10 Super Smart Travel Hacks for Beginners and Experienced Travelers

Whether you are new to planning travel adventures or you have been journeying around the globe for years, learning new smart travel hacks to plan the perfect trip while you spend less money is a win-win.

Get savvy about travel by following these super smart travel hacks and plan your trips with confidence. It’s the perfect scenario to begin exploring the world.

10 Super Smart Travel Hacks for Everyone

Over the years, our family travel adventures have included many destinations where we have ONLY paid for food and activities because smart travel hacks, travel reward programs and points covered the hotel stay, our airfare, and a rental car. It has been a blessing and has allowed us to travel to a lot of amazing destinations around the world.

1. Sign Up for Travel Reward Programs

So, first on the list of super smart travel hacks: Sign up for ALL of the pertinent travel reward programs to plan your trips with confidence.

Before you set out exploring the world, you need to get savvy about travel and adopt the “spend less travel more” mindset. Your goal is to accrue reward points on air travel, hotels, rental cars, etc.

One of the best travel tips for beginners, then, is to sign up for travel rewards, loyalty programs, and travel rewards credit cards. These programs and perks will help you earn discounts and rewards that can be redeemed for travel. Who can benefit from the “All Points Travel” lifestyle?

• Business travelers who travel regularly for work
• Frequent flyers who love to visit friends, children, and grandchildren
• Anyone wanting to travel the world

You should decide which travel reward programs for airlines, hotel chains, and rental car companies you want to accrue points with and then stick with them as much as you can….plan your trips with confidence.

Frequent Flyer Rewards

Obviously you are going to choose frequent flyer programs with the airlines that are based closest to you. Since Chris and I live near United’s hub for the Rocky Mountain area of the United States, United’s MileagePlus is an obvious choice for us (Click the link below and scroll down the page to Enroll today. It is FREE to join).

Hotel Reward Programs

When Chris began traveling regularly for work 15 years ago, he signed up primarily with Hilton and Marriott. He was traveling throughout the United State as well as to international destinations. Since some international cities only have one chain or the other, he still had options wherever he traveled for building his points. Hyatt is a program he signed up with recently.

Consider which chain or chains will work best for you as you begin to travel and plan your perfect trip.

Rental Car Reward Programs

Again, you have options for rental car rewards. I am not currently an affiliate with any, so I can suggest Hertz, National and Enterprise, or Avis.

It is a good idea to know how to drive a manual if you are renting cars overseas.

Sign Up for Credit Cards for Travel

If you do not travel frequently enough to accrue points on your flights, hotels and rental cars, consider signing up for a credit card that helps you earn cash back that can be used toward travel expenses and gives you reward points and perks as a sign up bonus. Get savvy about which card will work best for you.

In addition to redeemable rewards, some travel credit cards do not charge a foreign transaction fee when used internationally.

Chris and I use the Chase Sapphire Reserve and can recommend it as a great credit card to work toward earning cashback for travel.

Travel benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card through Chase Ultimate Rewards:

• 60,000 bonus points when you open your account AND spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months
• Up to $300 yearly statement credits each year on your sign up anniversary when you use your card toward travel-related purchases
• Purchase flights through Chase Ultimate Rewards and receive 5x points
• Earn 10x points for each $1 spent on hotel stays and car rentals when purchased through Chase
• Earn points on dining
• Complimentary Priority Pass Select membership
• Receive statement credit up to $100 every 4 years toward Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
• Check ALL of the Offer Details on Chase Ultimate Rewards

It takes time to build up your points, but the travel rewards for exploring the world are totally worth the effort.

2. Create a Vacation Fund

When you create a vacation fund, the goal is to establish the habit of being purposeful in saving money for travel each month. It means you need to get savvy about travel and money and put your financial house in order.

Travel, especially international travel, is a once-in-a-lifetime event for many. Start saving money today to plan your trips with confidence and your vacation fund will begin to grow until you are ready to go.

