There are several types of credit cards for travelers. You can get hotel cars, airline cards, general travel cards and you can get so many rewards and freebies out of them that it doesn’t make any sense not to have one! Travel credit cards provide a great opportunity to earn free points that can be redeemed for airfare, hotels or cold hard cash. Here are some tips if you plan on getting a travel credit card:

First, you should get a card with huge sign bonus. Most travel credit cards offer joining bonuses of 20,000 or more miles! Don’t join one that doesn’t offer you anything or it will take a long time to exchange rewards for hotels, cash, or airfare. You want rewards now right?

Also, don’t forget to read the fine print. Are there are reward blackout dates, a fee structure, taxes, or other things the credit card company might try to sneak in there. Businesses don’t give away anything for free so for most cards they will try to sneak in some service charge. Compare the cards to make sure you pick one that doesn’t do anything sneaky.

I like cards with fees. I travel a lot and I don’t want to spend a long time earning points before my next trip. Fee cards have a much better rewards system than non-few cards. If you are a frequent traveler, it’s better to get a fee based card. Normally the first year’s fee is waived anyways. But more importantly, you’ll be able to rack up points to travel quicker. If you don’t travel a lot, it is probably not worth it to get a fee based card.

So which card should you get? A hotel card? A general travel card? An airline specific card? In order to decide, you need to consider how you will use the card. Are you loyal to one airline or airline network like the Star Alliance? Then you should get an airline card. If you are on the road for business a lot, then getting a hotel card would be perfect for you. For those who only care about price and not brand loyalty, a general card would be best. However, by getting a general travel rewards card you would have access to a wider range of brands and companies than if you had a brand specific card.

If you think about all of this before you get a travel credit card, you’ll be able to get the card that gives you the most value and rewards.

One of the best ways to get cheap accommodation while you travel is to use the site Couchsurfing. Couchsurfing is a site that connects travelers with locals who will give you a free place to stay. You might get a bed, a couch, or space on the floor. But whatever you get, you get it for free. This is a great way to save money. Accommodation is usually one of the biggest expenses people have while on the road and being able to reduce that to 0 will give you more money for things that are important- like beer.

Most importantly though you get the local insight into where you are going. Guidebooks and hostel information is great but it can never substitute the advice from people who live in the area you are going to! They will be able to help you navigate around, tell you about whats going on in town right, good places to eat, the deals, and possibly even be your own tour guide. Couchsurfing is a great way to meet people.

A lot of people get worried that you are going to meet freaks on couchsurfing and that you might get hurt, robbed, or worse. But the reality is that no one has ever reported something going wrong with the site other than the person turning out to be a jerk or an asshole. There are many levels of verification that goes on so to ensure that everything works out safely. In order to sure the best safety, make sure that the person you are surfing with:

1. Has a picture so you know they are real
2. Has friends so you know they are liked
3. Has been verified by the service so you know they are legit
4. Has hosted people before or been hosted before so you know that they are not some crazy psycho killer

If you follow these four princuples, you’ll find that you’ll be able to weed out the crazies and the psychos. Couchsurfing is a great way to travel the world, get free accommodation, and meet new friends.  If you want cheap accommodation, try this service!

Don’t stay in big hotels. Sure they are nice and offer a lot of luxury but the money really doesn’t help the local population. Travel is about broadening your horizons and expanding your mind but also about learning and helping the local population live better. If you go anywhere, whether it’s France or Thailand or Australia, and stay in a big corporate hotel, most of that money will be sent back to the corporation headquarters and the local economy will only see a fraction of that money. However, if you stay at a local guesthouse or bed and breakfast that money will go help the people right in the area. The owners will be locals who put that money right back into the local economy which will help the local people much more than if you see only a little money from a faceless corporation. If you really want to help the people you are visiting, don’t stay at a big hotel. Stay at a local guesthouse and you will do much more good. Moreover, you will get a much more personal experience. You won’t be bothered by a tourist desk- you’ll be welcomed by the owners as part of the family. They will be able to tell you all the local things to do, good restaurants, and might even act as tour guides. All in all you get a much more personal experience than you would if you had been going to a big hotel. Go local the next time you travel- it will help people more and you’ll have a better experience.

If you are traveling on a budget and don’t want to be spending an obscene amount of your travel money on where you stay, it is possible to find cheap accommodations. The trick is to avoid paying standard hotel rates or even in avoiding hotels altogether. If you are willing to look, cheap accommodations are out there.

If you are spending a week or two in a traditional resort, it is worth your time to look into packaged flight and hotel deals. Also, if you are booking your hotel, it is possible to pay a lot less for the same room. Don’t expect prices for a hotel room to be standard. A price on one site can be totally different on a different site. So always check the hotel’s site first for any deals, and then check hotel comparison sites. This will ensure that you get the cheapest price available for that room.

If you are traveling to more than one place, or are just looking for a comfortable place to sleep at night, you can save even more money. Hostels are not just for students anymore, and they are incredibly cheap alternatives to hotels. They are in virtually every city in the world, and many are clean, friendly, and include amenities like laundry and food.

Other options are camping, or doing a home-stay, house swap or couchsurf. For doing a home-stay, you can ask the tourist center for any families that have registered. A couchsurf can be found by going to couchsurfing.com. These are both great ways of meeting people and learning more about the local culture. A house swap lets you trade houses with someone in another country. As long as you’re willing to take on the risk of having a stranger in your house, you can’t beat the price …at free. You can register through Craigslist or through an agency.