Travel Hacks
Insider tips, points & miles strategies, and clever tricks to travel smarter and cheaper.
How to Use Skyscanner Like a Pro to Find Hidden Flight Deals
I booked a flight from New York to Barcelona for $187 round trip last March. The person sitting next to me on the return flight told me she had paid $620 for th...
How to Pack for Two Weeks in a Carry-On Only
I watched a woman at the baggage carousel in Lisbon cry. Her suitcase had been lost on a connecting flight through Frankfurt, and she told the airline represent...
How to Get Free Upgrades on Flights Without Status
The gate agent at Dallas Fort Worth looked at my boarding pass, looked at me, and typed something into her computer. A moment later, she tore off a new boarding...
How to Avoid Roaming Charges While Traveling Internationally
The first time I got hit with an international roaming bill, I had just returned from a two-week trip to Thailand. I had used my T-Mobile phone to check emails...
How to Use VPNs to Find Cheaper Flight Prices
I was searching for a flight from New York to Lima, Peru, on Google Flights when a friend in Bogota told me to check the price from Colombia. I connected my Exp...
Travel Mistakes That Will Get You Banned or Denied Boarding
I watched a man get pulled off a flight to Dubai at Heathrow Terminal 5. He had a valid passport, a confirmed ticket, and a visa for the UAE. The problem was th...
How to Get VIP Lounge Access Without Business Class Tickets
I was sitting in the Turkish Airlines Business Lounge at Istanbul Airport, eating a plate of fresh meze and drinking Turkish coffee, when the man next to me ask...
The Best Time of Day and Week to Book Flights in 2026
For six months, I tracked flight prices on 10 popular routes, checking fares three times per day, every day, from January through June. I recorded 5,400 individ...
Google Flights Tricks That Most Travelers Do Not Know About
I was searching for a flight from San Francisco to Tokyo and noticed something strange. Google Flights was showing a price of $512 round trip on Japan Airlines,...
How to Avoid Dynamic Currency Conversion Traps When Paying Abroad
The receipt from the restaurant in Prague showed 1,200 Czech koruna, which should have been about $52 at the current exchange rate. But the line below it said "...
Travel Photography Tips That Do Not Require Expensive Gear
A man on a bridge in Kyoto stopped me and pointed at my phone. "You are taking photos with that?" he asked, holding up a Canon EOS R5 with a 24-70mm lens that c...
The Ultimate Guide to Finding Cheap Flights in 2026
I have a spreadsheet on my computer that tracks every flight I have booked since 2020. There are 47 entries, each with the route, dates, airline, price paid, an...