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The 10 best online travel agencies in 2024

The top 10 online travel agencies.

• Booking.com
• Lastminute.com

Best online travel agencies for business travel

1. travelperk.

Main offerings and features:

• Industry-leading travel inventory
• Flexible booking with FlexiPerk
• Safety alerts with TravelCare
• Integrated travel policy & approval flows
• Centralized invoicing
• Easy & real-time expense reports
• Carbon offsetting with GreenPerk
• 24/7 fast customer support in target 15s
• VAT reclaim
• Integration with 3rd party tools , such as expense management or HR software like Expensify and BambooHR

Save time and money on your business travel with TravelPerk

2. sap concur.

• Works with some of the biggest brands
• Easy tracking and reporting of expenses for expense reports
• Many connected apps, such as Uber and Airbnb for cars and hotels
• One solution for a variety of business travel spending

Click below to compare both platforms’ features and benefits

• Ample integrations
• Award-winning mobile app
• Employee-centric travel management

Click below for a more detailed comparison between both platforms:

Best online travel agencies for leisure travel, 1. booking.com.

• Intuitive booking tool and website
• Flight + Hotel booking for easily planning trips with no cross-referencing travel websites
• Simple car rental options and taxi hire
• Available in over 40 different languages and offers over half a million properties across 207 countries
• You can book experiences in your destination city to entertain you on your travels
• Genius rewards program

• Simple interface and booking tool
• Deals when making more than one booking
• 38 different languages and offers a 24-hour, multilingual customer support service
• Free cancellation within 24 hours of booking
• Millions of reviews to help make your decision

3. Lastminute.com

• Filter hotels according to budgets, star ratings, guest ratings, board types, and more
• ATOL protection on flight + hotel bundles
• Flash sales for last-minute deals
• Payment plans to spread out the cost of travel
• Extra entertainment booking for your trips, like theatrical productions and day trips
• Gift cards for gifting travel

• Expedia rewards for hotels, cars, and more
• Experienced support
• Compare cruise lines
• Big savings when booking flights, hotels, and car rentals
• Operates in nearly 70 countries and in over 35 different languages
• Luxury travel options

• Book hotels, flights, cars, and bundles
• 24/7 support
• Lower prices on the app
• Great last-minute deals for spontaneous travel

6. Bookmundi

Best online travel agencies for flights

1. skyscanner.

• Super flexible booking filters
• Cheaper flights and hotels than other OTAs
• Price alerts for travel routes of interest
• Easy-to-use booking tool and UI
• Hundreds of location and currency options
• One-way, return, and multi-city travel options

2. Kiwi.com

• Simple flight booking tool
• Partnerships with Booking.com and Rentalcars.com
• Discover deals anywhere with the option to open up your search
• Easy-to-use app

How do online travel agencies work?

What are the advantages of booking through an online travel agency.

• Access to comparison tools
• Peer reviews to help you with your decisions
• Flexible cancellation policies
• All your travel in one place
• Local flights and deals

Rewards programs

Comparison tools, peer reviews, flexible cancellation.

Flexiperk: Cancel anytime, anywhere. Get a minimum of 80% of your money back.

One account for all of your travel needs, a local approach to global travel, wrapping up.

Make business travel simpler. Forever.

• See our platform in action . Trusted by thousands of companies worldwide, TravelPerk makes business travel simpler to manage with more flexibility, full control of spending with easy reporting, and options to offset your carbon footprint.
• Find hundreds of resources on all things business travel, from tips on traveling more sustainably, to advice on setting up a business travel policy, and managing your expenses. Our latest e-books and blog posts have you covered.
• Never miss another update. Stay in touch with us on social for the latest product releases, upcoming events, and articles fresh off the press.

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The Complete Guide to Booking Travel Online

What is an online travel agency, and what are the best sites and apps to use to search for hotels and flights we break it all down for you..

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There’s a lot to navigate when researching and booking travel online.

Photo by Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

My first travel adventure was to Venezuela. I booked the ticket with a travel agent over a pay phone. The agent searched a dozen flight itineraries over a few days, all so I could save $15.

Times have changed. Today, flight searches start online , often on your mobile device. Passengers book either directly with the airline or hotel or with online travel agencies. Rarely do we get on the phone. In fact, American Airlines and United Airlines charge $25 to make a domestic flight booking by phone. And pay phones hardly exist anymore.

So, what is the best way to book online? Here is our complete guide to online travel agencies, search tools, and the variety of booking options available on both mobile devices and desktops.

What is an OTA?

An online travel agency, or OTA, is a website or mobile app that allows users to search for and book travel services such as flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and activities. The booking is made directly with the online travel agency but confirmed by the service provider, such as an airline or a hotel. As a customer, your relationship is with the OTA.

What are the main OTAs?

Many online travel agencies nowadays are owned by two main companies: Expedia and Priceline. The Expedia Group is the largest online travel agency in the United States with 70 percent market share, according to travel data firm Phocuswright. Expedia Group operates Expedia.com , Orbitz, Hotels.com , Trivago, CheapTickets , Hotwire , Vrbo , and Travelocity .

Priceline is a major competitor to Expedia, with global revenues larger than the Expedia Group. The company owns Priceline.com, Booking.com, Cheapflights, Momondo, and Kayak—the latter two being metasearch engines (more on that below).

There are also independent newcomers such as Hopper (a mobile-only booking tool) and Kiwi.com (which allows you to book flights on air carriers that don’t normally have a commercial relationship).

Are OTA fares lower than booking directly?

Generally, no. The fares that are displayed by an OTA will be similar if not slightly more expensive when compared to an airline’s website. They’re usually only a few dollars higher or lower. The OTAs charge a booking fee to the airlines, and often that fee is passed directly to consumers. For example, Lufthansa tacks on an additional $18 to any booking made through an OTA for Lufthansa flights. The same flights are exactly $18 cheaper on the airline’s website.

Where you can score a good travel deal through an OTA is when booking a last-minute hotel and flight package. Many OTAs have cut agreements with airlines allowing last-minute travelers to access lower rates than are typically available when passengers book a flight alone.

Are all airlines available to be booked through OTAs?

No. Many OTAs do not display flights from some of the low-fare leaders. For example, Southwest and Allegiant flights are not available through OTAs; the same goes for Ryanair in Europe. And, earlier this year United Airlines threatened to pull out of Expedia altogether, only recently signing a multi-year agreement to stay in. The airlines would rather not lose any margin to online travel agencies in an already low-margin industry and would rather maintain a direct relationship with the customer.

Are smaller OTAs safe to use?

Expedia and Priceline are the two largest players in the online booking space, but there are dozens of independent OTAs, such as CheapOAir, OneTravel, JustFly, and SmartFares. Confusingly, you might actually stumble on ads for these OTAs while using Expedia or Priceline sites. That’s because the larger OTAs earn revenue through advertising, sending passengers to smaller OTAs and charging those OTAs for the favor.

Buyer beware: some of these lesser-known OTAs are masters at hidden fees. For example, a flight search on JetBlue allows for free seat selection in many instances. If you perform the same search on FlightNetwork, an independent OTA, and select a seat, you will be charged an additional $25—despite the fact that JetBlue doesn’t charge a seat selection fee if you book directly.

What if you need to change your itinerary?

Itinerary changes are often a pain. If your plans change, it won’t matter whether you’ve booked directly with an airline or with an OTA—you’re going to pay fees for the privilege, if you can even change your ticket at all.

For example, CheapTickets.com, which is part of the Expedia Group, charges $25 to change or cancel a ticket if that change is requested after 24 hours of making the booking—it is free if you do so within 24 hours of booking. However, the fees go up from there. JustFly, an independent OTA, charges a $75 fee for changes to domestic flights in addition to airline change fees, plus the difference in fare, for tickets that can be changed. For an international trip, the fee rises to $200. That means to change an international flight with Delta (which charges a $100 change fee) booked through JustFly, you’ll be assessed $300 in fees, plus the difference in fare. At that rate, you may as well book a new flight. FlightNetwork indicates in its terms of service that changes may incur a change fee but doesn’t specify what those fees are. That hardly makes the few dollars you saved by booking with the OTA in the first place worth it.

What is an OTA price match policy?

To assure travelers that they are getting the lowest fare possible, many OTAs have a price match policy. The rules vary and so do the benefits.

For example, if you book with Orbitz and find a less expensive flight, car rental, or activity on any U.S.-based website within 24 hours of your booking, Orbitz will refund you the difference you paid. And it works: I have personally found a flight in the same class, on the same airline, for the same origin and destination cities, and requested Orbitz to refund the difference of around $35. Within a few weeks, I received a check in the mail. A similar program applies for CheapOAir, but there’s a catch—the price difference must be found on a major OTA such as Expedia or Travelocity.

Expedia has a particularly good price match policy, but you have to pay extra for it at the time of booking. Expedia offers the price match option as an add-on that costs between $5 and $30 when you book. With the price match applied, if the airfare on Expedia drops between 120 days of the flight and up to six hours before the flight, Expedia will automatically refund you the difference in fare. Unfortunately, fares generally do not drop substantially as the travel date approaches, so while this might give you peace of mind, it’s probably not worth the expense.

How do Google Flights and other travel metasearch engines work?

Frequent fliers are likely familiar with websites such as Google Flights, Kayak, Momondo, or Skyscanner. On these websites, passengers search on the site but are redirected to the service provider to complete the booking, such as an airline, rental car company, or hotel.

