I do tons of research on travel all the time and often end up booking or researching things for friends and family too. Honestly there's no trick! It's just me with usually a bunch of tabs open and some of the following websites running.
FLIGHTS
Skyscanner
I went into a travel agency and watched the agent pull up Skyscanner to find me flights. Then she quoted me an unbelievably high rate (she gave herself a $200 commission on a $500 flight). I left and went home and typed in Skyscanner to discover that she could, in fact, see all the discount flights as well as flights from bigger airlines. Lesson learned, start at Skyscanner at home, don't use an agent and then go to the airline's site to book as not all flights come up on skyscanner.
KLM
Sometimes it's good to just check the KLM site to see what deals might be coming up. They run flights from Holland to Bali via Singapore. This flight is always cheaper than booking on Air Asia for the same trip AND you don't have to throw a tantrum trying to use the Air Asia website.
Berjaya Air
Never heard of it? It's a small Malaysian airline with fairly new planes that go to the various Malaysian islands and they are pretty cheap. They also partner with local resorts and offer deals. This is probably the easiest way to get to Tioman, Redang or Langkawi. They won't come up in any other travel sites. You have to book flights directly through them.
Tiger Airways
They are a royal pain in the arse to deal with but sometimes there are good deals especially in off seasons and to locations that aren't as popular with western visitors.
ACCOMMODATION
Agoda
I often start with using Agoda to look for hotel deals. I always keep Trip Advisor open while I do this so I can check actual experiences and rates. I've had 50% off really neat places on this site but I've also had to cancel a booking when I all of a sudden realized that my quoted rate was not what they put through on my credit card! Just be wary. It's not a scam per say but it can have some tricky wording just before the final check out.
AirBnB
I had no idea AirBnB was in Asia! Seriously I discovered this today. We use this in North America a lot and it's a great way to find reasonable vacation rentals and nightly B&B accommodation. I was just skimming through what's available in Bali for instance and there are some really good deals. Well worth spending some time on here.
TRAVEL APPS
It's no secret that I run everything in my life from my iphone. When I travel it's my most trusted sidekick. Here's what I use:
Tripit
Forget Tripit pro. I had it for a year and it never did anything amazing it was supposed to. Just get the basic, free account, forward your itineraries and voila. Everything neatly ends up compiled in one itinerary. I usually need to type in B&Bs and some obscure modes of transit but generally it's pretty easy. This is where i look to check flight times, confirmation numbers and to share my itinerary with my co-travelers. It works without data/wifi but doesn't refresh so scroll through your itinerary right before you leave home to make sure you have it all loaded.
Trip Advisor
I have to say I'm pretty thrilled with this app. We had wifi in our car in New Zealand and finding a place to eat lunch on our road trips was so easy! We'd pull over, type in the name of the town, tap the highest rated option and then ask it to guide us there with this little compas arrow. So simple.
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