Bing Travel is a more packaged offering. While Google’s travel features still don’t look like a one-window solution, Bing’s travel page resembles what you will normally find in any well designed travel website. One of the key features on Bing Travel is the Flight Predictor tool. The flight prediction helps you guess the best time to buy cheap airfare tickets for flights from most major U.S. and Canadian cities to destinations worldwide.

Let’s Take a Flight

Searching for a flight starts off in the usual way. You type in your origin and destination, and the date. You need to specify if it’s a one-way, round-trip, or a multi-city flight for the flight engine to work out your schedule and deals if any.

Note: You can also search for flights from the Bing homepage.

With one click you get multiple points to compare and reckon if it’s the right (and cheapest) flight for you. Bing lists all airfares for the mentioned route. You can use the filters on the left side to further refine your results.

You can also open up other travel and booking sites in separate tabs to go through their airfares. Sites which help you to compare airfares include: Expedia, Hotwire, Cheaptickets, Priceline, American Airlines, and Cheapoair.

Bing Travel itself tries to find you the lowest airfare available between two cities. But Bing Travel takes this base figure and also gives you a few more multi-dimensional tools to make the right ticketing decision and save money.

Wait For the Cheapest Airfare with the Price Predictor

The Price Predictor tells you if the airfare is going to rise or fall within the next few days. It helps you to take a wait and watch policy for buying cheaper plane tickets. Bing Travel says that their predictive technology is about 75% accurate and on average, customers will save over $50 on a typical round-trip transaction. With each search Bing mentions the confidence percentage.

Travel tips on the price fluctuations are marked out with colored arrows. You can click on the arrow or on the Details and Fare History link to read about the price prediction in more detail (as in the above screenshot). Your decision boils down to your urgency and your risk tolerance.

You can check the daily low fare history graph to get an idea on the seasonal price drops.

Read more: How Bing Travel’s predictive technology works?

Grab The Deals For More Cheaper Airfares

Travel Bing keeps track of the price drops on a particular route. These are highlighted as deals for some of the major destinations on the Deals tab. Bing Travel uses historical data to compare fares and find the variation with the average fare. It’s is the same price predictor technology at work but with some extra tips (for instance: as highlighted in yellow) that explain why this airfare could be a deal maker or a deal breaker for you.

A calendar which pops up when you click on the ‘View Dates’ link gives you an idea of the days and dates when the deal is available. The onward and return journeys are both shown separately with their deals.

Read more: How deals work?

With a Windows Live ID and a Bing Travel account, you can track your airfares. You can also befriend Bing Travel on Facebook and get updates on cheap airfare tickets. With the cheapest airfare decided, you can jump directly to the ticketing website from Bing Travel with a click on the link for the booking site.

Bing Travel is a neat web application to rack up airfare savings while you accumulate all those frequent flyer miles. If you are a busy traveler, the dollars in savings can really add up.

Also read:

• The Best Travel Deals Sites To Save Cash On Your Next Vacation
• 6 Useful Last-Minute Booking Sites For Your Next Trip
• Flying on a Dime: The 3 Best Websites To Find Cheap Flights

Tell us if you seriously use web tools to keep track of your airfares when you travel. Where can Bing Travel fit in your itinerary?

For anyone who has struggled through trying to get tickets for a popular show, it becomes apparent very quickly that the odds are stacked against you.

You may be under the illusion that if you sit online, or on the phone, with Ticketmaster the very moment that tickets go on sale, that you have an equal and fair chance of getting tickets as everyone else. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case.

That’s why I’ve listed 4 sites to serve as alternatives if you’re desperately looking for that concert ticket which is unavailable anywhere else!

How to Get Tickets Despite the Ticketmaster Monopoly

The truth is, the event ticket market is stacked higher against you than a Vegas casino. A venue that accomodates 20,000 wild fans can sell out in about the time it takes for you to log into your computer. While Ticketmaster has the appearance of fairness in that ticket sales start at exactly a certain time (usually on Saturday), sales take place through so many outlets that available seats can disappear in minutes.

To make matters worse, while you may think that the moment the clock strikes 9 a.m. on Saturday that you have a chance to get the best seat, think again. Before the tickets even go on sale, entire batches are claimed by the artist’s own organization, corporate sponsors, season pass holders and others. At least 20% of available seats are already gone by the time the doors open for sales. Even worse, professional “scalpers” who have contacts within organizations such as the National Associate of Ticket Brokers, are somehow able to grab up the best seats in the house long before you ever pick up the phone to make that call.

However, never fear – just because Ticketmaster says that all seats are sold, you still have options. We’ve already covered a few cool applications like Roosterfly, which lets you compare event ticket prices, or FanSnap, an app that lets you search for available event tickets. However, I wanted to review 4 of the best websites to get awesome seats at popular, hard-to-get-into shows.

TicketCity – If You Can’t Beat Em, Join Em

Because of the fact that so many groups and organizations have access to the best seats before you do and you really want to get good seats for the show (especially after Ticketmaster has sold out), your best bet is to track down and purchase tickets on the secondary market — since that’s really where all the best seats are. It’s a dog-eat-dog market even involving corruption and bribery, in some cases.

