Getting the most out of a trip involves more than simplyreviewing available cheaptravel options, such as cheapfares, cheapdeals, cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, discounttravel deals, cheap auto rentals, and cheap vacation packages.
The following are suggestions from Smarter Travel on additionalsteps that can be taken to make travel even cheaper:
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Beflexible when deciding which days to travel. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are the least demand domestic traveldays. Demand for flights to Europe islower on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Lower demand travel days translate into cheaper prices.
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Makeyour flight reservation on Tuesday afternoon. FareCompare completed a recent study that found the best time topurchase domestic airline tickets is Tuesday at 3 pm Eastern Standardtime. Booking on Saturday or Sunday wasfound to be the worst time because discounted airfares tend to be pulled inadvance of weekends.
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Dontdespair if you have missed the cancellation window for your hotel, restaurant,or car reservation. Often travelproviders who will not accept cancellation after set dates will allow customersto change reservation dates free of charge (other than airlines). By pushing back your reservation date, youcan re-open your cancellation window and then call the company back to cancelyour new reservation, if needed.
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Do notdepart from the United Kingdom to the Western Hemisphere, if at allpossible. In April of this year an AirPassenger Duty will be applied to flights departing from U.K. airports. Flights out of Britain to the U.S. or Canadawill cost an additional $113 because of this duty and are twice the charge inany higher classes, including premium economy. This duty also is charged on award tickets.
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Bewareof phony fuel surcharges added by select international airlines. Last October British Airways marketed a roundtrip airfare from Boston to London with a base fare of $208, plus $230 ingovernment, airport, security taxes and fees, and a $458 airline fuelsurcharge.
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Insteadof paying expensive airport parking rates consider leaving your car at home andtaking shuttles to and from the airport or have a friend transport you. Alternatively look into using a private offairport parking lot. Another option isto take advantage of many airport area motels park-sleep-fly deals, where youonly have to pay for one night and then qualify for free parking for up to twoweeks.
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Totake advantage of dropping prices, sign up for fare alerts which emailscustomers regarding price drops between specific city combinations.
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If youdecide you want to reserve a rental car abroad, avoid paying high local ratesby reserving your car rental from a U.S. travel site that often quotes pricesas much as half the local quote.
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Avoidpaying extra driver car rental charges by joining a rental companys frequentdriver program for free before you pick up the car. Double check to make certain that the carcompany you will be using (almost all large U.S. rental companies offer this feature)does not charge program members an extra driver fee.
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Do notpurchase a prepaid credit card loaded with funds in your destinationscurrency. Most prepaid credit cards comewith hidden fees, such as inactivity fees, reloading charges, monthly fees,activation fees, etc. Instead rely on acredit card that does not charge international transaction fees or a debit cardthat does not charge for withdrawing money at overseas ATMs.
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Beforemaking a decision regarding travel insurance consider whether you are planningan unusually long and expensive trip, and whether you would be OK with thefinancial loss if you were forced to cancel your trip due to an unforeseencircumstance. Also consider whether youwill be traveling to a higher risk destination such as heading to the Caribbeanduring hurricane season and whether your medical insurance will cover youabroad.
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Negotiateyour hotel check in and check out times as needed. Loyalty members often are given the option ofearly check in or late check out. Itnever hurts to call the front desk and ask. Call your hotel in advance if you will be checking in late so that thehotel does not give away your room.
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Avoidcommission fees resulting from selling overseas currency back into dollars byfirst buying a reloadable Starbucks Card before heading abroad. Then, before returning home, use any leftovercurrency to reload your card at the Starbucks location at your internationalairport.
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Do notdepend on travelers check abroad. Manyplaces no longer accept them and you will likely have to pay expensive fees andaccept poor exchange rates. Instead relyprimarily on credit cards that do not charge international transaction fees forexpensive items and debit (ATM) cards for cash.
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Thinktwice before accepting an offer of a free car rental upgrade which usually ismore expensive to operate. Larger carsgenerally get fewer miles to the gallon.
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