1. Purchase a package. Buy airplane tickets, hotel, and car rental together and often you can save when comparing individual prices.

2. Flying one way is great but also usually the most expensive. You can save money by opting for connecting flights.

3. Check neighboring cities. As an example, if you are planning on flying into Orlando, FL, be sure to check out prices for flights to Tampa instead, as these flights are almost always less expensive and usually not too far out of your way.

4. If you are not traveling out of the country, consider flying on one of the smaller airlines for the major carriers as you will usually save on the purchase price this way.

5. Be sure to use the Internet to check out last-minute discount fares on the airline’s main website. Start looking midweek for the upcoming weekend.

6. Be patient and wait for an excellent price to come up. But when you do see a great price go ahead and purchase it, so always have in mind what your definition of a “good price” is so you’ll be ready to grab it at a moment’s notice. You never know when those awesome prices will show up.

7. If possible, you should be flexible with your leaving and return dates. Sometimes if you just adjust your dates by as little as one day you can get a cheaper price. For example, leave Wednesday and return Sunday instead of leaving Tuesday and returning Saturday.

8. If possible, book your tickets directly at the airline’s main website. If you use a travel agency, even one online, they will charge you an additional fee. It will also be much more simple to correct any problems if you are dealing directly with the airline itself instead of a travel agency. Believe me, I speak from experience on this one!

9. Mornings are sometimes the best time to check for tickets, and Saturday and Wednesday mornings are good days to take a look for some great prices. And don’t feel you have to stay over on a Saturday in order to get a better price. In the past this was thought to be helpful but not so much anymore.

10. Don’t forget to sign up for frequent flyer miles. It’s quite surprising how often people don’t take advantage of this perk. Even if you fly different airlines, sign up for each airline’s frequent flyer program. The miles add up faster than you realize.

11. Flying one way? This doesn’t always work but be sure to check for round-trip prices as well as one-way since there are times where it is actually cheaper to fly round-trip.

12. If you plan to travel on a holiday, be sure to book your tickets well in advance. For one thing, you will have a difficult time getting the seats and dates you want if you wait until the last minute, but you also will save on ticket prices by purchasing early. However, be sure of your itinerary because if you have to cancel or change your travel dates you’ll likely end up forfeiting any savings you had made.

13. Make sure you always book your flights at least 3 weeks in advance. This will get you the best prices. The earlier the better in this case. Never buy tickets within 7 days of your planned departure if you can help it, as you will usually pay a significantly higher price.

14. Consider traveling on the so-called red eye flights. Check with your travel agent to see if you can save with these late-night flights. You can often save as much as 25% or more off the ticket price this way. You’ll miss out on seeing the scenery you might see during the day but you’ll be more likely to snooze your way through the flight and time will go by faster.

You’ve been working hard all year for your two weeks of vacation. In Europe, they often say, “You North Americans live to work, whereas we work to live!” We can get so embroiled in our work, we lose sight of what really matters in life. Sometimes we feel guilty organizing vacations, knowing that our coworkers will be slaving away without our guidance. However, we need to take care of our minds and bodies by removing ourselves from the workplace from time to time, allowing nature and new experiences to refresh our minds and recharge out batteries. We should never lose sight that what really matters is: health, happiness, precious moments spent with family or friends, and helping our fellow man.

World Resort Vacation Edmonton travel agency feels that you should set time aside for yourself every year. To ensure that you do this, you can join a vacation club to take all the stress from planning. By going through Edmonton travel agents, you will have access to the lowest airfare, hotel, rental car and tour package prices. (Imagine flying your family of three to Cairo for just $5,812!) At World Resort Vacation, you will be able to choose from over 20,000 itineraries for all-inclusive cruises and travel packages or you can just get the bare bones flight/hotel deal.

Your Edmonton travel agents are like a friend who has all the connections and knows all the best tried-and-true deals. Your annual membership fee allows you $99/week five-star hotel deals almost anywhere in the world (any time of year)! Unlike a timeshare style vacation club, the World Resort Vacation Edmonton travel agency allows you the freedom to travel whenever you want, wherever you want. You don’t have to worry about exchanging anything or limiting your travel to non-peak times. Essentially, you just tell your dreams to one of the Edmonton travel agents and they make it happen – whether it’s $99/week five-star accommodations around the world, cruise deals, discount airfare, hassle-free rental car reservations, reduced price tour packages or an all-inclusive!

Additionally, your Edmonton travel agency offers many members-only ways to earn free or reduced-price vacations as well. You can refer a friend for $500 cash, or you can become a “travel ambassador” and rate your stay to get free lodging. Stop putting off your vacation and contact the World Resort Vacation Edmonton travel agents this month to save money and attain peace of mind!

With cheap travel insurance so widely available these days, most people can travel abroad safe in the knowledge that no matter what happens, their insurance will be able to compensate them if something goes wrong. With everything from petty theft to terrorist attacks, natural disasters and medical emergencies all covered by most insurance policies, there are few things that can occur that could really ruin your holiday.

However, sometimes luck just isn’t on your side. Every few years, someone experiences a travel catastrophe that is so outlandish, foolish or absurdly unlucky it simply beggars belief. Here are a few of the people who travel insurance simply couldn’t save…

Tom and Irene Lornegan

This is a story to chill the blood of any scuba diver. Whilst Tom and Irene Lornegan were diving in Australia, the head of the dive team incorrectly recorded them as being back on the boat when they were still underwater, and the boat then left without them. It was not until two days later that it was realised the couple had gone missing. Despite a massive search operation, their bodies were never recovered, and it is believed that they died either from dehydration or from a shark attack. Their story was the basis for the 2004 film Open Water.

Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard

If you make a habit of getting up close and personal to grizzly bears, sooner or later something is going to go badly wrong. Yet Timothy Treadwell spent 13 years living amongst the bears before the disaster that claimed his life. He felt a deep connection with grizzly bears and spent much of his time documenting and photographing them up close. But in 2003, he and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard were attacked and killed whilst camping up in Alaska.

If you’re in the habit of getting close to grizzly bears, you can kiss any chance of getting cheap travel insurance goodbye!

Steve Irwin

Considering Steve Irwin made a career out of getting close to some of the world’s most dangerous animals, he was probably blacklisted by every insurer around. However, even if he did manage to get some it wouldn’t have helped him when he died in 2006. Whilst snorkelling around the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, he was pierced through the heart by a stingray that he was swimming next to. Stingrays usually pose no threat to humans – this really was a one-in-a-million kind of accident.

Alexander Litvenenko

This was not an accident, but just goes to show that danger can come from the most unexpected sources. Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko ingested a fatal dose of the radioactive isotope polonium-210 whilst drinking tea at a restaurant in London. Despite sustained medical attention, he died of radiation poisoning three weeks later.

It has never been established exactly who was behind the killing, but if you’ve managed to attract the ire of the Russian secret services and/or the Russian mafia, I’m afraid cheap travel insurance isn’t going to help you out too much.