Brokers (essentially scalpers) use inside connections to garnish huge blocks of tickets for sale on the secondary market. Case in point is TicketCity. Randy Cohen, CEO of TicketCity, told BNET in an interview:

We have relationships and contracts with people and venues. Through our relationships, we’re able to get tickets.

TicketCity covers just about any sort of event you’d probably be interested in including sports, theatre and concerts. There’s even a large button to click if you’re interested in selling your own tickets to TicketCity! There are also ticket specials in select locations and a 200% money-back guarantee. This is obviously one of the “big dogs” of ticket brokerages.

RazorGator – For Hard-to-Get Tickets

Another major broker of event tickets is the very popular site RazorGator. It even touts itself as the place to go when you’re dying to get popular tickets and can’t find them anywhere else. How does RazorGator get these rare tickets? Wouldn’t you like to know?

RazorGator is a pretty cool site, and it covers more event types compared to many other sites. Where else could you get tickets for a rodeo, Cirque du Soleil, and a Nickelback concert all in one place? You get a 100% money-back guarantee and there’s even another section of the site called “Fan2Fan Exchange” where fans can either exchange or sell tickets. Sort of like a third market for ticket sales.

Fox World Travel Tickets – Travel & Tickets Go Hand in Hand

Fox World Travel is a travel agency based out of Wisconsin that eventually realized that a large majority of what their clients wanted to do when traveling included obtaining tickets for shows, games or other events. The agency entered the world of ticket brockerage at their site, where you can find tickets for just about any kind of show.

This is only one example, there are lots of other travel sites out there that offer access to tickets, so make sure to hunt them down. In fact, ask a local travel agent in your area - they likely have access to blocks of popular even tickets as well.

TicketsToGo – Small Can Be a Good Thing

Were you ever in a situation where you were dating a girl you really wanted to impress, and she said something along the lines of, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to go see the Lion King on Broadway but they’re sold out for months!” Now, how cool would it be to have a buddy who you could call on your cellphone and say, “Hey, dude… could you hook me up with a couple of tickets to the Lion King?” Well, at TicketsToGo, you’ve got that dude to call.

At TicketsToGo, you place an order for a show and even if it’s officially sold out, this independent broker will access a “a large network of professional suppliers” to locate an available ticket for you. You’re surely going to pay a lot more for it – but at this point, when you’re dying to see the your favorite band or singer, and completely bummed out that there aren’t any seats left, does it really matter, if it means you can get in the door? Definitely use TicketsToGo as the last option, but at least it’s an option that you have.

Have you ever had any success getting hard-to-get tickets? What resources do you use? Share your insight in the comments section below.

Whether you’re looking for a cheap mobile plan, the best bank account for your spending habits, the cheapest digicam store or a nearby gas station with lowest petrol prices — these sites have you covered.

(1) CarRentals.com – Compare Car Rental Rates

CarRentals.com is the biggest car rentals aggregator site that makes comparing car rental rates really easy. It searches for offers from different vendors and gives you a list of available cars sorted by the daily rental rates starting from the cheapest.



By default, results are sorted by price. However, you can also sort them by vendor, distance from your house, car type and vendor location.


(2) BillShrink.com – Compare Cell Phone Plans and Credit Cards

Are you sure you’re getting the best deal with your current cell phone plan? BillShrink.com is the place to find it out. Here, you can instantly compare over 100 mobile plans and find the best one for your usage habits. Fill in your preferences and it will return with the cheapest plan meeting those criterias. It only takes about 3-4 minutes.



The site also lets you compare credit cards.

(3) FindABetterBank – Compare Bank Accounts

Find A Better Bank helps you find an ideal bank account. Enter your zip code, indicate the features that are important to you and additional details to help them estimate yearly banking fees. Then, it will give you a detailed comparison of local banks, sorted from best to worst.



Moreover, when you find the ideal bank for your needs, you may check out what others have to say about it and its rating on MyBankTracer.

(4) GasBuddy – Compare Gas Prices

GasBuddy is a great money saver site for those who drive a lot. On this site, you can quickly check gas prices in your area and find the cheapest gas prices and stations. Just type in your zip code and you’ll get a list of gas pumps along with the gas price at each of them.



When it comes to gas prices, I highly recommend you check out PetroFix. This site allows you to hedge against future gas price increases and make sure you never overpay for gas.

(5) Compare Dimensions: Sizeasy / DisplayWars / TV Calculator

Sizeasy, DisplayWars and TV Calculator are 3 excellent sites that can help you a great deal when you are trying to visualize the dimensions for things like small electronic gadgets, mobile phone and TV screens.

I have used these tools countless times and highly recommend them to everyone. Sizeasy works great for smaller items like mobile phones. The other two focuses on TV screens and monitors.



(6) CompareMyFiles – Compare Text Files

CompareMyFiles is a simple online tool that lets you easily compare two text files online side by side. Very useful when you have slightly different versions of the same file and need to find the exact lines where they differ.



