Tips & Advice · 3 min read · July 1, 2025

Top 25 travel hacks

We've picked up a travel trick or two in our time. Here are our 25 favourite hacks for your next trip.

Short on time? Let us summarise this guide for you.

Our top travel hacks focus on saving money and reducing stress. Tips include booking early, browsing in private to avoid price hikes, using loyalty schemes, and packing smart—like wearing bulky clothes to save space. Flexibility and planning ahead are key to better deals and smoother trips.

At Holiday Extras, we've parked millions of cars and helped millions of travellers get away smoothly – so we know a thing or two about making trips easier.

We asked our team – and our customers – to share their favourite travel hacks, and we've narrowed it down to 25 of the best. Simple, smart and tried-and-tested, these tips will help you save time, money and stress on your next getaway.

Planning your trip

1. Check your passport

Check now whether your passport runs out (or ran out) and get your renewal in before the summer rush.

2. Make digital copies

Take photos of your passports and other important documents, so even if you lose your paperwork you've got digital backup copies.

3. Use incognito mode

Before you book, check prices using incognito mode on your browser and make sure you've not fallen victim to a pricing trick.

4. Fly in the morning

According to Expedia you're 11% less likely to face cancellations or disruptions in the morning. Makes sense – if there's a problem it'll knock on so the later you fly, the more chance there is of getting swept up in the disruption.

5. Use all the aggregators

Before you click buy, compare your flights with Skyscanner, Hopper and Google Flights to make sure you're getting the best price.

6. Pre-book excursions

Pre-book your must-see excursions. You're not likely to come back any time soon so you won't want to miss any important sights. And as an added bonus, you'll usually save some money too.

7. Book your airport parking early

Book your airport parking as soon as you book your flights. Last year UK holidaymakers wasted £100 million paying for airport parking on the day, so book early and don't get stung for the drive-up price.

8. Sort out your travel insurance as soon as you book

Travel insurance is not just for while you're away. You'll want to be insured should anything happen before you travel, so make sure you book insurance as soon as you book your trip.

Be ready. Not sorry. With Holiday Extras Travel Insurance.

Welcome to your one-stop shop for all things travel insurance. Written and curated by our dedicated Insurance team.

In Insurance February 6, 2024

Packing Tips

9. Share the love (and the pants)

If you're travelling as a group, spread the clothes around your suitcases. That way if one bag goes missing, you'll still have some clean clothes when you land, even if it's just enough to go clothes shopping in.

10. Invest in packing cubes

Inside your bags they'll keep everything neat and organised, and also make unpacking at the other end an absolute breeze.

11. Take the laundry with you

Pack a dryer sheet in your suitcase to keep your clothes smelling fresh.

12. Handle with care

Mark your luggage "fragile" so the baggage handlers are more likely to look after them.

13. Shower cap shoes

Pack your shoes in shower caps so they don't touch the rest of your things.

14. Makeshift jewellery detangler

Keep your jewellery from getting tangled by feeding the chain through a straw.

15. The Russian dolls trick

If you have a set of suitcases, pack the middle one for the outbound, then put it in the bigger one. That way, on the way back you have a big suitcase to bring all your gifts and souvenirs back.

Flying & Airports

16. The middle seat hack

If there's two of you flying together, book the aisle and the window. No one wants the middle seat between two strangers, so unless the flight's full you should get a whole row and a spare seat to yourselves.

17. Queue behind business travellers

In a rush at the airport? Queue behind business travellers if you can, who are usually also in a rush to get through security. And avoid getting stuck behind families – you might be there a while.

Extreme airport hacks

From drinking your shampoo to bringing a hammock, here's our silliest hacks at the airport. Have some fun.

In Just for fun September 5, 2022

18. Baby powder?

Bring baby powder, it's great to use for freshening up. It's also one of the best ways to remove stubborn sand between your toes after a day at the beach.

19. Be nice

Be nice to the check-in team. First, why wouldn't you? Second, when you greet them politely and ask them about their day and they smile, you'll see how few people bother. And third, if being nice to another human isn't reward enough, it sometimes gets you an upgrade.

Once You're There

20. Jog on

Try running off jet lag when you get to your destination – some travellers swear by it!

21. Download your maps and wifi finder

Roaming and data charges being what they are, you'll save yourself a bundle by downloading Google Maps for your destination before you go then using in offline mode. You can also download an app to show you where to get free wifi.

22. Your own translator

Alternatively, if you do have data when you're away, you can use Google Translate to photograph and then translate foreign signs, menus and anything else you don't understand. Remember when your teachers tried to teach you French because you might need it one day? Let the robots do the work instead.

23. Beat the snatchers (part 1)

An anti-theft purse or backpack is often a smart investment. The sheer hassle of losing your documents, let alone your cards and money, can write off a holiday, so keeping everything tucked away in a purpose-made pickpocket-proof bag has saved many a trip.

24. Beat the snatchers (part 2)

When you check in to your accommodation, hide your emergency cash in a lip balm tube. People don't usually steal second-hand lip balm, so if you do get robbed you'll have some emergency cash left.

25. Pick your spot

Eat where the locals eat, not the places next to the tourist strip – you'll often pay a fraction of the price for a more authentic meal.