12 money-saving travel tips

7. Bring your own entertainment
With most airlines charging for headphones for the in-flight entertainment system, you can save money by bringing your own. And now that some airlines are discontinuing in-flight entertainment entirely, you'll want to BYO if you need some distraction to get you through long flights in a dreary aircraft cabin.

8. Skirt surcharges
You will find surcharges piling up all the way through your travel experience — for luggage (as above), for entertainment systems, for rental car insurance, for in-flight snacks and meals (and even water on some airlines). Prepare for and figure out ways to beat the surge of surcharges by knowing where to find them. Some resources to help:

• Hidden hotel fees
• Car rental hidden costs
• A surge of airline surcharges
• Which airlines serve meals?

9. Bring your own connection
After a brief high period for free Internet access and Wi-Fi at hotels, recent trends seem to be toward a $10 a day fee almost everywhere you go. With PDA's functioning more like portable computers all the time, and with the increasing availability of satellite access, you may save money by bringing your own connection, especially on longer trips. To figure out costs and options, call your wireless phone provider, or check into satellite phone and Internet services.

10. GPS your car (or phone)
When traveling in a strange city, a GPS system in your car can come in extremely handy to avoid getting lost in the wrong neighborhood, wasting time figuring out directions or wondering where the heck you are. If you will be driving a lot on your trip, consider paying the extra fee for a GPS system in your car. If you will not be driving around much, or if you'll be sticking to a few specific routes (from the hotel to the beach and back, for example), skip the GPS system, but consider your own GPS device or GPS-enabled phone that you can bring on this and future trips.

11. Use the phone for research, not booking
While we're on the topic of phones, you won't want to book your flight on the phone any more (as I have recommended in the past); almost all the major airlines charge anywhere from $10 - $30 for this privilege. Researching flights on the phone without booking, however, won't cost you anything, so if you have questions about certain flights, feel free to call the airline and then book online to avoid the fee.

12. Clip coupons
With rising fuel costs driving up the expense of every component of travel, finding novel ways to save money is essential for many of us to be able to continue to travel at all. Finding specials and discounts on local attractions has been made extremely easy on the Web — simply type in the name of your destination and the word "coupons," and you'll find dozens of ways to save money. Give it a try; you will be surprised at how much dough you can save with this simple tactic that requires no travel agent, tour operator or travel pundit to pull off.

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