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The first step in planning an amazing vacation is finding a flight. Molly McDonald shows some easy ways to

get the cheapest flights

if your travel dates are flexible. If your dates are less flexible, for example you have to travel on the weekend, there are still some great deals to be had.

Using

free web services

it's easy to be your own travel agent and to get exactly the travel package you want. Bundling hotel, flight and even car rental together you can save money too.

Finding the best price for your travel

and accommodation means money left over to visit the best restaurants and attractions when you reach your destination, which we'll cover in tomorrow's installment of

Easy Ways to Plan Amazing Vacations

.

TripAdvisor, as the name suggests, is your own personal...

trip advisor

. Just tell the site where you're going and when to see reviews of hotels, find great restaurants, read about tourist attractions both well known and obscure and more. You can also

read reviews and view photos posted by other TripAdvisor users

to see what you're in for. Once you return, share your own travel stories and pictures too.

Ask any vacation or business traveler what the best and worst parts of their trip were. For the best parts, you'll likely hear a list of great meals, fun excursions and new friends met. For the worst, almost invariably, you'll hear about airports, travel times, delayed flights, lost bags and the like. While Flightview can't answer the lost bags part of the equation, it does give you a much better idea of what time your

flight will depart and arrive

and how long your flight will take.

While sites like Expedia, Kayak and Priceline offer great package deals, it's often cheaper to go straight to the source if only booking air travel. Molly McDonald shows us

how to get the very best deals on airfare

in this installment of Easy Ways to Plan Amazing Vacations.

Getting a great deal on airfare and hotels

usually means being in the right place at the right time. With Yapta, the right place and time means anywhere and anytime you have access to e-mail. Yapta will send you

alerts when travel prices drop

and you can set target prices for your trip and book as soon as the price reaches your chosen point.

Nothing ruins an otherwise excellent vacation quite like bad weather. Molly McDonald demonstrates

how to make travel plans online

and

how to choose the best time to travel

by tracking weather patterns and getting long-term forecasts for your chosen destination. Use these tips and you have a much better chance of a fabulous and sunny holiday.

If you're the type that doesn't mind flying by the seat of your pants in order to save big money on travel, AirfareWatchdog is your new best friend. Molly McDonald shows us

how to save big by booking last minute travel

.

If only we could gaze into a crystal ball to see whether or not our flight will be on time. Flightcaster offers the next best thing without the need to dabble in the occult. Enter your flight number and where you're going and you'll

see where in the world your travel vessel is

right now, along with the percentage odds it (and you) will be on time.

AirBnB is a great way to

save money on accommodation

and potentially make some new friends. Rather than booking a hotel room for your trip, AirBnB links you up with

bed and breakfast accommodations

from regular folk who want to make some cash and maybe a new friend by opening up a room in their home to travelers.