(7) PriceGrabber – Compare Product Prices

PriceGrabber is one of the most popular price comparison sites in USA. Search for the product you want to buy and PriceGrabber will find all retailers selling the product and list them starting from the cheapest. The results can be also sorted by user ratings and reviews.



(8) Rentometer – Compare Rent Rates

On Rentometer, you can find out whether the amount you’re currently paying for your rent is a rip-off or a bargain. Rentomoeter compares the amount you pay to an average rate for similar apartments in the neighborhood. There is also a map view of nearby apartments including their rates.



(9) TicketsFTW / TicketPredator – Comparing Ticket Prices For Events

TicketsFTW and TicketPredator brings the best deals on sports, concert, and theater tickets and even sold-out shows. Simply search for the event you want to attend and see the where you can buy it at the lowest fare.



(10) GlassDoor – Compare Your Salary Against Others

GlassDoor lets you anonymously share your salary figure with others and in return, get full access to salaries of others. Simply post an anonymous salary of your own and in few minutes you will have access to salary figures in over 23,000 companies shared by real employees. This is one of the sites that you should definitely check before going for your next job interview.

There are a few other good comparison sites like ShipGooder, PrintingChoice or FrugalMechanic that were covered on MakeUseOf before but didn’t make the list. Check them out as well.

Did we miss any useful comparison sites? Lets us know in comments!

Top image credit: yan =]

But that certainly doesn’t mean that other search engines can’t do a decent, if not better, job and this list has been compiled for just this reason.

So check out this catalog of awesome alternative search engines that are certain to help you search faster and more efficiently on that World Wide Web.

Music & Video

MP3Realm

If you’re one of the countless people today who gets their music digitally, then MP3Realm is for you. The site features a basic search for MP3′s as well as song lyrics.

MP3s can be streamed, added to playlists and of course downloaded. The advanced search option also lets users browse MP3′s by genre (a ton to choose from) or by artist.

TuneFind

I’m sure that some part of all of our lives has been spent in front of the television and I always manage to find a song that catches my fancy no matter what I’m watching. That’s where TuneFind comes in; the site is dedicated to providing users with the names of artists/song titles that have appeared on their favorite television shows, and even movies.

You can even reverse look up artists, to see which films and shows their music has been featured on.

MuviBee

A site dedicated to the best of both worlds, MuviBee lets users search for music and music videos (via YouTube) that might be associated with the song. The site proves to be versatile and certainly unique, providing users with Top 10 Charts from iTunes, the US, UK and Germany as well as direct links to Amazon and iTunes if you should decide to purchase music you like.

ClipBlast

ClipBlast features short videos from a variety of mainstream sources, including Hulu, TBS, BBC etc. The site is easy to use and loaded with enough content to keep you busy for hours.

Blinkx

Blinkx is another quality video search engine that collects results from hundreds of video/television providers and incorporates them into your search. The site also lets you browse videos from a myriad of topics.

If, by the way, you’re having trouble with videos that are limited to region, like Hulu, then try out some of the neat solutions we’ve covered here at MUO.

Files & Others

Rapidshare1

Rapidshare has become a premium site for uploading and serving content for hungry web users. It’s natural then to expect a site devoted to searching for files on Rapidshare, and Rapidshare1 is it. The site is dead simple and all you need to get going is something to look for.

Filestube

Filestube takes Rapidshare1 to another level by aggregating its searches to include several other networks including MegaUpload, YouSendIt, Filefront etc. Searches can also be filtered by file type which adds more convenience to the engine.

FileSnatcher

Another good site, FileSnatcher lets you look for files on a few different file sharing networks, including Badongo, Mediafire and 4shared.

Recipes & Cooking

Cookstr

As the name implies, Cookstr is for the wannabe-chef in all of us. The site is clean and intuitive and searching is simple. What I like best about Cookstr is the wide range of search filters that they offer, some of which include searching for recipes based on chef, author, skill level, holiday, course, cost and much more.

Keep in mind that the site is still in beta and Cookstr will be adding a “menu-search” feature as well as helpful tips/techniques as the site develops.

RecipeZaar

RecipeZaar is another excellent website for searching up quality recipes for your next meal. Users can also search for ‘cookbooks’ which are a collection of another user’s recipes. Also, recipe results feature ratings and nutritional information.

Fun

Tickex

Trying to buy tickets online? Well then check out Tickex, the site that collects search results from multiple ticket providers for concerts, sporting events and theatre. Searches can be made by venue, country, event, city etc. The site also provides direct links to retailers to simplify your experience even further.

Quotiki

Looking for something clever to say in your next argument? Try out Quotiki, a quotation search engine that has collected some of the wisest and shrewd idioms the world over.

WhatsOpen

WhatsOpen is a young site, but its concept is awesome. They let users see what stores, malls and shops are currently open in their neighborhood and how long they’ll be open. As I’ve mentioned, the site is rather new and the working locations are still limited to a few key cities in the US of A, but rest assured new locations are being added as the site grows.

So there you have it readers, 13 awesome search engines for you to play with. Questions, comments, suggestions? Then drop us a line in the comments and share your thoughts with fellow MUO followers.