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Small Savings Can Add Up
The Travel Tightwad · December 24, 2001

Too often, travelers obsess over cutting costs on big-ticket items when they plan a trip, like finding a lower airfare or booking a cheaper hotel room. Too often, they skip the small moneysaving opportunities that, over a few days, can really add up.

It's true that you're going to spend most of your money on airfare (about half), hotel (23 percent), meals (12 percent), and car rental (5 percent) - those figures courtesy of Runzheimer International.

What about the rest? Consider:

• Luggage carts are a terrific opportunity to save money. William Wellons doesn't like to pay $2 to rent a cart when he arrives at an airport. Instead, the Orlando communications consultant scours the parking lot for an unreturned cart and then snags it. "Yeah, I'm cheap," he admits, "But it works. You can really save money by looking for the carts." On his last few trips, Wellons says he's saved a total of about $10.
  
  
• Luggage carts can also help you make money. Joe Luehrmann, a St. Louis-based traveler, likes the carts for another reason. In some international airports, you can get a deposit back when you return the cart. Which is exactly what he does. "I just collect a few unreturned luggage carts and bring them back to their stalls," he says. "I can get enough coins back to buy a snack."
  
  
• Public phones are your best friend. Many hotels charge you for just picking up the phone these days. Even toll-free numbers are billed at exorbitant rates, and sometimes you aren't even properly informed about it when you check in. No problem. Don't even try to use the phone in your room except to receive calls. Either bring a cell phone (but watch for expensive roaming charges) or use a public phone. When you're done using it, there's no surprise.
  
  
• Don't accept the minibar key when you check in. The average profit margin on a minibar is 35 percent. I've seen sophisticated travelers politely remove the minibar key from their card when they check in and return it to the front-desk employee with the words "lead me not into temptation." With good reason. Candy bars that cost $5 and bottled water that's $3 is nothing short of a rip-off. Smart hotel guests bring their own candy bars and save lots of money.
  
  
• Room service can be such a scam. That's why Paul Motter rarely uses it. Instead, the New York website publisher and self-described "cheapskate" takes his own portable coffee maker on his trips. It not only spares him from having to drinking that awful hotel coffee, but it also saves him lots of money. "I have a small machine-it brews just one cup of coffee at a time," he says. "It cost me $29, but over the last year, I think it's saved me at least $200 in room service charges.
  
  
• Bring your own headset when you fly. You could save more than $10 on a round-trip flight. Most armrests offer connections compatible with regular headsets (mine, for example, plugs into a noise canceling device and the armrest for maximum comfort). There's no need to rent the uncomfortable plastic ones that the airline tries to push on you, then. Note that some flight attendants may have a problem with you using your own; this is certainly not something worth getting kicked off a plane for.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.