What are some smart travel hacks to save extra money each month to add to your vacation savings account?

• Attend movies, plays or musical performances less often
• Eat out less frequently
• Limit clothing splurges and purchases
• Bring a lunch to work
• Cancel your music subscriptions
• Cancel some or all cable tv subscriptions
• Check out magazines and books from the library instead
• Have a monthly budget
• Bring your coffee from home
• Buy store brand versus name brand
• Give up smoking
• Take a “staycation” now to save for a bigger vacation later
• Use coupons
• Have a garage sale
• Institute a “no spend” day once a month

These sacrifices all support your dream of exploring the world and are worth the effort. You do not have to be excessively wealth to travel, but you do have to make saving for a trip a PRIORITY. This is one of my best travel tips for beginners!

3. Research the Perfect Trip

Do you check Pinterest and other social media platforms for travel inspiration and ideas?

As a travel blogger, Pinterest is an awesome resource for sharing information as well as discovering new ideas of where Chris and I might travel. This is one of our smart travel hacks as we definitely do our research. Reading posts from travelers who have been to the destination you are hoping to visit or even sparking your ideas of where to travel, is one of my essential travel tips for beginners.

Chris and I planned an off-season trip to Malta simply from a Pinterest pin I saw.

You can search any of these social media options. You’ll find travel tips and tricks, ideas on how we plan our family travel adventures, travel gadgets and gear, travel tips for beginners AND seasoned travelers, travel resources and inspiration, excursion ideas, and amazing Instagrammable photo locations.

• Just Wander More
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Facebook
• Get Your Guide (link to a river cruise on the Seine)
• Viator (link to snorkeling in Moorea on a catamaran named Taboo that we loved)
• GuideAlong (awesome audio tour guides for your road trips formerly called GyPSy Guide)
• TripAdvisor
• Microsoft Start (MSN articles)
• Booking.com
• Flipboard
• Just Wander More Amazon Storefront

4. Pick a Destination…But Be Flexible

When you are choosing a destination, you will want to also consider your flights and lodging. These three key steps work hand-in-hand in the planning process.

Considerations on how to choose a destination:

• What destinations are on your bucket list that you have always wanted to visit?
• If you are flying to Europe, does it make more sense to fly to a centralized airport on a non-stop flight and then take the train to your final destination?
• Have you considered that certain flights are usually cheaper on a Tuesday than a Saturday?
• How much time do you have? If it is just a weekend, maybe consider destinations closer to home. If you have one to two weeks, consider international destinations.
• Will you have to recover from jet lag?
• How many people will you be traveling with you and what are their ages?
• What type of weather or experience are you hoping to have, ie., relaxation at the beach vs. hiking in the mountains?
• What is your budget?
• Can you be flexible on your destination and figure out the most cost-effective flights first?

Taking notes throughout the planning process is essential. Use the Ultimate Travel Planner to record your flights, plan your budget, keep track of lodging and transportation, and more.

Fill The Ultimate Travel Planner with everything you need as you plan your worldwide adventures and fulfill your travel resolutions. Plan your trips with confidence as you organize all of the details in this hardcover travel planning journal and notebook. Plan your budget, check off your packing list, discover places to visit and things to do, and use the TO DO lists so you don’t forget anything.

5. Decide When and How Long

Begin to think about WHEN and HOW LONG would work best for your schedule as you plan your vacation and want to use travel reward programs.

Ideas to consider:

• When do kids get out of school in the summer?
• Should you go over Fall Break? Spring Break?
• Is it just two of you for a romantic getaway?
• Are you traveling solo?
• Are there any destination holidays to consider?
• Are there work holidays you can piggyback onto to maximize your time off from work and efficiently use travel reward programs?
• Are you planning to travel at the peak of the travel season or during the shoulder season?

When you narrow down the WHEN and then determine the length of your trip, you can begin to search for flights and look at the availability of hotels in your destination.

This is an important step and one of the smart travel hacks as it often focuses the rest of your planning.

