GodsendJen

My budget doesn't let me travel nearly as much as I'd like, but I found this list of money saving travel tips to be an interesting read.  (Thanks to the guys at Daily Gadget for highlighting it for me.) I wouldn't say that all 51 tips are fresh new ideas, but some of them certainly surprised me.  For example, tip no. 2 is "Trash Your Cookies":

Trash your "cookies," small files (stored in your Internet browser) that record the websites you surf—and the transactions you make. Say you go online and purchase a $200 plane ticket from Chicago to Omaha. The next time you visit that site, you could be quoted a higher rate than what's actually available because of your spending history. Avoid this problem by deleting these files each time you log on; detailed instructions can be found under the "Help" option in your browser menu.

As a web developer I accepted long ago that cookies could make my life easier, and I'm not really in the habbit of dumping them very often.  But who thought that companies would use them to bilk you for that extra money?  If you paid $200 last time you'd be willing to pay that again, right?  So why bother letting you take advantage of that $30 off sale they are having.  You have to wonder if other companies do this too?  I guess a good rule of thumb will be always delete your cookies before going out to make an internet purchase.  Of course it they can do it with a cookie they can do it with a database, so we might have to work on our cameleon skills.  Other great tips include Never Accept Food You Didn't Order when eating out (many cafes, especially in Europe, apparently charge you for these "freebies") and Beware of Cover Charges as some bistros overseas will seat you and server you dinner letting you wait until the bill arrives to find out about a 15% cover charge for dining with them.

Check out the article at National Geographic.