20 Ways to Make Travel Less Stressful

1 | Talk To A Human

Your new travel mantra: human being. While it may seem cheaper and easier to book your flight on the Internet, remember that many Web sites pose as informational when they are, in fact, transactional—trying to push the sale. I'm not saying not to use the Internet; I'm just saying not to book your flight there first. Instead, quickly go online and find out which airlines service the route you want to take, then type in gethuman.com, which will tell you how to maneuver quickly through the customer-service tree of your chosen airlines. Now, pick up the phone. And while you're booking, don't miss This Secret Trick That Will Save You On Airfare.

2 | Start With The Price

Let's say you're calling to make a reservation for a flight from Chicago to San Francisco. The first question the agent will ask you seems reasonable enough: "When do you want to travel?" Don't answer that question. Instead, respond with a question: "Before I answer that, can you just go to your screen and punch up all the published fares on the Chicago to San Francisco route?"

This will take the agent about four seconds. "Now," you say next, "scroll to the bottom of the list. What's that fare?" (Since no airline wants to promote their cheapest flights, the lowest fares are buried at the bottom of the screen.) Work your way up that list, finding the best fare for you with restrictions you can live with. Then, and only after you get the lowest rate possible, go to the Internet and see if you can find a deal that beats what you have. Remember, once you make an airline reservation, you have 24 hours in which to book it. During that 24-hour window, you can go to the Web and see if you can beat that human-being deal.

3 | Research Your Flight

Each month, the U.S. Department of Transportation publishes a list of flights with the worst on-time records in America—by route, airline, and flight number. In one listing, a USAir Flight between Philadelphia and Atlanta was reported late 100 percent of the time. And there are dozens more that are late more than 95 percent of the time.

4 | Stay Flexible

If all the flights to your destination city are booked, think alternate airports (Providence instead of Boston, Oakland instead of San Francisco, Milwaukee instead of Chicago, to mention just a few) or routings that get you to Hawaii, for example, through Denver, Phoenix, or Las Vegas. You'll almost always save money and in many cases have less stress (and fewer delays) because you'll avoid the giant airports. For example, Midway has fewer delays than O'Hare, and Long Beach has a better record than LAX. Once you're there, grab some valuable shut-eye with the 10 Best Tricks for Sleeping on an Airplane.

5 | Never Call Toll-Free Numbers

The same thing applies to making a reservation for a hotel room. Never call the 800 toll-free number to find a hotel room from a large chain. You'll only be connected to a third-party clearinghouse with a mandate to sell rooms at a designated price—no room to negotiate. Instead, call the hotel directly.

But don't ask for reservations—they'll just reroute you back to that 800 number. Instead, ask to speak to the manager on duty or the director of sales. They are the best arbiters of their room inventory. If the Schmidlap wedding party canceled last night and they suddenly have 60 rooms to sell, that 800 number (or the chain's Web site) may not have that information. You're now in the best negotiating position. And an even better reason to talk to a human being at the hotel: You've established a relationship. Look for that person when you check in and you stand a much better chance for an upgrade.

6 | Call During Football

Always try to call a hotel at 4 p.m.on a Sunday to make your reservation. Why? That's the one day each week that hotel revenue managers—the folks who set and control room rates—aren't working. You're in a better position to negotiate, since the hotel knows that an unsold room is revenue they'll never recoup once the sun rises. This is just one of the 20 Secrets Hotel Employees Won't Tell You.

7 | Don't Be Blinded By Stars And Diamonds

Forget hotel ratings systems. In many destinations, stars are a government designation for how much the hotel is charging, not a reflection of quality. It just means you're paying more for your room. Stars and diamond awards are great for hotel-employee morale and are used by hotels to justify charging a higher rate, but how does that benefit you? It doesn't.

8 | Mail Your Luggage

There are essentially two types of luggage: carry-on and lost. That's why I haven't checked a bag on a domestic flight in eight years. If I need to tote more than I can carry on, I simply ship my bags ahead to the hotel. I use FedEx, but there are more than 17 other private courier companies that perform the same door-to-door, room-to-room service.

I save an average of two hours of my life every time I fly by not checking bags. I don't have to schlep, I don't have to stand in line at the airline counter, I don't have to stand in line at the TSA, and then, when I land, I don't have to stand in that refugee circle around the baggage carousel, hoping against hope that my bags were actually on the same flight I was. Where are my bags? In my hotel room. How cool is that? And while you're thinking about not lugging your luggage around, take some advice from our guide to the Best Way to Pack a Suitcase.

