Sometimes working for a travel company is hard on your friendships. I know, I know. Somewhere the world’s smallest violin is playing a tune that can only be heard by dogs. But really, not a happy hour goes by without someone asking me the age-old question: Can you hook me up?

And now that the cost of travel is skyrocketing, I’m getting this question more and more. I used to tell my friends that I couldn’t help them out, but now I send them to the Insider’s Guide to Booking Cheap Travel. In addition to linking to Genevieve’s great blog about how to save $500 on your next vacation, it also teaches you how to work the system to your advantage. Knowing how to find the lowest fares is half the battle.

Think you’re already an expert at finding travel deals? Here’s a quick quiz I give my friends to test their knowledge.

1) What’s the first thing you should do once you’ve decided on a destination?

Most sites now have free widgets and tools that track fares to your favorite locales. Before you even decide on the dates of your trip, plug your destination into a fare-tracking tool. You'll receive email alerts when the prices drop.

2) True or false: You can find the lowest car rental rates by searching from the main car page of any travel website.

False. On many travel websites, you must search for special, limited-time car rental offers from a top deals page. Once you find a deal that works for your trip, you typically must book from the special deal page to get that rate.

3) True or false: Cruises cost $1,000 less on average than a land-based vacation.

True. When you package your travel together, the savings begin to ring up. Cruises offer an incredible vacation value--particularly if you can drive to one of the more than 20 U.S. departure ports and skip the expensive flight.

4) How do you research the cheapest days to stay at a particular hotel?

Customers don’t realize that you don’t have to fill in dates for hotel searches on most travel websites. Just leave the date fields blank and usually a flexible calendar will appear, showing you when to book for less.

5) True or false: When booking a Hotel + Car package, you can only rent a car in your hometown.

False. When planning a road trip, save big by bundling your hotel and car together. Normally it doesn’t matter if you need to pick up your car in your hometown or in your destination.