Trip Coach: December 11, 2007

You won't always save by bringing the rental car back early. Alamo has an early-return policy at all of its locations, designed to discourage customers from returning cars early. If you show up at the lot a day or two ahead of schedule, Alamo will recalculate what you owe them at the daily rate; if it turns out to be less than what you would have paid for the week, they'll charge a $15 fee. Yet another reason to read the fine print on your contract carefully!

Many tourist information offices provide discounted same-day booking services for local lodgings. My husband and I discovered this when we accidentally left a midweek gap in our travel plans between my husband's conference hotel and our B&B in Charleston. Instead of adding another night at either location, we stayed at one of the more elegant inns (normally over $200) for $70, courtesy of the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Rather than risk losing your department-store credit cards and club-membership cards, you should really leave them behind when you go somewhere you won't need them. Your purse or wallet will be lighter and your worries fewer.

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!

I like to bring a Frisbee when I travel. At the hotel, it's a convenient place to collect car keys, loose change, my ChapStick, and any other small objects I normally keep in my pockets. I always know where everything is, and things won't fall off the nightstand. It's also handy to have so you can play Frisbee at a nearby park or beach.

When we come home at night, my wife and I each take a dollar from our wallets and put them in a special spot. We deposit what we've collected into a travel account at our bank every few months, so at the end of a year, we have $730 toward our next vacation—not counting interest.

Every year, I get address labels from numerous charitable organizations. I keep them with me when traveling because it's the quickest way to provide my address to new friends, enter prize drawings at shops, sign guest books, etc. It's not only efficient; it can also help spread the word about worthwhile charities.

On a trip to Molokai, the plane we were on was small, and luggage was crammed in every which way. At baggage claim, we noticed that someone had packed a bottle of Pine-Sol, and it had broken and leaked everywhere. Now we line our suitcases with garbage bags to protect our clothes—just in case. (It's also smart in case your bag gets left on the tarmac in a downpour.)

A shoe organizer hung over the bathroom door is my solution for hotel-room clutter. The compartments are perfect for stashing everything from room keys and travel documents to toiletries and, of course, shoes. The extra storage space came in especially handy on a recent cruise, when we needed all the room we could get in our tiny cabin.

An extra contact lens case holds enough toiletries for a short trip. Squeeze a few dabs of toothpaste into one side and perhaps some facial cleanser or moisturizer in the other side. Just the right amount of each will fit for your overnights or weekends away.

As a flight attendant, I'm always amazed by the stuff that people leave behind. Most of it never gets back to its rightful owner because there's no way of knowing who the owner is. To avoid misplacing your property, put things back into your carry-on after using them--never on the floor or in the seat-back pocket. Label important items like books or games with return address labels so they can be sent back to you if found.

Don't settle for the first answer to your travel question. If you need flight information, it's a good idea to phone the airline more than once and ask the same question. Recently, I wanted to see if I could fly standby on an earlier flight the same day. The first time I called, I was told that the earlier flight was booked. The second time, however, an agent said there were in fact seats available, and I could certainly fly standby. In the end, not only was I able to get on the flight, but I was upgraded to first class.

Disposable-camera lenses scratch just like any other lens would. Place a small piece of painter's tape (or another kind that won't stick too much) over the lens to protect it from contact with other items in your purse or backpack during travel.

A small compass is a great travel aid. Aside from the obvious benefits during country drives or hikes, it's extremely helpful in navigating winding city streets and orienting yourself once you exit a subway station.

We rented a car last summer to tour northern Italy. Initially, we contacted Europcar (europcar.com) and got a quote of more than $500. We then clicked on a rental-car link from Best Fares (bestfares.com) and received an offer that knocked off about $50. When we mentioned to Europcar that we'd seen lower offers on the Web, they told us that if we sent them the URL and they could verify the offer, they'd match it. We eventually found a car that was an additional $100 cheaper from a British company. Europcar-which offered better service for our itinerary-accepted that lower price, saving us $150.

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!

Our bags have been stolen twice from inside locked rental cars. Now we travel with a bicycle cable and lock. If we absolutely have to leave our suitcases in the car, I hook them together by the handles and attach the whole thing to the frame of a seat or a secure item in the trunk. Even if thieves manage to get into our car, the cable will make it very difficult for them to make off with the luggage.