Metasearch started with a product called ITA Matrix, which is a tool for searching airfares online but not for actually booking online. ITA Matrix allows for multi-city searching, such as setting two different departure or arrival airports, and for offering a calendar view of fares for easier comparison. That company was acquired by Google in 2011, and savvy travelers swear by it to help find the least expensive fares online. Most consumers are more familiar with Google Flights, which has gained traction more recently not least because it has the benefit of being displayed first in search results on Google.

Metasearch engines receive distribution fees from the airlines for sending traffic to the supplier websites. There are no additional hidden fees for using a metasearch engine because you’re booking directly with the airline or hotel.

A major benefit of the metasearch engines is their price tracking tool, which lets users know whether the displayed fares are low, average, or high for the flight, allowing travelers to make a more informed decision on whether to book a flight or not . Google Flights and Kayak, for instance, both have price tracking tools.

Why not just book directly?

The airlines would definitely much rather you book directly with them. Over the past five years, they have gotten much better at marketing and selling their product directly to consumers online and through mobile sites and apps. But in the past, they weren’t so good at it. In fact, Delta, Northwest, United, American, and Continental got together to invest $145 million to launch Orbitz in 1999 to counter the threat from Expedia. Now Orbitz is owned by Expedia.

The airlines also try to encourage customers to book directly so that they can maintain a closer relationship with them. It allows carriers to connect bookings with loyalty programs and create special offers and discounts catered to individual passengers.

There is another benefit to booking directly. The U.S. Department of Transportation requires carriers to hold a reservation at the quoted fare for 24 hours without payment or allow a reservation to be cancelled within 24 hours without penalty, so long as the booking is made at least seven days before travel. The law applies, however, only to U.S. and foreign air carriers that have websites marketed to U.S. consumers. This means that, in theory, an online travel agency does not have to offer such a policy, although most OTAs do.

What are the options for booking on your mobile device?

Airlines and the major OTAs all have apps to help you book and manage your trip on your mobile device, but their functionality is lacking compared to these websites’ desktop editions. For example, Expedia’s app doesn’t allow you to view flights on a month-view calendar. Kayak has an app with more bells and whistles and a better user interface, including a month-view calendar with color-coded pricing. It also has a handy “augmented reality” function to help you see if your carry-on bag will fit in the overhead bin (a feature originally developed by KLM). Point your phone’s camera at the luggage, and it’ll give you the dimensions.

While apps are improving and gaining in popularity, you still might find it easier to locate the best deals on flights and hotels by using your desktop, where you can have multiple tabs open and have all the available search tools at your disposal. Apps are fine for booking directly with an airline once you know which flights you want to book.

If you’re determined to use your mobile device, you may want to look into Hopper. Hopper is a mobile-first flight booking tool that has a solid price prediction tool. You can research travel options and book directly on the app. Another benefit of Hopper: Of its team of 300 employees, nearly half are dedicated to customer support and are based in Canada versus some OTAs and airlines that outsource much of their customer service further afield.

The bottom line?

Like many travelers, I enjoy a flight deal as much as the next person, but I also don’t like any added hassle. I typically start my travel searches using the ITA Matrix or Google Flights to get a general sense of the fares. It helps to know what is a good deal and what is expensive for a particular route. I do my research, typically on a desktop computer. When I’m ready to book, I’ll book directly with the airline. I’ve found that customer service is better when booking directly with the service provider. But I’ve also saved money by using OTAs and have booked with them, too. Whichever way you choose to book, you can be safe in the knowledge that finding and purchasing travel online is a lot easier today than searching for a deal with a travel agent on a pay phone.

>> Next: How to Get the Best Last-Minute Travel Deals

Protect Your Trip »

Is a travel agent worth it the pros and cons.

Travel experts agree there are several advantages to hiring a vacation planner.

The Pros & Cons of Using a Travel Agent

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A travel agent can save you money and time.

Need to pivot your trip plans but don't want to deal with the extra time, money and hassle of rebooking flights and accommodations on your own? That's just one area where a knowledgeable travel agent (also commonly known as a travel advisor) can help. Read on to discover the other benefits – as well as the downsides – of using a travel agent, so you can confidently decide whether or not a travel agent is worth it for your next trip.

The Pros of Using a Travel Agent

Travel agents can save you money – and get you other perks.

"In some cases, you'll actually get a better  deal by working with a travel agent," says Jackie Steele, travel expert at MagicGuides . "This could be in the form of a cruise onboard credit (free spending money to use on the ship), access to special agency/group rates, or even just learning about a discount you qualify for but weren't aware of." The best agents will even keep an eye on new discounts as they're announced and apply them to your trip even after you've booked, he notes.

Travel agents handle all the details

Hotel room? Booked. Dinner reservations? Made. Tour tickets? Ready to go. A travel agent handles every detail of your vacation itinerary. "The traveler still gets to be involved in the fun part of dreaming up ideas and providing their travel wishes, while we take and perfect them," says Jessica Parker, founder of Trip Whisperer .

Molly McShea, owner and travel advisor at McShea Travel , points out that travel agents can also help with timing logistics. "Travel agents know how many days should be spent in each destination, which tours go together, and how many things you should do in a day," she says, adding that crafting an itinerary can be challenging if it's not something you regularly do. Additionally, travel agents can help you choose the best time to visit your preferred destination(s) based on seasonality and your budget, and sift through travel insurance policies to find the best option for your needs.

Travel agents can provide local expertise

"A travel advisor's industry connections and relationships provide added value to their clients," says Valerie Edman, a luxury travel advisor and agency owner at Cultured Travel LLC. She says when working with a travel agent, travelers gain access to a global network of connections including:

• In-destination specialists who work exclusively with travel advisors and can connect travelers with unique, off-the-beaten-path experiences they wouldn't otherwise know about
• Exclusive experiences not available to the general public

You'll avoid surprise fees

When deciding if a travel agent is worth it for you, remember this: A reputable agent can guarantee you won't encounter any surprise fees on accommodations and activities once your trip is booked.

You'll have someone to troubleshoot unexpected travel issues

A travel advisor is essentially your personal vacation concierge. "Because they've been around for so long, agents really know what to look for," says Christopher Elliott , a consumer advocate and journalist. "Travel agents are among the first to know about flight cancellations and delays , making it easy for them to rebook itineraries right away." 

The Cons of Using a Travel Agent

It might not be your cheapest option.

There are some instances when it makes more sense to plan your own trip. "If you're planning a quick flight from New York City to Los Angeles, it's easy enough to book it yourself online directly or through a third-party booking site," says Elliott. "If you're planning a once-in-a-lifetime trip or bucket list honeymoon , that's when you call the experts."

You'll have less flexibility in your itinerary

The upside of working with a travel agent is having someone plan an epic vacation for you based on industry knowledge and local expertise. But this can also be a downside in the event you discover an activity you'd like to do or a restaurant you'd like to try that isn't on your pre-planned itinerary. If you alter your plans, you risk losing money; plus, the time it takes for you and your travel agent to coordinate your change of plans may not be worth the hassle.

You still have to do some research

It's important to find an agent you can trust, which means you still have to do some of the vacation planning. For this part, Parker recommends picking up the phone. "Lots of people avoid or don't pick up the phone as much anymore," she says. "That's where you get the high-touch service, tone of voice, excitement or concerns to manage." She advises to look for the following red flags:

• No fees: " Travel advisors are charging planning fees more now or increasing them, so the client knows more confidently than ever, we work for them, not the suppliers with the best commissions," Parker explains. "There are a lot of things that are non-commissionable and the advisor's time and expertise shouldn't be given away for free, either. That's the best way to show an advisor takes their business seriously."
• Limited options: If you work with someone who is inexperienced or has an incentive to book you with a certain supplier, they may not be prioritizing your best interests. "It's important to check if they are with a larger consortia, accreditations and network, typically listed on their website and signatures," says Parker. "That level of mindshare doesn't come with a lone advisor unless they have many, many years of experience."
• Slow response times: If communication is delayed, that's a sign they may be too busy to plan your trip – but again, this is something you can avoid by having the right conversations early on.

Edman suggestes starting your search with the American Society of Travel Advisors . "ASTA-verified travel advisors are committed to the highest industry standards and have verifiable industry knowledge so consumers can feel confident in working with them," she says.

You might also be interested in:

• Is Travel Insurance Worth It?
• First-Time Cruise Tips
• Carry-on Luggage Sizes by Airline
• What to Pack in Your Carry-on Bag
• The Best Luggage Brands

Tags: Travel , Travel Tips

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Christina was extremely thorough throughout the process. She handled everything every step of the way. Honestly, it felt like she was right by my side throughout the entire trip. I could not have experienced this trip without her.

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Katrina was incredible every step of the way. She helped us tighten up our itinerary and made great recommendations for hotels and restaurants that worked really well for our family. I would highly recommend anyone thinking about how to make their trip perfect go straight to Katrina.

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I was impressed by the high level of professionalism in planning and organizing my trip to NYC. Attention to detail and genuine care for my particular interests - great restaurants and seeing the best of the city - were evident in every step of the planning. I highly recommend Melissa!

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Thomas was amazing. He got us a free room upgrade, free breakfasts for 5 days (an ~$270 value), a $50 room credit, early checkin, late checkout and more. I am referring him to all of my friends who like to travel in style.

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Still have questions? We got you.

What is a travel agency.

A travel agency supports a team of travel advisors who sell, curate and book travel. Travel advisors consult with clients on where to go, what to do and where to stay. In addition to planning and booking trips, advisors communicate with hotels and other partners (tour companies, cruises, etc.) to ensure each trip goes smoothly.

