TripHip - Travel Tips and Advice for Traveling on a Budget

If your travel dates are flexible at all, always try looking a few days before and a few days after both your departure and return date.

You'd be surprised at how much airline ticket prices can fluctuate from day to day. Sometimes you can find a much better deal just by flying a day earlier or later than you originally planned.

Best Ways to Get Tickets to Popular Shows
Often getting tickets to popular performances can be difficult. Many shows sell out; for others, the price is astronomical. You may wonder how you can avoid these problems when trying to attend that show you’ve been dying to see. There are several ways in which you can succeed at getting tickets.

Go during the week- Show tickets for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evening performances are often the easiest to get. These usually sell out much more slowly.

Buy your tickets early- As soon as you know that a show is coming to town, you should get your tickets, if possible. Often, the early bird gets the proverbial worm.

Get rear orchestra seats- These are often available because the view of the second story is partially obscured.

Get lottery or SRO tickets-Some theaters offer standing room only tickets and daily lotteries for seats. This is a last-chance option, so it is not guaranteed.

Be flexible with the date- If you demand to go to a show on a particular night, your chances of getting seats are lowered. If you check for tickets over a range of dates, your luck will be much better.

You can often get cheaper plane tickets by searching for flights to and from airports that are near your destination. For instance, if you are flying to Orlando, look for flights that fly into Tampa and vice versa. Orlando and Tampa are only about an hour apart, but sometimes you can get a cheaper price by flying into or out of one instead of the other.

This is especially true for major cities like New York, London, etc. You can then get a bus or train to your final destination.

Many flight search engines allow you to select "search nearby airports" - so make sure you hit that button!

There is usually no surcharge for paying for your flights and travel insurance with a credit card, in fact there may be some advantages. Some credit card companies offer free life insurance cover while you are traveling if you book your flights, hotels or travel insurance on their card, so read the fine print.

All free add-on benefits for paying with a certain credit card should be seized!