When I was employed early in my career, I did a significant amount of traveling, both domestic and internationally. Over time, I began to discover that I could often come out substantially ahead on the costs of travel with a bit of planning and foresight. Here are some of the lessons I learned that put cash in my pocket when traveling for work.

Never, ever eat in an airport. The food is expensive and often poorly prepared. I often put an item or two in my carry-on, such as a sandwich and a bottled drink, for eating while waiting on flights. This saves a lot of money.

If you are allowed to use a personal credit card when paying for airfare or hotel, use it. When I travelled for business, I merely had to submit receipts for pre-approved travel and housing receipts and I was given a check for their cost. Although I had a card that I could potentially use for travel and bypass this, I had the option of using my own card, and I always did this. Why? The cost of air travel and housing often adds up to enough to trigger rewards on my personal card, so often I get a free bonus just for traveling.

Book your own flights if possible. The internet makes booking your own flight as easy as can be, enabling you to choose more convenient flight times. Even if you can’t book your own flight, pick out the ones you would prefer beforehand and add that information when you submit your flight request; you’ll often get exactly what you want.

Know exactly what you can be reimbursed for - and then go as far under as you can. We had a “per day” allotment for food and beverages that was quite nice, enabling us to easily eat out for each meal. When I travelled, I ate continental breakfasts and dined as inexpensively as possible. I would usually come in as much as 70% under the per diem rate, so I would actually receive a cash bonus for travel. Inquire about any per diem travel rates before you go.

Maximize the use of your time. If you’re traveling for business, you should use all of the time you have to maximize your earnings potential. Spend the evening networking instead of watching a movie in your hotel room, or spend a few spare hours working on your professional blog instead of just sitting there waiting. If you must hit tourist spots, try to engage business acquaintances to go along for the networking benefit. I viewed business travel as time alloted solely to focus on success, both personal and that of my business, without any worries about other personal constraints.

My wife and I live more than four hours away from our hometowns, so when we visit our parents and extended family, we spend a lot of time in the car. Over the years, we have developed several techniques for optimizing the cost of the trip. Here’s what we do:

Perform some basic car maintenance before you leave. Before we leave, I check the tire pressure on the car tires and take a peek at the air filter and oil level. Each of these tasks ensures that we’ll maximize our fuel usage on the trip. Properly inflated tires can add about a half mile per gallon, properly filled and replaced oil can save about three quarters of a mile per gallon, and a clean air filter can save about a mile and a quarter per gallon. If you car would get fifteen miles to the gallon before this maintenance, you can easily get that up to sixteen and a half miles per gallon, which with gas prices even at the two dollar level can mean a savings of a little over six dollars on a five hundred mile round trip.

Minimize your distance. Google Maps and MapQuest often push you onto interstates as quickly as possible in order to make their map algorithms work. In most states, however, some careful map examination can find a much better route still using four lane roads. On our trips, we are often encouraged to use two interstates, but there is in fact a four lane highway that literally traces a diagonal path between the two interstates that cuts off at least thirty miles of the trip. Not only do we save gas money, we get home quicker, too.

Pack snacks before you go. Before we leave, we pack up bottles of water and such from home so we don’t pay expensive convenience store prices for the goods. Our trip essentially requires us to stop at least once for gasoline, so if we have our own snacks, the desire to step inside and purchase an overpriced soda is greatly reduced.

Be aware of gas prices before you leave. Our trips cross multiple states, so we know before we leave which states offer the best deals on gas and we make sure to fill up in those states. With the vast difference in gas taxes from state to state, you can easily save ten to fifteen cents a gallon by doing your research before you leave. Take note of the state by state fuel price report before you leave so you can know whether you should gas up before you cross a state line or if you should wait a few more miles. Some good examples of differences between bordering states are between California and Arizona ($0.19 per gallon), Iowa and Illinois ($0.17 per gallon), and Tennessee and Kentucky ($0.11 per gallon). That’s some significant savings on a tank filling.

These tips can easily eliminate twenty percent of your cost of traveling long distances in the United States, but the same ideas apply to any nation in the world. Take care of your care, be thrifty, and be aware of gas price variations and you’ll put money right in your pocket.