Planning business or leisure travel can be time-consuming, especially when information is spread across countless websites. This Travel Resources page brings together a curated selection of trusted external travel tools and providers to help you research, plan, and book every part of your journey more efficiently.

Drawing on over 30 years’ experience in the travel industry, we have selected reliable flight search engines, hotel booking platforms, rail operators, car hire services, visa and health advice sources, and practical travel tools. These resources are designed to help you compare options, understand requirements, avoid unnecessary fees, and make informed decisions whether you are booking a simple return trip or a complex multi-destination itinerary.

Wherever possible, we recommend booking directly with airlines, hotels, and official providers to ensure transparency, flexibility, and best value.

Hotel Search & Compare

• HOTEL PRICE COMPARISON
  • Compare all the rates and research thousands of hotels in once click. And you may find availability when hotels say they are fully booked!
• BOOKING.COM
  • Booking.com usually offers the choice to guarantee reservations with a credit card and to pay at check-out OR to pay in advance in pounds sterling and they apply a very fair rate of exchange. Avoid waiting for credit card exchange rate and additional fees. Be aware that this option may not be as flexible as pay-at-checkout
• HOTELS.COM
  • An Expedia company with a good reputation. Very generous reward scheme – collect “nights ” after your stay and for every 10 nights collected, Hotels.com will give you 1 free night to redeem on future bookings. And as a member, look out for ‘Your Secret Price’ reductions for members only.
• EXPEDIA HOTELS
  • If you require pre-payment in sterling via a dependable agent, rather than payment at checkout in local currency. Earn Nectar points too!
  • “Pay Now” Option will not itemise VAT so you will not be able to reclaim UK VAT
• VBRO
  • Best site for private rentals – Country Homes, Estates, Castles and Apartments. VRBO is part of Expedia Group and is a secure way to book and pay for private rentals

Hotel Chains – Book Direct

• HILTON HOTELS
  • By booking direct you will be sure of the room type you’re requesting. And the hotel will immediately have the guest name
• HYATT HOTELS & RESORTS
• MARRIOTT HOTELS
  • We compared Marriott direct prices with all hotel brokers and booking direct, here, was always cheaper. Additional advantages;  You’ll be offered all room types, with/without breakfast and optional transfers.
• RADISSON HOTELS
  • Booking Tip: Need a specific room type? One double bed, or twin bedded? You can choose after selecting the price you want after choosing to “Book Now”
  • (If no room-choice is offered, then that room-rate is ROH “Run of the House” i.e. allocated at check-in) If you need a guarantee of bed-type, go back, select a different rate, repeat the process
• MILLENNIUM & COPTHORNE HOTELS
  • Booking Tip: Register during the booking process for a exclusive 10% members-rate discount

Small, Boutique & Luxury Hotels

• BEST LUXURY HOTELS OF THE WORLD
  • Book here to receive a combination of some or all of these benefits: Free breakfast for two, Free room upgrades subject to availability at check-in, Early check-in or late check-out subject to availability, A credit of up to US$100 towards food and beverage, or spa treatments.
• SMALL LUXURY HOTELS OF THE WORLD
  • Represents some of the world’s best (and most expensive!) small hotels
• LEADING HOTELS OF THE WORLD
  • Represents the worlds best hotels in most major cities. Become members of the LHW Leaders Club at a cost of US$150 per annum and earn one complimentary night at a Leading Hotel for every five stays, plus complimentary continental breakfast for two, each day.
  • Browse by list and destination if you don’t want to search by date
• FOUR SEASONS HOTELS
  • This hotel brand consists of ultra-luxury hotels that may not always feature in comparison sites
• DESIGN HOTELS
  • Good for modern and design-conscious hotels
• MR & MRS SMITH
  • For inspiration, search Mr & Mrs Smith for a selection of boutique hotels

Hotel Search – and earn Avios

• KALIGO SEARCH ENGINE
  • Earn up to 10,000 Avios per night at your choice of hotels. Earn a bonus of 1,000 Avios if you book using our link, above.
• ROCKETMILES
  • Similar to Kaligo, rates may not be as competitive but worth checking. Kaligo offer more hotels in more cities.

