After deciding where to go, you want to be able to save as much as possible on the actual travel and hotel costs.  Based on my own personal experience, if you are looking into traveling during the high seasons, like in July,  usually the best time to buy your flights and book your hotel will be February/March. If your travels will happen close to the holidays in December, best time to book them is during the first two weeks of August/early September. 

 

I can give you a clear example of savings... I was planning a trip in a few cities in Europe last July and I booked all my travels during the second week of February. I paid my hotel for 150 euros/night. A week before the trip, I went to the hotel website again and checked if I was to book the hotel on that moment, how much it would cost me... it was 450 euros/night. Bingo! Huge savings!

 

Signing up for hotel rewards can also pay off big time. Many of the rewards programs give you free nights, or free upgrades.

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When looking for hotels, make sure your hotel is very centrally located, it has good reviews and the hotel offers the comfort you are looking for. Otherwise, it can increase your total cost of the trip, if you constantly have to take a taxi or other public transportation for the major sightseeing, shops and/or restaurants. If the hotel also does not offer you with the minimum comfort you are used to, it's very likely for you not to enjoy your trip much, and even "forcing" you to cut your trip short or moving to another hotel last minute, which will increase your overall cost of the trip and stress.

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In Europe, in countries like Germany, if you are spontaneous enough, booking last minute or very last minute (like a day or two before) can save you hundreds of dollars. I have already planned trips last minute that I would use Germany as a base location, to go back and forth to different locations. I was able to see a lot of new places, paying very little. Look for last minute offers and you won't regret it.