Dump those books and click the keys to get that perfect getaway

From flipping through outrageously priced Lonely Planet guidebooks to asking well-heeled and well-travelled friends for recommendations on where to go and what to do, travel has always had a social component to it. So it’s no surprise a large number of social travel websites—not just the Kayaks and the Trip advisors—are trying to make the experience of planning and enjoying your vacations and business trips that much more personal, and I have cherry picked the best of the lot for you. What are you waiting for? The holidays are coming and a new place beckons! Planning the Trip: Why fall for the marketing hype on a hotel’s website when you can see recommendations from your social circle and their friends? For instance, Gogobot connects with your Facebook account and lets you create travel plans and send out questions about your plans—places to see, things to eat—to your network and even publishes an itinerary on the site for you to share with your friends and family. There is a neat “passport feature” which not only documents where you’ve been (much like a real passport), but also lets you upload photos and share tips for other travellers about the destinations you’ve visited. On similar lines are Jauntlet–which posts a map with pinpoints of places you’ve been to (it integrates with Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram and twitter to annotate that map as well!) and Dopplr, which lets you privately share your itineraries with friends and associates, and should you wish to, see public itineraries for a sense of what one can do while vacationing at a holiday spot. Finding Offbeat Stayovers: The principle behind the hugely popular CouchSurfing site is rather simple—if you have a spare room or couch in your home, why not share it with a traveller willing to slum it out for a night. Which, as it turns out, works out rather brilliantly for those on a budget and looking to sample the local flavor of the land. With over 5 million members offering a place to crash for the night in more than 93,000 cities, Couch- Surfing makes its money, and helps keep the network safe as well, from its identity verification services, but keeps the search and hosting capabilities of the site free. The site’s success has seen it expand into tourism services, as a vacationer, you can use it to arrange for bicycle tours, museum visits and volunteering opportunities at your holiday destination and has led the way in the collaborative consumption business model, with later entrants such as Tripping and Airbnb expanding into the vacation rental segment. Finding Travel Companions: If you’re outgoing and enjoy chatting up with your fellow passengers on a long-haul flight, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has something with you in mind—its Meet & Seat programme allows you to sign in with your LinkedIn and Facebook accounts to see who will be on your flight, view others’ profiles and chose your seat based on who is sitting where. Planely is a great introduction service for fliers to meet fellow passengers with the goal of making the most of the hours of downtime spent while traveling. The site’s algorithm uses your Facebook or LinkedIn profile to suggests compatible travellers on the same route as you’ve chosen, and is hugely popular with travellers who were heading to large events and wished to forge relationships with folks before arriving. Of course, if you’re really the adventurous sort socially, you can look at Travellution’s list of dream itineraries and even plan a vacation with a complete stranger—handy for those of us who have a bunch of friends who don’t share the same passion for travel that we do. Finding Great Deals: While big travel websites do a good job in helping you find offers at participating airlines and hotels, plenty of deals exist on airline and hotel twitter and Facebook pages as well. For international travellers, Wanderlisting has a up-to-date list of airlines and hotels, and tops it off by including big travel bloggers and publications as well. Or you could sign on to Facebook and ‘like’ your preferred airline, and watch as the offers roll in from time to time. Either way, there’s always a deal to be had for the determined traveller. And if you’re a last minute traveller, you could check out HotelTonight, an app that enables you to book a room at discounts of up to 70 per cent! Getting Local Tips: Instead of just typing out a Facebook update about who’s available to meet up in Paris when you’re there next week, you could let sites like Twigmore and Triptrotting search your social networks for friends who have friends in new places, then reach out to those people up for advice from a local’s perspective, or arrange meet-ups when you get there. Unlike traditional travel companies or guides, there’s a certain degree of trust that your friends—or their friends—won’t steer you wrong and get you to see the best of what their city has to offer for travellers.