We’ve written about saving money on your family trip and how you can have a cheaper vacation by planning ahead but I just ran across a few more travel tips for your money that we hadn’t covered yet.

Know when to use travel agents: A good travel agent can be a great money saver, particularly for lengthy or complex trips.  It’s OK to compare prices yourself, but consult a travel agent if you are going to remote destinations – they’ll know the territory, and if you have to make changes, they might be able to help you do so without paying a lot of extra money. 

Check your telecommunications options: Check with your wireless company to make sure your phone works where you’re going – that’s particularly relevant if you’re going overseas. Ask if your phone will work overseas and what the potential costs will be for roaming charges, which can quickly skyrocket.

Also, you might go online to see if your overseas airport rents cellphones at a daily or weekly charge or if it might be worth using a disposable phone you can buy when you get there. 

Check on car insurance: For domestic trips, double check whether your own car insurance policy is likely to pick up the bill if you crash your rental car. For overseas trips, check with your rental agencies as well as your credit card company to see what insurance options you have.

Don’t think only in terms of accidents. Think about blown transmissions in small towns with only one mechanic who doesn’t speak English.  Also, if you’re driving to Canada or Latin America in your own car, be very sure you have adequate coverage required in every country. You might have to buy supplemental coverage.

Consider travel insurance: There is insurance coverage available for travelers who face sudden cancellations as well as medical needs. Trip cancellation can reimburse you for non-refundable costs in the event of things like an illness for you or a family member that causes you to cancel your trip. 

Look into what your current health insurance covers at your destination, so that you can understand your risk exposure and weigh it against the cost of supplemental insurance.  It’s important to realize that health insurance issues crop up on domestic trips as well as those overseas – for instance, your health insurer may not cover claims in other parts of the country. Also, if you’re on a business trip, make sure your company health plan will cover you in an emergency.

Prevent theft at home and abroad: Photocopy your driver’s license and passports and keep the originals with your valuables in the hotel safe. Also, don’t forget to hold your mail and pay all your bills before leaving town.

This post about travel tips for your money is produced in association with the Financial Planning Association (FPA), the leadership and advocacy organization connecting those who provide, support and benefit from professional financial planning.

When I was a kid, my family always had a particular spot that we vacationed for at least two weeks out of the year. We went to see my grandmother and grandfather for the first week, and then we went to their cottage on Lake Michigan just north of Muskegon, Michigan.

My family was pretty traditional, and we didn’t have a ton of money, so we usually drove the grueling 18 hour trip from Florida. Although back then, gas was about .89 cents a gallon, so it was always less expensive than flying up there. Summer family vacations are part of America’s heritage, and I have great memories of from those days.

Today, it’s much more expensive to travel as a family, so here are seven tips to help you save money on your family trip.

1) Drive instead of fly. Even though gas prices have crept back up to about $2.25 a gallon, it’s still much lower than last year. If you live within 12 hours of your destination, it’s probably more economical to gas up the minivan and take a road trip. Road trips can be good bonding moments for families, because it forces you to have conversations! If you must fly, here are some tips to help you save money on airline tickets.

2) Pack food on your road trip. Instead of stopping for all three meals, pack sandwiches and snacks for the trip so you can skip lunch and sometimes dinner.

3) Look for a vacation rental on Craigslist or VRBO. You can find vacation rentals at every vacationing spot on these websites. Typically, you’ll find weekly rentals that are cheaper than renting two hotel rooms. Plus, you can find nice condos and houses with full kitchens and multiple bathrooms.

4) Make sure your hotel or vacation rental has a full kitchen. You can blow so much money eating out while on vacation. Having a full kitchen allows you to buy food at the grocery store and make breakfast and lunch so you can save your dining out money for nice dinners. Here are some of the best travel websites to help you research hotels.

5) Plan out your trip ahead of time. If you plan out your itinerary ahead of time and know what you’re going to do and spend each day, you’ll avoid tourist trap attractions that prey on bored tourists. Sometimes, your plans don’t work out due to weather or something unexpected. Write down a list of three or four other activities as a back-up plan just in case you get a wrench thrown in your original plans.

