The Ultimate Guide to Using Tripadvisor for Booking Flights, Hotels, Rentals, and More

While you might just think of Tripadvisor as the place to get honest reviews about hotels, restaurants, or things to do, it’s actually so much more than that.

First, Tripadvisor acts as a metasearch engine, showing you prices for hotels, flights, and rental cars on lots of other websites. You can click through Tripadvisor to the other site to complete a booking.

Second, in recent years, they’ve added a social aspect to the site. You can follow other accounts, and you have a home page feed that’s similar to what you see on Facebook.

Finally, Tripadvisor has its own travel forum for you to ask and answer questions about all things travel.

Let’s take a look at everything Tripadvisor offers and how it can help you plan and book your next vacation.

What Tripadvisor Offers

You can search for almost anything that you’ll need for your next vacation on Tripadvisor.

• Hotels
• Things to do
• Restaurants
• Flights
• Vacation rentals
• Vacation packages
• Cruises
• Rental cars
• Road trips

Tripadvisor offers lots of reviews plus it acts as a metasearch engine, like Google Flights, Kayak, or Skyscanner.

It gathers tons of data to show you the prices for your flight, hotel, rental car, and more on lots of other websites. Once you find a price you like, it transfers you to another website (usually a hotel or airline’s website or an online travel agency) to complete your booking.

Tripadvisor Hotels

1. To start your search for a hotel on Tripadvisor, click on Hotels in the main search menu. Then select your destination.

   

2. If you’re interested in seeing specific pricing, enter your travel dates and number of people at the top. If you’re just looking for reviews and photos, you don’t need to enter this information.

   

3. Your filtering options will be at the left of the screen, along with a map to search by location.

   

4. Each search result will give you basic information about the hotel along with some pricing. The price that’s displayed the largest is NOT necessarily the cheapest price. Click on the name of the hotel to see more information on Tripadvisor. Clicking on the View Deal button will take you to the hotel’s website or an online travel agency.

   

5. You’ll see pricing information in the top left corner. Clicking on any of these will take you to that site to book the hotel. Photos are available in the top right corner. Scroll down to the middle of the page to see the hotel’s reviews.

   

    

Hot Tip: Check out our guide to the best credit cards to book vacations so you can maximize your rewards.

Tripadvisor Things To Do

Tripadvisor is a great tool to find activities for your next trip. To start, click on Things To Do in the main menu and then enter your destination.

Inputting your travel dates will show more accurate pricing information, but it’s not required. You can search for events and activities in several ways:

1. Search by category
2. Search popular cities
3. Search only tours and tickets or day trips
4. Search by location using the map in the upper right corner

   

When you’re viewing a list of available activities, you’ll see lots of options to filter and sort the results. Click Book Now to see specifics about the activity.

From here you’ll be able to see all of the details about the activity including things like transportation specifics, what’s included and not included, dates and times, plus reviews.

You can check availability for your desired date and see what times the tour or activity is offered. The main price you see is per person, so this is where you can see the final price if you’re booking for more than 1 person. Click Add to Cart to complete your booking via Viator, a Tripadvisor company.

Anytime you book an activity on Tripadvisor, the transaction will be completed by Viator.

Viator offers a Best Price Guarantee on your purchase. That means that if you find the same tour from the same operator priced in the same currency within 72 hours of booking, it will refund the difference in price. Plus if you arrive for your tour or activity and find a lower price being offered by the operator, contact Viator and it will refund the difference in price.

Bottom Line: Tripadvisor offers activities and tours for your next vacation. You can read reviews, check prices, and book your activity all in one spot. When you book an activity through Tripadvisor, the transaction will happen via Viator, a Tripadvisor company.

Tripadvisor Restaurants

Did you know that you can also use Tripadvisor to find great restaurants? Just click on Restaurants in the main search menu, and then enter your destination.

You’ll see lots of different ways to search for a great restaurant for your specific needs. There are lots of options to filter and sort the results list. You can browse restaurants based on lots of criteria:

• Type of food
• Type of dining establishment
• Dietary restrictions
• Price
• Location (using the map feature in the upper left corner)
• Restaurant features

  

Click on any restaurant selection to see details, photos, and reviews.

If you have a specific question about a restaurant, scroll down to the Q&A section. You can see previously asked questions or ask one of your own.

Some restaurants will allow you to make a reservation online. You can find these in the Reserve a Table Online section, or just look for the Open Table reservation box in any listing.

Hot Tip: Do you eat out often? If so, use a credit card that earns lots of points at restaurants to maximize your returns! 

Tripadvisor Flights

Tripadvisor might not be the first website that comes to mind when you need to search for a flight. But, it acts as a metasearch engine, comparing prices from lots of other sites in one place.

