Stretching your travel dollars

Think you have to settle for a summer in staycation mode? Here are some savvy tips to stretch your budget in surprising ways.

Did an email from your favorite airline warn you that your miles are going to expire?

Southwest Airlines offered coast-to-coast round trip flights for $180, hotels are engaging in rate wars and cruises are throwing high prices overboard.

Some companies are offering terms under which someone who suddenly loses a job can get a refund.

The world economy may be schussing down the fall line, but you would never know it from the price tags on lodging-and-ticket packages for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, which start at more than $3,000 for two nights.

As a former resident of England and Northern Ireland, I’ve flown across the Atlantic too many times to remember, but I’m not boasting.

Overall, trips are cheaper than in 2008, and some discounts are still available. Even a student who didn’t ace econ may find a deal.

Here’s a siren song for the stressed-out traveler: “all-inclusive vacation.�

Fasten your seat belt. Car rental rates have hit overdrive.

The economic tailspin ensures that 2009 will be a travel year like no other.

Even though I’m a travel writer, I sometimes use a travel agent.

Longing for a vacation but can’t quite afford it?

How to protect your computer and data while on the road.

Many offer simple dorm-style quarters, but some are installing cable, flat-screen TVs, new beds and using nicer linen. The prices may be a little higher, but they’re still less than hotels.

Using a credit card is your first line of defense. Also consider buying trip insurance, booking with a group and researching the travel provider.

Become a premium customer, ship your bags or just pack less.

With the travel industry raising fares and adding surcharges, it’s better to book early.

There’s a prediction of lower room rates in a gambling town that has seen a dip in business.

This is a story about two retirees who bought $753 round-trip tickets to Europe and wound up paying nearly $10,000.

If you’re smart, you can find bargains, an expert says.

What’s the catch to using debit and credit cards in foreign countries?

Its value has declined in some places, but in these interesting nations the dollar can still stake you to a great vacation.

Here’s a topic that inspires fear, loathing -- and boredom. Yes, we’re talking travel insurance.

Fliers, get ready for the cashless cabin, where you need a credit or debit card to buy food, drinks, headsets and anything else onboard.

Before 21-year-old Neel Bhuta spent a semester abroad last year, the New York University economics and history major carefully studied the cost of a beer abroad.

An Upper West Side hotel offers amenities outdoors and in.

The sun has set on fare discounts for hundreds of thousands of senior fliers.

Over-tipping — or tipping at all — is bad form in some countries.