Edit: I wrote this post in my old site but I thought this would still be a relevant and interesting read so I'm reposting with some updates here. Cheers!

We always wonder how people are able to travel so often nowadays. They're either really rich, lucky in having that opportunity or have found a way to reap benefits from each of their travels. On that last part, here's a few ways how I'm practicing it.

Frequent Flyer Membership

AirAsia has its BIG points, Malaysia Airlines have Enrich and so do most airlines running nowadays. Membership is usually free so don't forget to sign up before your flights. Always make sure your membership ID is keyed in before checking in. Not only from flights, there are sometimes other outlets where you can convert points into these airline points. For instance, credit card points you get from spending can be converted to airline points to benefit your next trip! If you're an AirAsia BIG member in Malaysia, you can collect points by shopping at Paradigm mall Quill City Mall, converting your Petronas Mesra card points or using the BIG Prepaid charge card. With the points collected, you can easily redeem free flights or at a cheaper rate.

Compare Prices at online websites

Nowadays it's easier to compare to get the best prices for flights and accomodation with the availability of sites and apps such as Skyscanner, Kayak, Trivago, HotelsCombined and more. These sites have helped me find the better prices to choose when booking. Subscribing to price alerts will also help you determine when to buy your flight tickets. Sites that compare accommodation costs will enable great savings when choosing from where to book from. For accomodations, do also compare with the site of the hotel/lodging itself as they some times offer a better deal. For example, when I try to find hostels on HostelWorld, I try to see if I can directly contact the hostel for a booking. They tend to have prices per room whereas HostelWorld charges per person. Update: For hotels, I'm loving Agoda prices right now. They even give points that can be used for the next booking.

Subscribe Mailing Lists

If you can handle the emails you'll be getting, subscribe to the mailing list of airlines and hotel booking sites to get notified of great deals. This sometimes includes deals that only subscribers have access to. For airlines, you'll get notified when they're having promotions and sale. For hotel booking sites, they'll sometime give you limited time coupons that you can use to save even more. For AirAsia, you'll get notified when they'll be having the Free Seats promotion and even get 24 hours earlier access to the deals for BIG members. Trust me the tickets are much much cheaper when the promotion happens.

Discount Tickets

The admission tickets to an attraction can be expensive. However, sometimes, they have cheaper options for you that doesn't make that much of a difference or even discounts from 3rd party sites that drop the prices even lower. For example, Disneyland Tokyo has a after 3pm rate which is slightly cheaper than the usual day ticket. The only drawback is that you'll be spending just a few hours less time than you can with the normal tickets. For Everland in Korea, I found a 3rd party website that gave me almost 50% of the normal admissions ticket! No restrictions at all. However, you're on your own in determining the authenticity of the offers at 3rd party sites, as some might be scams.

Cashback websites

I just discovered this and still trying out. ShopBack is a site that can give you cashbacks from purchases you made through the websites and its affiliates. When booking, you'll go to ShopBack's site and click on the link to redirect to the booking sites. They have a lot of sites on offer including Expedia, AirAsiaGo, Emirates and so much more. When you have successfully booked your flight or accomodation, the cashback you will receive will be calculated and after a period of time, you'll get money back on the transaction. I believe ShopBack is only currently available in Asia. Update: I've received back a lot from using Shopback so it's definitely recommended! Make sure you go to the booking site via Shopback website so that the transaction is registered.

Hope these can benefit you in your next travel! Would also like to hear if you have any tips? Perhaps I can benefit from it :)