What is the difference between a travel advisor and a travel agent?

The terms travel agent and travel advisor are used interchangeably. The original term was ‘travel agent,’ but the industry has gone through a bit of a rebrand to showcase the breadth of work that a travel advisor does. We use both, but typically refer to our network of travel advisors simply as Fora Advisors.  

Fora Advisors (a.k.a. travel advisors / agents) work with clients to understand their travel needs and handle all the travel arrangements, from booking a hotel for a long weekend to planning a honeymoon to securing a room block for a corporate conference. 

What are the benefits of working with a travel agent?

Working with a travel agent helps you level up your travel experience. A travel agent handles all the logistics — on-the-ground transfers, hotel and tour bookings, itinerary planning — so you can get the most out of your trip, without any of the stress. 

Plus, our Fora travel agents have insider access to over 5,000 preferred partnerships, meaning you get complimentary perks, priority upgrades and so much more at thousands of locations around the globe. We put serious time and airline mileage into visiting these properties in person so we can give you the up-to-date intel on your destination. We also maintain close relationships with hotel management so you’re treated like the VIP you are from the moment you arrive.

In other words, working with a travel agent unlocks a secret travel world you need to be a part of. But don’t just take our word for it… we have tons of 5-star reviews from happy clients.

Will I get perks & benefits when I work with a Fora Advisor?

Yes — big time. Our travel advisors have access to upgrades & perks at over 5,000 partners around the world. Plus, our partnerships with brands like Virtuoso , Four Seasons , Rosewood and beyond — as well as with smaller, independent boutique hotels — ensure you get treated like a VIP wherever you travel to next.

What types of travel can I book with Fora?

You name it, we book it: resort vacations, safaris , city breaks, vacation home rentals, once-in-a-lifetime adventures, weekend escapes…We do it all.

Do Fora Advisors count as Disney travel agents? What about cruise travel agents?

Absolutely. We provide comprehensive training on just about everything in the travel industry, so our advisors are well equipped to curate any client’s dream trip. (Read more about the benefits of booking with a cruise travel agent .)

I’m planning a group trip. Can Fora Advisors help?

Of course! The more the merrier. Whether you’re organizing a family reunion, honeymoon , bachelorette party or company-wide retreat, we’re happy to help. Just get in touch with your Fora Advisor to begin the process.

How do I make the most of my experience when planning a trip with Fora?

Tell us everything. Let us know if you love golf, must have access to a kids’ club or have a soft spot for off-the-beaten-path travel . Serious allergies or dietary restrictions are also very helpful information to share. That way, we’ll only show you options that fit your wants and needs. We also love to hear about your favorite hotels and trips you’ve enjoyed in the past, because that clues us in to your travel style.

If you’ve never worked with a travel advisor before, get our guide on what to expect when booking with a travel agent .

Wait, I kind of want to be a Fora Advisor myself. How can I join?

We love to hear it! We have a guide on how to become a travel agent . Then, when you’re interested in transforming your passion for travel into a meaningful career, apply to become a Fora Advisor today . 

Best Online Travel Agencies

Booking.com is our top choice for making your trip arrangements

Ligaya Malones is an editor, blogger, and freelance writer specializing in food and travel. Ligaya's work has appeared in publications including Lonely Planet and BRIDES.

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more .

Planning a trip can be easier through an online travel agency than if you handle each aspect of the planning separately. You can book hotels, air travel, rental cars, and more through a single site, and booking everything together sometimes results in discounts. By inputting a destination, a range of dates, and other preferences, you will see a list of options for each aspect of travel.

The best online travel agencies offer options from the largest number of airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, and more. Look for sites that offer discounts for combining reservations for different aspects of your trip. For example, the best sites will have lower rates if you book both plane tickets and a hotel through their services. The best sites also provide reviews from customers who actually have booked through the service. These are our top picks.

• Best Overall: Booking.com
• Best Budget: Skyscanner
• Best Price Predictor: Hopper
• Most Innovative: Kiwi.com
• Best for Eco-Conscious: Kind Traveler
• Best for Social Impact: I Like Local
• Best for Design-Forward Homestays: Plum Guide
• Our Top Picks
• Booking.com

Kind Traveler

I Like Local

• See More (4)

Final Verdict

Frequently asked questions, methodology, best overall : booking.com.

 Booking.com

This industry leader offers one of the most comprehensive trip planning platforms on the Internet.

Lots of options to choose from

Interface is easy to use

Numerous filters to customize your search

Tricky to tell whether changes/cancellations can be made with Booking.com or the vendor directly

Booking.com was founded in 1996 and has grown into an industry leader that stands out for being one of the most comprehensive trip planning platforms out there. From one website, you can compare and book accommodations, flights (including one-way and multi-city flights), sightseeing activities, and even airport taxis. The website lists more than 28 million accommodation options, from hotels, hostels, and B&Bs to vacation homes and luxury resorts—you can browse more choices per destination on Booking.com than other online travel agencies. The website also performs well on cost and typically returns lower-than-average prices for flights and hotels. 

Booking.com's interface is also easy to use. On the home page, search for a hotel by entering your chosen destination and dates. Then, use the extensive list of filters—such as price range and distance from the city center—to narrow the results down and find the best fit. You can also search for a specific hotel, or seek inspiration by clicking through options grouped by destination or property type or by topic such as the country’s best Michelin-starred hotel restaurants or the top cities for vegan travelers. The flights, car rental, and other tabs are just as intuitive. 

Best Budget : Skyscanner

 Skyscanner

You can compare prices across airlines, hotels, and car rentals.

Simple interface

Option to toggle searches between specific dates or by monthly calendars

Search Everywhere button is great for spontaneous planners

Extra clicks are required to make a final purchase

Must read fine print for changes/cancellations—may need to deal directly with the vendor

Ads on the sidebar can be distracting

Find deals on airfare, hotels, and car rentals with an aggregator site like Skyscanner , which uses a metasearch engine to compare prices from all online travel agencies and the airline, hotel, or car rental company in question. Run searches with fixed dates, opt to compare airfare prices month to month, or click “Cheapest Month.” Searches also include options for nearby airports or non-stop flights only. With hotel searches, you can choose to select only from properties with free cancellation, a cleanliness rating of 4.5/5 or higher, or 3- or 4-starred hotels only. Car rental searches include an option to select “return car to different location.”

Once you’ve found the best rate, click on the link to be redirected to the third-party site to make your booking. Feeling spontaneous? The Search Everywhere button on the homepage offers a list of the cheapest flight deals for destinations both locally and across the world—just plug in your departure airport first.

Best Price Predictor : Hopper

The company claims a 95 percent accuracy rate at predicting when flights and hotel rates will be cheapest.

Color-coded system makes it easy to determine cheapest days to buy

App is easy to use

Option to track flights and receive alerts when the best time to buy arises

Some have mentioned the app functions better as a research tool than a booking tool

Unclear whether Hopper will price match if you find a cheaper flight elsewhere

Hopper is a travel app available on iOS and Android that aims to help travelers save on airfare by usng historical data and their own algorithm to predict when flights will be cheapest. Just type in where and when you’d like to fly and Hopper will present you with a color-coded pricing calendar indicating how much tickets are likely to cost. (Green is the least expensive, then yellow, orange, and red for most expensive.) Hopper will also recommend you either buy now or wait, or you can choose to watch a trip and receive notifications on the best time to buy. In addition, the app has expanded to offer hotel and car rental price predictions, too.

Some newer features since the app’s inception in 2009 include an option to freeze a price for a limited time—for an extra fee—as well as exclusive app-only discounts. Hopper is free to download, and you can choose to book directly through the app, though some users mentioned they use Hopper as more of a research tool before booking directly with the airline or hotel. The company claims a 95 percent accuracy rate at predicting flight rates up to a year ahead.

Most Innovative : Kiwi.com

This metasearch engine scours the web to piece together the ideal itinerary using planes, trains, buses, and more.

Creative itineraries get you where you need to go, especially if you’ve got a multi-stop trip

Kiwi Guarantee offers rebooking or cancellation protections

Nomad option appeals to travelers with a lot of flexibility

Creative itineraries mean you may not fly out of the same airport you flew into

Kiwi Guarantee has an additional fee

Charges all-in-one fee for booking flights, trains, buses (though you can always purchase a la carte)

Travelers planning multi-city destinations and seeking a bargain, as well as those looking to take planes, trains, and automobiles to get there, might consider Kiwi . Kiwi is a metasearch engine that scours and pieces together itineraries from various airlines (even if they don’t have a codeshare agreement), considers multiple airports (even if your arrival airport is different from departure), and offers booking options, whether you’re looking at very specific dates or more general ones (up to 60 nights).

Some will find the ability to make multiple bookings for a particular trip more convenient than going at it manually several different times, though note that you must opt into the Kiwi Guarantee program to access rebooking and refund protections should your reservation change or be canceled. Kiwi’s Nomad option allows you to plug in a bunch of destinations you’d like to visit and the length of your intended stay, and the website will churn out the most affordable itineraries for review.

Best for Eco-Conscious : Kind Traveler

A give-and-get business model means booking accommodations with exclusive perks, a donation to environmental organizations, and more.

All participating hotels include a local give-back component

Exclusive savings and perks

Participating hotels are located in some of the most beautiful places in the world

Inventory is much smaller compared to other booking platforms

Some of the amenities mentioned are based on availability only

In 2022, Kind Traveler (an online trave agency focused on hotel bookings) announced an increase in environmentally and socially conscious hotels, charity donations, voluntourism opportunities, and additional perks like waived resort fees or a welcome amenity.

