and options. It also displays results from 2M+ properties along with rental cars, vacation packages, activities and millions of verified reviews so users can see as many available travel options as possible.

How can Hacker Fares save me money?

Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets on different airlines when it can save you money over a traditional round-trip ticket.

How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy?

KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a given destination and date is likely to change within 7 days, so travelers know whether to wait or book now.