To help you stretch your travel dollars even further this spring and summer, here are
10 HOT Travel Tips:

1. Make your air travel reservations at around 1 a.m., when discounted fares are most available. The airlines reload their computers starting at midnight with the low-cost seats they sold but for which they've received no money. A temporary bulge in the number of rock-bottom-priced seats results.

2. When booking a motel room, never mention your membership discount privileges (AAA, AARP, military, government, etc.) until after you've been quoted the room rate.

3. More than a dozen big cruise brokers quietly discount cruises. For more information, contact Cruises Only (800/376-6637, wwww.cruisesonly.com), Spur of the Moment Cruises (800/343-1991, www.spurof.com) or White Travel Service (800/547-4790, cruises123@aol.com).

4. The few daytime flights from the U.S. to Europe generally cost less than evening flights.

5. If you arrive in Orlando without a reservation, go to the Official Visitors Center of the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau at 8723 International Drive (corner of Austrian Row) and ask to look at the "Black Book" of cut-rate hotel offers for that night, phoned in by frantic Orlando-area hotels with vacancies for that evening. Orlando's CVB is open every day of the year except Christmas).

6. Quikbook and Hotels.com are two leading firms in the rapidly growing industry of hotel discounting. Both can dramatically cut your hotel costs in big US cities. Phone Quikbook at 800/789-9887 (wwww.quickbook.com) or Hotels.com at 800/246-8357 (wwww.hotels.com).

7. If you round up at least two additional couples to share the cost, you can rent luxurious villas in the Tropics at an acceptable cost. Unusual Villa & Island Rentals (800/846-7280, www.unusualvillarentals.com) has a large inventory of multi-bedroom villas; rented by at least three couples together, they cost as little as $600 per couple per week, or $300 per person per week.

8. At www.playbill.com, you can secure half-price theater tickets in New York and other theater cities in the U.S. without standing in line at a theater kiosk or waiting to buy tickets until the day of performance.

9. The John Jacobs' Golf Schools offer fine accommodations, most meals, and five hours of daily golf instruction for as little as $895 a week at 40 top resort locations throughout the U.S. Phone 800/511-1639 or visit www.jacobsgolf.com.

10. Because each local volume has hundreds of discount coupons for restaurants, attractions, and shops, you should always buy the "Entertainment Book" (www.entertainment.com) for the area you will be visiting. The cost is usually $25 to $35, but you save that much by using just two or three coupons.

Finally, The Society of American Travel Writers lists the 9 items every traveler should carry: a good pair of walking shoes; a photocopy of your passport; photocopies of your credit cards (carry copies separately from passport and cards); photocopies of prescriptions for necessary medicines or eyeglasses; Ziploc bags; Imodium (for diarrhea); a pocket flashlight; spare camera batteries; and your address book. You may also want to bring adapter plugs and a nighttime reading light. Happy Travels!