Unlock exclusive hotel rates and perks from participating Kind Traveler hotels with a minimum $10/night minimum donation to a local charity. For example, stay at the Six Senses Laamu in the Maldives and receive up to $33 off the nightly rate and perks such as a food and beverage credit and an Earth Lab or Alchemy Bar workshop when you make a donation to Manta Trust. The organization funds coastal research to protect the island nation’s large yet fragile population of reef mantas.

Select from more than 140 participating hotels from the Hawaiian Islands to Bozeman, Montana, and the Maldives. Charities include wildlife, human rights, arts, education, and environmental preservation organizations.

Best for Social Impact : I Like Local

Choose from a host of travel experiences with the peace of mind that 100 percent of the cost goes directly to local partners.

Social impact mission woven into organization’s business model

Immersive experiences led by local guides

Range of experiences offered

May not be best fit for those seeking upscale, luxury experiences and stays

Can’t sort experiences by a list of countries (though an interactive map is available)

No experiences outside of Africa and Asia

For an online travel agency with a booking platform designed to route dollars spent directly to the communities travelers intend to visit, consider I Like Local . Visit the website to browse a host of travel experiences in countries including Indonesia, Kenya, and Cambodia. Experiences include homestays and farmstays as well as wellness and culturally oriented experiences—from cooking and cycling tours to weaving classes.

To search for an experience, select from drop-down items like travel dates and experience categories, or view a global map and click on a country to view experiences that way.

The platform got its start in 2014 and has grown to 4,000 local hosts across nearly 20 countries. As a social impact organization, 100 percent of each booking fee goes to local hosts. To date, 16,000 travelers have booked with I Like Local.

Best for Design-Forward Homestays : Plum Guide

Browse and book seriously vetted, design-forward vacation homes.

Highly curated inventory of vacation rentals across the world

Design-forward

Thorough vetting process

Does not publish guest reviews

Other platforms have homes available across more destinations

When it comes to booking a vacation home, serviced apartment, or condo, travelers are spoiled for choice. Plum Guide is an online travel agency that specializes in accommodations—though not just any home makes its directory. The company claims that each potential home listed on its site must jump through 150 hoops to be included, from internet speed and mattress and pillow quality to the showers’ water pressure and the home’s proximity to dining, shopping, and attractions.

Search by a featured collection on the website such as “ pet-friendly homes ” or “one-of-a-kind homes in Palm Springs.” Scroll to the bottom of its homepage to view its top destinations, as well as a list of all destinations where Plum Guide homes are available, including Barbados, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland, the U.S., and Turkey. Note: From the top right-hand corner of the site, use the dropdown menu to select currency of choice.

As long as you know what you value most out of your travel experience—such as affordability, social impact, or luxe accommodations—there’s an online travel agency to help plan your next trip. Be sure to read the fine print, as some agencies are third-party websites and not direct vendors. If you're not sure where to start, Booking.com is your best bet for a smooth user experience and hard-to-beat offers on flights, hotels, and other travel arrangements.

What Is the Biggest Travel Agency?

Our choice for best overall, Booking.com, is known as an industry leader with listings for all major hotels, airlines, car rental companies, and more. It boasts more choices for accommodations per destination than any other site, and we found its interface to be user-friendly.

Are Online Travel Agencies Worth It?

This depends on your needs and priorities. The best online travel agencies certainly can save time by booking everything all at once. However, if you're someone who is good at haggling and enjoys the details of planning a trip, you might be able to find better deals by reaching out to hotels or other destinations and speaking to someone personally.

Is It Cheaper to Book Online Than With a Travel Agent?

Not always. A travel agent you know and trust should have the experience and connections to find deals that can match or surpass what you'll find online. Additionally, if something goes wrong, travel agents provide you with an actual person you can use as an advocate to correct the problem . But if you don't have access to a good travel agent, online sites still provide plenty of ways to streamline planning and save money .

We considered dozens of online travel agencies and narrowed down the options based on user experience, volume and quality of inventory, unique offerings and specials, and customer reviews. We also assessed travel companies’ environmentally and socially conscious policies.

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4 Things to Know When Choosing a Travel Agent

Even the most D.I.Y.-inclined travelers are considering working with a professional adviser these days. Here’s how.

By Lauren Sloss

So, you’re thinking about traveling again? You’re not alone. The pandemic may not be over, but the expansion of vaccine eligibility in the United States — hiccups, delays and pauses aside — plus the news that the European Union will be opening up to vaccinated travelers is inspiring many to plan a real-deal summer vacation, or even take the leap on booking bucket-list adventures.

Travel remains far from simple, however. The virus is finding new footholds around the world, leaving an ever-changing set of rules and restrictions in its wake (and all of this is compounded by a run on home rentals , rental cars and more). It’s a reality that’s inspired many D.I.Y.-inclined travelers to consider working with a travel agent , or travel adviser, for the first time, in the hopes of skipping the travel-planning stress and focusing on actually relaxing on vacation instead.

Most travel advisers provide their services free of charge to clients (though some charge a booking fee, which can range from $25 to $100, depending on how complicated a trip you’re after) and instead make their money through commissions from hotels, tour operators, cruise lines, airlines and other travel companies.

Finding the right adviser for you is “like finding a hairdresser,” said Erika Richter, the senior communications director of ASTA , the American Society of Travel Advisors. “You want someone who understands your personal style.”

Ms. Richter, along with Misty Belles, the managing director of global public relations for Virtuoso , an international travel agency network specializing in luxury travel, shared their tips on how you can find an adviser who will understand you and your dream trip.

Begin your search close to home

Start by asking trusted friends and family members for recommendations. “The same holds true for any professional service in your life,” Ms. Belles said. “If you know someone who is working with a travel adviser and was pleased with the experience, that’s a great place to start.”

If that’s a no-go (or if your friends and family, while beloved, don’t have the same travel style as you do), Ms. Richter strongly suggested seeking out local businesses where you live.

“Supporting small businesses in our communities is more important than ever right now,” she said. ASTA has a directory that allows you to search for advisers close to you; a quick Google search will likely do the trick, too, Ms. Richter said.

Think about where you want to go

Another way to find a travel adviser is to seek one out based on a destination, or destinations, that he or she may specialize in. Are you interested in going to a specific Caribbean island nation? You’ll likely want to work with an adviser that has booked a number of trips in that country, and has connections and contacts there. Some advisers specialize in trips to Disney resort properties; others focus on cruises. If you’re interested in planning a trip outside of their purview, advisers can refer you to someone else within their network, or do the heavy-duty research themselves.

“Choosing someone who specializes in a destination is a good first foray into working with a travel adviser,” Ms. Belles said. “But when you work with the same adviser for a while, they become a specialist in you.”

Consider their professional networks

Speaking of what you want, it can be useful to understand the organization, or organizations, an adviser is associated with. Whether they work alone, with one partner in a small shop, or as part of a large agency, they are likely connected to a consortium, or a professional network, like Virtuoso, which is made up of more than 1,000 agencies in 50 countries around the world, or ASTA itself.

“Obviously, I represent ASTA, but I do think it’s important to look at an adviser’s professional affiliations,” Ms. Richter said. Affiliations can serve as a vote of confidence that the adviser has been vetted; it also gives you a chance for recourse should you find yourself unhappy with your relationship (ASTA, for example, can handle consumer complaints and be a part of the resolution process). Some consortiums specialize in a certain type of travel — Virtuoso agencies focus on luxury travel, for example, while others might highlight adventure travel, or family trips and so on.

An adviser’s affiliations also act as a conduit for one of their major selling points: traveler perks.

“Ask them what sorts of benefits they get from their professional networks,” Ms. Richter said. “Upgrades, free breakfasts, late checkouts when available — who doesn’t want some of those freebies?”

Make sure your adviser understands your travel style

Do you like leisurely, slow trips? Packed itineraries filled with sightseeing and attractions? Do you like to travel alone, or are you planning multigenerational trips with children and grandparents? Ensuring that your adviser understands what you want — and maybe even establishing that they have a similar travel style themselves — can greatly help with building rapport (and allow them to plan an even better trip for you).

Some important questions to ask: Do they charge a planning fee? What are some examples of trips that they’ve planned in the past?

“Be really upfront about your budget for a trip, and be sure that that is something they can help you make the most of,” Ms. Richter said.

Ms. Belles suggested asking the adviser how they personally like to travel, and some of their favorite destinations.

“Interview them a little bit! You can see whether there are some similarities there,” she said. But make sure they’re asking you just as many questions.

“If they’re not, that should be a red flag,” said Ms. Belles. “An adviser should be looking to get to the heart of what exactly you want as a traveler.”

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We asked readers to tell us about the spots that have delighted, inspired and comforted them in a dark year. Here, 52 of the more than 2,000 suggestions we received, to remind us that the world still awaits.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook . And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places list for 2021 .

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Should You Get a Travel Agent to Book Your Vacation? Here Are the Pros and Cons

Find out when using an agent is helpful and when it's not worth it.

Erica is a personal finance writer and travel expert with a decade of experience. She contributes to USA TODAY, Forbes, CNBC, and many other top-tier media outlets. Erica writes about travel tips, destinations, reward credit cards, and ways to save money on travel. Highlights: * Regular contributor to USA TODAY, covering destinations, trends, and how to save money on travel * Travel insurance expert for Forbes, contributing 50+ articles on travelers' insurance * Freelance writer covering health, real estate, business, and parenting with work published in Oprah Magazine, Reader's Digest, U.S. News & World Report, Parents, and NBC News

• Travel Agent Pros
• Travel Agent Cons
• How Much Does it Cost?
• Do Commissions Play a Role?
• How to Find an Agent

Sergey Chayko/Getty Images

If you’re getting ready to travel you may be considering using a travel agent to help plan your itinerary and book for your trip. Although there are scenarios and occasions where a travel agent could be a great asset in your trip-planning pursuits, you may not always need professional assistance. So, we’ve consulted with travel experts to break down all the pros and cons of using travel agents. 

