| | Let's keep these between us, though, OK? | | by Sean Cudahy, Senior Aviation Writer | |  | Like a lot of my fellow TPG staffers, I'm on the road a lot. So far this year, I've taken 68 flights covering just under 75,000 miles (my trip to Greenland, in June, was easily the most spectacular).
Naturally, with this much travel in our diets, we have amassed an endless array of tips to save money, time and stress.
Here are a few that I think fly under the radar:
Tip No. 1: You can get up to seven free Hyatt nights without even having points or status.
World of Hyatt's Brand Explorer program gives you a free night award at a Category 1-4 property for every five new hotel brands you stay at. I call it my Hyatt bingo card.
There are 38 eligible hotel brands, so you can get up to seven free nights without even touching any of your extremely valuable Hyatt points.
Note: Those are separate from the free night awards you earn by hitting milestones in the program, or as a World of Hyatt Credit Card holder.
Tip No. 2: You have your own personal concierge and you probably don't even know it.
You may be aware that lots of credit cards come with money- and stress-saving benefits like rental car insurance and travel protections. But did you know they also come with a concierge (or sometimes a "personal assistant") service that can not only help with your travel planning, but also help you score hard-to-get restaurant reservations and tickets?
This is an area where your premium credit cards really shine, but lots of cards have some version of these services.
Tip No. 3: You can save money by picking up your rental car near your hotel.
Yes, car rental companies like to charge you an additional fee for returning the vehicle to a second location. But did you know that often doesn't apply to rentals within the same metropolitan area?
When I'm away somewhere, I often pass on picking up my car at the airport upon arrival. It's usually cheaper to take a shuttle or ride-hailing service to my hotel, and then pick up a rental car from a location in town sometime midtrip, when I actually need it. I can drop it off at the airport when I leave, and I'll have avoided paying rental fees and exorbitant hotel parking fees for those extra days. (Just make sure you won’t be charged the one-way rental fee.)
Want more of our top-secret tips? Check out these stories, and stay tuned to this newsletter for more down the road:
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