6) Do Things together. You ARE going on a family vacation. Even if your teenagers are whining about having to spend time with you, make them do stuff together with you. If everyone is off doing a different activity, it will add up quickly. Choose activities that the whole family will enjoy, not just your youngest child.

7) Choose a destination just outside of the tourist hotspot. Every vacationing spot has a strip of hotels or entertaining areas that everyone is attracted to. If you stay just outside of that area, you’ll spend less on lodging and less on eating out.

Making family summer vacations enjoyable for the entire family is tough. Everyone has different interests and a different idea of having fun. If the parents keep a good attitude, the children will pick up on that and eventually start having a good time.

You’re on vacation, so don’t be afraid to spend money, as long as you aren’t going into debt to do it. Splurge a little on activities you don’t normally do. When my wife and I go on vacation, we’d rather spend the bulk of our money on experiencing new things, rather than blowing it all on food and nightlife. Maybe you are different, but hopefully these tips will help you plan out your trip this summer. If you have any more suggestions, feel free to post them in the comments suggestion.

Spring break vacations are always something to look forward to after the long dark winter months. Spring break for college students is already beginning, and spring break for public secondary and elementary schools will begin in the next few weeks. 

When I was a college student in Florida, we took full advantage of the beaches we lived near all throughout our spring break.  The best months to visit Florida are February, March, April, and May, because our spring feels like the north’s early summer and early fall weather. Of course, being in college we were always looking for the best deals to save money on spring break.

I imagine most people that can afford to go on vacation this year will be looking for spring break deals and money savers in this struggling economy so here are a few tips on ways you can save money on your spring break vacation:

Student Travel Websites

Here are some good travel websites to check out for deals if you are a college student

• STA Travel
• Student Universe
• i Student Fares

My wife and I used STA Travel a few times to look for discounted airfares for students.  We got a great rate from Florida to Los Angeles, and we also found good deals on hotels. You can also check out some of the best travel websites.

Hotel Room Without an Ocean Front View

If you’re at the beach, you’ll save a lot of money by choosing the room that faces the courtyard or the pool.  Why bother getting the best room available when you’re only in your room to sleep anyway?  Also, try looking for a hotel that was recently renovated or brand new to the area.  They often cut deals to boost sales. 

Hotel Room With a Kitchenette

Okay, I know that I just told you to save money by going for the cheaper hotel room, but hear me out on this one.  One of the biggest expenses when you travel, other than your transportation to get there and back, is food and drink.  One of the best ways to save on eating out and drinking is to bring your own snacks and booze.  Bring food for breakfast and lunch, and save your money for a nice dinner every night. 

Avoid Popular Vacation Spots

I am always amazed that Destin and Daytona Beach are the most popular spring break destinations in Florida.  They have good beaches, but there are so many other great places you can visit in Florida without getting bombarded and ripped off by tourist traps. 

Clearwater beach near Tampa, FL and St. Augustine Beach are great options with plenty of stuff to do during the day and at night.  St. Augustine is touristy, but it’s definitely cheaper than Daytona and Destin.  What are some other great spring break destinations that aren’t tourist traps?

Travel During The Week

If you leave on a Monday and return on a Friday, you could save some money on airfare and hotel stay.  Businesses know that their biggest business is on the weekends, so they’ll discount their weekday rates to attract more vacationers. 

Use common sense and look for bargains wherever you can, because we all know that the economy is bad right now and we’re all looking for ways to make our dollars go farther.  Don’t be afraid to ask for discounts and most of all, make sure you stay safe!

The best travel websites help you find cheap airline tickets or hotel reservations with the least amount of hassle.  Here are some of the things we look for in a travel website, whether using it to book a vacation or business travel:

• Lowest price on hotel rooms and airline tickets
• Easy to search and compare prices and features
• Ability to track prices on hotels or airline flights
• Easy signup and payment process
• Good overview of seasonal and last minute deals

Here are some of the best travel websites that meet some combination of these criteria:

Orbitz.com – Orbitz  is known for it’s ability to find the lowest prices on flights, hotel rooms, car rentals; and combinations of the three.  It’s interface makes it easy to compare prices; one of the things I like about Orbitz is that they show the total price, including taxes and fees, when comparing prices.

