If you’re like most people, you’re about to take off on a vacation during one of the peak times of the year for travel. Spring Break is definitely in the air, with high schools and colleges alike letting out. This is not going to be the time of the year that you want to try to shoot for that childless vacation — if you go to any popular destination, you will definitely see children running around.  However, there are places that are going to be less populated by children, and there are going to still be great deals if you’re actually one of the people that doesn’t mind negotiating for the things that they want in life.

What you really need to know about the world of travel is that everything is negotiable. It’s just a matter of doing it in a way that doesn’t offend anyone. If you really work on being as pleasant as you can, you will find that people will be more than willing to work with you.

Let’s talk accommodations first. First off, price might not always be negotiable but you can work it out to where you’re getting a lot more than what’s advertised. The trick here is to be as kind as possible to the actual staff members. A lot of tourists think that since they’re on vacation and no one is likely to remember them that they can behave anyway that they see fit. That’s just not the case, and it’ll end up making it hard for you to get anything other than what’s been advertised.

Tipping can unlock doors, but you don’t want to look like a jerk. There’s a way to tip that’s seen as being friendly, and a way to tip that makes it look like you’re bragging. If you really want to get extra things that aren’t advertised, you need to simply make the tip look as natural as possible. If they don’t mention money, you shouldn’t mention money either.

Another thing that you can do to help your chances of getting discounts that aren’t advertised is to make sure that you really go out of your way to be as helpful as you can be. If people see that you’re really someone that tries their best to be as helpful as possible, they’ll give you information on where you can save money on things.

As always, you need to find a limit where enough is enough. While everyone likes a good deal, being too deal hungry can make you look like all you care about is the deal, and that’s not good either. It makes you look bad, and it can make staff and other people think that you’re not someone that should be trusted with well kept secrets like how to save big money on vacation. That’s why they call the high price of travel the “tourist tax”.

When it comes to location, you have to also keep in mind that prices will depend on where you are. If you only want to deal with the tourist trap parts of a city, you overlook the rich local treasures that can really lower your overall costs. For example, if you’re a young person touring Germany, you might find it worth your while to stay at a youth hostel. It’s not going to be filled with a lot of extras, but it will give you a base of people to spend time with, laugh, and explore your little part of Germany. You’ll also get a lot of information they don’t print in guidebooks, which is always a good thing!

At the end of the day, you can only try to find deals. If they spring up, then you’re definitely off to a good start. Otherwise, you will need to make sure that you just focus on building the best experience you can — that’s all you can do!