Bonefishing and Blackjack on Grand Bahama Island

If you've accumulated more souvenirs on your trip than you can carry, drive your rental car up to curbside check-in, then return the vehicle and come back on the shuttle bus with only your carry-on. This only works if there's no check-in line, but can save dragging your luggage onto the shuttle bus, across parking lots, etc.

If the zipper on your luggage or your clothing is giving you any trouble, rubbing some lip balm or candle wax onto the teeth should loosen it.

The couple of hangers provided on cruise ships aren't enough for weeklong trips. So I save wire hangers from the dry cleaner and slip a few into our suitcases while packing. I then leave them behind for the next passenger.

Before leaving for a vacation, I print out all our reservations and directions, and I create a contact sheet for emergencies. Then I gather all the papers together, punch some holes, and place them in a folder that has a middle section for three–holed papers. The side pockets hold brochures, business cards, ticket stubs, receipts, and maps that we collect along the way and want to bring home for our scrapbook.

When my husband and I would stay in a hotel with our two-year-old, a full night's sleep was out of the question. The minute our son opened his eyes (at 2,3,or 4 a.m.), he woke us, thinking it was time to play. We now pack a pop-up tent and set it up in a corner of the hotel room with books, a blanket, and a few small stuffed animals. The tent folds down to a 14-inch circle and weighs about a pound. It works great! My son has his own "room" to sleep in when we vacation, and we all get to sleep through the night!

Don't be afraid to go to a foreign pharmacy. I forgot to pack my prescription medication on a recent trip to France. When my problem acted up, I went to a local pharmacy. (Look for the green cross.) The pharmacist provided my medication without a prescription and at a fraction of what it would have cost in the United States. In fact, one could benefit by stocking up abroad on medications that would normally be acquired at home at a much higher price.

Recycle the long plastic bags in which you receive your home-delivered newspapers. Slip your shoes into the bags before packing them in your suitcase.

I used a well-known travel site to price tickets for a trip to Las Vegas. The flight I wanted was available, but I decided to wait to see if prices would come down. That flight stopped being listed after a week, and the next best flight kept getting more expensive. About five weeks later, I checked prices from a different PC. Whaddya know? The original flight was available, for $50 less than that next-best flight. That same evening I checked again from my PC. The flight I wanted was not available,so I deleted the cookies for the site and tried again. Voilà! The flight I wanted at the price I wanted. Moral of the story: Clean up your cookies—it could save you money!

Sign up for guest programs at every hotel chain that offers one, even if you haven't stayed at that hotel before or think you may not travel enough to reap benefits from multiple stays. Some programs send coupons for discounted rooms or complimentary room upgrades just for being a member. After signing up for the Omni Hotels Select Guest program, I received a coupon that I was able to redeem for a room in Chicago for $80 per night.

Finding healthy breakfast alternatives at an airport can prove difficult. I always travel with an insulated travel mug. Before leaving home I fill it with a high-protein cereal and then request low-fat milk on the flight.

Some cruise lines offer discounts on a future sailing if you book it while on a current cruise. Back home, you can transfer the booking to your travel agent and work with them to try to lower the price even further. You'll be able to cancel your booking at no cost if you follow the cruise line's cancellation schedule. This is a great way to get some of your onboard expenses paid for in advance.

A simple but effective anti-pickpocketing measure is to fasten a safety pin across the opening of the pants pocket on the inside. Leave enough room to pull your wallet out with some effort, but not enough for a quick hand to lift it in a second or two.

Before leaving on a trip, I print the names and addresses of my friends and family onto clear mailing labels. (All standard word-processing programs have preset templates for creating address labels.) Then, I take the address-label sheets with me on vacation. Since the addresses are already saved in my computer and the mailing labels are adhesive, addressing postcards has become really easy.

For overnight flights, pack a few Oral B Brush-Ups in your carry-on. Before the plane lands, you can "brush" your teeth, leaving you refreshed and ready for the day!

If your tablecloth is wet at dinner, you should prepare for rough seas. Restaurant staffers have been known to slightly dampen the tablecloth to keep plates and glasses from sliding.

