Traveling doesn’t have to be expensive. Saving money on your next trip can be as easy as a couple simple travel hacks that can save you thousands. Here are five money saving travel tips that will help you travel more:

1. Choose Affordable Destinations

One of the easiest ways to save thousands on a vacation is by choosing the right destination. Hawaii is great but hotel rooms will cost you at least $250 a night. Instead, you could pay a bit more for airfare (or wait for a great deal with Scott’s Cheap Flights) and fly to Thailand. There you could stay in the same kind of hotel room for around $40 a night… and have dinner on the beach for $10. Though your airfare might be more expensive you’ll still end up saving more money than you would in Hawaii.

2. Book “Secret” Hotel Rooms at a Huge Discount

One of the best open secrets is Hotwire’s Hot Rate tool. I’ve used it to book premium rooms at some of the best hotels at 40-60% off the public rate. The best part? You can find out what hotel you are booking with this travel hack. It’s important to remember that utilizing Hotwire- or other 3rd party booking systems- you will not earn hotel points or status. If that doesn’t matter to you, or you plan to be a hotel free agent, the Hotwire Hot Rate hack is a great tool.

3. Use Groupon, Travelzoo and Other Discounted Activity Services

Though it’s a lot easier to find cheap hotels and airfare, activity prices can quickly add up – especially for a family. However, you can find discounted activities on travel sites like Groupon and Travelzoo. As a bonus, Groupon is always running promo code deals and stacks well with the cash back browser extension, Rakuten.

I also love to use Rakuten when it offers 10% or more cash back with Viator purchases. I purchase any large must-do activities only when Rakuten has this bonus, which is pretty regularly so be sure to wait for the 10% cash back offer!

Don’t have a Rakuten account? Use my referral link for $30 off your first $30 purchase.

4. Subscribe and Save with a Flight Alert Service

I’ve flown from Chicago to Rome for $303 and Kansas City to Belize City for $130. And it’s largely thanks to Scott’s Cheap Flights. Scott’s Cheap Flights is my favorite flight alert service. They send you jaw dropping deals to destinations all over the world through an email alert system. You can choose any airports in the United States and even select specific destinations or regions you’re interested in.

The best way to use Scott’s Cheap Flights is to select your home airport and a couple quick and easy hubs you would be willing to fly out of. For example, my home airport is Kansas City. But I also have alerts from Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles because they are all cheap cities I can fly to from Kansas City.

5. Shop Around and Rebook for Better Rates

Did you know most airline tickets and hotel room rates will let you cancel and rebook with no penalty? It’s always worth putting an alert on your calendar and check your rates periodically. If your hotel room or airfare drop in price you can cancel your booking and rebook at the lower rate. (You can also do this on point and mile redeemed awards, too!)

Flight tickets that are not basic economy on all major airlines typically count. It’s a good idea to check your ticket’s terms and conditions before booking the ticket if you want to try this hack. Unless you book a fully refundable ticket, you’ll usually receive flight credit for the fare difference. As long as you plan on going on another flight on that airline before the credit expires, this is an easy way to save on your travel.

This travel hack also works for hotel rooms. If you did not purchase a nonrefundable rate, you can cancel and rebook your hotel room for any lower rate you see. One of the easiest ways to do this is by checking your hotel room rate every two or three weeks. If the rate is lower, you can cancel your travel for a full refund and rebook the hotel room. But be sure to check your hotel terms and conditions. Oftentimes your hotel agreement has a limit on when you can cancel for a full refund. But this hack should work until at least two weeks prior to your arrival.

Explore on. -K