A Pocket Full of Penny-Pinching Tips for a Thrifty Year of Travel

There are many strategies that can enable you to travel more for less money in the coming year. Here are five of the best:

* In the fierce competition of the Internet, all sorts of travel Web sites have called it quits. But hope springs eternal. The latest new entrant is another air-fare search engine, called SideStep.com. It differs from several other start-ups, such as Qixo.com and Farechase.com, which scan the lowest air fares found on other air-fare search engines. Instead, SideStep.com reviews the Web sites that are operated directly by 26 airlines.

The purpose, as always, is to find the lowest fare for your trip, which SideStep claims is best done by canvassing the Internet “specials” that the airlines often post on their own Web sites and nowhere else. It’s an interesting service that delivers what appear to be decent results. If you’re at ease with computers, you might want to try out SideStep.com the next time you book a trip by air.

* Since we began reporting on last-minute hotel discounts, we’ve received letters claiming that the most extensive and effective such program is operated by Holiday Inn. Its “Holideals” appear to guarantee a minimum of 40% to 50% off the non-discounted rate for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at more than 400 Holiday Inn locations each week. On a recent weekend, a hotel in central Washington, D.C., went from $149 to $83 per night; in Atlanta, a $73 room was available for $44.

Every Monday, offers for the upcoming weekend are posted on the chain’s Web site: https://www.basshotels.com/holiday-inn. Or you can call (888) 224-2424 and ask for “Holideals.”

* Cruise ships registered in the United States--there are few--are the only ones allowed to operate cruises solely in the Hawaiian Islands. That’s why only two ships, the Independence and the Patriot, have been offering such sailings. Now, however, the foreign-registered Norwegian Cruise Line has discovered a way (on an as yet unselected ship of its fleet) to comply with the law by adding a foreign stop at one of the nearby Micronesian islands to a Hawaiian itinerary.

With three big ships cruising the Hawaiian Islands, the downward price pressure on the oldest of those ships will be fierce. If you call Spur of the Moment Cruises at (800) 343-1991, you’ll find that some Hawaiian sailing dates of the Independence are already selling (through discount brokers) for as little as $600 per person for inside cabins, and the rate might go even lower.

* When a U.S. city builds an expensive new airport, it often reduces the need to tax its residents for the cost of construction by placing all sorts of novel charges on the out-of-towners who rent cars at the new facility. At the new Denver airport, for instance, a person renting a car not only pays a 13% sales tax on the rental but also a 10% airport tax, plus an airport concession fee of $1.60 for each day the car is rented. The charges are almost as fierce in Houston, Seattle and Newark, N.J.

It has never been more important that you rent a car off-airport, avoiding these outrages. Not only will you not have to pay those fees, but you’ll also get a lower rate on the rental, saving as much as $150 off the usual $300 charge for a week’s rental from an airport site.

* When arriving in a strange city, you might want to find a so-called cybercafe or Internet cafe so you can write a quick e-mail to family back home for a small fee, as opposed to making a costly long-distance phone call. But you may find that some of these cafes are too new or short-lived to be listed in the phone book. How can you find them? Just head for the nearest store, such as Radio Shack or Circuit City, that sells portable phones and other electronic devices. These stores are easy to find, and the young, Net-happy people who work in these telecom-type businesses usually know where to find the nearest cybercafe. Sometimes they’re among the few people who are aware of the remote, hard-to-find locations of these low-rent businesses.