They also have an interesting feature called “Price Assurance”, where they promise to find you the lowest fare or give you an automatic cash refund.  Here are some more details on how it works from the Orbitz site.

“Once you book a flight on Orbitz, we start tracking to see if another customer subsequently books the same flight on Orbitz at a lower price.

If that happens, we’ll issue a refund for the difference, between $5 and $250 per traveler. We’ll continue tracking until the day you fly. So each time the price drops and another customer subsequently books your same itinerary for a lower fare, your refund amount will increase.”

Expedia.com – Expedia is known for it’s breadth of vacation and travel deals, covering flights, lodgings, cruises, vacation packages, and rental cars.  Expedia also offer deals on activities and excursions once you’ve arrived at your travel destination and they have a rewards program called the ThankYou Network. 

Another useful feature to help save some money is the Fare Comparison Calendar that suggests travel dates that offer lower prices.

Travelocity.com – Travelocity has many of the same features as Expedia, letting you find good deals on flights, hotels, cars, cruises, and activities.  Everyone probably knows the traveling Travelocity gnome by now from their commercials.

One of the things I like about Travelocity are the destinations guides they offer from Frommer’s travel, covering cities around the world.   Their traveler reviews can also be helpful when trying to choose a hotel.

Kayak.com – Kayak’s interface is really slick. They really do a good job making it easy to filter and compare search results.  All from one page, Kayak offers multiple different views of the results, lets you filter the results based on flight times, airlines, airports, layovers, trip length, and price.  In addition, Kayak also has a feature where you can compare search results against Priceline, Expedia, and Travelocity.

Priceline.com – Priceline is known for it’s unique feature of letting you choose the price you’re willing to pay for hotels, airline tickets, cruises, and car rentals.  Everyone I know that’s used it has a great story of how they got a nice hotel room for a bargain. 

Our story is that we found a room on the upper West Side of Manhattan right off a subway line for real steal.  A buddy at work saved a ton on a room right on Times Square.  Of course companies don’t have to accept your bid but if declined they allow you to bid again after a few days.

One of my wife’s good friends is having a destination wedding on a Carribean beach this summer.  We’re leaving our son behind with the grandparents for the trip, it’ll be the longest we’ve both been away from him since he was born.

Long Distance Parenting
Although it will be nice to relax a little without constant parenting duties on the brain, we’ll certainly miss being around the little.  My wife is planning on calling every day to check up on him and I’m looking for the cheapest way to make international calls so we don’t spend as much on our phone bill as we did on our plane tickets.

International Roaming is Expensive
I talked to our cell phone company and our phone supports CDMA Voice, GPRS Data, and GSM Voice so we’ll have coverage in the Dominican Republic.  I added the international call feature so if we have to we can call right from our cell, the downside is it costs $1.99 a minute. We could send text messages at 20 cents a piece but neither my wife’s parents nor our 2 year old son are familiar with the technology.

Do you know of any cheaper options for making interntional calls?  I thought about taking our laptop and using Skype but again there is a technology barrier with the grandparents, plus I don’t know what speed of connection we’ll have on the island.

Can You Save Me Some Money?
I’m not crazy about spending $1.99 a minute, I’m picturing the scene from National Lampoon’s European Vacation where Audrey runs up a huge phone bill while her boyfriend puts her on hold. I don’t imagine the rate calling out directly from our hotel room will be any better.

Do you know of any cheaper options for long distance international calls?

Buying cheap plane tickets can start your vacation budget off on the right foot.  An airline flight is often one of the first things you spend money for on your vacation so spending less on plane tickets will leave you more cash for the rest of your trip!

One of the most important things to consider about getting a bargain when it comes to airline tickets is to know when people fly most often.  The law of supply and demand tells us that this is the time when prices will be highest, avoid these times and you can save substantially on fares as well as in hassles with crowds. 

