Traveling involves a lot more than just sitting on an airplane. Travel can be very exciting! There are many different ways to go about planning a vacation and a lot of different places to go. Will there be a once in a lifetime trip waiting for you? No matter how you answer, here’s some advice.

When going abroad, use ATMs to get some cash instead of using an exchange service. Banks get better exchange rates that you may get. This will save you some money.

When you travel abroad, make sure you have certain types of info on you at all times. Include your embassy’s web address, physical address and phone number. You may find yourself needing this info. This will be handy should you have difficulties.

Make travel arrangements in advance. Despite the different ways you can spend your money on your travels, many share one feature: the earlier you buy them, the cheaper they are. If you don’t shop at the last minute, you can extend your travel much more.

Before booking, do some research. Look for review websites that have opinions on places you plan on visiting. Get advice from friends who may have traveled there previously. When you do thorough research you can make good plans and avoid unpleasant surprises.

Pack some clothespins for your next vacation. A couple of clothespins can be very handy when traveling.

When looking for the best prices for a flight, look at each airline’s official website offering flights into your final destination. While you can find low fares on travel websites, you may learn that the best prices are sometimes on the airlines’ own sites.

A luggage tag isn’t always enough. You also should place ID inside the bags. Luggage tags can fall off without much provocation. Should it be that your bags go missing and no tag is attached, airline employees will look for identification you have placed inside so that they can get your bags to you.

Be aware of your passport’s expiration date. There are rules about your passport in many countries. Many will not let you enter their country if your passport expires in a certain window of time. The range is typically between three and six months, but sometimes can be up to a year.

If you need to leave your vehicle at the airport for the duration of your travels then always pre-book airport parking well in advance. It is typically more expensive to just ride into the lot and park. If you live near the airport, you are probably better off calling a cab than putting your car in airport storage.

As you can see, planning a vacation takes more than just jumping on a flight and taking off. Planning is an important step in the process. We’ve provided you with some basic advice here that can help with those planning efforts.