By Liam Isola Nobody wants to spend more than they have to on travel. Today we’re sharing 15 travel hacks to help you save time and money. If you missed our list of 10 simple travel tips, check them out to save even more cash.
You don’t have to be some kind of tech wizard to travel hack, even if plenty of them involve using technology. You just have to be willing to get creative to save yourself some time and money. If you follow the tips from this list, you’ll be well on your way to saving money and time on your next trip.
So, here they are:
Travel Hacks – 1. Downloading Offline Maps/Saving Places
If your domestic cell phone carrier charges a lot of money for international roaming, you have a couple of options when you travel. One is connecting to WiFi when you can and using offline maps to navigate around the city otherwise.
Google Maps is a popular pick for offline maps but I’ve always been partial to Maps.me because of its extensive detail. I do like to use Google Maps to save places that I’d like to go to, though. It saves me a lot of time to be able to visualize the best route between all the attractions I want to see and plan it out.
You can also save a lot of money by downloading apps like Moovit and Citymapper that have offline public transit maps. This way you won’t have to call a cab.
Your other option when your cell provider has high roaming charges is:
Travel Hacks – 2. Getting an eSIM
I’ve written about the benefits of getting an eSIM before, and it remains one of the best travel hacks out there.
With an eSIM, a digital SIM card, you can route your home data plan through a local one while you travel. If you turn roaming off on your domestic data plan, you’ll still get all of your iMessages by paying a few bucks for a short-term data plan.
If you absolutely must have data while you travel, this is a great alternative to paying for AT&T or Verizon’s international plans. AT&T’s International Day Pass and Verizon’s Travel Pass both cost $12 per day. You can get an eSIM while you travel and get a whole month’s worth of data for under $10.
Travel Hacks – 3. Download the Local Language on Google Translate
When you are in a place where you can’t speak the local language, you can’t always rely on someone being able to speak English or your native language. That’s especially true if you visit some of the most underrated countries in the world, like Bolivia and Algeria.
So, it’s a good idea to download the local language on Google Translate for offline use. It could end up getting you out of a tough spot, and it’ll be a lot easier to communicate with the people around you.
4. Travel on Only One Airline as Much as Possible
Airline status perks are seriously underappreciated. If you are a frequent flier on a specific airline, you can have a much smoother and cheaper travel experience if you earn status.
By taking my flights exclusively on United in 2024, I became a Premier Silver member. With that, I get a free checked bag on every single United flight. I also earn more United miles on every flight I book than I would otherwise. Most importantly, I get free Economy Plus seating during check-in.
That means I can book the exit row every single time I fly. As a 6’4″ guy who can barely fit my legs in normal economy seats, it makes a huge difference.
5. Hidden City Ticketing
This is something you actually don’t want to do on the airline you fly the most. At the very least, don’t provide your frequent flier number while you do it.
Hidden City Ticketing involves booking a cheaper connecting flight to a city you don’t actually want to go to and getting off after the first flight in the city you actually want to visit.
While it’s a legal strategy, the airlines really don’t like it and may go as far as banning you if they catch you doing it too much. So, use Hidden City Ticketing when you really need to save money, and absolutely do not check a bag when you do it.
Skiplagged is the best website for finding these hidden city fares. This is a strategy that can save a whole lot of money when done properly.
6. Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses
This is one of the best travel hacks for getting free flights and hotels. Travel credit cards often offer very lucrative sign up bonuses for new cardmembers.
For instance, the Amex Platinum card is currently offering 150,000 points if you spend $5,000 in the first three months. If you were going to spend 5k anyway, that’s essentially a free $1500 to use on travel.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is also offering 125,000 points for new cardmembers with a $6,000 spend in the first three months. That could get you over $2000 in value.
As long as you pay your card’s balance in full each month, there’s not much downside to having a credit card, which usually comes with other benefits.
7. Get Global Entry/ TSA PreCheck
One of the best time-saving benefits that often comes with travel credit cards is a credit for a TSA PreCheck/Global Entry membership. If you have this benefit available to you, opt for Global Entry, as it includes TSA PreCheck.
TSA PreCheck can save plenty of time at security. Knowing I can go in the expedited line, I sometimes show up to the airport just a few minutes before my flight boards. While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend doing that, I’ve never come close to missing a flight.
If you travel internationally with any kind of regularity, Global Entry can save hours of your time each time you return to the US. The Independent reported that average waits at customs at JFK can exceed two hours. With Global Entry it takes mere minutes, and sometimes seconds, to clear customs.
