Traveling in Style (Without Breaking the Bank)

Traveling this year is nothing like it was last year-which is the understatement of the century! With fuel prices going through the not-so-proverbial roof ($70 to fill my gas tank, sheesh!) the idea of a road trip or going on vacation has taken on a new meaning. Gone are the days of jumping on a flight or in your car for a quickie jaunt, nowadays you have to hock Toto for the check-in fees alone!

Here are some travel tips to help you in your next sojourn to hopefully cut some of those expenses:

1. Plan, Plan, Plan! Procrastinating often used to result in lower fares on airlines trying to fill empty seats with last minute schedulers, but this year it will not. (Flown lately? Reminds me of packed sardines in a can!) Begin shopping a few months before you plan to travel and make your purchase no later than a month before you plan to vacation.

2. Shop for your airfare on Tuesday through Thursday. Airline sales these days are short-lived, typically lasting 3 days or less-they tend to be posted on Tuesdays (or sometimes late Monday).

3. Travel on mid-week days as well when possible. Typically these are the cheapest days to travel by plane, many airfare sales restrict your travel on these days anyway. Depart on a Wednesday and you'll save-less congestion at the airport as well. If you want to save more, opt for connecting flights, it may take a little longer but you will save!

4. Broaden your scope when looking at trip costs, especially with respect to lodging. If you have been online looking at airfares, you should definitely have noticed them edging up, you should have also noticed that hotel rates are on the downward slide. Which means that even a sizeable airfare increase can have less impact on your travel budget when offset by lower lodging costs. It pays to be flexible in your hotel choices as well, most of the time you only sleep in that hotel room not lounging, as sightseeing takes you out more than in!

5. Always look for package deals. Like I said, the hotel industry is really hurting these days, so you can find fantastic deals for beautiful hotels. Go to multiple websites such as Travelocity, Priceline or Expedia and compare prices. I found four different rates for the same weekend getaway on the same flight and hotel bundle with a difference in price of $140! When you bundle your hotel, airfare (and rental car for that matter) you generally get better deals. I ran across this great website that actually does the comparing for you, it's called kayak.com and it works like a dream! If your travel dates are adaptable, try their flexible-date search tool, it covers a broad scope of routes, airports and pricing. Other sites are lowfares.com, budgettravel.com and dealbase.com.

6. Search the web for coupon codes. Most of the travel sites have that little box at the end of your booking that asks for a promotional discount code. Little did I know that there are entire websites for those codes! Try promotionalcodes.com or couponwinner. com, they have codes for when you book your flights, hotels and rental cars, as well as shows, food and activities once you arrive.

7. Look into traveling as a student would. There are student travel agencies that are now selling to non-students and others. On most, the best prices are reserved for students who are enrolled in an academic program of some sort, but many of the packages don't have travel restrictions. Check out statravel.com, studentcity.com or studentuniverse.com for packages.

8. Don't pay to check your bags. Use a carry-on to avoid bag fees that can be as much as $15 to $35, which adds up quickly so it's an easy way to save.

If you are taking to the road:

1. Get a tune-up and oil change before you go-skimping on tune-ups is something often done, but replacing air and fuel filters will improve your engine's efficiency and boost the mileage. Correct air pressure in your tires is vital too, as it reduces road drag which can drop your mileage significantly.

2. Take advantage of hotel gas offers. Road trippers should be aware of these deals whenever they take off. California for instance has what is called The "Cruise the Coast" package offered at Broughton Hospitality Group's boutique hotels that include a $25 gas rebate (read: room credit) at checkout, along with a bottle of wine at check-in and continental breakfast.

3. Watch your driving technique. Keep speed to a minimum. Stay as close to 55 as you can and you will boost mileage by five percent-also, use your cruise control, automated speed is much more efficient. Crack your windows when using air conditioning slightly, it allows hot air to escape and use the recirculating function rather than cooling the hot air continuously. Synthetic motor oil can also add a bit to your mileage as well.

4. Avoid holiday travel. The fact that gas prices seem to rise during weekend and holiday travel is no coincidence, so as much as possible try to schedule vacations outside of those times.

All in all it may be more of a challenge to travel economically, but there are many secrets to doing so on a budget. After all, we all need a little over-the-rainbow time don't we?