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15 Ways to Vacation Like a Pro

We talked to our favorite travel professionals —

food critics, mileage point wizards, flight attendants, business travelers and service members —

and compiled their top 15 tips for making this the best summer vacation ever.

1. Book tickets 6 weeks in advance.

If you're a travel procrastinator, here's good news: Airlines Reporting Corp., an airline industry group, found that travelers got the best ticket prices for domestic flights six weeks before their departure date.

But even if you miss the six-week mark, don't despair: Typically, prices don't shoot up until somewhere between 14 and 21 days before the flight.

Of course, there's a caveat: "We're not advising people to purchase tickets only at this time during the cycle, as there is no guarantee they will receive the lowest price," says Chuck Thackston of Airlines Reporting Corp.

"It is just what the data indicates, and we have seen this pattern over the last four years."

2. Buy great luggage.

Dirt-cheap luggage falls to pieces within a couple of encounters with baggage claim carousels, subway stairs and other adversaries.

Expensive luggage looks great but is no more durable than unfussy, mid-priced luggage selling for less than $200.

So what to choose?

Flight crews we spoke to are partial to Travelpro — and we assume they know a thing or two about choosing a bag.

3. Save — and reuse — your packing list.

Do you write up a new packing list every time you and the kids leave for vacation?

Cut it out, says Colleen Lanin, publisher of TravelMamas.com and author of the new book The Travel Mamas' Guide. "When I first started traveling, I would recreate the list every single time," says Lanin. Now she keeps it on her computer and makes a copy for each trip.

In other words, it's not just a packing list; it's a checklist. Surgeons use checklists to avoid leaving tools inside the patient; surely you can use one to make sure the underwear gets into the suitcase.

4. Be a contrarian.

But you might also have more fun. "The cool thing about doing the contrarian destinations is that there isn't a well-worn tourist path," says Tim Winship, founder of FrequentFlier.com. "It's more adventurous that way."

5. Find a great hotel.

Every travel website has its specialty, and tripadvisor.com (also available as a free app) is where people go to argue about hotels. You don't have to get involved in the discussion to benefit from it: Every luxurious surprise, every hidden gem and every bedbug bite is immortalized on the site.

For apartment rentals, check out Vacation Rentals By Owner (vrbo.com). (Be sure to ask your landlord where to eat nearby!) And if you're a low-budget traveler and want to crash on a couch or in a spare room, try airbnb.com and couchsurfing.org.

6. Check your luggage.

You overpacked, and now you face delays, fees and the threat of lost luggage.

Get real, says Colleen Petty, a 28-year veteran flight attendant with US Airways, and quit loading the family down. "You turn your children into little pack mules with bags that weigh more than they do," she says.

"At the end of the trip, Dad's got everybody's bag." Save everyone the hassle and pay the $25 fee.

Airlines have vastly improved their handling of checked bags. The rate of lost, damaged and delayed luggage reached an all-time low of 0.33% in 2011, according to the Transportation Department.

7. Find a decent airport meal.

But no matter which concourse you find yourself in, the GateGuru app can find you something to eat.

Think of it as Yelp for airports.

GateGuru (free for iPhone or Android) tells you what’s good, nearby and open at 2 a.m.

The app will warn you if you’re about to head to a restaurant on the wrong side of the security barrier.

Finally, turn on alerts and eat with peace of mind:

GateGuru will tell you, "Hey, put down that burger! Your flight is boarding!"

8. Read your email.

But before you flick emails from your airline or credit card company into the recycle bin, give them a quick read. June Walbert, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ with USAA, scored a coup on a recent trip by taking advantage of a tip in her inbox. "I received double miles for half of my recent trip to Japan," Walbert says. "I earned an extra 8,000 miles for opening an email and signing up for the temporary program."

9. Check the food blogs.

10. Send a postcard (without having to find stamps).

Shoot a photo with your phone, enter a message, select the recipient and you're done. Grandma gets a snazzy —

and totally personalized —

postcard in the mail, and you didn't have to wait in line or figure out how to buy Hungarian stamps.

11. Update your guidebook.

If you want to know what to see, what to eat and where to stay on your vacation, visit Wikitravel.org. It's Wikipedia for tourists. The site offers amazing articles on destinations that tend to be left out of guidebooks entirely. So if you're planning that contrarian vacation, there's no better place to start. Oh, and when you get home, pay it forward: Edit the page.

12. Find food stat!

At some point you're going to find yourself hungry and lost in an unfamiliar city. Have we got some apps for you. All are free for iPhone or Android.

Yelp is a pocket-size version of the contentious website you know and love. Urbanspoon offers a slot-machine interface: Spin the wheel and it'll tell you where to eat nearby. And Foodspotting shows you mouthwatering photos of actual dishes nearby.

13. Eat breakfast in the room.

"Kids wake up and they're hungry right away," says TravelMama.com's Lanin.

Pick up some bagels and stock the minibar with yogurt, juice, fruit and the like.

"You can feed them right away, and it also doesn’t eat into your day."

Yes, many hotels will let you store items in the minibar without paying as long as you ask first; some hotels will even provide an empty minibar if you're staying with kids.

You'll miss out on the Grand Slam, but you'll save money and have more time for activities that are actually fun.

14. Create a travel-toy stash.

You know the story: You buy a great new toy for the plane; then it comes home and disappears into the toy box, never to be seen again. Now you're stuck buying travel toys again the next time you leave town.

Break the cycle. "Put the toys away somewhere the kids can't find them," Lanin says. "A hidden toy is a forgotten toy."

15. Get serendipitous.

 "I don't care where I go, as long as it's great — and cheap.

" We've got two tools to help you book that kind of serendipitous trip.

If you know how much you want to spend, but not where you want to go, let wanderfly.com tempt you.

You give your price range and type of vacation — foodie, adventure, etc. — and it creates a list of trips.

It also has email alerts for special deals. Think of it as "Groupon goes on vacation."

With Kayak Explore (an app for Mac or iPad), you specify your price range for hotel and airfare combined, and it offers up tantalizing photos of destinations within your budget.

We asked for an urban vacation for two for less than $2,000; 

Kayak recommended Pensacola, Fla.,

Wichita, Kan. or

Shanghai.     Your mileage may vary.

Matthew Amster-Burton writes about food, technology and personal finance for CNNMoney,

The Wall Street Journal and Mint.com.