As consumers across the United States continue to juggle an array of increasing costs, Travelocity is doing its part to help them stretch their travel dollars as they plan trips for fall, the holiday season and even into next year.

Many savvy travelers know tricks for finding deals, and now Travelocity has compiled them into a new “Insider’s Guide” – an easy-to-use reference with links and tutorials showing travelers how to:

• Factor in flexible dates and/or surrounding airports when shopping for flights;
• Factor in flexible dates when shopping for hotels;
• Get email alerts when fares drop;
• Maximize value by taking a cruise vacation and;
• How to spot special promotional offers from hotels.

“During a recent customer panel I attended it was obvious that many travelers are not aware of all the tools that they could be using to find better deals,” said Jeff Glueck, chief marketing officer. “The Insider’s Guide will correct this problem and give our customers a quick snapshot of the best methods to get the most out of their experience whenever they visit us.”

Additionally, the Insider’s Guide also points out several ways to cut costs that could add up to $500, including:

• Saving an average of $240 per person by packaging flights, hotels, car rentals and activities into a single reservation rather than booking each piece separately;
• Saving $50 to $80 roundtrip by carrying on luggage and/or flying a carrier that does not charge for the first checked bag;
• Saving $10 by bringing food from home to the airport rather than paying in-flight and;
• Saving $200 by flying early in the morning when departing and later in the evening when returning. Planning to fly out Friday night? Fly out Saturday morning instead. With the average price of a U.S. hotel room topping $100 according to Smith Travel Research, travelers could save by taking an early morning flight instead of paying the full rate to sleep just a few hours at the hotel. Then, on the return date, request a late checkout, secure the bags with the bellman or concierge, and enjoy a full day’s worth of sightseeing before flying back home.

One of the highlighted features of the Insider’s Guide – flexible date flight shopping – was recently re-launched with international fares from more than 80 destinations around the globe. To find the cheapest fares to a desired locale, all shoppers have to do is simply type the origin city and destination city into Travelocity’s flight shopping engine and click on the “Flexible Dates” button. Travelocity is the only major online travel company that offers this true price-led search.

“Flexible date shopping has always been one of Travelocity’s most talked about features,” said Simon Bramley, vice president of flights. “We’re thrilled to expand it with international destinations.”

Travelocity is owned by Sabre Holdings Corporation, a world leader in travel marketing and distribution.