When You Fly
The most expensive days of the week to fly on are Friday and Sunday so to get a discount, fly midweek on a Tuesday or Wednesday.  You can also save money on your tickets by flying at lower demand times of the day, leaving really early or really late. 

When You Buy
Unless you can wait until the very last minute to fly stand-by or to buy a ticket when the airline is just trying to fill seats, it’s typically better to make your reservations at least 21 days in advance of traveling.  Airlines are willing to give you a lower price if you lock in your seat ahead of time because it helps them fill up the plane and cover their costs.  As the travel date gets closer, airlines can charge you higher prices since the demand for the tickets is more immediate.  You can use Farecast to help you predict how current conditions are effecting the rise and fall of ticket prices.

How You Buy
Like any business, the more employees that airlines have, the higher their costs. If they can answer your questions and sell you tickets through a website instead of on the phone with a live person they need fewer employees and they can save money.  To encourage customers to utilize the web, airlines will often offer a discounted rate for tickets purchased online.  If you have questions you’d like to discuss with a person, simply call in to get your questions answered, then go back and buy the ticket online.

Airport Location
Back to supply and demand.  Many travelers want to fly into the big hubs because that’s where a higher percentage of the population lives and that’s often where attractions are.  Sometimes if you can fly into a neighboring airport that’s in the suburbs instead of downtown or maybe even a few towns away, you may be able to get a cheaper fare.

It’s not just where you stop, it’s also how you get there.  Direct flights are the nicest to have but they can also be the most expensive.  If you’re willing to choose a flight with a layover or plane change you’re almost guaranteed to get a lower fare.

Comparison Shopping Online
The web makes it much easier to compare prices between different carriers.  There are several websites that will even do all the comparison for you such as Kayak, Sidestep, Orbitz, and Travelocity.  If you’re looking for summer travel deals, you can search for them in a centralized spot with these sites instead of having to wander all over the web on a quest for savings. 

Many of these sites will allow you to setup some type of alert that will notify you when there’s price action on the flights you’re interested in.  Airlines are constantly changing their ticket prices so sign up for these free price watch services to look for cheaper tickets. Of course, these websites are in business to make money and get a cut if you buy through them.  You can potentially save a little more money by finding the deal on a site like Orbitz or Kayak then going to the actual airline’s website and booking it there. 

Keep in mind that not all carriers are represented in these airline search sites.  Discount carriers such as Southwest and Jet Blue make every effort to keep their prices low.  If discount airlines listed their flights with sites like Travelocity or Orbitz they’d have to pay them an extra fee for referring the sale so they don’t publish their ticket prices there.  Make sure you check out the Southwest and Jet Blue websites when looking for a bargain on airfare.

Use Group Pricing Power
One of the ways to get a better deal on plane tickets is to take advantage of group pricing discounts.  For example, organizations such as AARP offer discounts for seniors and Student Advantage for students.  Member of the armed forces typically qualify for a military discount on plane tickets.  Discounts can’t normally be combined if you’re a member of multiple groups so in this case find the one that saves you the most.

If your employer has any kind of travel bureau that arranges tickets for business trips you may be able to purchase cheaper flights through them.  Another form of group pricing power are ticket consolidators such as Cheap Tickets.  Since they buy up large blocks of seats from the airlines they’re able to purchase the tickets at lower prices and pass the savings onto you.  Although this isn’t a group that you become a member of or belong to, they are able to leverage pricing power to get a better price for tickets.

Travel agents are another group of people that belong to organizations that have access to cheaper tickets.  Although they tack on their own fee for finding you a flight, it doesn’t hurt to ask them for a quote.  Let them know the best price you can find a flight for and see if they can beat it.  One way that travel agents can help is if you need a flight, hotel, and rental car they may be able to use their relationships and pricing power to find you a better all around deal on a whole travel package, even after their fees.

Pack Light
Due to increased price pressures from fuel prices, more airlines are looking for ways to cut their costs. Some airlines such as American and JetBlue are charging an extra $20–$25 to check a second piece of luggage on a flight.  For a round trip, a second bag could end up costing you an extra $40–50.  Not all airlines have this extra charge in place but it’s likely that more will move in that direction.