1. To get started, click on Flights in the main search box. Then input your arrival and departure destinations, dates of travel, and the number of people traveling. You can also select which websites you want to search, but this isn’t necessary.

   

2. Your sorting and filtering options will be available as drop-down menus right above your search results.

   

3. Once you find a flight you like, click on View Deal. You’ll be taken to the airline’s website to book or you might be directed to an online travel agency. Sometimes, multiple sites will be offering a similar deal so you can choose who you want to book through.

   

Hot Tip: Not sure which online travel agency is best for you? Check out our guide to the best websites to book cheap flights for some guidance.

If you’re curious about the airline you’re booking, check out the Tripadvisor airline reviews. From the home page, click on the 3 dots in the main search box to open the drop-down menu. Then click on Airlines.

Here you’ll see the airlines listed in alphabetical order or you can sort them by rating or alliance. Click on See Reviews to read reviews about the airline from other Tripadvisor users.

Tripadvisor Vacation Rentals

If a hotel isn’t quite your style, you’ll be happy to know that you can also search for vacation rentals on Tripadvisor.

1. To get started, click on Vacation Rentals from the home page, and then enter your destination.

   

2. Enter your travel dates plus the required number of rooms and guests at the top of the page. You’ll be able to filter your results using the options at the left. Then sort your list using the drop-down in the upper right corner.

   

3. Each listing will display important information like the number of bedrooms and price. Using the arrows on the photo, you can easily scroll through the pictures of the property. Click anywhere in the search results box to see more information or to continue booking.

   

4. Next, you’ll be able to see all the details of the property including information about the owners and reviews from other guests. Click Book Now to continue with your reservation.

   

5. Finally, all you need to do is enter your information and credit card number to complete your reservation. Your booking is completed through FlipKey Inc. (a Tripadvisor company).

Tripadvisor Rental Cars

Searching for a rental car on Tripadvisor works much like other sites you might be used to.

1. To get started, click on Rental Cars in the main search box. Then enter your pick up location, dates of travel, and driver’s age. If you’re dropping the car off at a different location, use the Different drop off drop-down to input that location, too. Click Find rental cars to continue.

   

2. You’ll have lots of options to filter and sort your results. Plus, you can select which rental companies you want to include in your search on the left. The price you see is per day and includes all taxes and fees (sometimes the total price is listed right below the advertised price.)

   

3. Once you’ve found the car you want to rent, click View Deal. Unlike with flights or hotels, where you’ll be automatically taken to another website to book, your rental car booking will be processed through Tripadvisor/RentalCars.com, regardless of what supplier is listed.
4. After selecting your car, you’ll be able to see a clear breakdown of the price. This page will also display the cancellation policy and any other specific policies of the rental. Click Go To Book to complete your booking. Enter the driver details and click Book Now.

   

Right before you complete your rental, you’ll be asked to add an Auto Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) and Theft Waiver. Before you decide to purchase this extra coverage, take a look in your wallet. Your credit card might already come with a CDW.

Here are just a few popular credit cards that come with extra car rental insurance:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve^®
• The Platinum Card^® from American Express
• Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card

Hot Tip: For more information about your options check out our guide to the best credit cards for car rental insurance.

Tripadvisor Road Trips

The Road Trip section of Tripadvisor is a fun way to check out popular road trip routes in the U.S. To find it, click on More ••• on the home page, then select Road Trips.

You can search by region: Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, Northeast, or Southeast. Each road trip selection will offer tips for that route including how long it should take and the best time of year. Plus, there will be a map of the route.

Scroll down a bit to see hotels, restaurants, and things to do along the way. To see all of these things mapped out, just click on the map of the route. You can then search by location. Toggle between hotels, restaurants, and things to do by using the icons in the top left corner.

Tripadvisor Cruises

To begin your search for a cruise on Tripadvisor, select Cruises in the main search bar. Enter your destination and month of travel then click Search.

Hot Tip: If you aren’t sure about where or when you want to cruise, scroll down on the main cruise page to search by destination, duration, and popularity.

Your results page will have all of the filtering options to the left — there are lots of options to help narrow down your list:

• Departure port
• Cruise length
• Cruise line
• Price
• Ship
• Cabin type
• Ports of call

Each result will display a price, but this isn’t necessarily the lowest price available. Click on the drop-down menu for more information or click on the cruise name to see more detailed information. Clicking on View Deal will take you to another website to continue booking.

Once you click on a specific cruise for more information you’ll be able to access traveler photos and reviews. Plus you’ll be able to see all of the deals available by clicking on View all X deals.

Hot Tip: The cruise deals shown do not necessarily include all deals available. You might notice that the price to book directly is often left out.

If you decide to book a cruise via Tripadvisor, don’t forget to print our ultimate cruise packing list so you’re prepared for your adventure!