Check out worldclimate.com to find monthly average temperatures and rainfall for thousands of cities worldwide. You can avoid countries during their rainy seasons, and the information is useful for figuring out what to pack.

Pack light, or that great deal you found on airfare won't seem that great. On a Ryanair flight between Glasgow and Dublin, my husband and I were charged over $100 for excess baggage weight (the airline tickets themselves cost less than half that). Be sure to check the weight limits—especially on low-fare airlines—before you leave home.

We've traveled to both Mexico and China in the last year and had the same experience in both countries: When we tried to exchange dollars to local currency, the banks wouldn't take bills with graffiti on them--telephone numbers, names, doodles, anything. Nor would they accept any bills that were torn or damaged. (We noticed a group from France having the same problem with their euros.) So before you leave home, make sure that any money you plan on exchanging is absolutely crisp and clean--or better yet, ask your bank specifically for brand-new bills.

When I'm on a cruise with my wife's family and we're in a foreign city for the day, I get off the boat as soon as we dock and hail a taxi. I ask the driver to call his dispatcher and find me a van with an English-speaking driver. Then I negotiate an hourly rate and a pickup time at the dock. The family tours together for a few hours, and then each couple either gets dropped off where they want to spend extra time or returns to the boat (this is great for my elderly in-laws). We get a tailor-made city tour for a much cheaper rate than if we had booked through the cruise line.

Even if you're not hungry when the flight attendant comes around with the snack service, take it for later. Although peanuts may not look appetizing at 7 a.m., they will look good later if you have nothing better to eat. And it saves you from picking up something at expensive airport shops.

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.

If you're headed to a country that requires a visa, ask the consulate of that country, in the United States, whether visas are also issued at the airport there on arrival. In many cases (like Turkey and Egypt), they are. Obtaining the visa on arrival is a much simpler procedure and a real money-saver: You do not have to have photographs taken (they figure your passport already has a photo), you do not pay a hefty fee to the U.S.-situated consulate of the country, you avoid the expense and risk of mailing your passport to that consulate in advance of departure, and you avoid the expense of using a visa-acquiring company in the United States. But be sure the consulate is correct that the visa can easily be obtained on arrival.

Travel soap dishes--the colorful plastic ones that have hinged lids--stop small, fragile items from getting damaged or lost in your bags. I can easily label and use them again and again and again.

Check fares periodically after booking your airfare. The airline may have a sale, and buying new tickets could save you money, even after you pay the change penalty. My wife and I used Travelocity's Fare Finder to pocket $187 each on a recent trip from Seattle to New York City, simply by re-ticketing.

Batteries for cameras, laptops, cell phones, and other devices can be charged at night in your hotel room. But if you're doing a lot of driving, you might want to buy an inverter to charge them while on the road. Inverters (which plug into the car's cigarette lighter) are small, inexpensive, and can be purchased at auto-supply, variety, or electronics stores.

When you're shopping for alcohol on any Caribbean island, ask if there's a Kmart nearby. Often the dis- counter is a short distance from the docks where the cruise ships tie up and has an extensive selection at prices lower than the liquor stores on the main drag. While you're there, pick up that extra roll of film or the sunscreen you forgot.

Online check-in isn't just for airlines. After reserving an Alamo car over the Internet, I was offered online check-in just by entering my credit card number and driver's license information for approval. At the airport, following Alamo's instructions, I informed the shuttle-bus driver that I had checked in online and reserved an economy car. I was dropped off in the lot and told to pick whichever car I wanted. I drove it to the exit, where my credit card and driver's license were verified on the computer, and I was done.

If you're even slightly tech savvy and have a cell phone that will work overseas, check with your service provider about the cost of text messages. Some carriers offer free incoming text messages, and several Internet search engines (Yahoo, MSN, etc.) will send free text-message "alerts" to your phone while you're away. Prior to your trip, log on and request that weather forecasts and news updates be sent to your number daily. Even if you never use your phone for costly overseas calls, you can receive up-to-the-minute information, in English, about your hometown or cities on your itinerary.