2015 is shaping up to be a great year for travel. Oil, one of the largest costs for airlines is approaching the lowest price in over a decade. The dollar is appreciating against other currencies including the Euro. With a little early planning you can save a bundle on travel this year. Here are my 7 favorite money-saving tips for travel:

1. Pick 3 and Plan Early

I have dozens of destinations on my bucket list. Some I’m more excited to visit than others. Early in the year I pick three destinations I’d most love to visit and create fare alerts for them. Most major airfare sites will offer to create a fare alert for recent searches and email you when prices drop. I run a couple fare searches to each destination and then enter my email so the sites can email me when they’ve found a lower fare.

I also use Google alerts. Say I really want to go to Albuquerque this year. I’ll go into googl3 and create an alert for “Albuquerque Fare Sale” and “Albuquerque Airfare Sale”. Google will then email me anytime these search terms appear on a new web page or news article. Create alerts is super simple just click here.

2. Know your Home Airlines

Know which airlines fly to your top 3 destinations from your home airport. Sign up for their fare sale newsletters. There’s a better than good chance they will be running a fare sale to your destination sometime during the next 4 months.

3. Watch for New Routes from Airlines

Oil is nearly 50% cheaper this year. The airlines are making more money and looking to expand. When airline offers new routes they’ll often discount it because they need to build awareness. You can find out about these new routes by signing up for airline fare sale newsletters. You can also create a Google Alert. I live in Portland, Oregon so I have Google alerts set for “new route from pdx” and “new route from portland”.

4. Negotiate Better Rates

If you’re looking at renting a condo or home and you’re using sites like HomeAway, VRBO, and AirBnB there’s no rule that says you can’t try and negotiate with the owner or property manager. Find a couple places you’re interested in and message the owners asking if they can offer a lower rate. Chances are pretty good one of them will oblige. I typically like to stay at a condo if I can because I can cook some of my own meals to save money.

5. Craigslist Still Counts

AirBnB, HomeAway, VRBO and other popular rental sites are on the tip of people’s tongues but you can still find great vacation rentals on Craigslist. Active property managers and owners will often list their site on Craigslist in addition to the rental sites listed above. I’ve found it easier to negotatiate a lower rate with owners who list on craigslist. One reason they’re creating mutiple listings is because they are motivated to get travelers in their rental properties.

6. Currency Rates Matter

Keep an eye on currency rates for International travel. Any easy way to do this is to simply type in “currencyX to currencyX” like “euro to the dollar” and google will show you the conversion rate right at the top of the search reults. You can see from the Google results below that it will be cheaper to travel in Europe this year than last.

7. Compare, Compare, Compare

My last tip is simply to give yourself time and to compare, compare, compare. Airlines use complex alogrithms to determine the prices for seats. Prices are constantly shifting and sometimes they offer different prices on their websites, through online travel agencies, and name your price sites like Priceline and Hotwire. A little patience and time spent comparison shopping can save you hundreds on flights.

I hope this list helps you save some money and explore this wonderful planet of ours. If you want to save even more money sign up for our travel deals & tips newsletter below which features hidden fare sales and rock bottom travel deals: