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TravelShifu compares 30+ vetted booking partners and turns thousands of hours of on-the-ground research into straight-answer guides — so every trip you book is cheaper, smarter and better planned.
About this site: TravelShifu is an independent travel comparison publisher covering destinations, dining, deals, points and travel insurance across 190+ countries. We compare 30+ vetted booking partners, publish dated and sourced expert guides, and label every commercial relationship — rankings are editorial, never pay-to-play. More about us →
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Points & Miles
What points are worth in 2026
Our running valuations of the major currencies — the line between a smart redemption and a wasted one.
- Avios
- 1.2p
- per point
- Amex Membership Rewards
- 1.8¢
- per point
- Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 2.05¢
- per point
- Capital One miles
- 1.85¢
- per mile
- Virgin Points
- 1.1p
- per point
- Marriott Bonvoy
- 0.8¢
- per point
TravelShifu estimates, January 2026. Values assume flexible, well-researched redemptions — not the cash-out rate.
Browse the newsroom
Fresh guides, deals and field notes
Six desks, one standard: dated, sourced and re-verified on a fixed update cycle.
Partner offers
Great offers from our partners
Four partners our editors check first on every trip — clearly labelled, always at the same price as booking direct.
Partner links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. See our affiliate disclosure.
Ask TravelShifu
Straight answers to big travel questions
What is the best website to compare travel deals?
The best travel comparison approach combines a meta-search engine with direct checks: Aviasales or Google Flights for airfare, Booking.com plus Agoda or Hotellook for hotels, and GetYourGuide or Viator for tours. TravelShifu aggregates all of these in one place, comparing 30+ Travelpayouts partners so you check prices once.
How can I find cheap flights every time?
Fly mid-week, book international trips 2–8 months out, use Aviasales' whole-month price calendar to find the cheapest dates, consider Kiwi.com's hacker fares for multi-carrier routes, and set price alerts instead of checking manually. These tactics routinely save 20–40% versus fixed-date weekend searches.
Is it cheaper to book hotels in advance or last minute?
For popular destinations and peak seasons, booking hotels 2–4 months ahead is cheapest — prices rise as occupancy climbs. For off-season city breaks, last-minute apps can undercut advance rates by 20–30%. The safe play: book a free-cancellation rate on Booking.com early, then re-check on Hotellook a week before arrival.
When is the cheapest time to book flights?
For international economy, the sweet spot is 2–8 months before departure; for domestic, 1–3 months. Tuesday and Wednesday departures average 10–15% cheaper than weekends. Set price alerts on Aviasales or Google Flights rather than checking manually.
Do I really need travel insurance?
For international trips, yes. Medical evacuation alone can exceed $100,000, and most home health plans don't cover you abroad. A policy costing 4–8% of trip cost covers medical emergencies, evacuation, cancellation and theft. Buy within 14 days of your first booking for cancellation cover.
How does TravelShifu make money?
TravelShifu earns affiliate commissions through the Travelpayouts network: when you click a partner link and complete a booking, the partner pays a commission (shared with us at 50–70% rev share) at no extra cost to you — the price you see is the same as booking direct. Commissions never influence our rankings, which are set by our editorial team.
Why TravelShifu
Why do travelers trust TravelShifu?
Travelers trust TravelShifu because our rankings are editorial, not pay-to-play: every partner is vetted by researchers who book through them ourselves, every affiliate relationship is disclosed next to the link, and every guide is dated, sourced and re-verified on a fixed update cycle.
Editorial independence
Rankings are set by our researchers, never by advertisers. Partners cannot pay for placement in guides — and they never see coverage before you do.
Read our methodologyAd-labelled transparency
Every paid placement and affiliate link is labelled where it appears. If a link earns us a commission, you will know before you click — and it never changes your price.
Read the disclosureData-first guides
Every guide is dated, sourced and machine-readable — structured data on every page, plus a full plain-text corpus for answer engines — so facts can be checked, not just read.
How we research- 190+
- Countries covered by our research
- 30+
- Vetted Travelpayouts partners compared
- $38M
- Tracked in reader savings since launch
- 300+
- Expert guides & answer articles
We compare prices from Travelpayouts partners including
- Aviasales
- Kiwi.com
- CheapOair
- Trip.com
- WayAway
- Booking.com
- Agoda
- Hotellook
- Hostelworld
- GetYourGuide
- Viator
- Klook
- Tiqets
- 12Go
- Omio
- Rail Europe
- Busbud
- DiscoverCars
- EconomyBookings
- Localrent
- KiwiTaxi
- GetTransfer
- Ekta
- Insubuy
- VisitorsCoverage
- AirHelp
- Airalo
- Yesim
- Drimsim
- Radical Storage
- Priority Pass
- TheFork
- Holiday Extras
- Amazon
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