Avoid High-Priced Food When Traveling

Eating is one of the more expensive, if indispensable, vacation pastimes. But thrifty travelers can cut the costs in many ways.

Even super-pricy Japan offers an assortment of meal deals, from robot-wrapped sushi at 10 percent less than the chef-made variety to all-you-can eat buffets and dining challenges for extra-big appetites. Buffets run $10 to $25 at lunch, up to $50 at dinner. The challenges are along the lines of Ramen Koshin’s in Tokyo’s Setagaya district, where the $18 Jumbo Ramen is free if you can finish it in 30 minutes; polish off two meals in an hour and you get a prize of 30,000 yen (about $270).

For more on low-cost eating in Japan, call the national tourist office in New York at (212) 757-5640.

In most countries, including the United States, travelers can save a bundle by just rearranging their routine and eating their main meal at noon.

Restaurants routinely offer midday specials that can be half the price of the same dish by candlelight. And “early bird” cut-rate evening hours are a way of life in resort areas that attract an early-to-bed clientele of young families and senior citizens.

It goes without saying that appetizers and desserts boost the dining tab.

So do wine or other alcoholic beverages, especially those not produced in the region where you’re ordering them. But who would suspect that bread, butter and water could be separate entries on the bill?

It’s common in Europe, where you’re also likely to pay more for the same sandwich at a table than at a counter. And always avoid restaurants in museums and other places where patrons are a captive audience.

Various travel clubs and networks offer significant meal bargains. For 35 years, Entertainment Publications has been the world’s largest source of travel discount programs, offering bargains in the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean and, soon, Australia.

Its directories, which cost $28 to $48 each, are filled with discount coupons for savings of 20 percent to 50 percent at restaurants and lodgings. The $48 Paris Directory, for example, offers 25 percent off food and beverages at more than 350 restaurants from McDonald’s to Michelins in the Paris metro area.

Consumer Reports’ “Best Travel Deals” guidebook says the directory “should repay its price to just about anyone spending three or more days in Paris, especially those looking for a price break at one or two of the book’s highly rated spots.”

Entertainment also is developing a new series of pocket-sized coupon booklets called “Half-Price Passports,” at $9.95 each. For information on all Entertainment products, call (800) 445-4137.

A phone call will get you a free Transmedia Restaurant Discount Card, good for 20 percent savings on meals at about 8,000 restaurants in the United Kingdom, France and Australia and more than 7,000 in the United States.

You hand it to the waiter as you would a credit card to pay at the end of your meal, and you can use it as often as you want wherever it’s accepted. If you spend $1,000 or more a year, Transmedia calculates that it will pay you to opt for the 25-percent-savings-level card, which carries an annual fee of $50. Transmedia’s benefits directory also includes about 1,400 hotels, resorts, etc., where you can save 20 percent. For information call (800) 422-5090.