Pros of hiring a travel agent

There are several great benefits of partnering with a travel agent. Here are a few of the standout advantages:

You get expert advice

Travel agents, after all, are experts in travel planning, and they often have inside information about a number of different destinations. “The best travel agents are experts in the place you’re traveling to, and will likely have experienced the trip they’re helping you book themselves,” says Sally French, travel expert at NerdWallet. “Given that, they can make personal recommendations and give advice specific to you, such as activities that fit your travel style or restaurants that fit your preferences.”

You have a go-to helper if anything goes wrong

Travel advisors can be a great resource to ensure you’re comfortable and have a smooth trip, and if something does go wrong, they’re also there to help you out, such as handling getting you rebooked in a different hotel room should something go awry, says French. “You might need support for a variety of possible disruptions, say a snowstorm delaying flights or an illness or injury to someone in your travel group,” French adds. “A travel agent is there to ensure you actually go on the trip, which means they’ll help make modifications to your itinerary in those events.”

You may get access to better deals or perks

Chris Gray Faust, executive editor of Cruise Critic , shares that travel agents have access to a treasure trove of travel deals, and can often offer special pricing that you wouldn’t have access to without working with them. “Beyond discounted pricing, they can also provide ways to save in other areas or [ways to] take full advantage of offerings available to you—bringing not just cost savings, but delivering an even greater overall value,” Gray Faust says. 

You get expert assistance with logistics, especially abroad

For many, the time and research it takes to manage the logistics of traveling, especially internationally, can be overwhelming, says Melissa DaSilva, president of Trafalgar , North America. “Advisors will step in to manage all of the logistics of in-destination transportation, score hard-to-get reservations at the best restaurants and deal with any hiccups, like flight delays or cancellations,” she explains. Travel advisors are also well-versed in the destination’s top accommodations to guide travelers towards exactly what they are looking for within their budget, says DaSilva. “Advisors can help travelers save money by keeping a pulse on the latest offers, special fares and deals, and book bucket list experiences that you may not have even known about if you hadn’t spoken to an advisor,” she says.

Cons of hiring a travel agent

There could be instances when utilizing a travel agent may not make sense. Here are some reasons you may want to skip using one. 

The added layer of communication may be unnecessary

Travel agents can be helpful in making and changing reservations, French says, but sometimes they can end up being an unnecessary middleman. “If you need to change your hotel reservation, often it’s easier to just call the hotel yourself, rather than wait for the travel agent to do it,” she acknowledges.

The enjoyment of planning your own travels could be missed

Sure, there is the convenience factor of outsourcing your trip-planning duties, but surrendering all those tasks could leave you with some vacation remorse. “If you let the agent do all the planning, then that might rob you of some of the joy that comes from travel—which is the very act of planning the trip,” cautions French. 

The travel agent may not possess the expertise you need

Gray Faust says, just like any other professional industry, the depth of travel agent knowledge and expertise varies from agent to agent, and not all agents are built the same. “When you’re looking for a travel agent, be sure to ask about their experience, their affiliations, any ongoing education and any specialties,” Gray Faust continues. “Many agents specialize in certain travel types, so their knowledge of those particular trips is even more expansive than a more generic agent.”

How much does it cost to use a travel agent?

Cost for travel agents can vary. “It depends,” says French with NerdWallet. “Sometimes, travel agents won’t cost you anything if their paychecks come from commissions paid by the suppliers who you end up booking with.” 

Other travel agencies charge fees for individual services like research, bookings and changes, in which case they might charge either by time or by service provided, French says. 

Be sure to ask that question upfront, Gray Faust says, so you don’t have any unexpected charges tacked on to your bill.

Are travel agents swayed by hospitality providers who offer higher commissions?

While it’s impossible to say definitively, as it varies by agent, French says to consider that “those who work on commission are incentivized to book you on trips that pay them out.”

Gray Faust offers a differing outlook. “A good travel agent will not be swayed by commissions, as it’s in their best interest to deliver a quality service to their clients to turn them into returning customers,” she states. 

How can you find a suitable travel agent?

Spread the news that you’re planning a trip. “Word-of-mouth is a great way to find a travel advisor—ask your family and friends to connect you with someone they worked with and loved,” DaSilva suggests.

She also recommends searching for an advisor that’s certified or credentialed and use resources such as the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA). “Good travel advisors will respond in a timely manner and ask a lot of questions about what you want from your next vacation to fully understand your needs so they can match you with your perfect travel experiences,” adds DaSilva.

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FACT SHEET: President   Biden Announces New Actions to Secure the   Border

New actions will bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum Biden taking action as Congressional Republicans put partisan politics ahead of national security, twice voting against toughest reforms in decades

Since his first day in office, President Biden has called on Congress to secure our border and address our broken immigration system. Over the past three years, while Congress has failed to act, the President has acted to secure our border. His Administration has deployed the most agents and officers ever to address the situation at the Southern border, seized record levels of illicit fentanyl at our ports of entry, and brought together world leaders on a framework to deal with changing migration patterns that are impacting the entire Western Hemisphere.  Earlier this year, the President and his team reached a historic bipartisan agreement with Senate Democrats and Republicans to deliver the most consequential reforms of America’s immigration laws in decades. This agreement would have added critical border and immigration personnel, invested in technology to catch illegal fentanyl, delivered sweeping reforms to the asylum system, and provided emergency authority for the President to shut down the border when the system is overwhelmed. But Republicans in Congress chose to put partisan politics ahead of our national security, twice voting against the toughest and fairest set of reforms in decades. President Biden believes we must secure our border. That is why today, he announced executive actions to bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum. These actions will be in effect when high levels of encounters at the Southern Border exceed our ability to deliver timely consequences, as is the case today. They will make it easier for immigration officers to remove those without a lawful basis to remain and reduce the burden on our Border Patrol agents. But we must be clear: this cannot achieve the same results as Congressional action, and it does not provide the critical personnel and funding needed to further secure our Southern border. Congress still must act. The Biden-Harris Administration’s executive actions will:   Bar Migrants Who Cross the Southern Border Unlawfully From Receiving Asylum

• President Biden issued a proclamation under Immigration and Nationality Act sections 212(f) and 215(a) suspending entry of noncitizens who cross the Southern border into the United States unlawfully. This proclamation is accompanied by an interim final rule from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security that restricts asylum for those noncitizens.
• These actions will be in effect when the Southern border is overwhelmed, and they will make it easier for immigration officers to quickly remove individuals who do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States.
• These actions are not permanent. They will be discontinued when the number of migrants who cross the border between ports of entry is low enough for America’s system to safely and effectively manage border operations. These actions also include similar humanitarian exceptions to those included in the bipartisan border agreement announced in the Senate, including those for unaccompanied children and victims of trafficking.

Recent Actions to secure our border and address our broken immigration system: Strengthening the Asylum Screening Process

• The Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule to ensure that migrants who pose a public safety or national security risk are removed as quickly in the process as possible rather than remaining in prolonged, costly detention prior to removal. This proposed rule will enhance security and deliver more timely consequences for those who do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States.

Announced new actions to more quickly resolve immigration cases

• The Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security launched a Recent Arrivals docket to more quickly resolve a portion of immigration cases for migrants who attempt to cross between ports of entry at the Southern border in violation of our immigration laws.
• Through this process, the Department of Justice will be able to hear these cases more quickly and the Department of Homeland Security will be able to more quickly remove individuals who do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States and grant protection to those with valid claims.
• The bipartisan border agreement would have created and supported an even more efficient framework for issuing final decisions to all asylum seekers. This new process to reform our overwhelmed immigration system can only be created and funded by Congress.

Revoked visas of CEOs and government officials who profit from migrants coming to the U.S. unlawfully

• The Department of State imposed visa restrictions on executives of several Colombian transportation companies who profit from smuggling migrants by sea. This action cracks down on companies that help facilitate unlawful entry into the United States, and sends a clear message that no one should profit from the exploitation of vulnerable migrants.
• The State Department also imposed visa restrictions on over 250 members of the Nicaraguan government, non-governmental actors, and their immediate family members for their roles in supporting the Ortega-Murillo regime, which is selling transit visas to migrants from within and beyond the Western Hemisphere who ultimately make their way to the Southern border.
• Previously, the State Department revoked visas of executives of charter airlines for similar actions.

Expanded Efforts to Dismantle Human Smuggling and Support Immigration Prosecutions

• The Departments of State and Justice launched an “Anti-Smuggling Rewards” initiative designed to dismantle the leadership of human smuggling organizations that bring migrants through Central America and across the Southern U.S. border. The initiative will offer financial rewards for information leading to the identification, location, arrest, or conviction of those most responsible for significant human smuggling activities in the region.
• The Department of Justice will seek new and increased penalties against human smugglers to properly account for the severity of their criminal conduct and the human misery that it causes.
• The Department of Justice is also partnering with the Department of Homeland Security to direct additional prosecutors and support staff to increase immigration-related prosecutions in crucial border U.S. Attorney’s Offices. Efforts include deploying additional DHS Special Assistant United States Attorneys to different U.S. Attorneys’ offices, assigning support staff to critical U.S. Attorneys’ offices, including DOJ Attorneys to serve details in U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in several border districts, and partnering with federal agencies to identify additional resources to target these crimes.