The Capital One Venture X Rewards, Chase Sapphire Reserve, American Express Platinum, Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Elite, and Bank of America Premium Rewards all include a statement credit for Global Entry/TSA PreCheck every few years when it’s time to renew your membership.
There are plenty more reasons why it’s beneficial to have a travel credit card.
8. Make the Best Use of Credit Card Points/Transfer Partners
With travel credit cards, you’ll rack up points just by spending money on your everyday purchases. When it comes to actually using those points, you’ll want to make sure you get the best redemption value for them.
Chase Ultimate Rewards, which most of their non-airline cards are linked to, offers one cent per point if you want to redeem them for cash. However, there are better point redemptions, like booking through the Chase Travel Portal. That will remain true for existing cardholders at least until October 26th, 2027.
Booking travel through the portal gets you 1.25 cents per point for the Sapphire Preferred and 1.5 cents per point for the Sapphire Reserve.
Transfer partners to airline and hotel loyalty programs can often get you the most bang for your buck, though. World of Hyatt points are worth 2.3 cents per point according to Bankrate, and it’s the highest-value Chase transfer partner.
9. VPN Flight Searches
Airlines can set different prices for IP addresses from different regions. So, changing your location to another country can save you money on your next flight.
The best way to do this is with a VPN, like NordVPN. Along with saving money on flights, you can also set your location back to your home country when you’re abroad. This allows me to watch Arsenal matches on Peacock even when I’m down in Mexico.
10. Bring a Pen on International Flights
Eugene Lisovskiy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Before arriving at an international destination, you’ll often have to fill out a customs form. If you don’t have a pen you may have to wait until you land to fill it out. That could mean you end up in a longer customs line than if you were able to fill it out on the plane.
Out of all of the travel hacks out there, this is undoubtedly the simplest. Regardless, you can save yourself a lot of time if you just bring a pen.
11. Be Strategic About Booking Plane Seats
Plane trips are not exactly the most comfortable. Still, there are some travel hacks you can use to raise the odds of having a better experience.
If you’re traveling as a pair, book the window and aisle seats. You’re much less likely to have someone take the middle seat if you do so. If someone does end up booking the middle, you can make their day a little bit better by offering them either the window or aisle so the two of you can sit together.
For overnight flights, consider which side you usually sleep on. It may sound strange, but if you typically sleep on your left side, you’ll want to book a window seat on the left side of the plane to have a better chance of getting sleep on the plane.
12. Get Your Recommendations From Locals
I’m a big fan of staying in local neighborhoods instead of sterilized central business districts. Here, you can eat at cheaper local restaurants and have a more authentic experience.
If you do stay at a hotel, take the concierge’s recommendations with a grain of salt. Their recommendations may be heavily influenced by referral fees.
Instead, ask local people where to go during your stay. You can ask workers at local libraries for guides, along with bartenders or waiters for recommendations. If you’re staying in an Airbnb with a local host, you can also ask them for recommendations.
13. Drop Your Bag Off While in Between Places
Don’t let having to carry your bags around stop you from exploring a city. If you’re not able to drop bags off at an Airbnb or Booking you can use an app like Bounce or Luggage Hero to find places that will take your bags while you’re at.
You will likely have to pay a few dollars an hour per bag. In my opinion, it’s worth it to have the flexibility to see more instead of sitting at a coffee shop all day or heading to the airport hours in advance.
Travel Hacks – 14. Stay Along Public Transit Links, Away From the City Center
It’s no surprise that it costs more to stay in a city center. You’ll obviously pay more to be in more desirable areas.
However, you can get good deals if you stay away from the city center but close to public transit links. If the city you’re in has a metro system, or good bus system, you can stay a few stops away from the main attractions and buy a day pass to get around.
I routinely save money by using this strategy and it allows me to stay in more local neighborhoods anyway.
Travel Hacks – 15. Be Flexible On Your European Destination
Flight prices from North America to European destinations can vary heavily by city. There are certain low-cost carriers, like Norse Atlantic, that only fly to very specific European destinations.
From JFK, you can get to London, Oslo, Rome, and Athens for under $150 on Norse Atlantic. Round trip flights can be magnitudes higher than that.
If your final destination is in another city, you can spend a day or two in one of the cities with cheap flights and take a cheap RyanAir or EasyJet flight afterward.