As with any plan, you need criteria that will help in later decision-making. When it comes to travel, these can be factors like cost, food, hikes, hotels, or even dates. What’s flexible, and what’s not?

Also, is location flexible? Or is there a place already in mind? Being flexible here can help save money. For example, say I’m looking to go somewhere where my only criteria is warm and cheap. I will use an aggregator search tool like google flights (see 3rd tab) to then help narrow down.

Are you trying for the summer, when work is slow? Keep in mind summer is peak-season. You’re gonna pay for flights and hotels out the ass, and there’s gonna be lines out the door.

If you’re flexible on dates, consider going off-peak!

Regardless, if you plan at least 2 months ahead, you should be able to find some good deals.

Familiarize yourself with the following:

Google flights. Use the Explore feature to look at what’s cheapest. If you’re flexible on both time and location, you can just input your departure city and Google will show you the deals.

Award Hacker. If you’re in the points game (which everyone should!) Award Hacker tells you what airline has the best redemption. This is especially useful for international flights. I’ve gotten business-class flights from Asia to the US for 35K points, compared to a $9000 cash value, and 35K points is easily achieved by hitting just one credit card.

I wrote a guide for scoring cheap/free flights.

For houses, try airbnb and vrbo. For hotels, you can actually use google maps and it comb through all the hotel websites to tell you which website is cheapest.

If you want to level up, again, get in the points game. For example, Hyatt points are extremely valuable. On a last minute Vegas trip during EDC weekend, the Park MGM was $500. I booked it for 18,000 points, which came from a sign-on bonus with my Chase Hyatt credit card. It’s a $95 annual fee, but the points you get along with the yearly free night certificate, the cost is quickly justified.

I wrote up a guide on scoring free hotels here.

You’re getting closer.

Now that you have everything booked, the best way to save money is … well, save it. Be prepared so you don’t have last minute purchases. Check the weather. Check if your cell service covers your destination. Check what plugs the country uses. There’s plenty of lists on the internet.

But for my own unique tips on saving money, check my guide.