My top 5 favorite travel hacks

by Shannon Albert
on September 15th, 2010
1 Comment

Nothing makes me happier than feeling clever with a trick I’ve learned. It’s fun to know that you got something a little better or paid a little less than somebody else. These are my 5 favorite travel hacks that always make me feel a little smarter.

1. Book a cruise at the port

Most people book cruises months or years in advance but if you have the flexibility, it’s usually super cheap to book your cruise right at the port close to the time that it leaves. Visit the port a few days in advance to check for availability (cruises are almost never sold out) and see what prices you can get for that weekend. Fantastic option for people who have flexible plans. Be sure to go a few days beforehand because the cruise may need to turn in a passenger manifesto 72 hours in advance and you want to be on that list.

2. Book partial view tickets

Many hotels or shows will classify rooms/seats based on view and if they can’t guarantee an unobstructed view, they won’t charge the same price as those rooms/seats that have a full view. That makes sense but…it often works to your benefit because you can pay less (sometimes significantly less) and still have somewhat of a view.

How to know about these partially obstructed tickets? On cruises, you can often see which rooms have obstructed views. You can check cruisecritic.com for more information on just how obstructed it is to get a feel for specific cabins you’d like to stay in.

For shows with obstructed views, you can check the seating chart for the venue which will often have it labeled.

3. Pay for only 1 assigned airplane seat

Many airlines have gone to a system where you have to pay extra for assigned seating or priority boarding. If you don’t want to upgrade or assign everybody in your group, consider buying an assigned/upgraded seat for just 1 person and have them try to save the seats around them. This works better if the ticket involves just priority boarding so they can try to save the seats for when the rest of the passengers book. No guarantees but worth a shot.

4. Buy Asian airfare in Chinatown

We’ve gotten used to the idea that we can usually find the best airfare deals online but that’s often not true when buying tickets to Asia. If your city has a Chinatown, go there and find a travel agency. Going in person is usually preferable to calling since there will likely be a language barrier. Even if your city doesn’t have a Chinatown, an area with a concentrated number of Asian people will often have Asian travel agencies that you could try.

5. Get your own personal tour guide – for free!

Many big cities have the opportunity to have a “greeter” who is a volunteer that can spend a couple of hours guiding you through the city from a local’s perspective at no charge. This program is available in many big cities across the world. Current cities include:

Houston, Texas
New York City, New York
Chicago, Illinois
Toronto, Canada
Melbourne and Adelaide, Australia
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Paris, Lyon, Marseille. Pas-de-Calais and Nantes, France
Brighton and Kent, England
The Hague, The Netherlands

More information on the greeter program can be found at http://www.globalgreeternetwork.info.

I’m always so excited to find out a new tip or trick for traveling. What travel hacks are on your list?

Shannon Albert

Shannon loves to share awesome, fun and hopefully useful info that she's collected and to connect with other travel freaks. She loves the planning part of travel as much as the traveling itself. Shannon's background includes working as a web developer and as a digital producer for an advertising agency. She lives in Texas with her husband, 2 kids and dog. New York City is her favorite city. Her blog is shannonalbert.com.