Wherefor: An Inspiring New Way to Book a Trip

If you’ve got a fixed vacation budget but no strong feelings about where you want to go, a new booking site could provide the perfect combination of low prices and inspiration. It’s called Wherefor.

You start by entering your hotel and flight budget, the number of travelers, your travel dates and departure city. Then hit “Search Destinations” and see all the places you can afford to go.

I tested it out with a $2,000 budget for two people departing from Philadelphia for a week in May. Even with a relatively modest budget, I ended up with trip possibilities on three continents, including Europe (Moscow) and South America (Quito and Rio de Janeiro), as well as numerous North American options.

Test One: Moscow, Russia

Wherefor presented me with a total price of $1,944.57 for flights and hotel for two people. Most of that budget was for airfare: $1,672.24 for an outgoing flight on Delta and a return on Air France. It’s a decent price for two people — but with a stopover, the trip home would take more than 28 hours. No thanks! Fortunately, you can click on “other flights” to see more options at higher price points, though this might cause you to exceed your initial spending limit.

The site also suggested a budget hotel, the Alekseevsky, at an average price of $46.80 a night. As with flights, you can also browse other, more expensive lodging options. When you’re ready to book, you can buy the flights, the hotel or both. The site currently offers travelers the chance to spread their trip payments over 12 months with 0 percent interest.

Test Two: Quito, Ecuador

In Quito, cheaper airfares (just $769 for two people) allowed enough wiggle room in my budget for a moderately priced hotel, the Mercure Hotel Alameda ($97 a night). Again, the suggested flight wasn’t exactly appealing, with a 21-hour layover on the outgoing leg; nor was there a way to filter the other flight results by number of stopovers or total travel time.

Overall Impressions

If price is more important to you than schedule, Wherefor’s itineraries are very competitive. For the cities I checked, the fares and hotel rates were sometimes (but not always) lower than those on Kayak.com. As with any booking site, you should comparison shop before you pull out your credit card.

One important note: Wherefor’s estimated flight cost includes taxes and fees, but the nightly hotel rate doesn’t. You may find that adding those in on the booking screen actually takes you above your projected budget.

Wherefor has advanced search options that allow you to specify a minimum hotel level (budget, standard or luxury), filter your results to certain regions or tailor your trip by interest (such as beaches, “famous for food” or family-friendly). You can also enter a city or airport if you know where you want to go. A filter I hope they’ll add in the future: trips with nonstop flights.

Overall, Wherefor is an intriguing option for travelers seeking inspiration or trying to figure out how far their budget will take them. Would you give it a try?