US online travel agency is essentially a virtual marketplace that enables consumers to explore, compare and book different travel products like flights, hotels, auto rentals, vacation packages, cruises, and activities 100% online.
These websites and apps retrieve rates and availability from various travel providers and work as middlemen in selling the travel services to tourists by the airlines, hotels, rental cars companies, etc. They provide convenience, transparent pricing, amenities and often combined discounts instead of directly booking each component separately with the supplier.
Types of US Online Travel Agencies
Given internet advancement spearheading consumer demand for their services, US Online travel firms shifted to constructing their supply and enabling solutions. Here’s a list of our top US online travel agencies:
1. Expedia CruiseShipCenters
Expedia is well known as a North American online travel giant. It markets the cruise holidays on its own through home-based consultants and own outlets. At present, it operates a variety of brands and has become one of the largest online travel agencies, which includes the company’s brands Expedia. com, Hotels.com and Vrbo.
It also has schedule, booking and packages’ buttons that provide flights, cars for rent, hotels, cruises and vacation/holiday packages.
This company is able to provide low costs, many trip options and convenient booking systems, which make it very useful for individuals who are looking for a traveling service.
It is unique in that, firstly, the website sharply displays the number of available travel products and services; secondly, the orientation-based navigation system is understandable; thirdly, there is also a reward system offered on the website to the travelers; and fourthly, among the many services offered, there are almost all travel service types.
Website: www.expedia.com
Email: customercare@expedia.com
Phone Number: 1-866-310-5768
2. Skyscanner
Skyscanner, an online travel agency founded in 2003 by three IT professionals, aims to save time in searching for suitable flight fares and making final decisions to book airline tickets online. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, it operates as a flight services search engine with over thirty languages and dictionaries.
Skyscanner provides clients with information and services for aircraft, accommodations, and car rental bookings. FlightsChecker also helps evaluate flight prices and offers from airline companies and travel brokers. The site receives hundreds of millions of unique visitors monthly.
Many people know Skyscanner as one of the most popular travel search engines thanks to its strong comparison tools, easy-to-use interface and mission to help you save money on your travels while incorporating a wide range of technicalities, making it perfect for smart device lovers.
Email address: phishing@skyscanner.net
Website: www.skyscanner.com
Phone Number: 04217916
2. Booking.com
The second largest operating online travel agency company is known as Booking Holding, that operates with brands such as Bookings, Travels, Orbitz, CheapTicket, Priceline, Travelocity, Agoda and Kayak.
Bookings is an online travel agency, a flight ticket selling company, car rental, airport transfers and a meta-search engine.
This travel agency was founded in 1996 in the Netherlands and later in 2005, Priceline Group which is now Booking Holdings Company,. Booking.com grew substantially and aimed to become one of the largest OTA.
It is also particularly remarkable due to the availability of a vast range of accommodations, the functionality of the search and filter criteria, as well as the comprehensive services for traveling, the possibility to book and change the accommodation and other services easily, and the trustful reviews of other users.
Email: customer.service@booking.com
Website: https://www.booking.com
Phone: 1-888-850-3958
3. Orbitz
Orbitz is another company associated with Expedia Group and it primarily provides variable travel services, including customer reward programs. Created in 2001 by a consortium of the major airlines, the objective was to counter other OTAs.
They provide flights, accommodation facilities such as hotels and motels, car rentals, cruises, vacations, and tours and activities.
It has made impressive advances in its loyalty program, Orbitz Rewards where the travelers get Orbucks they can use to pay their hotel accomodation fees. It also offers extensive travel packages with extensive information and overviews and other simple comparison features.
Email: support@orbitz.com
Website: https://www.orbitz.com
Phone: 1-844-803-5576
4. Hopper
As an app, it is an innovative travel booking service, featuring predictive analytics to help its user base achieve the greatest savings on their travel necessities. While Hopper was founded in 2007 with Frederic Lalonde and Joost Ouwerkerk at its helm, it now applies big data and smart algorithms that help a user determine when it is optimal to buy tickets for a flight or a room in a hotel.
Hopper is famous and distinct for an application with different tools to predict prices and generate tailored travel advice to open the most cost-effective market for a particular destination.
Phone Number: 1-833-933-4671
Website: https://www.hopper.com
Email address: Hopper does not specify a general customer service email for the platform; however, customers can contact support through the app or through the help section on their website.
5. TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor is an online company that provides consumers with independent feedback from real travelers who’ve been there before, the opportunity to book a trip on-the-spot, photos and images of hotels and restaurants, and helps trip-deciding consumers figure out what kind of experience they would like to have in a particular country or city. Presently, an online travel site that helps tourists get a feel of a destination, initially a travel review site, was founded by Stephen Kaufer in 2000.
The prime advantage of the company can be deemed a portrayal of numbers of travelers’ reviews, photographs, and forums with the participation of millions of travelers, thereby enabling any traveler intending to go on a particular trip to have all the information he or she may require. This includes sales of trips and offerings like hotel accommodations, flight bookings, restaurants and other travel-related services.
Phone: 1-866-232-0214
Email: support@tripadvisor.com
Website: https://www.tripadvisor.com
For specific questions or other kinds of help-related issues, users can go through the TripAdvisor Help Center, where one will find particular options and help-related options.
6. Agoda
Agoda is a foreign-based OTA that focuses on the sale of hotel accommodations and villa rentals, among other services such as airlines and airport transfers. It was established in 2005, is based in Singapore and is part of the booking holding company that operates other traveling platforms such as Booking. com and Priceline. The main objectives of Agoda or the hotel booking company, are to offer cheap and quality hotel deals all over the world.
Regarding the choice of place to stay, Agoda is advantageous due to offering a huge number of places for one or several nights, which can suit different budgets and desires. Sometimes, the platform offers exclusive offers and coupon codes to make sure that tourists can receive the lowest prices.
Website: https://www.agoda.com
Email: biz@agoda.com
Phone: 1-866-656-8207
7. Despegar/Decolar
Despegar/Decolar is an online travel agency placed in Latin America and while Despegar is an international brand, Decolar branding is particularly used in Brazil. They serve twenty markets and have an extensive portfolio of travel products that includes airline tickets, hotel accommodations, travel packages and other travel-related products for a vast customer base in the region. It is aimed at ensuring that Latin American travelers are offered the most appropriate and cost-effective means of travel.
It is special for offering all kinds of travel and accommodation: flights, hotels, vacation packages and car rentals. It also has details of promotions and discounts from time to time in order to help its users travel at cheaper costs. The site and the application are simple to use and aesthetically pleasing, making the process of making bookings easier.
Website: https://www.despegar.com
Email address: Despegar mainly serves and interacts with customers through their website and application, but they have information about available support on their help page.
Phone Number: 1-786-209-2893
8. Travelocity
Travelocity is one of the largest and leading corporations that supplies online travel services such as flight tickets, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and packages.
Initially, it was established in 1996 under Sabre Holding; thus, it is one of the primary online travel agencies that played a significant role in shaping the online travel agency industry. It is now an affiliate of Expedia, Inc.
It has features that are not offered by its competitors, such as 24-hour customer service, price match assurance and a quick response to any problems that may arise while traveling. Travelocity can be seen to provide a sweep of services; they provide discount vacation packages whereby travelers can book for both flight and accommodations at cheaper rates. Travelocity has a convenient mobile application that lets you deal with Travelocity’s services and your travel plans in general on the go.
Email: support@travelocity.com
Website: https://www.travelocity.com
Phone: 1-855-201-7800
9. Priceline
Priceline is one of the most established and popular Internet-based travel companies that arranges flight tickets, bookings of hotels, rental of cars, cruises, and travel packages. It began in 1997 as an internet-based company by Jay S. Walker that used the model known as “Name Your Own Price,” by which consumers could bid for services in the travel sector.
One more thing is that Priceline may be quite useful for a traveler since it provides ample opportunities to get inexpensive offers through the bidding feature and through the intermediary “Express Deals” option. Priceline enables users to clinch deals on combined travel-related services for instance, flights and accommodations, for greatly reduced charges. It has great destinations to travel that are suitable for all classes and tastes, that is to say, there is accommodation for all.
Email: support@priceline.com
Website: https://www.priceline.com
Phone: 1-877-477-5807
Conclusion
The structure of OTAs in the US has been set out as above, and every single niche OTA has its own benefits in the system. That is why, knowing the origins and with some specific features of each OTA, as well as such important parameters as services, specialties, one can select the required OTA to fulfill their travels.
Whether clients are nomadic and looking for opportunistic offers or clients, who like to plot schedules meticulously, there is an OTA that appeals to them. From Booking.com’s wide variety of accommodations to Priceline’s narrow, targeted experiences, these platforms make the process of travel smoother for consumers. Happy travels!