9 | Ignore Departure Times

If you call the airline and ask if your flight is on time, you'll be sorry. More often than not, the airline agent will interpret your question to mean, "Is the flight scheduled to leave on time?" That's meaningless. Instead, ask to be given the tail number of the aircraft assigned to your flight, and then ask where that aircraft is. If you're scheduled to fly from Boston to Atlanta in two hours, but the aircraft assigned to your flight is still in Belize, well, now you know you're not leaving on time before you ever leave your house or office.

10 | Go Where You're Not Supposed To Go

Since you won't have any bags to check, follow my advice and save even more time and aggravation. If you have an early-morning flight from a dual-level airport, don't have your car drop you off at departures—it will be jammed with vehicles and people—but at the empty downstairs arrivals area. Who is arriving at 6:30in the morning? No one. No traffic, no lines. Get out of your taxi and just take the escalator upstairs and through security to your gate. And when you land, there's absolutely no reason to go to arrivals, which will be a zoo. Get picked up at the empty departures level.

11 | Undress For Success

Before you leave for the airport, put everything metallic you're taking with you—watch, keys, coins, jewelry, pens, chains, et al—in ziplock plastic bags and pack them in your carry-on. Dress on the other side of security, please! This will save five minutes per passenger. Do the math: It makes so much sense.

12 | Ignore The Departures Board

If the airlines ran the shipping business, the departure boards would still show the Titanic as "on time." Look at the departures board for only one piece of information: the gate from which your flight is scheduled to depart. Then go immediately to the arrivals board. Check to see what is arriving at your gate. If nothing is arriving at your gate, then you can enjoy the luxury of not being disappointed at the counter.

13 | Negotiate Your Phone Bill

Yes, phone and Internet charges are negotiable, as long as you make a deal ahead of time. Before you take your room key, tell the person at the front desk you want your phone and Internet charges bundled—a flat fee of $10 or $15 a day for unlimited Internet and domestic long-distance calls. More often than not, the hotel will agree to the deal. This also applies to other annoying charges like resort fees and use of the hotel gym. Negotiate everything up front.

14 | Stay Below The Eighth Floor

If you're a really anxious person, know that modern firefighting equipment doesn't have the capacity to easily fight fires, or rescue people, higher than eight stories. Staying on a lower floor is especially important in third-world countries, where fire-safety regulations and procedures aren't quite as strict as they are in the U.S.

15 | Follow The Booster Pumps

Most high-rise hotels cannot maintain adequate water pressure. As a result, many have installed booster pumps in their buildings. The pumps aren't necessarily on alternating floors, just different floors. So when you check in, ask the front-desk clerk to call engineering and find out what floor the booster pumps are on. If, for example, the answer comes back that the pumps are on 4, 6, 9, 11, and 15, then ask for a room on either 4 or 6. Why? Because when you walk into your room on a floor where there's a booster pump, you'll be guaranteed a decent hot shower no matter what time of day you need it.

16 | Ask About Construction

Now that you've made friends with the front-desk clerk, ask another question: "How close is my room to the construction?" Virtually every hotel runs on a constant cycle of renovation, which means that, at any given time, an entire floor (or floors) is closed for reconstruction. If you don't ask that question, you could be given the keys to the Jackhammer Suite.

17 | Germproof Your Room

Short of wearing a biohazard suit, you need to do three things immediately upon entering your room: First, always pack some sanitizing wipes, and use them to wipe down the TV remote and the phone handset. Second, walk over to the bed, pull off the bedspread and throw it into a corner of the room. Never look at it again. Never touch it again. And last but not least, go into the bathroom. Turn on the hot-water faucet and place the water glasses under that faucet for at least three minutes. Why? Hotel maids are heavily tasked to clean between 12 and 16 rooms per shift. And if your room is one of the last three she worked on, chances are your maid ran out of time and didn't replace the water glasses from the last guest. Instead, she probably wiped them down with the dirty towels left lying on the bathroom counter.

18 | Think Locally

Once again, using an 800 number to reserve a car may not get you the lowest rate or the best car. Check out rentalcars.com for great comparison prices at the local level. Another tip: Rent a car on a Saturday. Why? Many cars suddenly become available on Saturday when customers who reserved them for the weekend don't show up.

19 | Take Pictures

Walk around the rental car and look for dings and dents. If you see any, take a few snaps and date them. Show them to a rental-agency employee, and get his or her full name. This will take all of five minutes. Later, if the company claims you banged up the car (and these repair charges can be draconian), you'll have proof the damage was preexisting.

20 | Get Your Own Gas

In some cases, rental-car companies will charge you north of $6 a gallon to fill up your tank when you return the car. Save some real money by filling up the tank yourself. And once you've filled up, be sure to hit up any of the 7 Best Beach Towns for Celebrating Christmas.

For more advice on living your best life, follow us on Facebook now!