Want great travel deals? Join the clubs
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A good bet for bikers is The Better World Club. An environmentally aware club, Better World provides bicycle roadside assistance, and its travel membership program caters to consumers looking for "eco-friendly vacations." With a club membership, if you rent an electric-hybrid car for one day, you'll get the second day free. There's no charge for booking rental cars once you're a member, but there is a minimum $35 service fee for other travel services.

Travel clubs used to be for luxury hotels or family motels, but America's historic inns now offer their own deals. With a $49.95 annual membership, you can get discounts of 25 percent to 50 percent on 1,000 inns, and you can also get a certificate for a free night's stay.

If traditional hotels are your style, ask about a frequent-guest card. Emily Hesser of New York has a Starwood Preferred Guest card, which she got for free -- just by asking. The card "is like a frequent-flier program for hotels," she says. She gets points every time she stays at a Westin or a Sheraton. As a consultant who travels several days a week for work, she racks up lots of points.

Hesser was inspired by watching a friend turn her points into dollars.

"I have a friend who just booked her two-week honeymoon vacation to Hawaii and Tahiti, all on Diner's Club airline points and hotel rewards," Hesser says. "For a $95 annual Diner's Club fee, she got a honeymoon."

Another option is a general hotel discounter. HotelClub.net offers totally free membership, and then offers discounts of up to 20 percent on online reservations for participating hotels worldwide. It also has last-minute deals and free-stay programs, though many of its participating hotels are upper-range.

Any school affiliation can save you wads of cash. The granddaddy of student discount cards, the International Student Identity Card, will mean cheaper museum and cultural-event prices around the world. In Europe's pricey museums, the ISIC can be a huge plus, and it can also mean a cheaper rail deal. Right now, the card will get you up to $8 off admission to Universal Studios Hollywood. You can add a hostel card that will save you a bundle, and the card can mean helpful travel assistance as well as discounts.

Full-time teachers and professors are eligible for a teacher version of the ISIC card, and nonstudents ages 12 through 26 can qualify with valid proof of age and citizenship. The ISIC, which costs $22 per year, maintains an online discount database, so you can plan your trip to hundreds of destinations worldwide, maximizing your food, lodging, retail and entertainment discounts.

In the United States, there's also the Student Advantage card, which costs $20 a year. It brings a 15 percent discount on Amtrak rail and Greyhound bus tickets, along with restaurant savings at student dining spots around the country. Other discounts are available on wireless services, books, flowers and posters for empty dorm walls.