Using your frequent-flier miles, you might be able to visit two cities on one ticket. For example, my wife and I always trade in our Delta miles when we visit our daughters in Dallas and San Francisco. Because we have to fly through Dallas to get to San Francisco on Delta, we can stop over in Dallas for as long as we want before continuing on to San Francisco—and we use only one frequent-flier ticket each.

When you change your clocks back or forward, be sure to check the expiration date on all your frequent-flier miles. This way they're checked twice a year. We overlooked one of the many accounts in our household and lost a free ticket when the miles expired.

When I'm packing to leave a hotel room, I turn the bedding down to the foot of the bed so that the white sheets are facing up. This way, items placed on the bed are clearly visible. I once left a camera behind because I couldn't see it against a very dark bedspread.

When you travel to a beach destination, bring your own snorkel gear. We bought snorkels, masks, and fins at home for half-off (at an end-of-summer sale) before a trip to Hawaii. They didn't take up much room in our luggage, and we would have spent as much or more renting the equipment.

We're active travelers but find guided bike tours from companies like Backroads too expensive. Our advice: After rolling into town, ask at a bike shop for the best routes. Better yet, call or e-mail before you leave home (search the Web). We've found group rides and races this way, and have made a lot of friends. We're instant locals!

If you even manage to get a cell signal while at sea, your roaming charges will be outrageous. To communicate with your cabinmates, leave Post-it Notes on your door detailing where you'll be throughout the day.

To ensure the studs of pierced and delicate earrings don't get damaged, I put them in a film canister. An added benefit is that they're less likely to be stolen when left in a suitcase or hotel room, because thieves presume there's nothing inside but film.

Though they're often the best deals around, don't assume that packaged vacations always offer the biggest bang for your buck. My wife and I were ready to book an air/hotel package to Maui when we noticed a sale on Aloha Airlines ($280 round trip from Oakland). I added up the total cost of the trip if purchased separately and saved $400 over comparable packages from various tour operators. We used the extra money to stay in a nicer hotel and to rent a convertible!

If you're traveling with someone, discuss a central meeting place in case you get separated. My husband and I were in Paris waiting to board the Metro. He was able to board the train, but I was left behind on the platform. Having a plan saved both time and needless anxiety.

Before traveling to any city, do a search on the Internet of the city name and the word "coupon" ("New Orleans coupon"). You will find many sites offering two-for-one, percentage-off, and dollar-off discounts. On a recent trip to St.Louis, we saved $100 at restaurants and attractions.

I enjoy off-peak travel best--rates are cheaper, lines are shorter--but the weather can be iffy. To combat Mother Nature's unpredictability, I always pack a roll or two of black-and-white film. While dreary-day color photos bring only consoling remarks from friends, black-and-white film tends to lend a mystique to gray landscapes and creates some very dramatic Ansel Adams--esque shots.

Treat yourself to a golf-ball foot massage. During a long flight, or afterward in your hotel room, take off your shoes, put a golf ball on the floor, and roll it under your foot. It's a great stress reliever. Practice a bit before you try it on a plane, so that your ball doesn't go rolling down the cabin, tripping up unsuspecting passengers.

If you don't have enough frequent-flier miles to get to Europe, use your miles to reach a major airport in the United States and then pay for the overseas flight from there. For a trip to Ireland, my husband and I used Delta SkyMiles to get from Cincinnati to New York's JFK airport and from there took Aer Lingus to Ireland. The Aer Lingus internet special was $267 per person. A Delta flight from Cincinnati to Ireland was $1,150 for two. We saved more than $600.

Love researching your destination online, but don't know how to organize all those printouts, maps, guidebooks, and tips? I get a 5 x 7" spiral notebook (Mead makes one with a sturdy cover and a pocket insert), a set of index tabs, and some glue. Divide the notebook into sections with the tabs (sights, maps, currency converter, restaurants, etc.). Photocopy—in reduction mode—all the info you want to bring, and glue it into the appropriate section. I leave plenty of pages for my journals. This creates an all-in-one personal guide that you can read again years after your trip!

Instead of dropping my laundry off at the front desk, I take a walk around the block and look for the nearest dry cleaner--probably the same one the hotel would've taken it to. By cutting out the middle man, I pay a quarter of what they charge at the hotel!