Timeless travel insights from Condé Nast Traveler

1. To get the lowest airfare for on flights with U.S.-based carriers, go to the airfare comparison site itasoftware.com. For foreign, low-cost airlines, use whichbudget.com or wegolo.com.

2. For the inside scoop on which seats on your next flight offer extra leg or elbow room, surf seatguru.com. It also warns which seats to avoid, such as those that don't recline, or have immovable armrests.

3. Having difficulty snagging mileage-award seats? Call the carrier you have your miles with immediately after midnight in the time zone where it has its U.S. headquarters. Typically, award reservations expire if they're not ticketed by midnight, so you can possibly nab the seats that someone else has just forfeited.

4. The best credit card for miles you can actually use is the Starwood American Express card. It lets you redeem miles on any of 30 airlines—including every major U.S. carrier—and earns cardholders the equivalent of 1.25 miles per dollar spent.

5. The easiest way to earn miles without traveling is to shop online via airline Web sites. Continental, Delta, and other carriers link to stores such as Lands' End, Staples, and Barnes & Noble—where shoppers can earn up to 10 miles per dollar spent.

6. When flying for a long weekend, cheaper fares and greater seat choices are available if you fly on a Saturday and return on a Tuesday. Avoid the pricier combinations of going from Thursday to Sunday, or Friday to Monday.

7. Need help from a real person when calling an airline's 800 number? Bypass the phone tree and speak to a live human immediately by pressing the number for booking international flights.

8. When a U.S. airline and its foreign partner both sell seats on the same flight (making it a code share), one carrier's fares could be substantially lower. So check prices on both—the same seat on the same New York-Hong Kong flight could cost hundreds of dollars less through Cathay Pacific than through American Airlines.

9. For the most comfort for your dollar in international coach Asian airlines generally have the best seats and service. They also often have cheap fares on non-Asian routes that people often overlook, or don't realize they fly.

10. Consider traveling via Dublin instead of London for cheap flights to Europe. Aer Lingus has reasonably priced flights, and low-fare carriers fly from Dublin to many European cities.

11. For low-cost Asian flights, instead of booking one flight between major hubs, combine two that connect in a lesser hub with cheap fares—Bangkok, Manila, Seoul, Shanghai, or Taipei.

12. Make airport delays enjoyable by joining Priority Pass (prioritypass.com, from $99 per year) to gain access to more than 500 airport club lounges, most of them overseas.

13. How do you dodge paying for WiFi at the airport? (Sit outside an airport club lounge; WiFi signals often transmit through the walls.