Hotel Meeting Space Search

• MEETINGSBOOKER
  • Search for meeting rooms quickly and easily and a whole lot more features too

European Rail Sites

• EUROSTAR DIRECT
  • Best for mainline stations: Paris, Brussels, Lille. Specific seat requests offered.
• RAIL EUROPE – Voyages sncf
  • Best for Eurostar with connections to Europe: Holland, Germany, France.
  • Also good for separate French and Spanish rail tickets
• GERMAN RAIL
  • The official Deutsche Bahn booking site. Good for German, Swiss Austrian and some International travel.
• HOLLAND, NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM RAIL
  • Domestic tickets for Holland can only be booked via this Belgium Rail site. The official Dutch site does not accept international credit or debit card payment! The price is identical. No fees.
• SPANISH RENF

UK Rail Sites

• NATIONAL RAIL ENQUIRIES
  • Avoid all booking fees and credit card charges by booking direct with train companies
• HEATHROW EXPRESS
  • Click through to the company above. Click on their Heathrow Express Link and save 12.5%
• STANSTED EXPRESS
  • Save up to £10.90 by booking direct but using our (easyJet) referral link

Car Hire

• DVLA PRE-PICKUP REGISTRATION
  • Within 72 hours of picking up a vehicle, you must now register your driving licence number and National Insurance number together with your postcode here. The resulting code will be used by the car-hire company to ensure that you have no disqualifying driving convictions.
• HOLIDAY EXTRAS CAR HIRE
  • Good for business in addition to holiday rental. Powered by the industry leading Car Trawler comparison engine with results from all major car hire companies, Avis, Hertz, National, Budget, Alamo, to name just a few.
  • NB Payment required at the time of booking. For payment locally (and more flexible conditions) you need to book direct
• AVIS CAR RENTAL
• HERTZ CAR RENTAL

Visas, Passenger Safety and Travel Advice

• VISA REQUIREMENT CHECK, CUSTOMS & CURRENCY REGULATIONS
  • We guarantee that this is the most reliable source of visa requirement information as it is based on the “Timatic” database from IATA (International Air Transport Association). It is used by nearly every airline in the world to check passengers’ eligibility to travel.
  • The site also provides accurate customs, currency regulations and airport information
• USA VISA – APPLY AND CHECK
  • This is the only official site. Don’t pay unnecessary extra fees elsewhere. You can check if your traveller has a valid visa if you have passport number and date of birth. When retrieving an application, in the “First (Given) Name” box you must add the middle name too
• FOREIGN OFFICE TRAVEL ADVICE
  • Country by Country Advice. Undertaking travel contrary to travel advice invalidates normal travel insurance cover.
• NHS HEALTH ADVICE AND IMMUNISATION RECOMMENDATIONS
• More detailed heath advice – and “recent disease outbreaks”
• Find a local GP by postcode; authorised to vaccinate against Yellow Fever etc
• TRAVEL INSURANCE

Help with Geography

• ROME2RIO – DISCOVER HOW TO GET ANYWHERE
  • Need options from small towns with no airports? This site is very helpful. Provides door-to-door solutions including trains – and routes you may not have considered.
• NEAREST AIRPORT FINDER
  • Find the 8 nearest airports if you type in the town or city name (Includes small airports which are suitable for private jet only)
• AIRPORT AND ROUTE FINDER
  • A simple visual perspective of who-flies-where and airport options
• TOURS by LOCALS
  • A little off-topic, but a useful site if business travellers have a few hours to spend and require a local guide

Airline Seat Maps

• SEATGURU
  • You can search by specific flight number. Seat guru is part of tripadvisor.
• SEATPLANS
  • Editorial style which is good for general comment and photos but not as good as Seat Guru.