Tripadvisor Reviews

Tripadvisor reviews are the backbone of the website. If you’ve ever booked a hotel, you’ve likely checked out a Tripadvisor review.

The beauty of its reviews is that they are from real people who have stayed at the hotel you’re researching. Glossy, professional photos can make anyplace look fantastic, but with Tripadvisor, you get to see authentic, unedited photos from real travelers. It’s true, you’ll have to sort through some terrible, blurry pictures, but you’ll get a good sense of what the hotel is really like.

In addition to hotel reviews, you can find reviews for activities, restaurants, vacation rentals, and even cruises.

Tips for Making the Most out of Tripadvisor Reviews

Many reviews will give you a sense of the customer service a hotel offers. Although this is a great thing, it also gives a platform to disgruntled customers who want to bash a location. These are pretty easy to spot, so take them with a grain of salt.

If you’re searching for a specific question about a hotel, you can use the search function. Tripadvisor will offer suggestions of keywords to search for or you can input the specific piece of information you’re looking for. You’ll then see any reviews that mention that keyword. Next time you’re searching for a hotel, check the reviews for keywords like “heated pool,” “room service,” or “restaurants.”

If you’d like to search for reviews that are more specific to your circumstances, you can easily filter the reviews by traveler type (families, couples, solo, business, or friends), time of year, and language.

In addition to reading written reviews, you can scroll through pictures that people have posted. You can tell a lot about a property just by doing this versus looking at the beautiful photos posted by the hotel. Those are beautiful to look at, but if you want to see what the hotel is really like, scroll through the traveler photos. To find these, just click on Traveler Photos in the upper right-hand corner of the hotel’s review page.

Hot Tip: You can get a wealth of information about a hotel, restaurant, activity, cruise, or vacation rental from Tripadvisor reviews. You can search the written reviews for specifics like, “Is there a heated pool?” or check out the traveler photos for an unedited look at the property.

Tripadvisor Forum

The Tripadvisor travel forums are a great resource for anyone planning a trip.

From the Tripadvisor home page, click on Travel Forums in the top toolbar.

If you’ve already selected your destination, you’ll click on the 3 dots in the search bar at the top of the screen, then click on Travel Forum.

If you access the travel forum through the home page, you’ll need to select a destination to search for. If you searched for a destination first and then accessed the travel forum, you’ll be automatically be taken to the forum for that destination.

There are general forums for states or countries and more specific city-oriented forums. You can easily move back and forth between all of these forums by clicking on the links within the forum.

Tips for Making the Most out of Tripadvisor Forums

One of the great things about Tripadvisor forums is that you can get really specific. This is a great place to search for answers that would be otherwise hard to find. The forums are filled with local experts (other Tripadvisor users who answer lots of forum questions and leave lots of reviews) to help you out. Try asking questions like: “What bar in Miami Beach shows the NBA Playoffs?” “What restaurants in Charlotte are dog-friendly?” or “What’s the best way to get to the zoo in San Diego?” If you have a specific question, the Tripadvisor forum is the place to ask it.

If you have a question that you think might be common, check out the list of top questions to the right side of the forums. Click on a link to take you to a previous thread about your question. Pay attention to the dates, though. Some of the threads may be outdated — so you may want to ask a new question for updated information.

Get Social With Tripadvisor

You may have noticed that the Tripadvisor home page has some social aspects to it now. You’ll see a main feed with the ability to like, repost, and share a post. You’ll see a list of suggested people to follow to the right.

How and Why to Create a Tripadvisor Account

To take part in the social aspect of Tripadvisor, you’ll need to create a free account. You’ll be able to create an account via Facebook, Google, or an email address. Click on Sign in in the upper right-hand corner to get started.

Once you create an account, you can follow other accounts and like, repost, and share other posts. Plus you can make your own posts by clicking on Post photos or Write review in the bottom left-hand corner of your account.

Tripadvisor Mobile App

Tripadvisor offers a free mobile app that is available for iOS and Android.

It feels more like a social site than a travel booking and review site because the main feed is prominently placed on the home page. You can follow experts and other travelers for helpful tips and travel inspiration.

To access traveler photos and reviews, plus pricing and booking information click on the icons at the top of your screen. Here you’ll also find a direct link to Tripadvisor forums.

Final Thoughts

Tripadvisor is more than just reviews! The site acts as a metasearch engine and helps you search for hotels, flights, rental cars, cruises, things to do, vacation rentals, and restaurants.

You can also get social on Tripadvisor. Create an account to share your photos and reviews, and follow other accounts to see their posts in your home feed.

Through traveler photos and reviews, Tripadvisor excels in giving you a glimpse into the true nature of every aspect of your vacation.