6. Schedule Flights Using Your Frequent Flyer Miles

When planning our family travel adventures, we are often flexible on the destination until the flights are pinned down. Look at the general area where you want to travel and then check to see which, if any, hotels are available for you to use travel reward points. Be flexible.

Begin by searching for the best flights and airports that match your general destination and dates. It takes a bit of work to pin down the specifics—you might even find a great flight home first and want to work back from there.

Try to find flights that allow for the least amount of layovers AND that use the lowest amount of your frequent flyer points. Your goal is to maximize your points as much as possible. Skyscanner and Google Flights are both great options if you want to set up flight alerts.

If, for example, you want to leave as soon as school lets out in May and you want to include the Memorial Day holiday in your trip as well as time off from work, try to find flights in that window of time.

If you want to go to Switzerland, as another example, and you have a better chance of an upgrade or more availability on flights into the Geneva International Airport versus the Zurich International Airport, then choose Geneva and focus the rest of your vacation planning around that destination.

Being flexible is the key.

Sometimes your specific destination is a little more concrete. When Chris and I planned a romantic getaway to my bucket list destination, Cinque Terre, we had to look at the surrounding airports and check flights. You may then have to take a train to reach your final destination. Be sure to figure all cost factors into your decision.

7. Book Hotels Using Travel Reward Programs

Depending upon the length of your stay, you might find yourselves needing to make multiple lodging reservations in multiple cities using your hotel loyalty points.

Continue with the scenario of a visit to Switzerland where you land at the Geneva International Airport.

In choosing a specific destination for this trip, now look at a map of Hilton properties (you can also choose Marriott properties) in Europe.

It looks as though there are a lot of hotel options to consider using your Hilton Honors rewards. Zoom in on the map to focus on a specific location.

Knowing that you want to visit Switzerland, for this scenario, look closely at the properties in Lucerne as well as the two offerings close to Lake Geneva.

You may ultimately choose to stay at the Hilton Evian-les-Bains because it allows easy access to day trips in Switzerland as well as to some interesting places in France.

And because Switzerland is generally more expensive, this option may allow you to save on the loyalty reward points you use as well as on other expenses by staying on the French side of Lake Geneva.

You will then have to consider your DAY TRIPS AND TRANSPORTATION (that’s part of the next step), but the payoff of using hotel points from your travel reward programs to cover the hotel in Evian is a great trade off (especially if you take your family and have to book two rooms).

Ideas to Consider:

Planning trips where you change hotels each night and have to pack up your bags everyday is wearisome. If you can, choose a place to stay for 4 to 5 days, explore the area, and then move on to another location.

Will you be traveling with children and need adjoining rooms? If you are traveling as a family, hotels in Europe often limit the number of people in a room and you will have to use your points toward two rooms.

Is your destination set? And there are NO hotels from your travel reward programs available? Then choosing a place to stay may require you to find alternative hotels or vacation rentals outside of your loyalty program. That’s okay. Just be sure to budget and plan for the extra expense.

You don’t have to stay on-brand all of the time.

When traveling as a family, an Airbnb (or equivalent service such as Vrbo.com) can be an economical option.

Obviously you won’t be able to use your hotel points, but a vacation rental offers some bonuses. We especially love vacation rentals for our family travel adventures because:

• They give everyone room to spread out
• There are more options for storing food and making meals
• You can plan for a bed for everyone
• Parking is usually free
• You can plan to do laundry
• You may be able to use credit card cash back to offset the price of vacation rentals

If your vacation is longer than a week, clean clothes are an important consideration. Try to plan a stays at an vacation rental in between hotel stays in order to do laundry. When you are exploring the world, a vacation rental with a washing machine is essential.

8. Reserve a Rental Car

You will want to weigh the benefits of having a rental car with a variety of factors.

With a rental car, it is so convenient and nice to have a place to leave your things as you explore, especially if you are bringing extra jackets, snacks, or a lunch along on your excursions.

