How To Get The Best Travel Deals

What strategies work best for getting top travel deals these days?

For air passengers, Internet airfares, low-fare airlines, airfare sales and consolidator airfares rank high when it comes to saving money, says the value-conscious Consumer Reports Travel Letter.

Other winning strategies detailed in the newsletter are:

Renting cars by the week - if you avoid add-on charges such as collision-damage waiver.

Traveling on European rail passes, although those covering limited areas are usually a better value than wide-ranging ones. Japan’s rail pass can also be a very good deal.

Renting houses and other lodgings by the week rather than staying in a hotel.

When booking a hotel in a big city, using hotel brokers.

Taking advantage of chain-wide hotel promotions.

Finding discount-rate cruises through a local agent or big cruise discounter.

The newsletter also notes its picks for the worst travel buys, including charge-card rewards that are contingent on the cardholder paying interest, full coach airfares, paying full rate at expensive hotels, rental-car collision insurance, and buying new timeshare properties.