Do a Google Map Search:  Suppose you live in New York and you are looking for a cheap place to fly to Europe from September 5-15?  In the search box, put in departure and return dates, put in an origination city, and leave the destination blank. Google shows a worldwide map of where you can travel with prices.  Tons of other options can be put in like class of service, airline, flexible dates and more. 

(For larger view of image click HERE)

Don't Fly Direct:  You have seen The Professor use this trick many times.  Let's say you want to fly from Dallas (DFW) to Lima (LIM).  I find a non-stop fare of $609.  However, if I am willing to take the 3 hour drive to Austin, I can fly out of there (with a connection through DFW, believe it or not) for $434.  Not a big savings, but if traveling with multiple people, it makes a difference.  Other ways to work this is instead of flying on a direct flight out of JFK to Europe, fly out of nearby LaGuardia airport (LGA) with a connection to Europe for a significant savings.   One of my favorite airline search engines, matrix.itasoftware.com lets you put in airports that are nearby to a home airport that makes it easy.

(For larger view of image click HERE)

American Airlines Award Map:  This is a great tool for getting the most bang for your buck out of award miles on American Airlines.  Again, let's say you are looking for a place to go in Europe from September 5-15 and you want to make best use of saved up frequent flyer miles.  Go to https://www.aa.com/awardMap/home.do# and put in your origination city, departure date and destination along with how many miles you want to use and the map will display all the available options with the amount of miles needed.  I love this one!