Get savvy about the transportation options for your chosen destination; you may find that taking the train makes the most sense or that it is better to schedule a rental car in a major city and then drive to your destination and sightsee along the way.

From my eBook, Plan a Trip to Europe: Essential Advice to Begin Your Travel Adventures

Consider your travel needs while traveling in Europe. Do you need a one-way rental? (Be aware that one-way car rentals are subject to a hefty fee.) Would it be easier to take the train? Which side of the road will you be driving on?

Except in Cyprus, Ireland, Malta and the United Kingdom, Europeans generally drive on the right hand side of the road.

If you plan to drive while traveling in Europe, you might also consider applying for an International Driver’s License (IDL). An IDL is recommended though not required.

Chris applied through our local AAA office and was able to obtain an IDL the same day with an in-person application. The AAA website suggests allowing 4 – 6 weeks if you are mailing documents. The fee is relatively low. 

Make sure to research the travel requirements for the countries you plan to visit. For example, a vignette (toll pass) in Austria is a must if you want to avoid a ticket.

If you rent the car from a neighboring country, drive to Austria, and then return, be sure to remove the vignette from your windshield upon returning your vehicle. The rental company may charge you an extra fee for taking the rental car out of the country.

Here’s a tip to tuck into your memory bank if you ever do travel to Geneva, Switzerland: Find your way to the French sector of the airport in order to pick up your rental car. Renting a car from the French side versus the Swiss side of the airport cuts the cost of the rental significantly.

9. Plan Places to See, Day Trips, and Book Excursions

While visiting major travel destinations, larger cities, and tourist stops, it is also just as much fun to travel out of the city, see the countryside, and explore smaller towns.

Once you have pinpointed your travel destination and booked flights, lodging, and transportation using your travel reward programs, then begin to research day trips and excursions.

Use search engines such as Google, social media, travel websites, and online marketplaces for adventures, activities and excursions to gather ideas, research, and scout out day trips

10. Consider Travel Insurance

Buying travel insurance is another one of the smart travel hacks to plan your trips with confidence when your goal is exploring the world. You never know what might happen, ie., like having your daughter contract Covid right before your scheduled cruise to Norway. Yes, that happened to us and we were all denied boarding.

Travel insurance is often overlooked as an added expense, but for peace of mind, it is one of the best smart travel hacks to remember.

You and I often dismiss the idea that anything can happen when you travel, whether on short or long trips. Protect yourself with travel insurance to save you time and money when unfortunate things happen.

This is one instance when it is better to be safe than sorry when you plan the perfect trip.

Travel Insurance options (as I do not yet endorse one company):

• SafetyWing (a great option for everyone)
• Insure My Trip (good for travelers 70 and over)
• Medjet (an option if you want additional evacuation coverage)

Essential Gear and Gadgets for Exploring the World

Check out My Favorite Travel Things on my my Amazon Storefront for all of the essential gear and gadgets you need when planning the perfect trip: beach gear, photography gear, snack ideas, clothing, electronics, gift ideas, laundry needs, luggage and organization, and toiletries.

When I am planning our family travel adventures, I regularly find new ideas to add to my travel packing lists to make travel easier.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Final Thoughts on 10 Super Smart Travel Hacks for Beginners and Experienced Travelers

There are many travel websites that suggest spontaneity versus planning. Sometimes you need to be spontaneous and not plan every moment of every day.

Some of your most memorable moments may come from simply wandering around a new city and searching for a place to stay once you get there. But, if it is in your nature to be a planner, and it gives you peace of mind to know where you will lay your head each evening, these steps will help you plan your trips with confidence. Get savvy about using travel reward programs to maximize the points you have accrued.

Hopefully you can see the benefit to enrolling in travel rewards programs for your flights, hotels and car rentals. If you travel for work, accruing reward points through the travel reward programs you enrolled in is just an extra bonus for future family and personal travel.

Be sure to sign up for a credit card such as Chase Sapphire Reserve as well. The rewards really do add up!

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