My husband and I had a great time at the travel show in Philadelphia last weekend. Arthur Frommer, the well-known budget travel author, spoke about when to save and when to splurge on travel. After reading his travel guides for more years than I remember, it was wonderful to be in the same room with him and hear him speak. He gave many great tips and is an inspiration for those of us who love to travel. Here are a few of the tips he shared:

-Check momondo.com and dohop.com to find great airfares
-Book your flights on a Tuesday or Wednesday when fares are lowest
-Rental apartments, vacation homes and home swapping are a growing trend and a great way to save when traveling with a group. Check homeaway.com, urbo.com, rentalo.com and evrentals.com for great rentals deals for your next vacation.
-If you want to splurge on food, splurge on lunch. He believes you will get the same great food at a much lower cost.
-Choose walking tours over bus tours. You will save money and have more opportunities to interact with local people.

After speaking he walked around the show collecting brochures with us. We told him we were fans of his and we asked for suggestions regarding our trip to Amsterdam. He was helpful, warm, friendly and a pleasure to spend a cold afternoon with talking to about travel.