Enhancing Immigration Enforcement

• The Department of Homeland Security has surged agents to the Southern border and is referring a record number of people into expedited removal.
• The Department of Homeland Security is operating more repatriation flights per week than ever before. Over the past year, DHS has removed or returned more than 750,000 people, more than in every fiscal year since 2010.
• Working closely with partners throughout the region, the Biden-Harris Administration is identifying and collaborating on enforcement efforts designed to stop irregular migration before migrants reach our Southern border, expand investment and integration opportunities in the region to support those who may otherwise seek to migrate, and increase lawful pathways for migrants as an alternative to irregular migration.

Seizing Fentanyl at our Border

• Border officials have seized more fentanyl at ports of entry in the last two years than the past five years combined, and the President has added 40 drug detection machines across points of entry to disrupt the fentanyl smuggling into the Homeland. The bipartisan border agreement would fund the installation of 100 additional cutting-edge inspection machines to help detect fentanyl at our Southern border ports of entry.
• In close partnership with the Government of Mexico, the Department of Justice has extradited Nestor Isidro Perez Salaz, known as “El Nini,” from Mexico to the United States to face prosecution for his role in illicit fentanyl trafficking and human rights abuses. This is one of many examples of joint efforts with Mexico to tackle the fentanyl and synthetic drug epidemic that is killing so many people in our countries and globally, and to hold the drug trafficking organizations to account.

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Where are all the pilgrims? The current state of religious tourism in the Holy Land

By Marinella Bandini

Jerusalem, Jun 4, 2024 / 07:00 am

During the month of May in Jerusalem, the major holidays of the three major religions — Christian Easter, Jewish Passover, and the month of Ramadan — passed with an almost total absence of pilgrims from abroad.

The holy sites and the streets of the Old City are usually crowded with tourists and pilgrims at this time of year, but they have been empty for the past eight months due to the Israel-Hamas war.

Muslims orderly make their way to the entrances of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound for noon prayer, but otherwise, the Via Dolorosa is completely empty. There are no pilgrims ascending to the Holy Sepulcher. The Sanctuary of the Flagellation, maintained by the Franciscans at the starting point of the Via Crucis path, is always open — but that is empty, too.

Things aren’t any better at Gethsemane. 

“Before the war, we had more than a hundred groups a day. Today, we welcome two or three groups on a good day,” Brother Siniša Srebrenović, the guardian of the Franciscan Convent of the Agony (Gethsemane), told CNA. “They mostly come from Asia or South America. Some come from Eastern Europe, mainly Orthodox Christians.”

The absence of pilgrims also means the absence of income.

“We friars sustain ourselves with the offerings of the pilgrims. The charity of the pilgrims also helps cover the maintenance expenses of the sanctuary and some development projects,” Srebrenović explained. “Today, everything is at a standstill. Workers from the Palestinian Territories do not have permission to come, and the financial resources are only enough for the ordinary. Despite this, the custody continues to financially support its workers and has not laid off any of them.”

At the Holy Sepulcher, the waiting time to enter the edicule (where Jesus’ tomb is kept) is just a few minutes, compared with up to two hours last year. The daily procession of the Franciscan friars inside the basilica is attended by only a handful of faithful — mostly residents of Jerusalem.

Even Bethlehem is empty 

“Tourism in Palestine is effectively zeroed out. Every day we lose $2.5 million,” lamented Majed Ishaq, director general of the marketing department of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Palestine.

He described to CNA a dramatic situation: “Tourist facilities are closed; people working in the sector — including many Christians — have had no income for months. People are trying to sell houses, cars, furniture, to survive.”

“International tourism passes through Israel; they control our borders. We are under a kind of siege,” Ishaq continued. “Reaching Bethlehem is still possible, but cities in the north, like Nablus or Jenin, and also Hebron further south, are almost unreachable. Even local tourism and internal travel are severely affected due to attacks by settlers.”

Some groups arrive, especially via Jordan. The hope is that something will move at least by the end of the year, especially for the Christmas holidays.

According to data from the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, just over 80,000 people (tourists and pilgrims combined) entered the country in April — a decrease of 77% compared with April 2023 and 80% compared with April 2019, the peak year before the pandemic.

Cumulatively, from January through April, about 285,000 tourist arrivals were recorded, a decrease of about 78% in relation to the corresponding period in 2023.

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“The decline is attributed to the impact of the ‘Iron Swords’ war [the name Israel has given to the campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the events of Oct. 7, 2023] although in the months that have passed since the outbreak of the war, there has been a certain increase in the number of tourist arrivals to Israel, but it is not yet possible to identify any trend.”

Dr. Yaron Ergas, director of research, statistics, and information management at the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, told CNA that “the Ministry of Tourism conducts a survey among incoming tourists, where they are asked several questions including the main purpose of their visit. Tourists choosing ‘pilgrimage/faith based tour’ are considered religious tourists. That percentage, in 2019, was 16.6%” out of about 5 million entries.

At the outbreak of the war, in October 2023, “we stopped the surveys,” Ergas explained, so there is no useful data on religious tourism since then.

“Recovery is not expected until late 2025,” he added.

Other statistics, focused on Christian pilgrims, were provided to CNA by the Christian Information Centre (CIC), sponsored by the Custody of the Holy Land. CIC has been providing information about Christianity and on the Holy Land, including shrines, holy places, and liturgies, for more than 50 years. Additionally, it is the only official channel for booking Masses in the holy sites.

From October to December 2023, approximately 2,800 groups (107,000 individuals) had booked at least one celebration through the CIC, and they all canceled as soon as the war broke out. Of these, 95% were Catholics and 4% were Protestants. Ninety percent were groups from abroad. From January to April of this year, the groups registered by the CIC ranged from 100 to 200 per month (averaging 5,000 to 6,000 individuals per month).

(Story continues below)

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The lack of Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land is especially due to the fact that many companies are unwilling to issue insurance policies for those heading to a territory considered dangerous and risky.

Arrivals from Southeast Asia and South America continue, however (while the United States remains the top country for entries, the second group surprisingly comprises Indonesians). This is largely due — as the pilgrims themselves admit — to the fact that agencies do not refund prepaid trips, which many have invested their life savings in. This compels people to travel despite everything.

“We want to encourage Jews and Christians leaders to push their believers to come on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. We assume, and I think it is correct, that there’s a desire to come and visit,” Pini Shani, deputy director general and head of marketing administration of the Israel Ministry of Tourism, shared with CNA.

Hopes for the 2025 Jubilee

In 2025 there will be two interesting events for religious tourism in the Holy Land.

“A special exhibition of the Isahia scrolls will be held in 2025 at the Israel Museum to commemorate its 60th anniversary. We are confident that many people will show interest. We will try to engage people who come on pilgrimage to the Holy Land to visit this special exhibition,” Shani said.

Furthermore, in 2025, Catholics will celebrate a jubilee year.

“We were very encouraged by the pope’s call for the jubilee,” Shani said. “The churches of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, the Annunciation in Nazareth, and the Nativity in Bethlehem will be jubilee places; people will be encouraged to visit them, and we’re sure it will help to recover tourism.”

The main Christian religious leaders in the Holy Land have never stopped issuing appeals to pilgrims to return to the holy places. “Do not be afraid, return to Jerusalem and to the Holy Land! Your presence is always a presence of peace, and we sincerely need peace today; may you come and bring us your peace,” said the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, at the end of the Palm Sunday procession.

An echo of those words is found in the message released by the Dicastery for Evangelization on May 28, on the occasion of the 45th World Tourism Day, to be held on Sept. 27 on the theme “Tourism and Peace.” 

“The interest that moves millions of tourists can easily be linked with the commitment to brotherhood, so as to constitute a network of ‘messengers of peace’ who speak to the entire world to invoke the end of all war and the reopening of territories full of history, culture, and faith. ... Being peace-builders is not only possible; it is required of those who embark on a journey,” the dicastery’s message said.  

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The Pros and Cons of Booking Through Online Travel Agencies

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money .

You’re likely already familiar with online travel agencies, even if you don’t travel often. These companies — such as Priceline , Expedia and Orbitz — act as intermediaries between you and a travel provider.

Booking your travel through an OTA can be a good idea in some circumstances, but you’ll want to be wary of its pitfalls. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of online travel agencies, so you’ll know what to use to book your next vacation.

Pros of booking through online travel agencies

There are certainly advantages booking through online travel agencies, though you’ll find different experiences whether you’re using public OTAs — such as Kayak — or private ones like those offered by your card issuer, such as the Chase's travel portal .

✅ It may be cheaper

When searching for flights online, you may see different prices for the same routes that vary across websites. Although it may be a result of fare type — for example, some search results may not clarify that a fare is basic economy rather than main cabin or economy — other times, the difference comes down to competition for your business.

Online travel services will often offer slightly lower prices on flights in an effort to entice you as a customer. This is true for both hotels and airlines.

» Learn more: Best credit cards for online travel-booking websites

✅ It can earn you more rewards

Have you ever heard of shopping portals ? By logging into a shopping portal, you can earn rewards for purchases made with many online merchants. Some hotel chains, such as Hilton , Marriott and IHG , can be accessed through shopping portals while still booking directly on the hotel website. In this way, you can earn rewards with the hotel directly as well as with the shopping portal.

