5 super-easy ways to land amazing travel deals

Frequent travellers and new globetrotters can always pick up tips on how to get the best vacation for the lowest price. Talking to the airline directly is a great way to cut costs, so with that and a few other hints, you'll be flying out in no time.

There was a time not so long ago when, if you wanted to book a flight, you had two choices: either book directly with the airline or through a travel agent. Then came the Internet, and airline pricing became a much more competitive game.

• Prices on Internet travel sites offer some pretty great deals, and now the airlines themselves have taken back the game. In many cases, the airlines can meet or beat the rates on the most popular websites.

The lesson? Always check those airline websites or call them on their toll-free "800" numbers. You may be surprised!

If you think all travel agents charge more for airline tickets than the airlines themselves, think again, especially when it comes to around-the-world travel.

• Although airline consortiums offer these tickets, it's almost always best to go through a third party (such as travel agents who specialize in global adventures) who can typically find this type of travel for lower rates. This is due, in part, to how international airfares are regulated.

Here's something the big hotel chains will never advertise: you can negotiate with them. There's always someone in the hotel who is authorized to cut a deal, and doing so is easy.

• Just tell them you'd love to stay there, but their price is high and you'll probably end up staying somewhere else. If there are empty rooms in the hotel, you can bet you'll get a deal.
• Another surefire way to get a better rate is to ask, "Is there a lower rate I qualify for?" The hotel manager could, on the sly, give you the military rate, or the friends and family rate, or any other "special" rate he has.
• In the end, hotel managers prefer selling you a heavily discounted room to leaving it empty.

Hurricanes not only do major damage, but they also scare the heck out of tourists. So what to do?

• The best place for a Caribbean vacation are the ABC islands: namely, Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.
• They all lie outside the path that hurricanes have been following for hundreds of years. So next time you book that summer getaway, be sure to sneak a peek at these less-travelled gems.

The easiest way to save money on your trip to a well-known theme park is to trim the price of those full-price park passes.

• Before you plan your trip, it's worth visiting a few discount websites with a quick online search. They often list discount coupons and codes for certain theme parks, hotels, cruises, and anything else specific to them.

If you have decided to vacation in a highly touted resort area, here's a rule of thumb from travel insiders: schedule your vacation for less popular times of the year. For instance, in central Florida — theme park centre of the universe — skip the conventional summer season, as well as the holidays and spring break.

• Mark your calendar for sometime between the end of August and the middle of December, or from January to the middle of February.
• You will find the traffic, crowds and line waits markedly reduced — and you'll save a bundle with the off-season rates as well.