1. The travel tips on Cheapflights are a goldmine of holiday hints. A timely discovery we’ve just made is the ski airports guide. It lists the closest ski resorts to seven European ski airports (Geneva, Chambery, Lyon, Grenoble, Turin, Munich, Friedrichshafen) plus links to shuttle bus services, taxis and trains.

2. Rival price comparison site Skyscanner has also been busy. This week it launched the latest in a series of online tools, called the WhoFlies Widget. It’s basically a cut and paste box that you can add to any blog, website or webpage that offers a flight search, saving you the grueling hassle of opening a second browser window. In the pipeline is a version that can be added to your desktop and iGoogle/Netvibes pages, plus one that will work on Facebook.

3. Lastminute.com is heralding the death of the drop-down menu with the introduction of a search engine-style box called Pronto. It offers more flexibility, although the predictive text-style function limits your choice of words. It lets you type what you want, be it flights, hotels, dinner etc… unless it’s the word “holiday”, which drew a blank when we tried it. There’s clearly still some work to be done, but other searches were more successful. Flights to Marrakesh prompted a Google map of our chosen destination and some pretty photos. It’s in Beta phase at the moment and is unlikely to replace the site’s 162 search boxes anytime soon, but it could be the first of a host of new features ahead of next year’s relaunch.

4. BA’s mobile site, launched last week, allows customers to check in by mobile phone or PDA. You can also confirm flight times and choose a seat using your phone. The move follows the successful launch of the iPhone check-in application, which was downloaded by more than 16,000 users in its first month. It’s yet another way to skip those now non-existent queues at Terminal 5. On the subject of mobiles, Swiss has also been making progress, and now takes bookings through its mobile.swiss.com portal.

50 best travel websites of 2007

Another year of innovation and refinement as travel websites continue to become more niche, focussed and useful

BACKGROUND

• The 10 hottest travel websites to watch

• 10 travel websites to watch: July

• 10 travel websites to watch: June

• 10 travel websites to watch: May

• 10 travel websites to watch: April

Times Online's top 100 travel websites

Once again, we've crawled, clicked and crashed our way around the world of internet travel to bring you our top 100 travel websites in 2009

5. If the frequent flyer miles aren’t adding up as quickly as you’d like, bargain hunters might want to try www.codes.co.uk. The site has a travel section listing vouchers with airlines, tour operators, cruises, hotels and more, with discounts, bonus miles, sales etc. The downside – you have to work for your bargain. Links often go through to the provider’s homepage, so you’re left to search for the deal yourself, and some are clearly outdated – anyone who tried to book a discounted XL Airways flight will be sorely disappointed.

6. More bargains, and this time, do-gooder ones. The Buy Once Give Twice website sells unredeemed charity auction items and prizes that can’t be auctioned elsewhere. There’s a travel section that has all sorts of goodies listed, from golfing breaks to Goan getaways. The site takes a bit of your money for admin, but the rest goes to the relevant charity. Let the bidding begin.

7. For some, the ghoul-fest of Hallowe’en isn’t enough to satisfy their morbid tendencies. But where to go to get the creeps? Tripadvisor has the answer. The online travel community, which notched up its 20 millionth review last month, has published a list of Europe’s top ten cemeteries, chosen by its readers. There’s anticipated entries like London’s Highgate and Rome’s Catacombes, and also some more unusual entries from Vienna and Genoa.

8. Need colonic irrigation in a hurry? Your usual waxer let you down? Or perhaps you just need a good back rub. A new health and beauty site Wahanda.com, offers a search of salons, gyms, shops or even dentists that can cater to your needs wherever you are in the UK. You can search by location or spa/salon type, and also by treatment. It’s still in pre-launch mode but the breadth of content is impressive and entries include pictures, description, user reviews and a map.

9. Following on from last moth’s Hotels.com Visualiser and this month’s Pronto by lastminute.com, is another next generation drop-down. The Ving Tripfinder has a series of sliders that you can use to refine your holiday search in terms of price, beach, culture, shopping, and so forth, being as picky or flexible as you wish. It then suggests some destinations and finally some holiday offers. Most of site is in Swedish and the content is thin, so it’s one to watch, rather than book with, but it’s a fun insight of what’s to come.

10. With this month’s final entry, it’s back full circle to all things snow and ice. In an effort to appeal to our shrinking pockets, Skiweekends.com has launched ski breaks by coach, with connections from towns and cities across the UK, via London. It costs from £204 for a two-night, three-day ski break to Chamonix and Brides les Bains. There’s plenty of information on the site including pictures, live availability, snow reports and an option to book equipment hire and lessons.

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