Stretch Your Vacation Dollars With These Summer Travel Tips

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Travel journalist George Hobica of Los Angeles specializes in discount air travel tips and fares for his website AirfareWatchdog.com and shared the following tips:

Secret No. 1: If you're heading to Hawaii, don't fly direct from Los Angeles.

"It's ironic that fares from Seattle and Portland are often $358 roundtrip to Hawaii," he said. "You might consider going up to Seattle and having two vacations for one and then going to Hawaii."

Secret No. 2: Skip Hawaii and travel to the Caribbean instead.

"We saw fares to the Caribbean, places like Montego Bay, for $390 roundtrip from LA," he said. "It doesn't make any sense because the Caribbean is so much further."

Secret No. 3: Consider Mexico this summer.

"One of the places that's incredibly cheap to go to is Cabo San Lucas in Mexico because of the hurricane and a lot of people are avoiding it. You can fly for $298 roundtrip from LA. The hotels are begging for business," he said. "Cabo is coming back, and it has a lot to offer. It's really a beautiful place."

Secret No. 4: Headed to Europe? It's not about "where" but "how."

"Try to concentrate on crossing the Atlantic cheaply and don't care so much where you land and you can fly on from there," he said.

Secret No. 5: Fly on a Tuesday.

"Tuesday is the best time to actually fly, but not to buy. Fares are often cheaper domestically and also the planes are less crowded," he said.

Hobica says whatever the destination, there's lots of deals to be had.

"There's Airbnb. There's FlipKey, which is a home-rental agency," he said. "One of my favorite sites is Tingo.com. Tingo will check your rate after you book and if the hotels lower the price, it will give you the money back to your credit card automatically."

Hobica also recommends using a credit card when booking for travel as that provides travel insurance for last-minute emergency cancellations.