This post contains a list of independently owned and operated travel aggregator search sites that aren't owned by Expedia Group, Booking Holdings Inc., or TripAdvisor.

Article Contents

• The Big Three
• Expedia Group owned websites
• Booking Holdings Inc owned websites
• TripAdvisor owned websites
• Independently Owned Price Comparison Sites
• Add a site to the list

The Travel Industry's Big Three

When you search for flights and hotel accomodations online, there's a really good chance that all of the websites you're using to comparative shop are owned by one of three big companies: Expedia Group, Booking Holdings Inc., or TripAdvisor. I brought this to light in my recent video entitled The Traveler's Illusion of Competition.

In today's article, I share a list of travel aggregator websites that are independently owned and operated, that don't fall under the parent umbrella of one of the big guys above. The purpose of this list and blog post isn't to knock any of the three big guys, but rather to save you the trouble of comparative shopping against platforms that are providing deals from the same databases.

Personally, I frequent at least one site from each of the three big guys including my favorites which are Booking.com, Expedia.com, TripAdvisor.com, and Skyscanner which is owned partly by Expedia Group. I also usually compare those deals against Kiwi.com which is my favorite independently owned aggregator. And lastly, I'll check with the airline and hotel websites themselves before booking to see how their direct deals stack up against the aggregators.

First I'll show you the sites that the big three own, or you can skip ahead to the independently owned list.

What websites do Expedia Group own?

Expedia Group is an American holdings company based out of Bellevue, Washington who did over $11 billion in revenue in 2018. The own:

• Expedia.com
• Hotels.com
• Orbitz
• Travelocity
• Trivago
• HomeAway
• CheapTickets
• Hotwire.com
• CarRentals.com
• Venere.com
• ApartmentJet
• Pillow.com
• Wotif
• Via.com
• Egencia
• ClassicVacations

What websites do Booking Holdings Inc. own?

Booking Holdings Inc. which was formerly called The Priceline Group Inc. is an American holdings company based out of Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S. who did over $14.5 billion dollars in revenue in 2018. They own:

• Booking.com
• Agoda.com
• Kayak.com
• Momondo
• Cheapflights
• OpenTable
• Mundi
• Buuteeq
• Hotel Ninjas
• Rocketmiles
• FareHarbor
• HotelsCombined
• Venga

What websites do TripAdvisor own?

TripAdvisor is a publicly traded company headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts who did over $1.6 billion in revenue in 2018. They own:

• TripAdvisor.com
• Airfarewatchdog
• Bokun.io
• BookingBuddy
• Citymaps
• Cruise Critic
• Eltenedor
• Family Vacation Critic
• FlipKey
• TheFork
• GateGuru
• Holiday Lettings
• Holiday Watchdog
• House Trip
• Independent Traveler
• Jetsetter
• Llafourchette
• Niumba
• OneTime
• Oyster.com
• Restorando
• SeatGuru
• SmarterTravel
• Tingo
• TravelPod
• Tripbod
• VacationHomeRentals
• Viator
• VirtualTourist
• They're also majority stakeholders in Travelweb and Active Hotels and a minority shareholder in DiDi.

List of Independently Owned Travel Comparison Sites & Deal Aggregators

The websites on this list below are independently owned and operated. Since many are privately owned, I cannot say whether or not larger interests have a stake in their business, however, from what I know these sites are operating independent databases of travel deals. Please note that I am not endorsing any of these websites, but simply creating a master list. Perform your own due diligence and read reviews before doing business with any of these companies.

• Kiwi.com
• Hopper.com
• ScottsCheapFlights.com
• Fly.com
• GreatEscape.co
• SkipLagged.com
• Dohop.com
• JustFly.com
• FlyUs.com
• Vayama.com
• Fareboom.com
• Omio.com
• Fareness.com
• Hipmunk.com
• OpenFlights.org
• AirTreks.com
• iwantthatflight.com.au
• CheapSeats.com
• HolidayPirates.com
• LastMinute.com

What'd I miss?

There are thousands of independently owned and operated travel deal sites, but that list above should get you started. If you know of any other great independently owned and operated travel aggregator sites, please drop a comment with the URL and tell me why I should add it to the list. Additionally, if any of this information is incorrect, please advise in the comments or e-mail [email protected].

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