The same isn’t true for shopping portals and most airline sites. However, many public online travel agencies are accessible through shopping portals, which can then earn you rewards for airfare bookings. By opting to book in this way, you’ll be able to earn points or cash-back rewards through the shopping portal that you’d otherwise miss.

Some card issuers will also reward you heavily when using their online travel services. Clear examples of this can be seen with Capital One and Chase. With the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card , for example, you’ll get 10 miles per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel .

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is similar. With this card, you can get 10 Ultimate Rewards® points per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Chase's portal.

While these numbers are high, it’s important to remember that there are trade-offs when booking through an OTA rather than directly with a hotel or airline. We’ll get into that a little later.

Online travel agencies offered by your card issuer may not feature the same prices as booking directly; you’ll want to compare these before committing to a purchase.

Some card issuers will go so far as to give your points more value when redeeming through their online travel agencies.

This is true with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card . When redeeming points on Chase's travel portal, you’ll get 1.25 cents in value per point rather than 1 cent elsewhere.

» Learn more: How much are your airline miles and hotel points worth this year?

Cons of booking through online travel agencies

There are several downsides when it comes to using online travel services for booking travel. It mainly comes down to the fact that travel providers prefer that you book directly with them — and offer more perks to woo your business.

❌ It can be harder to change a booking

Ever needed to change a flight after it's booked? No matter the reason, attempting to alter or otherwise cancel a flight can be a hassle — especially if you’ve booked through a third party.

Generally speaking, rather than offering you direct assistance, both hotels and airlines will recommend you contact the online travel agency you’ve booked with in order to make any changes.

While you may be able to make changes or get refunds with the travel agency, airlines and hotels can — and will — offer much more flexibility when you’ve booked with them directly. You may also be subject to additional fees charged by the online travel agency, which can erase any savings you’ve received.

❌ You may not receive elite benefits

This is the real kicker for anyone wanting elite status. Although airlines will almost always recognize your elite status and allow you to earn miles even for bookings made through an online travel agency, hotels and rental car companies will not.

This is especially important for hotel chains. Earning elite status with hotels generally relies on elite night credits. Although these can be earned in a variety of ways — including having complimentary status by holding certain credit cards — the main method of acquiring elite night credits is by spending nights in hotels. Rooms booked through an online travel agency do not count toward elite status as elite night credits.

Additionally, you will not receive any of the benefits of your existing elite status if your booking is through a third party. This can mean the loss of perks such as room upgrades, complimentary breakfast and even free Wi-Fi.

» Learn more: The best airline and hotel rewards loyalty programs this year

❌ It may be more expensive

Did you know that many hotel chains have best price guarantees? Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and IHG all have a guarantee that’ll give you either points or a discount if you find a better rate elsewhere.

These guarantees are generous; Hilton, for example, will match the rate and then discount it by a further 25%.

Although you’ll need to file claims for these guarantees and they face limitations — such as a 24-hour window from when you made the booking — you can save a lot of money on your stay if your request is approved.

Online travel agencies can be hit or miss

There are two sides to every coin and this is no different, as there are several benefits and limitations of online travel services. Depending on your needs and loyalty program status, you’ll want to choose whether to book directly with a travel provider or rely on OTAs to do the job for you.

Booking travel through credit card portals from issuers like Chase and Capital One can earn you big rewards. But if you anticipate altering your travel plans or aim to earn elite status instead, booking directly is the way to go.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2024 :

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

on Chase's website

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75,000 Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's over $900 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1.5%-5% Enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

Up to $300 Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

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2x-5x Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options.

75,000 Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

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• CBP Reminds Summer Travelers to Stay ‘Travel Ready'

CBP Reminds Summer Travelers to Stay ‘Travel Ready'

WASHINGTON — As summer approaches and families prepare for their international trips, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reminds the traveling public to use the agency’s official mobile applications to secure and streamline their travel and expedite their reentry into the United States.    

Throughout 2023, CBP expanded use of its technology, processing over 394 million travelers at ports of entry in fiscal year 2023, a 24-percent increase over last year, and has already reached almost 100 million travelers in the first quarter of FY2024, totaling more than 527 million travelers to date using biometric facial comparison technology at entry, exit and Preclearance locations, with a match rate of more than 98 percent.     

Additionally, memberships in CBP’s Trusted Traveler Programs in FY2024 has reached 14 million. For those looking to complete an interview before their summer travel, CBP currently has more than 158,000 interview appointments available within the next 90 days. Enrollment on Arrival (EoA) remains the best option to complete a GE interview. Applicants can complete their interview without an appointment and with just the entry documents they would normally carry when arriving from international locations.   

CBP has also introduced a complement of mobile applications with technological enhancements to help speed up the travel process when entering the U.S. via air, land, or sea. Global Entry, for example, launched a new mobile app in September 2023 that allows members to complete their entry processing on their phones before even leaving the plane. The app can be downloaded from the Apple App store and Google Play, and is currently available for use at 47 airports, with more locations coming soon.  To date around 348,000 Global Entry users have processed their arrival using the app.    

International travelers who are not Global Entry members can take advantage of the Mobile Passport Control app, which allows travelers to submit their passport and travel information in advance with a mobile device, resulting in less congestion and more efficient processing. MPC is available at 51 ports of entry, including 14 Preclearance locations and four seaports. It can be used by all U.S. citizens, U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents, B1/B2 Canadian Citizens, and returning Visa Waiver Program travelers. The app was used by 4.1 million travelers in FY2023, and has already had over 4.2 million uses in FY2024.   

Non-U.S. citizens planning travel into the U.S. also have the option of using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization mobile app or the CBP One mobile app. The ESTA Mobile app was implemented June 1, 2023, and has been used almost 422,000 times to submit an ESTA application for authorization to travel to the U.S. In the first quarter of FY2024, the app has been used almost 338,000 times to apply. The CBP One™ app may also be used by visitors to the U.S. to apply and pay for the I-94 online. In FY2023, visitors used the CBP One app more than 458,000 times to complete a provisional I-94 application and almost 195,000 times in the first quarter of FY2024.    

Additionally, U.S. citizens who are required to declare agriculture and biological products upon arrival into the United States may also use CBP One to provide advanced notification that they will need an agriculture inspection. Categories for declaration include:    

• Biological materials that may require permits issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)  
• Pets, specifically birds and dogs, accompanying travelers in various capacities that carry the potential of introducing foreign animal diseases to the U.S. or other public health concerns   
• Cleaning and disinfection of shoes  
• Hunting trophies    

All CBP applications can be downloaded free from the  Google Play Store  or  Apple App Store . For more information about CBP’s suite of mobile apps, visit Mobile Apps Directory | U.S. Customs and Border Protection (cbp.gov)     

For more information on preparing to travel abroad, visit the Know Before You Go page on the CBP website .  

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is America's frontline: the nation's largest law enforcement organization and the world's first unified border management agency. The 65,000+ men and women of CBP protect America on the ground, in the air, and on the seas. We facilitate safe, lawful travel and trade and ensure our country's economic prosperity. We enhance the nation's security through innovation, intelligence, collaboration, and trust.

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With a new leader and revamped strategy, it’s a second coming for Jews for Jesus

Aaron Abramson’s American upbringing is apparent when he speaks Hebrew, the language he learned as a teenager after his hippie parents decided to move the family from Seattle to Israel and become religiously Orthodox.

His subsequent army service didn’t erase the accent, but it did solidify an Israeli identity that would serve as a professional asset much later, decades after he stopped living in the country.

This month, Abramson, 49, takes the helm as the CEO of Jews for Jesus, becoming the third person to hold the title since the controversial organization was founded in San Francisco some five decades ago. He is also the first Israeli to lead the organization, a point emphasized in the group’s announcement of his appointment.

Abramson’s rise makes him a prominent new face of a perpetual Christian missionary effort aimed at converting Jews into belief in Jesus as the Messiah. After serving on staff for years, he takes over an organization that, without much notice from the Jewish community, has grown into a global operation with a budget of more than $33 million and a staff of about 250 spread across 13 countries.

No denomination across the Jewish world sees belief in Jesus as compatible with Judaism — a rare point of consensus between the religious streams. But so-called “Messianic Jews” insist that they represent a legitimate form of Jewish identity , almost like another denomination in itself.

The selection of a leader with Israeli bona fides underscores how Jews for Jesus has evolved from its founding as part of the counterculture of the early 1970s. Led back then by founder Moishe Rosen, a Jew who converted and became an ordained Baptist minister, Jews for Jesus was known for theatrical street evangelism and distributing provocative religious literature in New York and other American cities with large Jewish populations.

Today, the largest concentration of Jews for Jesus staff is in Israel, where the group employs some 60 people. The staff aren’t on the streets handing out tracts, even though proselytizing is legal in Israel as long as the targets are not minors and it isn’t in exchange for money. Instead, they say they focus on providing assistance to those in need and support to new immigrants, struggling soldiers, victims of trafficking and the homeless. Messianic teachings come on the side for those who may be interested. Other Messianic Jews in Israel have sought to serve up the gospel alongside coffee and pastries.

It’s an approach Jews for Jesus has also used in the United States, where its staff seek out Holocaust survivors in need, and in Europe, where they have been involved in Ukraine relief efforts amid massive displacement that also affects the country’s Jewish community. Other Messianic groups also work in Ukraine .

“At some point, about 10 to 15 years ago, we started to pivot away from the campaign model,” Abramson, who sports a short graying beard, said over Zoom from his home in London. “We don’t stop our work just because there’s opposition, but we wanted to create avenues for Jewish people to dialogue around who Jesus is and what it means to be a follower of Jesus.”

