Travelers, Start your Engines

One of the most crucial aspects of planning a family holiday is searching travel websites to compare airfare, hotel rates, train fares, cruise rates, and rental car/car for hire rates. A great travel search engine is comprehensive, accurate, and user-friendly. All of the websites I have listed are free of charge as well. Today's Get Out will feature the best travel search engines on the web.

•  Best Fare Compare Website

www.momondo.com
 Momondo.com is a Danish site that is recommended by Frommers, Telegraph UK, CNN, N.Y. Times, and many others. It is an especially great travel search engine for travelers because it compares flights as well as high-speed rail fares. It also includes city guides for more than 30 cities in the world. The site does not sell airline tickets or hotel accommodations. It is a fare compare tool.
Also try: www.kayak.com

• Best Accommodation-Only Fare Compare Website

www.hotelpricebot.com/
If you are searching for a hotel room, Hotelpricebot.com is great because it is so comprehensive. It compares hotel rates among Travelocity, Hotels.com, Expedia, Priceline, and many other lodging search engines.
If you are traveling in Europe, also try www.trivago.co.uk/ .
www.homeaway.com/
If you are on the lookout for a home or apartment rental for your family holiday, Homeaway.com is a super resource. You can search for rental homes in popular vacation destinations around the world. Homeaway also has international affiliate websites for twelve countries.
Also try www.self-catering-breaks.com/

•  Best Car Rental/Car for Hire Fare Compare Website

www.bnm.com/ (BreezeNet.com) searches more than 50 car rental companies for the cheapest rates. In my experience, the rates on this website have been just that.
Also try www.sidestep.com/.

• Best Travel Guide Website

www.bootsnall.com/  is catered toward independent travelers. The website serves as a network of travelers and includes travel blogs, travel guides, message boards for travelers to post questions, as well as links to travel services.
Also try www.igougo.com/.