How to get the best seats on the airplane

Check out SeatGuru.com and SeatExpert.com to virtually check out your plane and seats in advance. You can find tips on seats that don't recline, have blocked storage, blocked windows, and find out which seats are next to lavatories. Get the most for your money by becoming familiar with your aircraft's configuration and seat locations before requesting a certain seat from the airline.

Another tip is try to get to the airport early and ask for emergency seat. Those are always assigned in person and cannot be requested if you are selecting your seats online.

Theater Parking in NYC

Check out Icon Parking which allows you to park your car for $10 in the Theater District. Unheard of for New York City!

Passport Photos

Check out alternative ways you can get your passport photos --

www.ePassportphoto.com

and

www.PortraitBooth.com

Bus for a buck?

Did you know that you can take a bus for only a couple of dollars between Washington, NYC, Boston, Baltimore, Greenbelt, Cherry Hill and Philadelphia? Some fares as low as $1.00. Check out BoltBus website.

Weekend in Atlantic City

If you need to get away for a weekend, check out $29 coach fares from Penn Station to Atlantic City on Atlantic City Express Service ("ACES") train. There is only 1 short stop in Newark, and the trip takes 2 hours 40 minutes. Once you arrive, there will be a FREE shuttle service to take you from the Rail Terminal to Borgata, Caesars or Harrah's Resort in only minutes. For more information, click here.

In addition, don't forget other promotions offered by individual hotels. For example, Tropicana currently runs a promotion - if you register for their Diamond Club card, you will get $25 to spend at the slot machines (valid for Saturday-Sunday stays, promotional amount is reduced to $10 for midweek stays).

Research your travel

Of course, everyone is aware of widely used travel sites such as Travelocity or Expedia, but you may get more bang for you buck from other less known sites. If you are not sure about the destination, but want to get out of town on a short notice, check out Travelzoo which publishes great travel deals that can be searched by location, type of vacation, etc. You can also sign up for their Top 20 travel deals emailed weekly. Another site Skyauction allows you to bid on airline tickets and hotel rooms, among other deals. Just make sure to review all the details of the auction - especially the small print - before bidding. One of my other favorite sites to check out is Kayak which allows you to see the lowest published fares from numerous airlines on the same webpage. For international travel, be sure the check the website of that country's airline as you may find cheaper packaged deals (air + hotel) than if you purchased those separately on your own. Other sites to review are FareCompare and AirfareWatchDog.