Travel Rewards Credit Cards
Travel rewards credit cards come in a variety of flavors.  It’s possible to use airline specific cards such as the  JetBlue from American Express or the Gold Delta SkyMiles card; or you could use a more generic one such as Blue Sky from American Express.  Each has a different reward and redemption structure so research the details to find the best travel rewards credit card for you.  In some cases, such as last year’s deal on the Business Gold Rewards Card, you can even get a free flight simply by signing up for a travel credit card.

Airline Savings Summary
Not all of the savings methods discussed above will apply to you but chances are at least a few will.  Be sure to use these money saving tips in combination to reduce your airfare to your vacation destination.  This post is part of the Saving Money on Vacation Travel series.  Sign up for free updates to get the next article with tips for saving money on hotels.

Are you planning a trip to a theme park this summer?  If so, it’s possible to pay a bundle for tickets, lodging, and meals if you don’t plan ahead.  The good news is you can visit somewhere like Universal Studios, Disneyland, or Six Flags and have a good time without spending all your money.  You don’t have to be like Clark Griswold at Wally World, you can get into the park and enjoy the rides for less than most other people spend without taking it to the extremes that he did in the National Lampoon’s Vacation movie.

Save Money on Food
Saving money on food is an important consideration when you are at these amusement parks.  Discounts can be found on admission tickets, but for food it gets a bit more difficult.  Prices are typically overinflated and every option in the park is expensive.  Since the parks don’t offer any cheap alternatives, you have to make up your own to cut back on costs. Here are a few ways you can save money on food:

• Bring your own water bottle and refill it in the bathrooms or at water fountains.  This alone will save you $10 or more per person. 
• Bring snacks to munch on at the park instead of investing in $5 pretzels and popcorn. Check whether the park allows you to bring in food from outside.  If not, make sure you hide it really well : )
• Eat a hefty breakfast before you leave for the park, bring along some sandwiches for lunch, and then on the way home stop for a late dinner.  You will save at least 50% of your bill by avoiding the food at these amusement parks.
• Share meals.  Many amusement park meals (especially Disney) have large meals that are great for sharing.  If you must eat at the park, share the meal between two people and save some money.

Save on Admission
With food costs under control on your amusement park trip, the next way to save is to look at admission prices.  Whenever possible, book large amusement park trips, such as Disney, Universal Studios or even Busch Gardens and Williamsburg in the off season.  Even just the last couple of weeks of school are a great time to get discounted prices on admission tickets.  Most of these parks, especially Disney parks, do not sell discount admission tickets to agents any other time. 

If you have to go during peak season check to see if any organizations you’re a part of offer discounts. For example at Disney, military members get discounted rates and AAA offers lower rates for multi-day passes.  Anyone can usually save a little money by purchasing tickets ahead of time through the park website instead of at the gate.

Buy a Package Deal
Another way to save on admission prices to amusement parks is to inquire about package deals. In order to draw in the tourists, hotels that service theme parks sometimes offer free or highly discounted park tickets if you’ll stay at their hotel. Do your homework to be sure this is a good idea, obviously it’s not worth cheap tickets if your hotel room is too expensive. In addition to searching for advertised deals, you can even inquire with hotels that aren’t publicizing the package.

Avoid Buying Souvenirs
As you probably already know everything at amusement parks is overpriced, souvenirs included. The best way to remember your trip is by taking pictures with family and friends. When you get back home you can turn the pictures into a wide variety of souvenirs. A guy at work used his photos to order a mouse pad with a picture of his family at Disney, much better than a cheap trinket if you ask me, and also cheaper than loading up on expensive souvenirs.

These tips should help you save money on your food and theme park tickets while on your summer vacation. Remember, spending less money doesn’t mean having less fun. It just means you’re paying less for your fun and that you might even be able to afford more of it!

Check back soon for the next travel finance article where we’ll look at saving money on plane tickets.