According to Abramson, the organization has talked to some 40,000 Jews about Jesus over the past year and is aware of about 250 people who became “Jewish followers of Jesus,” a term his movement prefers over phrases like Jewish Christians or Jewish converts to Christianity. They also deliver 100-150 copies of the New Testament in Hebrew every month to people who fill out a request for one online, Abramson said.

Jews for Jesus doesn’t operate congregations. Instead, it refers converts to traditional churches and to houses of worship affiliated with the larger “Messianic Jewish” movement. Abramson and family attend an Anglican church in London.

In parallel to its direct outreach to Jews, the group also speaks to church audiences about Jews and Judaism. Abramson says this work serves to clarify misconceptions that Christians may have and helps the fight against antisemitism. Evangelical Christians have in turn lavished donations on the group and allowed it to expand. Financial statements provided by Jews for Jesus show a 2023 budget of about $33 million, which is roughly three times as much as the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, an organization representing an entire Jewish denomination.

From left are Moishe Rosen (back to camera) and Jean Emma; at right is Eliezer Urbach. The three talk with unidentified man at a meeting of American Baptist Convention in Denver, Colo., on May 12, 1972. (Denver Post via Getty Images)

Opposition to Jews for Jesus and the Messianic movement used to be a major priority for many Jewish leaders back when the group engaged in provocative public campaigns, which is why a stir erupted last year when the Jewish Telegraphic Agency published an article based on newly surfaced FBI records showing that some Jewish leaders secretly collaborated with Jews for Jesus  in the 1970s. Today, outrage over missionary tactics calibrated to appeal to Jews is still strong among a dedicated few.

“Jews for Jesus is the most well-known organization targeting Jewish people worldwide in a Jewish-y way,” said Shannon Nuszen, a former Christian missionary who converted to Judaism and then founded the anti-missionary group Beyneynu in Israel. “Their tactics are deceptive and meant to lure Jews using Jewish traditions, symbols, and icons — Jews who would otherwise resist a straightforward honest presentation.”

Rabbi Tovia Singer, an American Jewish immigrant to Israel, has been tracking the movement for more than 40 years. His group, Outreach Judaism, runs social media accounts dedicated to countering Messianic narratives. He sees Jews for Jesus’ turn to humanitarian work as opportunistic and pernicious.

“Jews for Jesus are still a fig leaf for the Christian mission to the Jews,” Singer said. “They use humanitarian aid in order to reach the most vulnerable members of the Jewish community and because they realize that handing out tracts in New York helped raise money but it was not effective in evangelizing Jews.”

In the past, many Messianic missionaries may have responded to Singer with a defense of their faith, but there’s a new attitude about critics, according to Richard Harvey, a former leader in Jews for Jesus and a scholar of the movement.

“Jews for Jesus started as a simple protest, saying that you can be Jewish and believe in Jesus, and that we believe this, not because we’ve been brainwashed or blackmailed or bribed, but because we’ve had a genuine spiritual experience,” Harvey said.

From his perspective, skepticism faced by the early iterations of Jews for Jesus was a relic of historic tensions in Christian-Jewish relations and isn’t very widespread today.

“We really have moved on,” he said. “Today, it’s less of an us-and-them situation with the Christian and Jewish communities because Jewish communities are so pluralistic and varied anyway. And meanwhile, so many Christians have really reviewed and changed their understanding of the Jewish people.”

Abramson, who studied under Harvey as an undergraduate at All Nations Christian College in the United Kingdom, has a life story that encapsulates how blurred the lines of religious identity can be.

His father came from a Reform Jewish family in Detroit but drifted away from tradition and became a hippie together with Abramson’s mother, who was raised Catholic. Abramson, the eldest of six children, describes his family as marginally involved in Jewish life and almost entirely secular when he was young.

As he was approaching bar mitzvah age, the family was deciding how to mark the rite of passage, and his mom insisted that her religious tradition be represented — so the family opted to celebrate the ritual at a nearby Messianic congregation, where worshippers uphold Jesus as the messiah while also observing Jewish holidays and services.

His parents didn’t stick with Messianism. Spiritual seeking took them in a different direction instead. They had taken a trip to Israel and in 1990 decided to move the family there and to become Orthodox Jews. (His mother converted to Judaism at this time.) They lived in the Israeli settlement of Halamish in the West Bank and enrolled Abramson in a yeshiva, or religious school. Afterward, he served in the Israel Defense Forces in a non-combat role across the border during Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon.

The years after he moved to Israel, especially his time in the yeshiva, left Abramson disillusioned with his identity and heritage.

“It made me kind of go, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing here? Why am I staying in Israel? This is crazy,’” he recalled. “People in the yeshiva seemed extreme and intense to me. Also, the experience left me without adequate answers to some of my deepest questions like, what does it mean to be Jewish? Why does God want us to keep all these laws? What is he going to do with the other 6 billion people around the world who aren’t Jewish?”

After finishing his military service, Abramson decided to pack up and return to the United States where he became something of a vagabond, traveling around with friends and playing music. He spent a lot of time reading about spirituality, picking up books on the Hare Krishna movement and New Age philosophies. Then, someone suggested he look at the New Testament.

“It just resonated,” he said. “ It seemed true to me and I even felt like I had some supernatural experiences.”

Two representatives of Jews for Jesus hand out pamphlets to pedestrians in New York City, Aug. 9, 1990 (Jacques M. Chenet//Corbis via Getty Images)

The epiphany helped heal the rupture he had felt and ultimately led him to return to Israel and to fall in with what was at the time a very small Messianic community.

“It gave me a heart again for Jewish people and even the Orthodox community,” Abramson said. “It was funny and in a roundabout way, the New Testament made me appreciate my Jewish identity.”

There are no hard statistics about the numbers of Israeli Jews in the movement but one widely circulated estimate puts the total at 30,000, spread across several hundred congregations. Just like other small communities that are seen as marginal and out of place in the Jewish state — African Hebrew Israelites for example — Messianic believers have to an extent managed to blend into society by sending their children to the military.

Soon after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, a video surfaced of an Israeli soldier who identifies as a Jewish missionary who loves Jesus and tells the camera that he’s heading to the base with evangelism in mind.

For anti-missionary activists, such videos point not to peaceful integration but to the ubiquity of dangerous Christian propaganda, which they have traced to army bases, bomb shelters, and hotels housing Oct. 7 evacuees.

“Missionaries are boasting about how this is the perfect time to reach Jews,” Nuszen said. “Jews are seeing Christians delivering care packages and equipment — it’s a beautiful and heartwarming image, but Jews rarely see the videos being sent to the Christian world where they openly discuss how this support is being used to bring people to Jesus.”

Abramson doesn’t envision any significant departure from the movement’s strategy of recent years. As the director of operations for the previous leader, David Brickner, Abramson was instrumental in shaping the organization as it stands today.

He said he wants Jews for Jesus to play a larger role in raising awareness among Christians about rising antisemitism.

“We have an opportunity to advocate on behalf of Jewish people and on behalf of Israel to make allies against antisemitism because sometimes the church doesn’t exactly realize what’s going on with antisemitism,” he said.

He is also paying close attention to changing demographic patterns such as the movement of Jews from Ukraine to Israel and of Israeli Jews to the United States, and to diversity within the Jewish community, as he thinks about how to boost Jews for Jesus’ effectiveness.

“We have pivoted from a one-size-fits-all approach,” he said. “We’re going to continue to lean into very tailored, very concentrated approaches based on the needs of individual communities.”

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Galkina Liudmila Anatolevna in the Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs

According to the Uniform State Register of Legal Entities published by the Russian Tax Service, Galkina Liudmila Anatolevna (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number 235300678739) is referenced in the following legal entities.

• 1. Company Head, CEO
• 2. Founder Galkina L. A.
• 3. Operating as a Sole Entrepreneur
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• 5. Galkina Liudmila Anatolevna and indirectly associated parties

This TIN was issued by the tax office of Krasnodar Krai .

• Moscow (wholesale non-specialized trade in food, beverages and tobacco products)
• Moscow Oblast (travel agency activities )

USRLE has the following linkages with this TIN 235300678739: Cherkasskaia Liudmila Anatolevna (v OOO "BEST-TUR" ).

Galkina L. A. is a sole proprietor

Company Head, CEO

Galkina L. A. has been the head of SMART IMPORT LLC since 28 April 2022 (a person entitled to act on behalf of a legal entity without a power of attorney).

Founder Galkina L. A.

Galkina L. A. has been the founder of OOO "BEST-TUR" since 19 May 2017.

Operating as a Sole Entrepreneur

Galkina Liudmila Anatolevna is registered in the registry as sole-proprietor, belongs to the category of micro-enterprises.

Sole Entrepreneur Galkina Liudmila Anatolevna

Main activity: Retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet (OKVED code 47.91).

Registrar at place of residence of the individual entrepreneur: Mezhraionnaia inspektsiia Federalnoi nalogovoi sluzhby №23 po Moskovskoi oblasti (tax office code – 5081). Tax authority with which is registered: Inspektsiia Federalnoi nalogovoi sluzhby po g. Mytishchi Moskovskoi oblasti (tax office code – 5029). Date of registration with the tax authority: 08/02/2021.

Registration number in the Pension Fund: 060029069573 from 3 August 2021.

Latest changes in the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs:

• 08/04/2021 . Providing information on registration as an insurer in the territorial body of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation.
• 08/02/2021 . Representation of information about accounting with the tax authority.

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Galkina Liudmila Anatolevna has 1 registered trademark 935400 .

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