Lifestyler: Three Travel Deals Websites for Cheap Summer Getaways

Traveling during the summer--especially with families--can be a money sucking hole, drowning your bank account and making even the most financially prudent person sweat a little. But the good news is that the onset of the internet and continuing web technology has been helping lower travel costs for years, whether it's with a price comparison website or an online portal that reports on unpublished airfare deals.

Trust that there are still great deals to be had. But like all good things, you'll have to keep an eye out and search a little to make sure you're getting the best offers. As a frequent traveler--and someone who's always on a budget--I put together my three favorite travel websites/companies that a frugalista just can't afford to plan travel without.

1. Airfarewatchdog.com

I've been preaching the merits of Airfarewatchdog for years, and I will continue to be their dutiful follower because of the one-of-a-kind flight deals I have scored through them. By hiring a team that stays abreast of all kinds of flight deals (published and unpublished) and reporting on travel site glitches, they are able to deliver shockingly low airfare deals. Case in point: a few months ago, they were offering a round-trip ticket (including taxes) from New York JFK to Lima, Peru for $250.

The only slight negative is that the amount of tickets are usually limited and you have to jump on deals whenever you see them, meaning no three hour contemplation over whether or not you should buy the ticket. Either know exactly where you want to go and hope that locale has a fare special, or buy the ticket and splurge for flight insurance so that you can cancel or make changes on a whim.

2. Megabus.com

Traveling by bus may not sound like the most luxurious way to travel--and you're right, it's not. But it can be super cheap, especially when said bus company features .50 fares and frequent sales. And to be totally honest, Mega Bus is actually a pretty comfy ride, since they feature wifi (although it isn't the best connection and sometimes goes out) and has electrical outlets by each seat. They travel extensively throughout the Northeast and offer some pretty fantastic roundtrip rates to places like Niagara Falls and Washington D.C.

3. Kayak.com

While Kayak is still good for airline deals--and their newly launched Explore site which lets you pick airline seats based on your budget is tres cool. However, Airefarewatchdog still blows them out of the water when it comes to cheap deals.

But if they're not quite number one in the flight division, they make up for it with cheap hotels and rental cars. If you're getting ready to gas up the engine and head out for a road trip, Kayak is the best option for getting a cheap rate on some rental wheels and a place to rest your head, as they aggregate most of their data from the other travel search engines (Travelocity, Expedia, etc).

Although traveling in and of itself is still a costly activity, these three websites will help greatly diminish the most fundamentally expensive aspects of vacationing. And since you saved all that money on flights, hotels and rental cars, you can afford to splurge on a few nice meals and activities.

Lauren Fairbanks is a Brooklyn-based writer hailing originally from that far away land known as the deep South. She has covered lifestyle, personal finance, career, and small business topics for various print and online publications including AOL, Wise Bread, Young Money, Learn Vest, She Knows, and Eating Well Magazine. She's also the Founder and Editor of LifeStyler - a guide to living in NYC on a budget.